apollo wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 2:46 amThe Difference between the LW in bd1n and the standard g10 in s30v is 25$ where i live and yes you are correct the making of the molds is very expensive but to be realistic here you have to calculate in that at this point in time the cost of those molds have bin paid off for a long time , so basically all spyderco is paying for is the frcp it self and no way that stuff is as expensive as g10 and the liners.
So bd1n vs s30v and then those handle differences with just such a small margin in price , it makes the LW very much loose the quality to price ratio battle in my eyes.
(Also yes it takes great skill to produce such a good LW knife but skill is not something needed to be calculated into the price tag because its the whole reason to design something new namely to make something good. And if Sal or Eric or the other designers at spyderco had no skill you and me would not have bin on this forum because spyderco would have not bin a successful business then. )
Now like i said in my OG post i am definitely not saying the LW are bad knives because all Manixes are incredibly great knives. My only problem with the LW is the fact that if you are a strong enough guy or girl and you put you’re full force on the thing in a cut the handle will “give” and is this a bad thing ?
That is debatable until the end of time…
The Manix will not brake i know that and anybody with a brain knows that but that does not mean that for that price Spyderco could have easily made those tiny internal liners a tiny bit longer so that flex just could not happen. Sure it would cost them a gram or 2 in weight but it would have made the design so much more comforting in the mind department.
With what you say about there being so many heavier designs i must disagree. Yes they are a good number but all of those are in the meantime older designs. And eventough i still need to try a few i would love some more new variations hit the market. But like the fans of LW’s we also want something new once in awhile… ( And that can even be a variation like a g10 in spy-27 for example )
Spyderco has done almost exclusively LW variants for more the last of couple years now. And sorry but the stretch you mention is a sprint run and those do not count since they are made in such low numbers these days that they even do not reach Europe anymore… Look at the 15 v at the moment. They made Probably 4 or 5 pieces per dealer while there are a thousand fans scouting the sites day and night so i do not find those counting as new offerings anymore since almost no one will ever have them.
Thanks for the reply, my friend, you´re making some good points indeed.
- I don´t know how much of a sales volume Spyderco has to make with a knife in order to ammortize molds, but I guess you must be right that in case of the Manix LW the molds must have paid off already - it sells so well, that otherwise probably almost no LW model would make sense economically speaking.
- I am also certain that you are right in assuming that G10 and liners is clearly more expensive than "just" FRCP - but in relation to the price of the knife, I am not sure if that matters a lot (?) - lets say the G10 model costs $ 150, the G10 and liner steel used for it $ 4; The FRCP model on the other hand costs lets say $ 120, the FRCP material $ 0.50. The handle material costs of the G10 model would be 8 times higher, but absolutely speaking that would not make that much of a difference (this is just a completely fictional guess, I have no idea of the real costs and also assume that it takes more labor time to make a linered G10 model than a linerless FRCP one).
- "Give" in the handle: Nothing I ever noticed on my LW Manixes, even in "hard cutting", and I think I am a pretty strong guy, especially in the hands (mainly from climbing, some dumbbell training and so on). But if I´d focus in feeling flex I´d probably could, so if you want the most rigidity the G10 linered Manix is certainly the way to go.
- "Many heavier designs": I guess this is probably a bit subjective and depends on how one is defining "heavy": For me for example the Shaman, the Caribbean, the Rock Jumper, the Endela, perhaps the new Millie 2 (don´t know about the amount of liners the G10 handle will have) are though not "heavy", still not lightweights by having liners and strong handle slabs - and all are somewhat newer designs.
But you are right: There definitely seems to be a trend toward lighter Spydies.
- I am pretty sure the G10 / Cruwear Stretch is regular production?
's in 10 different steels
y'all are awesome! It is like a family here. We know each other too well.
