A simple decision. 15V and the future

[kitanis]

First off.. I wish to say that I LOVE my 15V Manix 2! It has exceeded my expectations and has become a lovable tool for me.

I feel that I made the right decision to acquire one from a fantastic dealer and was able to buy one at very near retail MSRP for it. I have really fallen in love with it and hope to carry it for a long time to come. But then I thought, maybe I ought to buy a backup and found just how difficult it was to get one. Of course, I could go on eBay and pay an outrageous price for one.. but I have noticed that the prices are going higher and higher each week.

Then I started to look on several websites and we already see the listings for the PM2 and the Shaman 15V blades and of course the email me notices on the listing asking for you to receive when they get into stock. I remember doing this for the Manix 2 and I never received one email for one. I remember when Knife Center listed on Instagram the Manix and then announced in 12 mins that they were sold out (I was on my lunch break at work when this happen). Then you saw the announcement from the other websites of similar that they get them in stock and within minutes are sold out.

To all respect to Shawn Houston and Sal.. but Sprint Runs are great. But chasing a blade with a steel like 15V and having such a low production can be nerve-wracking and in some cases expensive. I can see the writing on the wall because I know I would enjoy a Shaman in 15V.. But I am not on the internet 24/7 and feel that I will not be able to get either the PM2 or Shaman without doing so. I point to the example of the drop on the Manix 2 in 15V as proof.

So my personal decision on the future reveal.. I am going to bow out chasing them. I plan on buying other Spyderco knives.. But at least I have a chance in getting them without having to play the sprint run shuffle on bade steels. Although I did happen to order the Super Blue Dragonfly in SUS410 because I did not own a Dragonfly and i hit the website very near to the day they announced its availability.

[Brant]

Isn’t the chase half the fun? I’ve seemed to get the limited editions I’ve wanted, sometimes had to wait and keep checking around, and usually when you least suspect it, there it is. I haven’t tried getting the ultra rate stuff either. However on one of the other boards a guy “claims” he called into Travis at Knifejoker ahead of time, and they set one aside then billed/shipped him upon release. You could try that with the smaller dealers who are looking to build up their reputation. From the sounds of the Shaman chatter, they will go beyond quick. Try the “outside the box” method, most they can say is no. Best case, they get a customer for life.

As for wishlists, some places actually say they are like place holders, if they get 10 knives the first ten on the list get notified. If after an hour there are two left, 11 and 12 get notified. If you’re 38, it’s probably not getting to you. Then you have people who get on every wishlist that jam things up too.

Good luck, don’t give up!

[Bemo]

I hear what you're saying. The Manix isn't my favorite platform but my desire for the steel over-rode my preference. I might have gone for the PM2 had I known it was coming. I think those who didn't get the Manix version will go all in on the PM2 and Shaman versions so competition will be high for those models. I like the 15v but K390 makes a pretty good alternative for it.

[vandelay]

I hope 15V will eventually just make it into standard production like maxamet is. At this point, 15V seems like the best steel out there, at least for non-abusive tasks.

[RustyIron]

I like the 15v but K390 makes a pretty good alternative for it.

Or is 15V a pretty good alternative to K390?
My favorite flavor of steel used to be K390.
But since tasting 15V, I'm no longer certain.

How about we do it like a double ice cream cone, and use a scoop of each?

A Damascus style blade with 15V and K390?
A Damascus style blade with 15V and K390 clad in Magnacut?

[Deadboxhero]

I like the 15v but K390 makes a pretty good alternative for it.

Or is 15V a pretty good alternative to K390?
My favorite flavor of steel used to be K390.
But since tasting 15V, I'm no longer certain.

How about we do it like a double ice cream cone, and use a scoop of each?

A Damascus style blade with 15V and K390?
A Damascus style blade with 15V and K390 clad in Magnacut?

Lmao

[JRinFL]

My vote counts for little, but 15v replacing Maxamet seems like a wise change. Keep K390 on the Japanese models.

[mikey177]

I could get behind putting 15V on production models in place of Maxamet.

I tried getting the 15V Manix, but wasn't able to. The hunt was not fun, as drops usually occur unannounced at 2am in my part of the world.

I didn't even bother signing up for alerts for the Shaman and PM2 sprints. I'm not a heavy user anyway so the superior capabilities of 15V would be wasted on me.

[Bill1170]

I avoid sprints for mental health reasons. Too much artificial pressure to buy a very limited resource. I’m grateful that Spyderco offers standard production models in a variety of excellent blade steels.

[WilliamMunny]

I have a question for the experts out there. If spirit runs are never run again how will 15V be made a standard run? Just change the handle color? I thought brown was a big deal for BBB.

[Mushroom]

I have a question for the experts out there. If spirit runs are never run again how will 15V be made a standard run? Just change the handle color? I thought brown was a big deal for BBB.

If Spyderco were to implement 15V as a regular production steel in a Manix 2 for example, it would have to use a different handle color or material than Brown G10. As long as the exact sprint configuration is not repeated.

I don’t think G10 color is nearly as important to BBB as the steel and heat treat. The brown G10 on the sprint runs was probably more of a clever way to pay homage to him and recognize his effort in making the sprint happen in the first place.

[Manixguy@1994]

I agree , the only thing that would be needed is a color not already in production and exclusives , and good to go if it ever became a reality . MG2

[ladybug93]

Isn’t the chase half the fun?

only if you get one, and even then, not really. not everyone can be online at all hours waiting for the many mini drops. this one was particularly frustrating.

My vote counts for little, but 15v replacing Maxamet seems like a wise change. Keep K390 on the Japanese models.

that's a good idea. sal has said more than once that maxamet is a pain to work with. i wonder how 15v is by comparison. so far, it seems to be more positive in the hands of users than maxamet, but i don't remember seeing any commentary about working with the steel at the factory.

[vandelay]

My vote counts for little, but 15v replacing Maxamet seems like a wise change. Keep K390 on the Japanese models.

that's a good idea. sal has said more than once that maxamet is a pain to work with. i wonder how 15v is by comparison. so far, it seems to be more positive in the hands of users than maxamet, but i don't remember seeing any commentary about working with the steel at the factory.

We can speculate a bit off the price. Going by MSRP, we have $292 for the 15V PM2 vs $357 for the maxamet PM2. I'd expect that means that it's easier to work with.

[kennbr34]

I don’t think G10 color is nearly as important to BBB as the steel and heat treat. The brown G10 on the sprint runs was probably more of a clever way to pay homage to him and recognize his effort in making the sprint happen in the first place.

Yeah I think they just went with brown G10 because that's what the Golden factory had to start production with right away, and Shawn really wanted the Golden factory to be used.
viewtopic.php?t=87161&start=180#p1660136

Also I have been feeling really conflicted about using mine lately. Well, more accurately, worried about losing it, since it seems to be about impossible to replace at a reasonable price.

Speaking of reasonable prices, I think the scalpers on eBay are starting to see dwindling interest now that the Shaman and PM2 sprint runs have been announced, so they're jacking up prices on the ones they currently have left to maximize profit margins as they will probably end up with some unsold. I have a feeling that a LOT of these made it into the hands of scalpers. You can go see one scalper named robcoknivesllc there right now with one left who has sold 20... So basically 4 times the amount most vendors got. At this point, if people can fight the FOMO, the scalpers will be stuck with their inventory and be forced to sell at lower prices later to compete with the Shaman and PM2 runs. Though I still refuse to buy one from any scalper at any price that would result in a significant profit, so anything over $200 is definitely a no. If I see one at $175-195 I'll know it's probably just enough to cover their costs, with maybe 5-10 bucks profit.

[apollo]

I agree , the only thing that would be needed is a color not already in production and exclusives , and good to go if it ever became a reality . MG2

And i agree with you with Dan.
The Only thing spyderco should finally learn is they used all there good g10 colors for exclusives and that is fine but start using other materials then like micarta , kirinite ,... and let those be for spyderco alone and let them never be used for some greedy dealers that do not want to share colors with the company that made them money in the first place.

[WilliamMunny]

I don’t think G10 color is nearly as important to BBB as the steel and heat treat. The brown G10 on the sprint runs was probably more of a clever way to pay homage to him and recognize his effort in making the sprint happen in the first place.

Yeah I think they just went with brown G10 because that's what the Golden factory had to start production with right away, and Shawn really wanted the Golden factory to be used.
viewtopic.php?t=87161&start=180#p1660136

Also I have been feeling really conflicted about using mine lately. Well, more accurately, worried about losing it, since it seems to be about impossible to replace at a reasonable price.

Speaking of reasonable prices, I think the scalpers on eBay are starting to see dwindling interest now that the Shaman and PM2 sprint runs have been announced, so they're jacking up prices on the ones they currently have left to maximize profit margins as they will probably end up with some unsold. I have a feeling that a LOT of these made it into the hands of scalpers. You can go see one scalper named robcoknivesllc there right now with one left who has sold 20... So basically 4 times the amount most vendors got. At this point, if people can fight the FOMO, the scalpers will be stuck with their inventory and be forced to sell at lower prices later to compete with the Shaman and PM2 runs. Though I still refuse to buy one from any scalper at any price that would result in a significant profit, so anything over $200 is definitely a no. If I see one at $175-195 I'll know it's probably just enough to cover their costs, with maybe 5-10 bucks profit.

I think the prices for the Manix 15V will go way up. The main reason is due to collectors, I mean how cool would it be to have the Manix, PM2 and Shaman as a set in 15V BNIB, collectors would be all over it. The example I would give is the REC Para3, was not a big deal until the other knifes came out and people wanted a set. I also feel like the Manix was a pretty small run, maybe 1000 give or take so that may increase demand. As a side note I did get the Manix 15V and use it all the time. I am not too much of a collector unless I plan to use it.

[Cl1ff]

I’m still content on waiting for BBB’s collab knife for more 15V, but I’m happy because I’ve got the Manix.

Something I was thinking about would be using the Military 2 to try something.

A production 15V Military 2 to complement the Maxamet PM2. For whatever reason, there isn’t a Maxamet Military or that’s what I’d put.
A Maxamet Millie and BBB 15V Military 2.

A production m398 Military 2 to complement the S110V Military.

An M4, Rex series, or maybe K390 steel Military 2 sprint (or production) to complement the the Rex45 Military sprint.
I really think it’d be nice if we saw Rex45 or M4 in more regular production Spydercos.

These steels aren’t analogous, of course, but I think you can see what I’m getting at.

Doing this provides similar tiers of options, without being exactly the same between each Military model, while bringing a wide range of steel performance into the catalog in an excellent new platform.

It would also just be badass. No other manufacture could pull it off like Spyderco.

[JRinFL]

This is one of the many problems with short runs of performance steels. They end up feeding the flippers and collectors *must* have them, so only a few actually get used. It is an utter waste of resources to design and build a performance knife only to have the majority never be used other than for "Instacred".

[nerdlock]

Isn’t the chase half the fun?

Way before 2018, it was more "fun" indeed for Spyderco collectors because most of the people who chased Sprint runs weren't part of the very big Facebook knife collector groups - so you did not have to fight for the chance to score in a drop with thousands of other people who are in it to flaunt the knives in social media, not to use it and test its performance.

Nowadays, you have to compete with these members of Facebook groups whose members do nothing but mostly encourage "showing off" your latest Spyderco purchase. They don't even try to police the rampant flipping of prices for Sprint runs and dealer exclusives in their buy/sell threads - in fact, calling out flippers will get you a ban for "price policing".

This is one of the many problems with short runs of performance steels. They end up feeding the flippers and collectors *must* have them, so only a few actually get used. It is an utter waste of resources to design and build a performance knife only to have the majority never be used other than for "Instacred".

I agree. If you check out the posts of those who got the Manix 15v in those FB groups/Instagram posts, majority are just posts showing off the knife and about only a few users really post about performance/sharpening.

I'm not saying I'm not guilty - most of my high performance steels end up in my sock drawer and not being used at all to test for performance or sharpening response. But it mostly boils down to the basic problem with Sprint runs - they are so pricey and limited, that the fear of not getting another one in case something happens to your copy will eventually prevent you from using your knife to its fullest potential.