Blade Show 2013

[phillipsted]

I agree, Nick. A very interesting concept case. I've got to spend some more time there tomorrow and take some notes. The rush of new models was a little overwhelming...

The one knife that was really surprising was the "Tusk" - which is a marine knife with knife blade and a large marlin spike - that locked with a ceramic ball lock. I'm a huge fan of marlin spikes.

The other surprise was the little single-scale dog-tag knife. It was maybe 1.5" (3 cm) long with a chisel ground blade than folded down flush to the dog-tag - which served as the one and only scale. It would be an awesome keychain knife.

Ed Schemmp had a couple of prototypes in the case - which are always interesting!

And the "Whatsit" prototype was there as well. It is a HUGE super sized folder. Not sure my hands are big enough to wrap around that bad boy.

More to follow!

TedP

TedP

[xceptnl]

The one knife that was really surprising was the "Tusk" - which is a marine knife with knife blade and a large marlin spike - that locked with a ceramic ball lock. I'm a huge fan of marlin spikes.

Ted you're teasing... a Spyderco with a marlin spike???? I am going to need more details if you have time for more notes tomorrow.

[SolidState]

Great stuff at the spydie booth. I have to say the introvert was so cool I had to hold it twice.

Did they have the blue G10 one, or the black CF one?

I'm really excited about the Tusk: it is kind of like a dyad, but the spike comes off of the back. I'm really interested in that model for climbing, because knot breaking can be problematic.

[phillipsted]

OK - I spent about an hour hanging out at the Spyderco case today. I was in Spydie Heaven. The Spydie Crew were fantastic, as ususal - and freely passed around the concepts, prototypes, and pre-production models - telling stories about the knives, their development and collaborators. Great great great stuff.

Although, pictures of the prototype case were prohibited, Joyce said that it was OK for me to take notes. (Yay!) As Evil already pointed out - I am not always the best judge of measurements - so feel free to correct me if I miss something obvious. Also keep in mind that concepts and prototypes usually don't have the final steels and scale materials, so I won't include some of those details. In fact, a lot of the blades weren't even stamped with steel type...

OK, here we go:

- INTROVERT: This is a mid-size flipper concept from Cris Knutson. When opened, the flipper turns into an interesting hole in which to put your index finger, sorta like the Swick. The Introvert was interesting, but when closed, the flipper stuck out quite far on the spine side of the knife.

- OROBOROS: A slim, sleek friction folder in G-10 by Paul Alexander. This is a completely different type of friction folder than that by Filip de Leeuw. Filip's design is a more traditional design. Paul's knife is thin and trim. If you like friction folders, this one will be worth checking out.

- VALLOTON SUB-HILT 3.5: A smaller, trimmer version of the Valloton. Looks almost exactly like the original, only smaller. Very nicely done.

- PACKER: This is a new fixed blade model by Gayle Bradley. Gayle had a custom version at his booth. He said he designed it to be a very light weight hiking and hunting knife. It is about the size of a Mule, has very thin, trim G10 scales, and three cool holes through the scales lined with steel tubes. Gayle said that it will come in stainless, not M4 (!) It comes with a minimalist kydex sheath and a G-clip. If you fixed blades, this one looks like a keeper.

- DOG TAG: This is a Serge Panchenko design which is really cool and innovative. The blade is a small 1" wharncliffe that is chisel ground. It has a single titanium scale, which is the size and shape of a dog tag. Not for everybody, but pretty cool nonetheless.

- CHUBBY: This Michael Burch design is a titanium liner lock that ... looks like it sounds. It is so wide bodied that it looks shorter than it actually is. It also has a clip point blade which reminds my of the Lil Temp Rhino horn blade.

- KINGYO: An interesting ethnic design from Liong Mah. It is a CF scaled flipper. My only notes on it said "lots of belly." The blade has a curved shape that gives you more belly than anything else.

- TUSK: This is the one we've been talking about elsewhere in the forum. It has a marlin spike on one end, secured by a ceramic ball lock. On the other end has a serrated drop point blade (I wish it was a serrated sheepsfoot or wharncliffe...) Joyce said that this one has been in development for almost 10 years and they can't find a way to bring it to market at a good price point.

- JOULE: A cool little knife by Michael Reinhold. It reminds me of the Leaf Storm a little, and it is about the same size. This one is a modified warncliffe blade in jade G10. The entire knife is very angular and the blade looks almost like a miniature Yohimbo blade. Worth a look.

- LADY FINGER: This is an Ed Schemmp design I really liked. A small delicate liner lock folder that looks like the love child of a Lady Bug and a Kiwi. The blade had a slight negative angle that Ed prefers. Very sleek and very elegant. A nice gentleman's folder.

There were several other experiments in the case - including a lot of interesting scale material including several knives in Kirinite and one in texturetek titanium. Oh, and I almost forgot - a prototype Slipit Native 5 in G10...

Cheers!
TedP

[Pinetreebbs]

I can add one, a second Vallotton Sub-Hilt with dual action opening, graciously demonstrated by ace designer Ed Schempp. It can be opened manually just like the original folder. It can also be opened automatically by sliding the top (small) G-10 inlay.

[Evil D]

As much as I love the Vallotton, I'm not sure how I feel about a smaller version. The size and heft is a big part of what I love about that knife. Now, a slimmer/lighter version that looks the same might be exciting. The only other knife in that list that piqued my interest is the Dog Tag, but then anything with a wharnie blade usually has that effect on me.

[Pinetreebbs]

I should also mention the prototype case had a version of the whale rescue knife fitted with a handle. Again, graciously demonstrated by ace designer Ed Schempp, who explained the military found it useful in cutting parachute static lines. The text below is from the OpFocus catalog:

The cutting power of our Whale Blade also attracted the attention of U.S. military units working with NASA. During testing of space capsule parachute systems, engineers
needed a tool that could be used to quickly and efficiently cut the parachute static line in the event of a chute deployment failure. They contacted Spyderco with the hope that
we could provide a tool that could cut the special static cord, which was made from a proprietary material many times more cut resistant than Kevlar. We sent them a Whale
Rescue Blade to test and it worked perfectly, becoming a permanent part of their specialized kit.

[Holland]

thanks for the descriptions Ted, cant wait to see picture of all these designs

[Jeremy_A_Neel]

A stubby clip point knife? That sounds right up my alley.

[phillipsted]

Oh, I almost forgot. Gayle Bradley has some pictures of his custom version of the "Packer" fixed blade knife on his web site. You will have to imagine what that blade will look like once Sal punches a hole in it.

http://www.bradleysblades.com/knives.html

TedP

[phillipsted]

... and here is a link to a picture of one of Michael Burch's Chubby prototypes (from his web site).

http://www.burchtreeblades.com/gallery/ ... bladeshow8

TedP

[phillipsted]

...and here are some cool shots of the Dog Tag concept from Serge Panchenko's site:

http://sergeknives.com/page34.html

TedP

[Evil D]

...and here are some cool shots of the Dog Tag concept from Serge Panchenko's site:

http://sergeknives.com/page34.html

TedP

That's interesting. I've seen so many versions of that style of knife..just in different shapes. I believe the Gerber Ridge was one of the first. Depending on weight it may actually be wearable like a dog tag.

[Wdr65]

Did anyone see the Native 5 lightweight this time around?

[1965ford]

I would like to say a big thank you to Eric Glesser for taking time with me at the Spyderco booth. Great job taking time to answer my questions and show me prototype knives even though I am a low end knife user and may never buy some of the more expensive models. Very cool!

[phillipsted]

Did anyone see the Native 5 lightweight this time around?

Yes, it was in the case. It looked like a pre-production model and the scales were not in the final material... The one in the case sorta looked like FRCP, but Joyce confirmed that the production version would be trusty old FRN.

TedP

[Evil D]

Yes, it was in the case. It looked like a pre-production model and the scales were not in the final material... The one in the case sorta looked like FRCP, but Joyce confirmed that the production version would be trusty old FRN.

TedP

I really wish they'd just make a solid G10 linerless model instead of FRN. It may not be quite as light but possibly stiffer than FRN. The only down side would be no bidirectional texturing, but there are some really cool G10 patterns they could look into using instead.

[SpyderNut]

Thanks much for the updates of the BLADE Show, Ted! Much appreciated.

[9blades]

Just want to add some pics of the dog tag knife (shhh no one tell Eric )











Enjoy!

[xceptnl]

- CHUBBY: This Michael Burch design is a titanium liner lock that ... looks like it sounds. It is so wide bodied that it looks shorter than it actually is. It also has a clip point blade which reminds my of the Lil Temp Rhino horn blade.

- TUSK: This is the one we've been talking about elsewhere in the forum. It has a marlin spike on one end, secured by a ceramic ball lock. On the other end has a serrated drop point blade (I wish it was a serrated sheepsfoot or wharncliffe...) Joyce said that this one has been in development for almost 10 years and they can't find a way to bring it to market at a good price point.

- JOULE: A cool little knife by Michael Reinhold. It reminds me of the Leaf Storm a little, and it is about the same size. This one is a modified warncliffe blade in jade G10. The entire knife is very angular and the blade looks almost like a miniature Yohimbo blade. Worth a look.

These are very interesting. Thank you Ted for taking the time. I am sure you didn't mind!