Spyderco Forums

Anyone here like them? Very good quality, stainless steels and Zytel/Kraton handles and more. Thoughts?

Great tv show idea: The Adventures of Spyder and Katz. World-wide survival adventures. The main characters will feature heavy use of Spyderco and Katz knives.

Can't say I'm overly impressed. Their "about us" page says they use AUS-6 and AUS-8, which I think most here would find underwhelming and that their knives are made in Japan and Spain, but don't seem to list either steel or country of origin for any specific knife.

Deacon, thanks for pointing that out. One of the steel alloys they say they use, in different websites I've read, is something called "XT-70 Stainless Steel" renamed from Aus-6 and Aus-8. Does the fact that the knives are made in Japan and Spain automatically = higher quality because those countries have a history of quality blades?

From the website:

" XT80 & XT70 Stainless Steel is a proprietary type of steel used by Katz. XT80 tests at 58-59 on the Rockwell “C” scale, and XT70 tests at 56 on the Rockwell “C” scale. With the resilience of this excellent Stainless Steel, it hold and retains an edge to the high standard for which Katz Knives is known for."

" XT70 – AUS6A – 56 Rockwell “C” Scale Hardness
XT80 – AUS8A – 58-59 Rockwell “C” Scale Hardness"

I had been looking at the Kagemuska with Ivory Micarta handles but at 64 years old and having fooled around with knives for well over 55 years owning several thousand and every one I ever saw that I wanted I always put lots of research into a new knife.I read the adds, everything on all the knife forums and most important to me every YouTube video I Can find on it. Anyway I found too much in my research that I didn't like and forgot about that oneone

Katz knives was around, still making the same models they do today, back in the early 1990s.

An odd company where "innovation" seems to be a dirty word. Back then, Katz was competitive with Spyderco. those days are long gone. I was a teenager when Katz Knives was founded. I do like a couple of their fixed blade models. But their folders have fallen behind the times. I still recall my first job at Burger King in Astoria New York. One day, I saw a delivery guy bringing in a delivery to a different place on the same block. I looked down and saw a zytel handle with zytel clip that I recognized as the basic Katz model one-hander clipped to the top of the guy's pants pocket. Only Katz model I ever saw in the wild. Once again, teenager back then.

An odd romp through memory lane. I guess their knives sell since they're still in business and still selling the very same models they did way back when. But you practically never hear of the company anymore. Been that way for almost two decades! Must admit, I do like their innovative (back then) thumb ramps for one-handed opening. Sadly, those ramps were never copied by anyone. Sal's thumb-hole opener was just more popular. Everyone ripped off Sal's idea.

Katz is one of those rare companies that stands still but still seems to make a profit. Ironically, the company stands still longer than Rolex, and Pelikan. And honestly, that's saying a lot!!

SpyderEdgeForever wrote:Deacon, thanks for pointing that out. Does the fact that the knives are made in Japan and Spain automatically = higher quality because those countries have a history of quality blades?

Not really. There are manufacturers in both countries capable of turning out excellent knives. However, some of those manufacturers are also willing to "build to a price", even if that means building something mediocre, because they're not putting their name on it, and other manufacturers only capable of mediocre quality. The same can be said for virtually every country, including the USA, with at least one manufacturer capable of doing quality work.