Spyderco ARK Proto

[tvenuto]

Right there with ya gbelleh. My FNX-45 is dead sexay.

[PWork]

[quote="gbelleh" No one's opinion about aesthetics is absolute.

What looks cheap to one, might look efficient and purposeful to another.[/quote]


Yeah, what he said. :spyder:

[ManixFan]

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

John Lydgate

"Manixfans posts are too long for all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time."

-Tvenuto

So now you are allowed to make personal attacks without consequence? I don't think so.......grow up.

[tvenuto]

Haha I thought we were growing thicker skin? I'm sure I read that somewhere...

[ManixFan]

Again, for the specific application the Ark was created for, FRN makes a **** of a lot more sense. It is meant to be worn 24/7 on the neck... On duty through sweat, in the SHOWER, wherever it stays on your person. FRN's volcano grip will be superior to the peel ply G10 in terms of grip when wet. Back to the knife being constantly wet, again, FRN will stay true to form day in and day out while peel ply G10 will dry out and fade.

My post was not meant to attack a preference... But facts are facts here and my post meant to point out why FRN was chosen...It wasn't meant to "cheapify" the knife...I'm fully aware that everyone is entitled to their own opinion/preference but this concern that it went to FRN instead of G10 is purely an aesthetic concern. How valid anyone's opinion on this is pretty irrelevant to the point I was making. If anyone feels that I made their opinion less valid with my post...Grow some ball hairs...

I recall seeing the original proto in G10 and it's just regular ol flat black peel ply G10..It's laughable to me how arguments here are pumping it up as "elegant" and how saddened they are that a military girl's neck knife is less so because it is now in FRN. I definitely own more G10 than FRN knives in my collection so don't think for a second that I'm "hating" on G10 :rolleyes: But yes... FRN gets trashed on constantly on the forums and having nothing but positive experiences with my so called ugly plastic handled guns and knives...I will post a rebuttal and defend it. Every time.

You are entitled to your opinion but when you get personally insulting......I will be in your face every time. As for your "Grow some ball hairs" comment, really?!

I could suggest the same because such a comment is not acceptable even from prepubescent kid and I wouldn't hesitate to put anybody in their place "every time" for such an unnecessary and personal attack. Give your head a shake.......you are entitled to politely disagree but to insult someone on a personal level who disagrees with your opinion is pretty low......and ironically enough given your statement, something that should be left behind in childhood.

[ManixFan]

Haha I thought we were growing thicker skin? I'm sure I read that somewhere...

Thicker skin to honest feedback.....but of course you interpret things as they suit you and not as they were intended.......conveniently deflecting from your own unacceptable personal attack by intentionally misquoting me again. To take a page from your flawed book......would you be behaving so childishly in front of Sal?

Going back to work now......I hope that you will just move on but I'm sure that you will come back with yet another personal attack since that seems to be your MO. It would be nice to be pleasantly surprised if you would choose to do otherwise and get back to the business of discussing knives and not taking someone's honest feedback so personally. It is entirely OK to disagree with someone......it is unacceptable to resort to personal attacks.

[bearfacedkiller]

Lighten up Francis. :D

You are long winded. It was a fair jab and I believe it was meant in jest.

Are you related to Nutnfancy? :eek:

Seriously, you are kind of long winded and you certainly know that when jump up on your soapbox someone might try to knock you off of it. You see your post as constructive criticism but some may see it as a rant.

I am not trying to flame you just giving some perspective. Your opinions are always welcome.

[FCM415]

Hey man take it easy!

[Johnnie1801]

The ARK seems like a cool little knife but more in the context of an EDC blade for me rather than it's intended purpose. If you are out camping/hiking in the mountains I'm sure it would be pretty useful and if the weather changes (as it frequently does) you don't have to worry about it.

If you don't like the handle you can always remove it and make your own scales from whatever material you like. Likewise, if the sheath is too big then grab your jig-saw and some sandpaper.

One question I have is about knife laws on military bases. I'm guessing that US bases would be subject to military law and I was wondering what the DoD's position is on carrying knives on base? I am no expert on the Middle East but I know from experience that in Europe quite a few bases have host nation security and some operate host nation laws, which would make the ARK illegal.

[FCM415]

^
That is crazy (if I understand properly)...

A soldier can't carry a knife :confused:

[bearfacedkiller]

I wrote this in the off topic thread and wanted to copy it here for those that do not wander over there often.

In all seriousness the ARK is a purpose built tool for a real scenario that is truly heinous and I hope that it helps those who need it and I hope it is not needed as much as it unfortunately probably is. Spyderco makes a difference in the world and that is a fact. We are spoiled and sometimes self entitled as knife afis and we want this knife to be what we want it to be but we must remember that as much as Spyderco caterers to our gratuitous desires some of their products are real world tools. The ARK, like the whale rescue, is just another example of Spyderco's efforts to make the world a better place. I can let this tool be what it is because Spyderco has made me a bunch of fluted ti goodness and some cf and damascus Caly goodness and all kinds of things to satisfy my desires.

[ManixFan]

Hidden Content

This board requires you to be registered and logged-in to view hidden content.

Sorry if you can't see the above post......just trying out the new Forum posting options and as the post is thread relevant but not directly related to the knife I've spared any "guests" from the effort of reading my post. Since I've never tried this option before......let's see if it works now.

[ManixFan]

Off Topic

Hey man take it easy!

I will if you will. Deal? :)

P.S. Some very interesting new tools in the Forum toolbox......just view my above post when logged out. Cool eh?

[bearfacedkiller]

I think it is safe to say that the air has been cleared and we can move on. I hope the Francis quote didn't actually bother you, it is from a movie and was meant to bring some levity to the disagreement and not to attack you. So i am just gonna...

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[ManixFan]

No problem Darby.....I agree that its time to move on.

But.........

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Had to look it up since it is an oldie......but is this the movie you were referring to?

Hmmm, not sure if that makes things any better :confused:
.........but I'll hold off on penciling you into the list for now. :D

[bearfacedkiller]

Yeah, that's it. It is called Stripes and it is a Bill Murray classic. Plus it has some other great actors. "Lighten up Francis" is kind of a famous quote from the movie. I would watch it if you can, one of my all time favs. Yeah, kind of old, from the early 80's.

[ManixFan]

Yeah, that's it. It is called Stripes and it is a Bill Murray classic. Plus it has some other great actors. "Lighten up Francis" is kind of a famous quote from the movie. I would watch it if you can, one of my all time favs. Yeah, kind of old, from the early 80's.

Yeah, I remember it too but haven't seen it for a long time either.....perhaps time for a re-watch? BTW - I saw it when it still was considered a fairly new release in the mid to late 80's at a friend's house when it came to video since I was still very young when it first came out in '81 and my parents were not in favour of going to movie theatres as they were highly religious.....or maybe just unable to afford it with a family of 4 kids and just used that as a convenient excuse?

[SpeedHoles]

Any female soldiers in the house here?

Be interesting to hear some input from the intended possible end user/carrier...
Rather unfortunate circumstances that brought this idea to light, sad to know there would be enough demand for such a specific product... but that is reality.

Here we are smashing on keyboards bickering over colors and appearance of some polymers, when there are apparently girls out there trying to do a job defending others and they have to deal with worrying daily about things that this knife may be used to prevent...

But who knows, I'm sure they'd have some input on what it should look like as well!

[John Shirley]

I apologize if any of the misconceptions about the ARK are due to me explaining badly~ in my defense, when I was having the initial discussions with Sal, I was using an incredibly slow- like, 40 minutes to an hour just to log onto my email slow- internet connection from a little base in RC North, above Camp Marmal.

More male than female deployed service members are sexually assaulted. (More male than female SMs are sexually assaulted overall, as well, according to recently released DoD numbers, but the ARK was specifically designed to protect deployed troops.)

This is not a problem of protecting female SMs, it's a problem of protecting US SMs in general.

Also: I always hoped the ARK would be made in H-1. I also feel than FRN is the ideal handle material. On my first deployment, I used a FRN-handled knife during several firefights, and accidentally stomped my Native down into the mud of the mortar pit once and didn't find it for a couple of days. FRN is plenty strong, and I am greatful Spyderco was willing to make the investment to use it. If anyone wants a G10 ARK in a different steel or blade configuration, Sam makes a handful periodically. If you send me an email to JRShirley(at)gmail.com, I'll let you know the next time he has any available- I have a 440C ARK-C on a G Clip, but I plan on carrying the Spyderco production ARK beginning next week. :)

Hope that helps.

John

[John Shirley]

Oh, also, I have seen a few prohibitions against deployed SMs carrying "large" knives. These have all been issued by regional US military leadership, say 3rd Brigade, and have obviously been aimed at maintaining a good PR image. I have seen no prohibition against carry of any small knife.