Spyderco UTILITY Knife...

[Bill1170]

Here’s my drafty brain first draft:

The blade should be retractable/deployable with one hand. Not a folding design, and fat enough for a good firm grip. A lightly molded-in stippled texture and palm swell would be great. Magnetically restrained storage for spare blades in the handle. FRN with metal liners/inserts at the nose. Tool-free blade change and access to spare blades. Bright color(s) so it is hard to lose on jobsites. Pocket clip optional.

[bobnikon]

I too am surprised that this thread is still in motion. SSSsssooooo for the sake of conversation;

I believe the current offerings are all made in China. A ute made anywhere else will cost at least 4 times as much based on the Yuan/dollar value. That's why they're all made in China. I\Peer and I looked at the Milwaukee and felt it was a reasonable performer. Though you are saying that it is not holding up. That's another story.

...

In order to be successful, the product would really have to be significantly better. I think we would have to make it in China, but we control design and materials and our makers appreciate the fact that we want them to be good performers, rather than "cheap Chinese junk".

I'm listening.

sal

Sal,

I think this is the fundamental logic error... At least from my perspective. I don't think you should try to compete with the low-end offerings. I think you should own the high-end niche. Just like you aren't going to displace the gas station knives from the pockets of the masses, this ute should not try and fall in the $20 range. Make it solid, and Spyderco and charge a premium.

Lots of models you make are taking a chance. One could say you crowd your own market with the variety of models and materials you offer. And yet you make them and we buy them. I think if you make a great piece it will sell.

Just my $0.02

[phaust]

I think it'd fit right in with the ClipiTool line, which are $91 MSRP. I doubt Sal is talking cheaper than that bobnikon.

G10 handle (like the ClipiTools/Tenacious line/etc.), regular (awesome) Spyderco handle, hole opener, maybe back lock?

[Bolster]

Here's my best guess at what would be a market hit, after discussing utes with a dozen contractors or so:

1. A method of securing the blade. This seems to be the #1 problem with the cheap utes.
2. Easy open (ie, spyder hole) and bias to close, but no lock closed.
3. Nice grippy quality scales ... G-10 would be great, FRN would be fine ... in bright colors.
4. Pocket clip a must.

I think any Spyderco lock would do: lockback, comp-lock, CBBL, stop-lock, your choice. I suspect that if some sort of flipper design could be engineered, you'd have additional built-in play-value for the contractors. They like to brag and show off, so why not? Most contractors are just big sweaty hairy kids who wanna have fun.

Personally, I'd like to see:

1. An uber-ergo design like the Dodo's handle. That would help it stand out from the "another rectangular folding ute knife" on the marketplace now.
2. More of the edge available than the "tiny triangle of blade" that many utes offer.
3. I think SpyderEdge blades are a fantastic idea! That would be ideal for materials like carpet, roof shingles, tar-paper, etc.
4. Not liner lock.

If it could sell for less than a Benjamin, that would be swell.

[PeaceInOurTime]

Thanks for all the info, Sal
I think a knife like this at least deserves the conversation.

I'd be on board with everything Bolster described.


I'd take any lock and any clip currently used by Spyderco is fine by me -- four-way positionable would be nice too.

If the blade "housing" is on the thin side, I wouldn't be opposed to a wider platform where your thumb would sit (i.e. Cobra Hood-esque?).

Is it weird to want full exposed steel liners? Being able to easily replace the scales would be nice for a knife that gets banged up.

[aicolainen]

I'm not sure what direction I wan't to see this take..
On the one hand I'm not a contractor, so maybe I'm not in the target audience either way.
However, after getting the Gerber Prybrid some time back, my perception of utility knives has changed significantly. Before that one I only had the flimsy break off type Ute's, that was nice to have laying around in my workshop and toolbox, but nothing I bothered to carry.
The Prybrid is different. I'm not sure it's all that good, but with a solid steel and G10 construction it's very confidence inspiring. And it has proven to be very useful, both as a pry tool and as a cutting tool. And it has saved my folders from a quite a few risky cuts.
Again, I'm not a contractor, so my use and experience is from home repair/improvement projects on my spare time, but it has convinced me to the point that I'm going to get a EDC-able utility knife. Not to familiar with that market space, so unless something pops up out of nowhere, I'll be getting a Big I designs TPT slide to fill that niche.

So, there is no question that I'm as interested and aware of utility knives as I ever was, but I'm not sure what Spyderco can come up with, that would justify or even tempt me to replace the Prybrid or TPT slide.
Not being a tradesman, I'm hesitant to invest big money into a full size, working tool Ute, but that's probably where the bigger market potential would be for Spyderco.
The TPT slide isn't cheap, but being an EDC item that will potentially be carried a lot more than the Prybrid,I'm willing to spend a little more in this category. Still though, how much improvement can be made upon the current offerings in this category, and while the audience in this category seems willing to accept a premium price tag, is the pond big enough for Spyderco to jump in and play?

[Evil D]

As much as I love my Spyderco knives and fancy steels, if they work out something like this with a proper thumb hole (or even just a flipper like this is) I'd be very interested.



https://www.knifecenter.com/item/CAMUMC ... um-handles


The finger choil concept could be taken a few steps further with this idea, since so much of the "blade" isn't actual cutting edge, so you could add jimping or an index finger choil just behind the utility blade, I have no doubt that the minds at Spyderco's R&D could come up with a really ground breaking design for utility knives and it would be a hit if priced right.

[yablanowitz]

Designing a positive blade retention system that will stand up over time and support tool-free blade changes would be a good opening challenge.

[Bolster]

As much as I love my Spyderco knives and fancy steels, if they work out something like this with a proper thumb hole (or even just a flipper like this is) I'd be very interested.



https://www.knifecenter.com/item/CAMUMC ... um-handles

Wow!! Somehow I missed this one. Yeah, ditto to everthing EvilD said. Though $200 is a bit pricey! But honestly, if it were a Spyderco, I'd pay it (and learn to live with the framelock). I'd use a knife like this a *lot* more than any other Spyderco I've paid $200 for, so, yeah. Bring it on.

[DLTJordan]

The CHUB Flipper shown above convinced me that this idea really has some merit. I'd love to see a Spyderco take on it.

[Elshauno]

I found these on Amazon

[aicolainen]

The CHUB is definitively onto something. Not enough there to make me want du depart with $200 + the cost and agony involved in overseas shipping these days, but enough for me to realize there might actually be a void here for Spyderco to fill.

Ohh.. and I ordered the TPT slide. It was the plan all along, so I can’t blame this thread entirely, but it certainly didn’t slow down the process.

[Bolster]

I ordered the TPT slide. It was the plan all along, so I can’t blame this thread entirely, but it certainly didn’t slow down the process.

That's a sweeeet looking little tool. Kind of "Atwood Tool meets Ute Knife."

The thing that we can't tell by looking at photos of folding utes is whether blade retention is decent or not. I found an inexpensive (and unattractive) Olympia folding ute that appears to have a screw-down retention system (and an unfortunate ledge behind the blade that I'm sure will get in the way). I'm holding out hope.

Also, have read that the Fiskars Pro Utility has some sort of double locking mechanism. It's obscenely large IMO but kinda cool looking, and is a bit "Spydercoesque" in design...at least, proves that a folding ute doesn't have to look boring and rectangular. However, reading around, people complain about the ergos of the Fiskars...looks cool but doesn't fit the hand well, forced the hand too far back, etc. So "design for the sake of design" doesn't work, either.

What we need here is a sprinkle of Salification, Ericification, and a bit of Spyderco magic.

[Bolster]

I asked a question about how to improve the folding utility knife over at Garage Journal. 33 responses so far. By my tally, this is what I see people mentioning for "want":

G-10 / grippy - 111111
Blade Retention - 11111
Easy Open/One handed - 11111
Thin - 1111
Ergonomic/rounded - 111
Pocket Clip - 111
Automatic/assist - 11
Thick handle - 11
Easy blade change - 1
Tip down or up carry options - 1
Longer blade - 1
Carabiner - 1
Made in USA - 1
Stainless/Ti - 1

[olywa]

Picked up the Milwaukee blister 2-pack a few months back at Home Depot for $9 and change. One has a synthetic body with steel liners and the other a metal frame with blade storage. The push button action is superb, there is zero rattle either open or closed, there is zero lateral blade play, deep-carry wire clips, easy blade swap and the ergos are perfect for hard use, with or without gloves. What am I missing here?

[ladybug93]

What am I missing here?

nothing.

[PeaceInOurTime]

What am I missing here?

I haven't owned/used that particular knife, but it sounds like it suffers from the same problem as all the other cheap folding utility knives: it has sub-par quality and construction, and ultimately, it will fail.

Would you be ok with Spydero using the same quality standards of that cheap utility knife on their knives? Spyderco could do a much better job making a utility knife. I don't think it's crazy to want one made to Spyderco's quality standards that will last a lifetime.

This is like saying "Why does Spyderco need to make knives? There are plenty of cheap gas station knives that can technically cut things. When it fails, just buy another one."

There are a few high quality folding utility knives on the market. They do sell. There is a market for it. I will buy one, but I'd prefer if it was made by Spyderco

[phaust]

I found these on Amazon

They are around as different brands. You can get them in bulk from the source for 35-40$. It's worth noting the manufacturer doesn't list the titanium is 6al4v titanium, just "titanium alloy", even if the resellers do.

[aicolainen]

Not sure if this is a new version, or just highlighted in this video, but there is also a micarta version of the Chaves

[TkoK83Spy]

My buddy at work just popped in with one of these. Pretty cool, but I would never spend this kind of money on a box cutter!