What you don't like about spyderco knives?

[dsm]

You should give it a try. They've got a Delica-like (Meadowlark), for example, which brings the finger choil which the Delica lacks. So it's not merely a dumbed down copy of regular Spyderco models. Their quality is good, too.

But I just saw a video where both the Delica and the Meadowlark were compared to a famous Chinese copycat brand, and well, not even the cheap Byrd could compete against the copycat's quality/price ratio... 15€ for a convincing clone with higher end steel than the twice as expensive Meadowlark, it's just really hard to beat.

Of course and fortunately there's still a place for Byrds. But as long as IP rights aren't properly enforced, they won't be able to tackle that sort of unfair competition head-on. They will always find themselves undercut by some local manufacturers, price-wise.

I’ll give them a look! Agreed on the undercutting, hard to compete on an uneven playing field.

[Team Sick]

What I don't like and understand about Spyderco, is that I replace every Paramilitary 2 and Para 3 pocket clip with an aftermarket deep carry clip. I have the feeling that 90% of the people that own these knives do the same thing. Some knives, like the Swayback, have the standard carry clip on it and it seems out of place with the whole knife as it was a collaboration between Spyderco and a custom designer. It seems "knit pickey", but sometimes it is a major point as it seems that the knife's design wasn't fully finished. Heck, even a wire pocket clip seems like there was some thought put into its design and function.

[sal]

Hi Dsm,

Welcome to our forum.

Also, to the rest, thanx for the input.

sal

[electro-static]

What I don't like and understand about Spyderco, is that I replace every Paramilitary 2 and Para 3 pocket clip with an aftermarket deep carry clip. I have the feeling that 90% of the people that own these knives do the same thing. Some knives, like the Swayback, have the standard carry clip on it and it seems out of place with the whole knife as it was a collaboration between Spyderco and a custom designer. It seems "knit pickey", but sometimes it is a major point as it seems that the knife's design wasn't fully finished. Heck, even a wire pocket clip seems like there was some thought put into its design and function.

I really enjoy the wire clips on my manix 2 LW and Spyderchef, I’d love to see more models with them. The standard spyderco spoon clip does do it’s job pretty well though, and is a lot less ugly than let’s say…., The standard civivi clip.

[Mini2white]

I like most things Spyderco. The only gripe I have is color scheme. IMHo they have painted themselves into a corner with color schemes tied to a particular steel. I feel this doesn’t allow for much variety. If you like K390 and dont like the blue then you are SOL. I like the green for the salt line but hate the yellow. The Magnacut native is only yellow. Pass. Also as new steels come around will they need to recycle colors or have less desirable color options? Of course this isnt a real problem. Just an annoyance.

I agree. I don't want a yellow Magnacut Native. I won't buy a second one to blade swap. Too many examples like this too. I love the red Military but 4V no way.

[Fireman]

Who would buy a deep carry factory Spyderco clip? After market charges $22 on up for a good Titanium one. I believe Spyderco would sell many thousands of them. Maybe make them and proceeds go to one of the charities that Spyderco supports?

[cabfrank]

Many would probably buy them, but, since Spyderco doesn't make them, and has their reasons, why not just buy an aftermarket clip if the original doesn't do it for you? I like the wire clip the best of any option. I find the other factory clips just fine as well, although the coating could certainly be improved.

[Araignee]

Many would probably buy them, but, since Spyderco doesn't make them, and has their reasons, why not just buy an aftermarket clip if the original doesn't do it for you?

I can think of two reasons :

1) It is inconvenient having to deal with a secondary company, which may or may not be as reliable as Spyderco.

2) Not everyone lives in the USA, where most of the aftermarket clip makers are located. Shipping fees can cost as much as the clip itself... and that's if the company is willing to ship abroad in the first place

Spyderco wants to let the aftermarket provide more clip options, I can understand it.
But what they could do, especially for their foreign customers, would be to officially team up with the aftermarket clip makers to provide an integrated offer. This would make it easier for one-stop shopping.

Of course this'd come with its own challenges (fee sharing, inventory management, etc). But it wouldn't hurt to at least organise an item-limited, time-limited, small trial.

[Fireman]

A clip can make the difference between me carrying the knife or not depending on my clothing choices and carry. I also prefer a deeper carry to have the knife more secure and not raise eyebrows in areas where taking responsibility for your safety and ability to cut things is shocking.

[Albatross]

What I don't like is the same as what I do like, ironically. The amount of choice Spyderco offers is both good and bad. Variety is the spice of life, but too much can make it hard to be content with what you have.

I agree with Albatross. The tyranny of choice! Learning to be content with what we have is a laudable life skill.

Albatross, can you fix the typo in your signature? It’s “designing in the dark,” not “deigning”.


What I dislike from Spyderco has already been covered upthread. Overly thick blades and the black painted clips. DLC all the black clips! When it bothers me I strip the paint chemically, leaving dull gray stainless steel.

My signature is a quoted text, not my own.

[Coastal]

I replace clips to make knives more comfortable to use, not because I need to worry about deep carry where I live. Some replacements are deep, some shallow. If whatever clip comes with the knife is already as comfortable as possible, deep or shallow, I use it. Certain MXG clips are so good for me on the PM2 that it's a cost I simply factor into the price of a new knife. Same with Lynch and RGT clips on other knives.

I wouldn't want Spyderco to add anything to the cost of their clips, because it's more likely than not I'll replace them anyway.

[sal]

Hi Albatross,

Sorry for the bad sprelling on your use of my quote. You have my permission to correct it if you choose.

sal

[cjk]

Many would probably buy them, but, since Spyderco doesn't make them, and has their reasons, why not just buy an aftermarket clip if the original doesn't do it for you?

I can think of two reasons :

1) It is inconvenient having to deal with a secondary company, which may or may not be as reliable as Spyderco.

2) Not everyone lives in the USA, where most of the aftermarket clip makers are located. Shipping fees can cost as much as the clip itself... and that's if the company is willing to ship abroad in the first place

Spyderco wants to let the aftermarket provide more clip options, I can understand it.
But what they could do, especially for their foreign customers, would be to officially team up with the aftermarket clip makers to provide an integrated offer. This would make it easier for one-stop shopping.

Of course this'd come with its own challenges (fee sharing, inventory management, etc). But it wouldn't hurt to at least organise an item-limited, time-limited, small trial.

In the US, several of the knife shops also carry Lynch clips. It would seem like a no-brainer for a shop like Heinnie Haynes to stock Lynch clips. Lynch does ship internationally. If enough of their customs ask for it, they might just do it.

[Coastal]

Hi Albatross,

Sorry for the bad sprelling on your use of my quote. You have my permission to correct it if you choose.

sal

But it's Spyderco canon...

[Wartstein]

What I don't like and understand about Spyderco, is that I replace every Paramilitary 2 and Para 3 pocket clip with an aftermarket deep carry clip. I have the feeling that 90% of the people that own these knives do the same thing. Some knives, like the Swayback, have the standard carry clip on it and it seems out of place with the whole knife as it was a collaboration between Spyderco and a custom designer. It seems "knit pickey", but sometimes it is a major point as it seems that the knife's design wasn't fully finished. Heck, even a wire pocket clip seems like there was some thought put into its design and function.

There was this viewtopic.php?f=2&t=94236 recent thread, suggesting that probably not "90% of the people" want a deep carry clip.

Now I know you're talking specifically about PM2 and Para 3, and I get that the latter has a particularily "high/shallow" carry AND is a smaller knife, so quite some more people than usually might want a deeper carry indeed.

Generally though (and on the PM2) - I think even among the forum folks here, who like to modify their knives, not "90%" are pro deep carry, let alone in the general market (there will be also those who see that their favorite youtube "reviewers" do deep carry and just assume that this is cool without really trying and comparing for themselves what actually works better for them).

To me personally deep carry clips are almost always a big no (unless one has to conceil a knife more) on folders larger than let's say a Chaparral: Deep carry makes a knife feel larger in pocket, makes it a bit less convenient to draw, places the finger further away from the opening hole when drawing, and the knife probably was designed with a "regular" clip in mind style- and ergo-wise (to me Spydies with aftermarket deep carry clips look just weird or even a bit ugly, but that's completely subjective of course)

[Albatross]

Hi Albatross,

Sorry for the bad sprelling on your use of my quote. You have my permission to correct it if you choose.

sal

Hi Sal,

No need to apologize and thank you for giving your permission.

[dsm]

Hi Dsm,

Welcome to our forum.

Also, to the rest, thanx for the input.

sal

Hi Sal! Thank you. Enjoying my time here so far, and really appreciate all you and the team do.

[weeping minora]

This is a great question, cvrcm. Welcome to the forum.


At the top of my list of dislikes (and honestly, the only real change I wish they would universally make) is the current geometry that is implemented within many of the models in the Spydieverse. Blade thickness and behind-the-edge geometries could be reduced to facilitate better knife performance, IME/IMO. Albeit, doing so will increase prices; including the attentive need for further investment in Quality Control, which will in-and-of-itself, increase prices even further.


This may be one of the most shunned opinions here on the forum, but I dislike the blatant "steel chasing" company model that Spyderco has let take the driver seat within their company. I understand that steel "innovation" (being implementation of a multitude of steels into their knives) has been a large focus for Spyderco for many, many, years; this now seems to be their company directive anymore, resulting in iteration after iteration of cash-cow models being run as exclusives and/or sprints, whilst seemingly eschewing any truly new in-house, or collaborative designs.


I dislike the "exclusivity" (extremely sparse units produced) within sprint runs. I believe Spyderco knows darn well that 5,000 units of certain models with a new (or limited) steel and color combo will completely sell out, however their contention to continually release 1,200 or less, is asinine, even if I myself choose not to participate. The pipeline is already clogged with sprint and exclusive runs, and the collector market is king, so ya may as well quadruple down on that front.


I dislike the relentless slew of "new models"; most of which belong to the basis of +/- 1" of difference to an already existing model (ex. Para 3, Endela, Stretch 2 XL, Microjimbo/Yojumbo, Lil Native/Native Chief, etc.), which has led to lazy progressive development for new models within the company, IMO (*knife laws omitted here, as there are plenty of models that are either made specifically because of, or happen to fall within the legality of, such laws).


Last and not least, I dislike the apprehension to express certain Constant Quality Improvement (CQI) implementations that Spyderco will either address, or include (without addressing), in certain models, with little to no depth of explanation regarding what that improvement may be for the End-Line-User (ELU). The most intriguing example, to me, is in heat-treatments. The gunshyness of releasing Magnacut, partly due to "nailing the HT", immediately comes to mind. I understand that this is a nuanced (and subjective) perception of "improvement", however, CQI itself predicates on the premises of incremental change. I believe consumers/customers/ELUs at this point are knowledgeable enough to understand that expectation of improvement is predicated within a set of boundaries, in this case based on composition of whatever steel it may be regarding (*steel composition, to the best of my understanding, is published and completely available to the public, if looked, or asked for). Just because a certain buyer may feel contrary to Spyderco's improvement, should not explicitly mean that Spyderco should remain so reluctant as a company to withhold their opinion of expressed improvement on what is being offered to the ELU. Plenty of non-descript information could be shared, as-in, "we're updating HT for x (steel), to fit the purpose of bettering y (toughness, sharpenability, etc.)", or something along those lines. HRC, HT recipe, exact composition of batch, or specific melt of steel, etc. does not need to be discussed.


Just my 2 pennies.

[Farmer]

I dislike the "exclusivity" (extremely sparse units produced) within sprint runs. I believe Spyderco knows darn well that 5,000 units of certain models with a new (or limited) steel and color combo will completely sell out, however their contention to continually release 1,200 or less, is asinine, even if I myself choose not to participate.

This chimes with me. I would guess there was much more demand for the MagnaCut Mule than is normally seen for other variants. Making a bigger batch would have been a win for everyone waiting for the steel to finally appear in production models and presumably it would also have been a win for Spyderco's bank balance. There aren't many other firms I can think of where I am frustrated by not being able to give them money!

[Fireman]

I love so many things about Spyderco knives… Most I do swap the clip though. Just bought three more clips that I wish were Spyderco Factory ones.