Whats the next hot piece?

[GarageBoy]

More thin grinds please on whatever model. New models and designs are fun, but my preference is thin grinds

[Deadboxhero]

Personally I'm no longer interested in any variation of a mainstream model (PM2, Manix 2, Shaman, etc). I've had my fill of all those. I don't care how good the steel's supposed to be. What I am interested in is a brand new model. Whether it's a new Spyderco design or a collaboration model, I'd like to see something fresh. I still like my PM2s, Para 3s, and Manix 2s but I've been carrying my collaboration knives more. So I'm looking for something to get me excited again

Same. My daily knife needs will never begin to require a super-steel (I rarely actually need to take my knife out of my pocket to begin with), so this seemingly never-ending search for incrementally better steels is overkill from my perspective. I would much rather see new designs in "inferior" steels than the 1000th PM2 variant in the unobtanium of the day.

I'd rather see high performance then just novel shapes for the sake of shapes.

Hi Shawn, high performance steelsl are great if you can make use of it. I've bought almost all of the steels that Spyderco's offered (except 10V and 15V). I liked to check out how they sharpen and cut cardboard etc. Some of them actually got some use when I worked in a warehouse for awhile. Even there it didn't really matter which knife/steel I had on me. They all worked fine for what I was doing. Eventually that job became more administrative and now I don't even work there. My new job is working in my home office doing CAD. The most work my knives see is opening cutting up boxes. I still have and like all my PM2s, Manix 2s etc. I still carry and use them but I also enjoy some of the different models that come out of the Taichung plant. The Sliverax, Mantra, and Paysan are favorites and I'd like to see more of something along those lines. Not like those but different like those are. The shape of that Sliverax is fantastic. For me it's the shape (Grip, negative blade angle, etc) that's high performance. I like how S30V performs just fine. So I don't need the steel to be any more high performance than it already is

I'm curious, what do you use your knives for where high performance can be so beneficial? Not trying to be negative, I'm honestly interested

I'm getting the impression you think of me as only "a 15V or nothing" kind of guy.

We often try to put things in boxes to simplify things but 15V is not my religion and I've noticed people in the past have written me off as a high carbide volume only kind of guy.


I am an advocate for edge performance; sharpenability, cutting ability, edge stability.

Keep in mind, I have also advised and assisted Spyderco with AEB-L which is of course the antithesis of CPM 15V, I have also worked with Spyderco on CPM MagnaCut, M398 and there will be a mule in 19C27 that I am currently working on the heat treatment for.

So, it's quite an eclectic mix and they all work differently with trade offs however the microstructure is key for the best edge performance.

For my custom work I have made knives from lowly 8670 carbon tool steel all the way up to Ferro Titanit WFN.

So it's not just carbide monster steels, there's just a shortage of people that work with high carbide volume materials because they are expensive and difficult to make knives out of, so I suppose that's where I stand out in such a crowded and highly talented market of many, many knife makers.

My experience comes from
Kitchen, hunting, outdoors, in the test lab and workshop.

I was a knife reviewer and even worked retail at a few knife shops and worked as a knife sharpener.

I used to work as an EMT but am currently a full-time knife maker and Dad.

My original interest in knives was from a sharpening standpoint.

Working as an EMT it was my profession to be inquisitive, decisive and rule things out to get to the underlying causes and solutions.

So, I like combining my love for using knives with my love for sharpening and my love for understanding how things work and how to make them better.

Way back when however, I didn't see the need to chase fancy knives or steel at the time since I understood how to sharpen; I felt it made everything moot with different steels etc.

This changed however, once I got my first high performance knife and sharpened it, I was completely shocked at the difference in sharpening and cutting performance thanks to the geometry, heat treatment and steel.


It's a night and day difference.

So, what makes high performance knives so fantastic is that one can basically carry a "Lamborghini" everywhere they go, it doesn't take gas, batteries or ammunition to enjoy and combined with good stones, strops and technique the enjoyment gets supercharged and almost never ends.


Often underlooked and under appreciated in our community is that how the knife sharpens is also a huge part of the performance, and the details of what makes a knife want to take a crispy edge rather than an edge that fights to get sharp can be hidden in the nuances of microstructure (only if sharpening technique and abrasives are covered of course.)

Hope that helps and you're welcome to a different opinion, that's the best part about the knife community, there is something for everyone.

[Albatross]

Keep in mind, I have also advised and assisted Spyderco with AEB-L which is of course the antithesis of CPM 15V, I have also worked with Spyderco on CPM MagnaCut, M398 and there will be a mule in 19C27 that I am currently working on the heat treatment for.

It's pretty cool watching Spyderco find their equivalent to a Bos heat treatment.

That's an impressive bit of work in a very short amount of time, sir.

[Deadboxhero]

Keep in mind, I have also advised and assisted Spyderco with AEB-L which is of course the antithesis of CPM 15V, I have also worked with Spyderco on CPM MagnaCut, M398 and there will be a mule in 19C27 that I am currently working on the heat treatment for.

It's pretty cool watching Spyderco find their equivalent to a Bos heat treatment.

That's an impressive bit of work in a very short amount of time, sir.

Spyderco is very special.

At the very top these guys are edge dudes, when I'm having a meeting in the conference room with Eric at Shot Show, we pull out a microscope and look at edges and discuss things.

You're not going to find that anywhere else in the production knife setting.

"The Edge is a Ghost" and
Sal and Eric are ghost hunters and want us to all to share in the "hunt"

It is thrilling how something so simple that we often don't think about is so wonderfully complex.

We should also know that utilizing over 40 different knife steels it's not efficient for business.

Even for me with my custom work, it is extremely expensive to use a lot of different steels and oftentimes when I give advice to new knife makers I tell them to only use either one steel or only a few different steels so they don't go broke endlessly building and refining protocols for different steels.

There is a careful balancing act behind the scenes at Spyderco that is not often discussed publicly by Spyderco perhaps out of modesty; Spyderco manages to gracefully balance, passion and business.

Business keeps the lights on but passion drives the engine, so Spyderco is a unique entity and it's because it is a physical expression of Sal, Gal and Eric.

It is because of this we get cool things, like geeky heat treats and steels, I am simply grateful.

[Xformer]

A Nirvana lightweight (Same blade geometry but G10 and comp lock).

A Slysz Bowie 2. Steel insert + stand off instead of that ugly backspacer.

[bdblue]

I could imagine the PM2 Salt in Magnacut will be a pretty "hot next piece"...

Oooh, what about a PM2 LIGHTWEIGHT in Magnacut.

[Naperville]

What is the next hot piece?

It must be the sales numbers of the Spyderco Native Chief! Spyderco released 6 different Native Chiefs after the sale of at least 10 different models in 2022? People luv the Spyderco Native Chief! Exciting knife.

COME GIT SOME!

[Sharp Guy]

Same. My daily knife needs will never begin to require a super-steel (I rarely actually need to take my knife out of my pocket to begin with), so this seemingly never-ending search for incrementally better steels is overkill from my perspective. I would much rather see new designs in "inferior" steels than the 1000th PM2 variant in the unobtanium of the day.

I'd rather see high performance then just novel shapes for the sake of shapes.

Hi Shawn, high performance steelsl are great if you can make use of it. I've bought almost all of the steels that Spyderco's offered (except 10V and 15V). I liked to check out how they sharpen and cut cardboard etc. Some of them actually got some use when I worked in a warehouse for awhile. Even there it didn't really matter which knife/steel I had on me. They all worked fine for what I was doing. Eventually that job became more administrative and now I don't even work there. My new job is working in my home office doing CAD. The most work my knives see is opening cutting up boxes. I still have and like all my PM2s, Manix 2s etc. I still carry and use them but I also enjoy some of the different models that come out of the Taichung plant. The Sliverax, Mantra, and Paysan are favorites and I'd like to see more of something along those lines. Not like those but different like those are. The shape of that Sliverax is fantastic. For me it's the shape (Grip, negative blade angle, etc) that's high performance. I like how S30V performs just fine. So I don't need the steel to be any more high performance than it already is

I'm curious, what do you use your knives for where high performance can be so beneficial? Not trying to be negative, I'm honestly interested

I'm getting the impression you think of me as only "a 15V or nothing" kind of guy.

We often try to put things in boxes to simplify things but 15V is not my religion and I've noticed people in the past have written me off as a high carbide volume only kind of guy.


I am an advocate for edge performance; sharpenability, cutting ability, edge stability.

Keep in mind, I have also advised and assisted Spyderco with AEB-L which is of course the antithesis of CPM 15V, I have also worked with Spyderco on CPM MagnaCut, M398 and there will be a mule in 19C27 that I am currently working on the heat treatment for.

So, it's quite an eclectic mix and they all work differently with trade offs however the microstructure is key for the best edge performance.

For my custom work I have made knives from lowly 8670 carbon tool steel all the way up to Ferro Titanit WFN.

So it's not just carbide monster steels, there's just a shortage of people that work with high carbide volume materials because they are expensive and difficult to make knives out of, so I suppose that's where I stand out in such a crowded and highly talented market of many, many knife makers.

My experience comes from
Kitchen, hunting, outdoors, in the test lab and workshop.

I was a knife reviewer and even worked retail at a few knife shops and worked as a knife sharpener.

I used to work as an EMT but am currently a full-time knife maker and Dad.

My original interest in knives was from a sharpening standpoint.

Working as an EMT it was my profession to be inquisitive, decisive and rule things out to get to the underlying causes and solutions.

So, I like combining my love for using knives with my love for sharpening and my love for understanding how things work and how to make them better.

Way back when however, I didn't see the need to chase fancy knives or steel at the time since I understood how to sharpen; I felt it made everything moot with different steels etc.

This changed however, once I got my first high performance knife and sharpened it, I was completely shocked at the difference in sharpening and cutting performance thanks to the geometry, heat treatment and steel.


It's a night and day difference.

So, what makes high performance knives so fantastic is that one can basically carry a "Lamborghini" everywhere they go, it doesn't take gas, batteries or ammunition to enjoy and combined with good stones, strops and technique the enjoyment gets supercharged and almost never ends.


Often underlooked and under appreciated in our community is that how the knife sharpens is also a huge part of the performance, and the details of what makes a knife want to take a crispy edge rather than an edge that fights to get sharp can be hidden in the nuances of microstructure (only if sharpening technique and abrasives are covered of course.)

Hope that helps and you're welcome to a different opinion, that's the best part about the knife community, there is something for everyone.

Shawn, thanks for such a detailed response. No I didn't think you're a 15V only kind of guy but I'll admit that it's what came to mind. I'll admit that I was thinking narrow mindedly. I now better understand what you meant by high-performance and, while I don't always take full advantage of it (thinning out edges etc), I certainly appreciate it.

[Sharp Guy]

Spyderco is very special.

At the very top these guys are edge dudes, when I'm having a meeting in the conference room with Eric at Shot Show, we pull out a microscope and look at edges and discuss things.

You're not going to find that anywhere else in the production knife setting.

"The Edge is a Ghost" and
Sal and Eric are ghost hunters and want us to all to share in the "hunt"

It is thrilling how something so simple that we often don't think about is so wonderfully complex.

We should also know that utilizing over 40 different knife steels it's not efficient for business.

Even for me with my custom work, it is extremely expensive to use a lot of different steels and oftentimes when I give advice to new knife makers I tell them to only use either one steel or only a few different steels so they don't go broke endlessly building and refining protocols for different steels.

There is a careful balancing act behind the scenes at Spyderco that is not often discussed publicly by Spyderco perhaps out of modesty; Spyderco manages to gracefully balance, passion and business.

Business keeps the lights on but passion drives the engine, so Spyderco is a unique entity and it's because it is a physical expression of Sal, Gal and Eric.

It is because of this we get cool things, like geeky heat treats and steels, I am simply grateful.

Another fantastic post!! Thanks again for sharing

[clinton1]

Keep in mind, I have also advised and assisted Spyderco with AEB-L which is of course the antithesis of CPM 15V, I have also worked with Spyderco on CPM MagnaCut, M398 and there will be a mule in 19C27 that I am currently working on the heat treatment for.

It's pretty cool watching Spyderco find their equivalent to a Bos heat treatment.

That's an impressive bit of work in a very short amount of time, sir.

Spyderco is very special.

At the very top these guys are edge dudes, when I'm having a meeting in the conference room with Eric at Shot Show, we pull out a microscope and look at edges and discuss things.

You're not going to find that anywhere else in the production knife setting.

"The Edge is a Ghost" and
Sal and Eric are ghost hunters and want us to all to share in the "hunt"

It is thrilling how something so simple that we often don't think about is so wonderfully complex.

We should also know that utilizing over 40 different knife steels it's not efficient for business.

Even for me with my custom work, it is extremely expensive to use a lot of different steels and oftentimes when I give advice to new knife makers I tell them to only use either one steel or only a few different steels so they don't go broke endlessly building and refining protocols for different steels.

There is a careful balancing act behind the scenes at Spyderco that is not often discussed publicly by Spyderco perhaps out of modesty; Spyderco manages to gracefully balance, passion and business.

Business keeps the lights on but passion drives the engine, so Spyderco is a unique entity and it's because it is a physical expression of Sal, Gal and Eric.

It is because of this we get cool things, like geeky heat treats and steels, I am simply grateful.

Shawn, you are a great hype man! I get pumped up just reading your posts!! Thank you.

[Laphroaig9]

Sadie, my new, ignored, Trophy Wife that lives three doors down...

[Subverto]

The next hot piece for me personally would be a Para 3 in 15V. I have a 15V PM2 and it has absolutely ruined other steels for me. Shawn's heat treat is nothing short of amazing. I like the PM2, but the Para 3 is my all time favorite knife, so getting one in my new favorite steel would be the bees knees.

[weeping minora]

Same. My daily knife needs will never begin to require a super-steel (I rarely actually need to take my knife out of my pocket to begin with), so this seemingly never-ending search for incrementally better steels is overkill from my perspective. I would much rather see new designs in "inferior" steels than the 1000th PM2 variant in the unobtanium of the day.

I'd rather see high performance then just novel shapes for the sake of shapes.

Hi Shawn, high performance steelsl are great if you can make use of it. I've bought almost all of the steels that Spyderco's offered (except 10V and 15V). I liked to check out how they sharpen and cut cardboard etc. Some of them actually got some use when I worked in a warehouse for awhile. Even there it didn't really matter which knife/steel I had on me. They all worked fine for what I was doing. Eventually that job became more administrative and now I don't even work there. My new job is working in my home office doing CAD. The most work my knives see is opening cutting up boxes. I still have and like all my PM2s, Manix 2s etc. I still carry and use them but I also enjoy some of the different models that come out of the Taichung plant. The Sliverax, Mantra, and Paysan are favorites and I'd like to see more of something along those lines. Not like those but different like those are. The shape of that Sliverax is fantastic. For me it's the shape (Grip, negative blade angle, etc) that's high performance. I like how S30V performs just fine. So I don't need the steel to be any more high performance than it already is

I'm curious, what do you use your knives for where high performance can be so beneficial? Not trying to be negative, I'm honestly interested

I'm getting the impression you think of me as only "a 15V or nothing" kind of guy.

We often try to put things in boxes to simplify things but 15V is not my religion and I've noticed people in the past have written me off as a high carbide volume only kind of guy.


I am an advocate for edge performance; sharpenability, cutting ability, edge stability.

Keep in mind, I have also advised and assisted Spyderco with AEB-L which is of course the antithesis of CPM 15V, I have also worked with Spyderco on CPM MagnaCut, M398 and there will be a mule in 19C27 that I am currently working on the heat treatment for.

So, it's quite an eclectic mix and they all work differently with trade offs however the microstructure is key for the best edge performance.

For my custom work I have made knives from lowly 8670 carbon tool steel all the way up to Ferro Titanit WFN.

So it's not just carbide monster steels, there's just a shortage of people that work with high carbide volume materials because they are expensive and difficult to make knives out of, so I suppose that's where I stand out in such a crowded and highly talented market of many, many knife makers.

My experience comes from
Kitchen, hunting, outdoors, in the test lab and workshop.

I was a knife reviewer and even worked retail at a few knife shops and worked as a knife sharpener.

I used to work as an EMT but am currently a full-time knife maker and Dad.

My original interest in knives was from a sharpening standpoint.

Working as an EMT it was my profession to be inquisitive, decisive and rule things out to get to the underlying causes and solutions.

So, I like combining my love for using knives with my love for sharpening and my love for understanding how things work and how to make them better.

Way back when however, I didn't see the need to chase fancy knives or steel at the time since I understood how to sharpen; I felt it made everything moot with different steels etc.

This changed however, once I got my first high performance knife and sharpened it, I was completely shocked at the difference in sharpening and cutting performance thanks to the geometry, heat treatment and steel.


It's a night and day difference.

So, what makes high performance knives so fantastic is that one can basically carry a "Lamborghini" everywhere they go, it doesn't take gas, batteries or ammunition to enjoy and combined with good stones, strops and technique the enjoyment gets supercharged and almost never ends.


Often underlooked and under appreciated in our community is that how the knife sharpens is also a huge part of the performance, and the details of what makes a knife want to take a crispy edge rather than an edge that fights to get sharp can be hidden in the nuances of microstructure (only if sharpening technique and abrasives are covered of course.)

Hope that helps and you're welcome to a different opinion, that's the best part about the knife community, there is something for everyone.

Bad@ss .

Looking forward to seeing what you can pull out of 19C, Shawn!!

[cjk]

The next hot piece for me personally would be a Para 3 in 15V. I have a 15V PM2 and it has absolutely ruined other steels for me. Shawn's heat treat is nothing short of amazing. I like the PM2, but the Para 3 is my all time favorite knife, so getting one in my new favorite steel would be the bees knees.

Ditto this. I'm also hopeful for a 15V Para 3.

[Giygas]

[...]So, what makes high performance knives so fantastic is that one can basically carry a "Lamborghini" everywhere they go, it doesn't take gas, batteries or ammunition to enjoy and combined with good stones, strops and technique the enjoyment gets supercharged and almost never ends.[...]

This is exactly how I try to explain my interest in steel and knives to family and friends. I use Koenigsegg instead of Lamborghini, but same thing.

There arent many things in this world where you can spend a couple hundred dollars and get the absolute highest performance version.

I've paid more for a single supercharger pulley than I did for my 15V Shaman, aftermarket titanium scales included.

[Steeltoez83]

I really liked the flow of the handle to blade on the 4 inch caly when i saw it at bladeshow this year. So if my desires are met it would be paired with 15V. I have been very impressed with the 15V testing ive done so far. In my ice block toughness testing i just started doing, Cruwear is the only steel ahead right now.

[TkoK83Spy]

I really liked the flow of the handle to blade on the 4 inch caly when i saw it at bladeshow this year. So if my desires are met it would be paired with 15V. I have been very impressed with the 15V testing ive done so far. In my ice block toughness testing i just started doing, Cruwear is the only steel ahead right now.

What other steels are you or have you used? Care to post any photos of this ice block setup? Seems out of the norm around here and I'm interested!

[cjk]

I'm hoping for a fancier Endela. Grey G-10 and cruwear would be sweet. A titanium cruwear Endela would completely blow my mind. Forest green peel ply G-10 and HAP40 like the previous Caly 3 sprint would be another mind blower.

[Wartstein]

I'm hoping for a fancier Endela. Grey G-10 and cruwear would be sweet. A titanium cruwear Endela would completely blow my mind. Forest green peel ply G-10 and HAP40 like the previous Caly 3 sprint would be another mind blower.

There is an HAP40/ Pakkawood Endela, but probably you're aware of that one anyway- ?

[electro-static]

The Golden made Salt series line of knives in CPM Magna-Cut (PM2 Salt and manix LW salt, I heard somewhere that there are plans to put out Magna-Cut salt versions of all Golden made knives) will be hot as I don’t think anyone else is putting out such a variety of high performance saltwater knives, I also think the BBB folder will be hot as well.

I don’t see these being released in the immediate future, But when they are I can see them taking the community by storm.