Upping the price.

[WilliamMunny]

Personally I blame Sal and Spyderco. If they only made 2 or 3 good knives this would be easy. But they had to go and make hundreds of knives that I want, totally their fault and they knew what they were doing.

[ladybug93]

Personally I blame Sal and Spyderco. If they only made 2 or 3 good knives this would be easy. But they had to go and make hundreds of knives that I want, totally their fault and they knew what they were doing.

ain't that the truth. i want five knives from the last reveal, most of which still haven't been released yet, and i'm already looking forward and anxiously waiting to see what's in the next reveal.

[VandymanG]

Personally I blame Sal and Spyderco. If they only made 2 or 3 good knives this would be easy. But they had to go and make hundreds of knives that I want, totally their fault and they knew what they were doing.

ain't that the truth. i want five knives from the last reveal, most of which still haven't been released yet, and i'm already looking forward and anxiously waiting to see what's in the next reveal.

Oh this is definitely a dog pile. Yup I saw at least 7 or 8 knives that I wanted but can’t afford especially now. Darn gummit Sal/Spyderco why did ya have to be so awesome! Definitely blaming them for so many awesome amazing choices that entice me to risk the wrath of my wife. Well that and this thing called inflation, don’t quite get it.

[zhyla]

I’ve got a Spyderco on the way. First I’ve bought in quite a while.

I used to buy used Spydies a lot but the secondary market lately seems mostly dominated by brands I’m not very familiar with.

I’m the bright side I’ve enough Spyderco knives to last me the rest of my life.

[Wallach]

Hey Zhyla,

I appreciate what you re trying to say, though I would appreciate that you don't promote competitive Chinese made knives on the Spyderco forum.

I believe your thinking is the same kind of thinking that has caused most manufacturers all over the world to make their product in China....less work and more profit. That's the trap. Low cost high quality is the bait.

I don't think that there is any question that Chinese makers can make good quality. They make tanks and jets. They've put people in space. I don't consider it fair competition for them to have such a low value Yuan. But trying to change that in World Trade is above my pay grade. We make some knives in China to try to service the budget market. It is not something that we plan to feed and grow, as you are suggesting. We work with a number of makers in China and we believe them to be good folks. And they will improve with time.

Like most manufacturers, we will do our best to compete with China, and most of our business will come from others that don't want to bow to Chinese manufacturing.

sal

I just wanted to take a second and say that I appreciate you folks standing your ground on this as much as you can. It does matter to some of us.

[sal]

Hi EmilieHuff,

Welcome to our forum. Hope you enjoy your time here. We have a very bright, sharp (pardon the pun), group here that enjoy's intelligent conversation with a dash of humor.

Hey Wallach,

Thank you. We try to be who we are.

sal
________________________________________________________________________________________-

"A goal in life is to be consistent like the sun and transparent like the air. That's how trust is built...and trust is the true bottom line".

[ZrowsN1s]

"Low cost, high quality is the bait.".

Boy isn't that the truth. Like I said in my post, to overcome my strong aversion to buying from that particular country of origin, Unique Design, is the barrier to entry. If it's a design I can get somewhere else. I will. But secondary to that, the low cost, high quality helps take the sting out of compromising your values

If Spyderco's China offerings are going to focus more on the budget end of things. Simple liner locks, good but comparable to other designs, decent but not premium material.... I probably won't ever buy one. But honestly that's a good thing. I can spend that money buying Spyderco's Golden Knives, top quality with a pride of ownership I'll never get from even the finest Chinese made knife.

[zhyla]

Ok, here's another Chinese budget folder... but before everyone gets their pitchforks this is a Spyderco Astute :). These retail for around $60. Same Tenacious style construction, same steel, everything, just a different shape. I guess the main difference aside from shape is there's no jimping on the thumb ramp.

I should mention I bought this used so whatever scratches etc you see is not how it came out of the factory. Aside from the tip having a microscopic chip missing it looks about how it would look if I'd carried it for a few weeks.

I have to say, I absolutely love this knife in terms of shape and size. The ergos are about as good as they can be for a slap G-10 type handle. I like it a lot. There's a nice detail on the liner side scale -- it's indented right where your index finger wraps around (see 1st photo). Feels really good. Small knives like this I find the blockiness of the handle is actually just fine as the whole thing just disappears into my hand. Liners are not weight relieved in any way, but it's a small knife and the weight isn't that noticeable.








The size and shape reminds me a little bit of the Positron. But the blade angles down just a little bit, reminds me of the Sliveraxe just a little bit.





I'm very happy with this knife for what I paid for it. My main complaint is it's stiff to open and the liner lock is incredibly stiff. I've already had this apart and bent the liner lock a bit to loosen it up. I think I need to do it again. My Tenacious and Ambitious don't have this problem at all. It's possible the previous owner liked really stiff liner locks and bent it the other way... but unlikely.

I personally would prefer this knife on bearings.

Would I buy/recommend this at $60? Hmm. I think so. If it had bearings I could see paying a bit more, maybe $75.

[cabfrank]

Nice knife, handle forward, palm swell, minimal thumb ramp...seems to check a lot of boxes for a lot of people. I can see why sal is perplexed that it isn't a better seller, and commend Spyderco for not yet giving up on this very thoughtful design.

[zhyla]

I’m perplexed as well. I think maybe the Tenacious style construction is too familiar? I remember glancing at this when it was announced but didn’t really grasp how small it is.

It’s definitely a good design. I don’t know if Spyderco will keep it in production. A different color G-10 would make it stand out as well.

[vivi]

Looking at the Astute I'm noticing something that I feel could be improved upon. The edges look pretty squared off.

Someone mentioned in another thread they liked the Native 1 ergos better than the 5. In some ways I agree. I like the handle profile of the 5 better but the contouring of the original was better.

I've noticed other brands doing a better job of this. Here's 3 folders that retail for less than an Astute....note how rounded the scales are:

[zhyla]

Looking at the Astute I'm noticing something that I feel could be improved upon. The edges look pretty squared off.

Some knives it matters more than others. I like the chamfering on the Astute and the Chaparral LW just fine. But they are tiny knives.

[vivi]

Looking at the Astute I'm noticing something that I feel could be improved upon. The edges look pretty squared off.

Some knives it matters more than others. I like the chamfering on the Astute and the Chaparral LW just fine. But they are tiny knives.

When I switch from a Pacific Salt to a Voyager and back, the thing that stands out to me the most is the thickness and contouring of the Voyager gives it a much better in hand feel. Closer to a fixed blade feeling in terms of ergonomics.

Of course its all a trade off. Thin and flat will always carry better. Though if I could get a Pacific Salt with thicker, more rounded FRN scales, I would.

[Flash]

As it happens I had the chance to use a friends Coldsteel Bushranger yesterday - was blown away by its ergos and how solid feeling it was, yet the hollow performed very well cutting through green wood. It wasn’t a new knife but could tell immediately the worksmanship was there. - As we all know, Taiwan do make exceptionally good knives.

So when I looked online I was was pleasantly surprised it cost the roughly same as the Endela I was carrying, Yet the contrast in the quality was vast: No lock rock, no blade play, no funny grind. Just a solid, comfortable, high-performing knife. I know I promised myself to only buy “really want” knives from now on, but I just had to have one of these.
Up to this point I admit I have overlooked Coldsteel. Wished I hadn’t.

Moral of the story is if the prices keep on being ramped up the way they are, people will start to look elsewhere for their hobby. They maybe pleasantly surprised by the level of quality of the competition that is out there.

[Jack48]

As it happens I had the chance to use a friends Coldsteel Bushranger yesterday - was blown away by its ergos and how solid feeling it was, yet the hollow performed very well cutting through green wood. It wasn’t a new knife but could tell immediately the worksmanship was there. - As we all know, Taiwan do make exceptionally good knives.

So when I looked online I was was pleasantly surprised it cost the roughly same as the Endela I was carrying, Yet the contrast in the quality was vast: No lock rock, no blade play, no funny grind. Just a solid, comfortable, high-performing knife. I know I promised myself to only buy “really want” knives from now on, but I just had to have one of these.
Up to this point I admit I have overlooked Coldsteel. Wished I hadn’t.

Moral of the story is if the prices keep on being ramped up the way they are, people will start to look elsewhere for their hobby. They maybe pleasantly surprised by the level of quality of the competition that is out there.

Just wait till you find an AD-10 on sale for close to the same price as the Endura. That thing is easily on par with the Shaman, frankly tops it IMO, and you can find it absurdly cheap.

As I said in one of my other posts, it’s not just China making more affordable knives in better materials.

Taiwan made knives from Cold Steel and Quiet Carry, US made knives from Kershaw, Hogue, and others like Bradford, and Italian made knives from MKM and FOX all have some very nice, refined designs in high end materials for $200 or less. Many in the $100-$150 range. We’re talking S35VN, Elmax, Vanax, and Magnacut blades with G10, Fat Carbon, and titanium handles.

[zhyla]

Up to this point I admit I have overlooked Coldsteel. Wished I hadn’t.

Every time I hear people talking about Cold Steel knives I go look at them. Then I quickly close that web browser tab :). They just seem so wonky and cheap looking. But I can see the Bushranger is super contoured in the handle.

[vivi]

Up to this point I admit I have overlooked Coldsteel. Wished I hadn’t.

Every time I hear people talking about Cold Steel knives I go look at them. Then I quickly close that web browser tab :). They just seem so wonky and cheap looking. But I can see the Bushranger is super contoured in the handle.

It all depends on the model. They have possibly the most varied catalog around. Stick to basics like the Voyager, Recons, SRK, SR1, AD10 etc. and they're well made, well priced models that make great all around work horses.

It took me years to get over their marketing enough to try them. But as the years go on I find myself accumulating more and more of their models.

[cabfrank]

Yeah, their marketing diminished any interest I had at the time.

[sal]

I would appreciate that you refrain from promoting competitive brands on our forum. They probably have their own forum. Your kind understanding and cooperation is appreciated.

sal

[ugaarguy]

I think that most folks that know anything about China and International manufacturing and sales know that US makers really can't compete with Chinese made products simply because of the value of the Yuan. We've watched China take over many an industry simply because of the Yuan valuation. That's why so many manufacturers actually make their products in China, which is proving to be somewhat of a problem for US makers in any market. Many products that were made in the US are no longer made in the US because of the low cost of Chinese manufacturing.

Those of you that are offering Chinese made knives as examples are not aware of the Yuan/Dollar comparison. New Balance makes most of their tennis shoes in China, They do make some in the US but they are at least double the price, and I would guess they make far more profit on the Chinese made Tennis shoes than the US made tennis shoes.

If China takes over the knife industry as they have taken over many other industries because of the unfair valuation, your choices will be limited as they are now in many industries.

I would be more interested in hearing about manufacturers actually making knives in fair trade countries.

sal

Hi Sal, would you consider Taiwan to be a fair trade country? If so, how would you like me to provide some examples to you of a competitor manufacturing in Taiwan that I believe is offering an excellent value, without unduly promoting said competitor here?