Gateway Spyderco?

[Fastidiotus]

My dad always had a full serrated Spyderco when I was a kid in the 90s. He would lose them at work, find out that model had been disco'd, be sad for a couple weeks, and then a new Spyderco would appear. Would love to know what models he had and track them down. Compared to the couple cheap knives I had as kid, getting to use those knives was always like being tossed the keys to the space shuttle. As an adult when I was finally making enough money to leave the world of $30-50 knives I bought an Endura 4 as my "first" Spyderco.

[Aladinsane]

My dad always had a full serrated Spyderco when I was a kid in the 90s. He would lose them at work, find out that model had been disco'd, be sad for a couple weeks, and then a new Spyderco would appear. Would love to know what models he had and track them down. Compared to the couple cheap knives I had as kid, getting to use those knives was always like being tossed the keys to the space shuttle. As an adult when I was finally making enough money to leave the world of $30-50 knives I bought an Endura 4 as my "first" Spyderco.

These stories are great! Thanks everyone so far for sharing! I just bought my 18 year old son a Persistence LW combination edge for his birthday next month to take the place of a $5 gas station POS knife that someone gave him. Hopefully he will be a Spyderco person, too!

[ykspydiefan]

My gateway Spyderco was a gift too. From a friend, a Tenacious. Still have it, still love it, still use it, still sharpen it more than super steel and still love the ease and speed of sharpening.

[skeeg11]

S110V Manix LW. Great hand filling ergos, but a bit of a pocket hog so l ordered more pocket friendly Spydies for EDC. S110V Manix LW is a great tool, but the best knife is the one you have on you

[Tristan_david2001]

When I was younger (around 15) my dad and I went to a local knife store, he got a persistence for me and a tenacious for him, unfortunately I’ve since lost mine, he still has his. Also around that age I got an h1 dragonfly and a stainless grasshopper, lost them since too. At that age I liked spyderco and thought they were cool, but not anything like today where I have a deep love and passion for spyderco. What really kicked off my Spydie obsession was checking out all the funky little big folders online I saw one after the next, and was like ****, this company has something special going on. In-house Small spyderco folders and other funky seki city designs became my favorite part of the brand.

[Aladinsane]

When I was younger (around 15) my dad and I went to a local knife store, he got a persistence for me and a tenacious for him, unfortunately I’ve since lost mine, he still has his. Also around that age I got an h1 dragonfly and a stainless grasshopper, lost them since too. At that age I liked spyderco and thought they were cool, but not anything like today where I have a deep love and passion for spyderco. What really kicked off my Spydie obsession was checking out all the funky little big folders online I saw one after the next, and was like ****, this company has something special going on. In-house Small spyderco folders and other funky seki city designs became my favorite part of the brand.

Great story, but stop losing your knives!!!!

[Tristan_david2001]

When I was younger (around 15) my dad and I went to a local knife store, he got a persistence for me and a tenacious for him, unfortunately I’ve since lost mine, he still has his. Also around that age I got an h1 dragonfly and a stainless grasshopper, lost them since too. At that age I liked spyderco and thought they were cool, but not anything like today where I have a deep love and passion for spyderco. What really kicked off my Spydie obsession was checking out all the funky little big folders online I saw one after the next, and was like ****, this company has something special going on. In-house Small spyderco folders and other funky seki city designs became my favorite part of the brand.

Great story, but stop losing your knives!!!!

Thanx! Still a bit of a klutz but thankfully I’ve cleaned up that track record lol

[Bill1170]

Mine was a Delica 4 in ZDP-189 back in 2007. Definitely a gateway knife, it was my first one-hand opening folder. It was a gift from my late father, who also loved knives as I do. He asked me which Spyderco I wanted and I knew enough to declare, “A Delica, please.”

I later gave that saber-ground Delica a full convex grind by hand with a mirror finish. My dad was very impressed when I used it to trim the end grain on a birch dowel like a block plane. We were installing a whirligig on the roof deck of a vacation cabin he frequented with my stepmother. They loved that place!

I later gave the full convex treatment to his VG-10 SG Delica as a gift. It was a slow process, but it was fun because I knew how much he envied mine. When he passed away that Delica came to me and I gifted it to a former student who cherishes it.

[nerdlock]

It's really amazing how many have the Delica as their gateway Spyderco.

I got mine many many years ago when it was still like under sixty bucks. At that time, I was only exposed to Kershaws, Schrades, some of those China-made counterfeit knives... I had a few of those, because I did not what to invest my hard earned money into something so trivial as a knife...I knew the Brand, and thought it was bugly (butt ugly, for lack of a better term), and for it's size, expensive - until I handled a Delica.

The ergonomics was a revelation. No, literally, it's like a bulb went on in my head and said "aha!". I'll always miss that feeling of handling a Seki Spyderco the first time.

[Kurtis0521]

Joining in on the Delica gateway.

Back in 2011 I was at a flea market and they had a booth with knives. I was drawn in by a grey Delica as I like grey and all the other knives I have had were black or red handled and really like grey. Handled it and it went home with me. It was my main carry for many years. Even after moving on to other knives I always had a Delica in rotation. The grey one got "replaced" in 2018 with a ZDP-189, and that was replaced with this year with the PD#1 Sprint run. But I will always have a Delica in rotation as it feels like an old friend.

[GT99]

Mine was the Smock, never liked the look of the typical spyderco you always see, PM2, Para 3, endura/endela/delica etc. but the smock was so different and in my eyes beautiful, Picked it up and loved the quality so got a Shaman a week later (as it was smother than the hump on the PM2 and was sold on the brand. eventually got the PM2 crucarta and realized why people loved the PM2, now I have 6 of them (25 spydies in total) and love the look. Will have my first full size military tomorrow as I picked up a St. Nicks 4v Millie so looking forward to that

[SchoonerBum]

My gateway was the Aqua Salt. When I found out that H1 existed I had to try it, and augmenting my trusty Mora with something that wouldn’t rust seemed like a good idea. My gateway folder was a Native salt in LC200N and those two were my main spydies for a couple of years until I fell fully down the rabbit hole.

[TimButterfield]

My first Spyderco was the PM2. But, the one causing my interest in the brand to really explode was one I ordered ten days later, the Chaparral; love that little knife.

[Scotty63]

Black Endura /Sabre Grind/Vg10

[Malte]

For me this was the Delica 4 just last year, when I got into the hobby. I have since bought 20+ Spydies in all shapes and forms, but I still come back for the Delica and even got Micarta Scales for it from Cuscadi:

[aicolainen]

It's hard to say, exactly.
Around 2016 I accidentally caught the EDC bug. Never really had an interest in dedicated folding knives before that (well into my 30's at that point), but I had carried Leathermans on and off through my career, depending on my position and what I was doing. And ofc fixed blades have always been a part of my outdoor activities.

Knife stores isn't really a thing around here, so when some brands and models caught my attention, I did some research and decided on a few models that I ordered from the US. The exact order was; Chris Reeve Small Sebenza 21 S35VN, Spyderco C81GP2 Paramilitary 2 S30V, Spyderco C91PYL Pacific Salt 1 H1, Spyderco C28POR2 Dragonfly 2 VG10, Spyderco 204MF Sharpmaker and Ontario RAT Model 2 AUS8.

All of those Spydercos may be considered gateway knives, because they provided insight into their design philosophy and what to expect from Spyderco knives.
Something just clicked. I went on to try more models from other brands, but they just felt like nice objects, whereas the Spydercos gave me the impression of something that was designed from the ground up to be used.

Initially enamoured with the PM2 and to some extent the Pac salt, but I found the PM2 too large for EDC so when rumours of a smaller version was gaining traction I sold it in anticipation (of something that didn't quite live up to my expectations). The Pac Salt was more of an outdoors knife, and while I liked it, it was slightly larger than I preferred and it had less belly than I'd ideally want in an outdoors knife. Sold it with no specific plan of what to replace it with. This remains the only knife sale I've ever regretted. The Dragonfly was a sleeper. The size and weight was great for EDC, but for the size it didn't carry very discreetly, especially with that orange handle (what was I thinking?). Long story and much trial and error later, the circle is completed and the DF2 has become my primary work and casual EDC. Still have my first one, but I prefer to carry the k390 wharncliffe.

This is what my collection looked like in early winter of 2017, about 6 months after that first order

In retrospect, being a total newbie, I think I got off to a good start - though very few have remained with me to this day.

[Aladinsane]

My first Spyderco was the PM2. But, the one causing my interest in the brand to really explode was one I ordered ten days later, the Chaparral; love that little knife.

Ah, the Chaparral is on my "to buy next" list unless I find a closeout deal on a Leafjumper!

[Aladinsane]

It's hard to say, exactly.
Around 2016 I accidentally caught the EDC bug. Never really had an interest in dedicated folding knives before that (well into my 30's at that point), but I had carried Leathermans on and off through my career, depending on my position and what I was doing. And ofc fixed blades have always been a part of my outdoor activities.

Knife stores isn't really a thing around here, so when some brands and models caught my attention, I did some research and decided on a few models that I ordered from the US. The exact order was; Chris Reeve Small Sebenza 21 S35VN, Spyderco C81GP2 Paramilitary 2 S30V, Spyderco C91PYL Pacific Salt 1 H1, Spyderco C28POR2 Dragonfly 2 VG10, Spyderco 204MF Sharpmaker and Ontario RAT Model 2 AUS8.

All of those Spydercos may be considered gateway knives, because they provided insight into their design philosophy and what to expect from Spyderco knives.
Something just clicked. I went on to try more models from other brands, but they just felt like nice objects, whereas the Spydercos gave me the impression of something that was designed from the ground up to be used.

Initially enamoured with the PM2 and to some extent the Pac salt, but I found the PM2 too large for EDC so when rumours of a smaller version was gaining traction I sold it in anticipation (of something that didn't quite live up to my expectations). The Pac Salt was more of an outdoors knife, and while I liked it, it was slightly larger than I preferred and it had less belly than I'd ideally want in an outdoors knife. Sold it with no specific plan of what to replace it with. This remains the only knife sale I've ever regretted. The Dragonfly was a sleeper. The size and weight was great for EDC, but for the size it didn't carry very discreetly, especially with that orange handle (what was I thinking?). Long story and much trial and error later, the circle is completed and the DF2 has become my primary work and casual EDC. Still have my first one, but I prefer to carry the k390 wharncliffe.

This is what my collection looked like in early winter of 2017, about 6 months after that first order

In retrospect, being a total newbie, I think I got off to a good start - though very few have remained with me to this day.

Nice collection and good story! Do you have any Helle knives? I see you are from Norway. I have 3 Helle fixed blades: Gaupe, Fjelkniven, Sigmund.

[aicolainen]

Nice collection and good story! Do you have any Helle knives? I see you are from Norway. I have 3 Helle fixed blades: Gaupe, Fjelkniven, Sigmund.

You are of course pointing out a very shameful omission in my knife drawer.
I actually don't**. I can do my typical wall of text, wherein there would be a credible-ish excuse, but I think everyone is tired of my longwinded posts, so lets just jump to the epilogue:
I think my avoidance** of Helle is about to change. Unlike bygone years where my needs and preferences didn't align very well with Helle's lineup, this has changed very significantly, to the point I almost can't make up my mind.
My two hottest candidates atm:
- Nordlys. Currently only available i skandi grind, but a FFG was supposed to be ready for mid October release, so that should be right around the corner. Not sure which version I'd prefer so I'm awaiting some comparison reviews before I make up my mind.
- Dele. Mostly a question of money, prioritisation and timing. This will happen.

Honorable mention: I'd love to have one of their small/mid sized folders. The size, ergonomics, skandi grind and aesthetics are all to my liking, I just know I wont be very inclined to carry a two hand opening knife.

**) If I go through all my stuff, I'm sure I'd find a Helle Nying or two. I'm not sure exactly why, but everyone had one of those back in the day. I've been gifted at least one, and I'm sure you'd still find one in just about every household in Norway.

[Evil D]

I was hooked by the Walmart Native.

The story goes, I passed the knife case one day and noticed the opening hole on a Native and asked to see it. From the first time handling one it just made all the sense in the world. I had never really liked thumb studs and this was immediately an improvement for me. I bought one on the spot, in plain edge for about $30.

Then as I do with everything I go home and start researching the brand. The website showed the Native with the Bug logo on the blade and "Golden Colorado, USA Earth" and mine had neither, and then I noticed that it cost more than twice as much anywhere else that sold it so I started getting paranoid that Walmart was selling fakes or at the least a lower quality version so I returned it and went to Bass Pro Shop and bought another one for something like $85, this time in SE because the explanation of "infinite cutting edges" of serrations on the website sounded intriguing and I had never even seen a serrated pocket knife before.

I carried it until it was so dull that it did more snagging than cutting and then I had no idea how to sharpen it and then I fell into disliking serrations like most people do. I wish I had bought a Sharpmaker all the way back then.

Then probably 5 years later I got a plain old saber grind Delica and that rekindled the interest in the brand and that was the knife that I joined the forum for, because until then I thought all Spydercos were made in Golden, so once again I thought I had bought a fake. My first post here was asking if it was legit. So you could say either of these were my gateway models.