Spyderco Amsterdam Meet 2025 Report

[Paul Ardbeg]

Appreciate all the hard work Wouter. Pictures and videos look great!

[VashHash]

The coatings look very nice. I wonder how much it'll add to cost and how durable it is compared to DLC. Thanks Mr. Blonde.

[Halfneck]

Pretty interested in the Charisma. Crazy it doesn't even weigh an ounce per the stats. My current work EDC is a Civivi Baby Banter and it weighs 1.9 oz.

[zuludelta]

R&D engineer Morton gave us a full presentation, complete with reference to scientific studies and models, to show how Spyderco went about to create not only the best and most durable functional coatings possible, but also how to achieve the most consistent colors. I am positive I cannot do justice to Morton’s presentation, but my takeaway was that Spyderco didn’t just get a couple of cans of paint and started to coat blades in-house. No, far from it. We are talking attention to details; down to the atomic scale and dealing with processes that are quite literally out of this world.

It seems Spyderco started with a clean slate and asked 3 basic questions: “How can we create the most durable functional coatings for production, without sacrificing properties expected from currently offered DLC or FDE?” , “How can we make sure the colors are the most consistent?” and “Can we make coatings cheaper for the customer?”

Awesome thread, thanks for sharing the pics, info, and videos to those of us who weren't at the event.

Really interested in the new Zirconium PVD coating. From what I understand from some previous posts made in this forum, besides offering better protection from corrosion than standard DLC, this new coating also doesn't require as high of a temperature during the application process, allowing it to be applied to steels whose temper would otherwise be affected by the heat involved in the coating process. Was this point addressed during the presentation?

[derangedhermit]

It seems Spyderco started with a clean slate and asked 3 basic questions: “How can we create the most durable functional coatings for production, without sacrificing properties expected from currently offered DLC or FDE?” , “How can we make sure the colors are the most consistent?” and “Can we make coatings cheaper for the customer?”

I wonder if they went with Vaportech, with HQ in Longmont CO, a few minutes' drive from Golden.

I hope they convert to doing all the black clips on all knives with one of these coatings. Something harder and more wear resistant would be a nice improvement.

[Mr Blonde]

R&D engineer Morton gave us a full presentation, complete with reference to scientific studies and models, to show how Spyderco went about to create not only the best and most durable functional coatings possible, but also how to achieve the most consistent colors. I am positive I cannot do justice to Morton’s presentation, but my takeaway was that Spyderco didn’t just get a couple of cans of paint and started to coat blades in-house. No, far from it. We are talking attention to details; down to the atomic scale and dealing with processes that are quite literally out of this world.

It seems Spyderco started with a clean slate and asked 3 basic questions: “How can we create the most durable functional coatings for production, without sacrificing properties expected from currently offered DLC or FDE?” , “How can we make sure the colors are the most consistent?” and “Can we make coatings cheaper for the customer?”

Awesome thread, thanks for sharing the pics, info, and videos to those of us who weren't at the event.

Really interested in the new Zirconium PVD coating. From what I understand from some previous posts made in this forum, besides offering better protection from corrosion than standard DLC, this new coating also doesn't require as high of a temperature during the application process, allowing it to be applied to steels whose temper would otherwise be affected by the heat involved in the coating process. Was this point addressed during the presentation?

I don't recall if that was addressed during the presentation, it could very well be though. Perhaps some of the other attendees remember this?

[Mr Blonde]

It seems Spyderco started with a clean slate and asked 3 basic questions: “How can we create the most durable functional coatings for production, without sacrificing properties expected from currently offered DLC or FDE?” , “How can we make sure the colors are the most consistent?” and “Can we make coatings cheaper for the customer?”

I wonder if they went with Vaportech, with HQ in Longmont CO, a few minutes' drive from Golden.

I hope they convert to doing all the black clips on all knives with one of these coatings. Something harder and more wear resistant would be a nice improvement.

This is a new in-house process for Spyderco, the zirconium based PVD coatings are done by Spyderco at their Golden facility.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

Thank you @Mr Blonde for all your efforts, great photos and info looking forward to the Charisma, Wolfmouse and Balance plus the coatings are crazy cool!

[Mr Blonde]

Only after I shot my first photos and video of the new Spyderco WolfMouse, designed by Gareth Bull, did I see Eric’s presentation on that model at the 2025 Spyderco Amsterdam Meet. At that moment, I learned that the WolfMouse actually features a front flipper. I completely overlooked it in my excitement of shooting all these new knives (d’oh!). So at the 2025 IWA Show I shot this quick clip at the Spyderco Booth, highlighting the front flipper. I liked the WolfMouse before, and now a lot more!

[derangedhermit]

I wonder if they went with Vaportech, with HQ in Longmont CO, a few minutes' drive from Golden.

I hope they convert to doing all the black clips on all knives with one of these coatings. Something harder and more wear resistant would be a nice improvement.

This is a new in-house process for Spyderco, the zirconium based PVD coatings are done by Spyderco at their Golden facility.

I didn't mean to imply they were shipping parts out for PVD. I meant that I think they bought the PVD machines and consumables somewhere, and operate them as part of manufacturing in Golden, as opposed to developing the capability to design and build PVD equipment and/or coatings themselves.

This is not to minimize the effort and investment needed to select and best apply a coating technology to in-house production of Spyderco knives and components.

[Jim Malone]

They bought the equipment. The new procedure is done at such a low temperature that the heat treatment is not affected.
Hardness of the new coating is higher then the hardness of the steel so in theory the coating is stronger then the base layer.
The different colours are dependant from the gas they use during the process.

[elena86]

Only after I shot my first photos and video of the new Spyderco WolfMouse, designed by Gareth Bull, did I see Eric’s presentation on that model at the 2025 Spyderco Amsterdam Meet. At that moment, I learned that the WolfMouse actually features a front flipper. I completely overlooked it in my excitement of shooting all these new knives (d’oh!). So at the 2025 IWA Show I shot this quick clip at the Spyderco Booth, highlighting the front flipper. I liked the WolfMouse before, and now a lot more!

I hope it’s ground as thin bte as possible !!!

[Doc Dan]

That Charisma is nice! That is the sort of thing I think of when I think of a pocket knife; thin, slender blade in a knife that is not too big.

[Sharp Guy]

Sorry...a little late to the party. Not sure how I missed this. I like the Charisma and I'll probably add a Balance Sprint to my collection when they're released. The coatings are interesting too

Thanks for doing this Wouter! This has been one of my favorite threads each year since I joined the forum a few years back

[JoviAl]

That Charisma looks like everything I hoped the Centofante 3 would be - light, compact and a mega slicer like the pocket knives of my youth. Very excited for that one!

[bearfacedkiller]

As an owner of one of the original CF Balance models I find a sprint run exciting. I carried this in my 5th pocket for a couple years. It’s a fun and innocuous second knife.

[SpeedHoles]

As an owner of one of the original CF Balance models I find a sprint run exciting. I carried this in my 5th pocket for a couple years. It’s a fun and innocuous second knife.

Awesome pairing there!

[avocadobbq]

Comparing the Cobol and the Nand, they should change it to flat screws like the Nand has. The design is so clean the domed screws stand out too much.

[Ramonade]

Morton's presentation was really interesting ! I'm not that much into coatings so it is one of the few knife making related process that I've never read up on. It was really in depth and I now can say that I understand how they make the blade change color with any brushes involved

[dj moonbat]

The Charisma is pretty sweet. That’s the only one that does anything for me, although I will be interested to see how the coatings come out on established models in the lineup.