I'd rather have a larger handle myself. In fact if I lived somewhere with silly knife laws I could see myself carrying a Police or Manix XL or something with the blade ground down to the legal limit.
They'd still be illegal in the UK because they lock. Even a 1" knife is illegal in the UK if it locks. Crazy but true.
Talkin' story;
We began making Slip joints decades ago because of the knife law changes in the UK. I was on a British forum and had been discussing the issue with the "blokes" in the UK, Knife afi's non the less. They helped me design what is now the UK Pen Knife. They even named it. The first run of a few hundred knives was sold to them, with the spine engraved. Pretty rare now? Models like the Caly were mostly UKPK patterns, but with a lock.
Then, because we felt there was a need to pay attention to non-lockers because other countries were also making changes to their laws. So I designed a "family" of non-lockers based on the UKPK. Longer and shorter. Now we make quite few non-lockers and they're even becoming more popular in locations that permit locks. Knives like the UK are light, easy to carry, function well are are made with very good materials to serve the user well.
...Knives like the UK are light, easy to carry, function well are are made with very good materials to serve the user well.
sal
100% and much appreciated. My SPY27 UKPK is a fantastic example of a Spyderco and a great value. I don't have any locking knife restrictions and it's still in my top 5 most carried folders.
MNOSD #0051
"An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age."
even though I didn't have any restrictive laws at the time, I used to pair an original G10 & S30V UKPK with a Military 1 as my edc combo.
I appreciated how simple the design was. Blade,spring, two scales, a clip and a few screws.
It's a handy little folder that's enough to handle most any pocket knife task.
Sal, one thing I think Spyderco does tremendously well is the wide variety of designs you offer. A lot of companies focus pretty much on 3-3.5" folders and have a few token fixed blades. Looking at Spydercos history, there's everything from the ladybug to the whale rescue blade, autos and a wide range of fixed blades from the Ark to choppers,the biggest variety of steel from any production company, and so on. You guys do an amazing job of trying to cater to every niche.
Many of our blades are deigned to a blade length legality. The Delica is a perfect example. The blade length is 3.0" which is acceptable in many places for legal reasons and for social concerns. The handle designed to the blade length is just not large enough for many of the people that use knives as tools. So I made the choice to give the handle extra length for safety and control.
In my opinion, blade to handle ratios are an "eye" thing, which is fine, but I prefer to design with the bend towards function and safety. "A scalpel would not perform better if the handle were smaller or the blade longer".
sal
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"No more than necessary and no less than perfect"
THIS is what brought me back to Spyderco. There was none of that handle to blade ratio nonsense. The handles actually fit my hand nicely. Thank you very much!
I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof! (John Adams regarding the White House)
Follow the Christ, the King,
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King--
Else, wherefore born?" (Tennyson)
I'd rather have a larger handle myself. In fact if I lived somewhere with silly knife laws I could see myself carrying a Police or Manix XL or something with the blade ground down to the legal limit.
They'd still be illegal in the UK because they lock. Even a 1" knife is illegal in the UK if it locks. Crazy but true.
Talkin' story;
We began making Slip joints decades ago because of the knife law changes in the UK. I was on a British forum and had been discussing the issue with the "blokes" in the UK, Knife afi's non the less. They helped me design what is now the UK Pen Knife. They even named it. The first run of a few hundred knives was sold to them, with the spine engraved. Pretty rare now? Models like the Caly were mostly UKPK patterns, but with a lock.
Then, because we felt there was a need to pay attention to non-lockers because other countries were also making changes to their laws. So I designed a "family" of non-lockers based on the UKPK. Longer and shorter. Now we make quite few non-lockers and they're even becoming more popular in locations that permit locks. Knives like the UK are light, easy to carry, function well are are made with very good materials to serve the user well.
sal
Despite my concerns of UK police treating all legal knives, including the UKPK with suspicion rather than 'This is a legal knife, no law broken, have a good day!' I still view the UKPK as unbeatable for UK legal everyday carry.
There's just nothing to match the egomomics and design of the UKPK for us Brits living under very restrictive knife laws.
I like the UKPK and If it's not in my pocket when I leave home I feel like I've left my keys or wallet behind
And the UKPK Salt is just great for wet and rainy days fishing, cycling and hiking.
It's a treat to own.
Thanks to Sal and the guys who had input designing this blade. You made a lot of us Brits happy
Got mine 2 days ago and I didn’t realise just how much the UKPK could do with the traditional spring, and not the split-spring system now. The strength of the metropolitan is much more compared to the UKPK, while still being easy to open and close.
Sadly I think I’m going to return mine as it’s a bit too small/unwieldy for myself personally, but blimey it’s a fantastic option.
So you prefer the UKPK despite its split spring over the Met? I'm still weighing up taking a punt on getting a Met 'just to see if I like it' and I want to be convinced it'd make a good EDC. Just not sure yet.
I don't have any issues with the split springs. I've had my PKs apart lots of times for cleaning and the springs look robust. Great knife that UKPK, hard to beat for us Brits and EDC.
Apologies for the delay in replying.
For me, the UKPK fits perfectly for my had while the Metropolitan just didn’t. The broader blade height wise and the non split spring were better, but just wasn’t comfortable in the hand for me.
Might be worth seeing if you can get one then return it if you have the same issue? Just it all just depends on hand sizing etc
UKPK every carry.
UKPK CTS-BD1N leaf blade, LC200N Salt Serrated, and Magnacut
Got mine 2 days ago and I didn’t realise just how much the UKPK could do with the traditional spring, and not the split-spring system now. The strength of the metropolitan is much more compared to the UKPK, while still being easy to open and close.
Sadly I think I’m going to return mine as it’s a bit too small/unwieldy for myself personally, but blimey it’s a fantastic option.
So you prefer the UKPK despite its split spring over the Met? I'm still weighing up taking a punt on getting a Met 'just to see if I like it' and I want to be convinced it'd make a good EDC. Just not sure yet.
I don't have any issues with the split springs. I've had my PKs apart lots of times for cleaning and the springs look robust. Great knife that UKPK, hard to beat for us Brits and EDC.
Apologies for the delay in replying.
For me, the UKPK fits perfectly for my had while the Metropolitan just didn’t. The broader blade height wise and the non split spring were better, but just wasn’t comfortable in the hand for me.
Might be worth seeing if you can get one then return it if you have the same issue? Just it all just depends on hand sizing etc
Not sure I'm gonna bother with the Met now as I'm happy with the UKPK it fits my hand really well. Love it. Def a lifetime pocket knife for me. All the best.
