Fred Perrin and Laci Szabo

[justin]

I was at the November (or thereabouts) show in NYC and saw proto-types on the table for a larger fixed blade version of the Street Bowie from Fred Perrin and a UUK folder from Laci Szabo. Since then I have heard rumors about release dates but nothing concrete. Could somebody tell me when they are schedualed to drop? Thanks and keep safe all.



-justin.

[sal]

Hi Justin. The Perrin FB is being tooled. I would expect them about OCT/NOV this year.

The Szabo is getting mixed reactions (Love or Hate). It IS an unusual design. We'll be showing the proto at the Blade show in Atlanta this June.

Unfortunaely, the decision to go into production on a model is highly dependent on whether or not the design will be popular enough to regain tooling & Marketing costs...often very expensive. It also has to "hold it's own" in the design stable to remain. It is sad, but "business" does have an effect on our hobby.

The design could be a very good design but only to a very small market. The large Calypso was a good design (by our standards) that was very well made. It was retired simply becuase the number of people that chose to purchase one was not enough to maintain the model.

sal

[justin]

Well that's unfortunate. I am far more interested in the Perrin however. I have his smaller custom version of the Street Bowie and it's one of my favorite smaller tactical fixed blades. Am I right in my thinking that the Spyderco Perrin will be larger? Thanks for the answer Sal. Geeze....seeing as howe the last knives I have been buying and carrying everyday are spydercos I should have registered here long ago.

[Mr.Skin]

Well I hope the Szabo UUK does make it to production. I love to have one and can afford the ones he makes. The design is different, but not unlike the Gunting, meaning its a concept that if you don't like when you see it, you should a least play with it a little.

Mr.Skin

...from whose bourn, no traveler returns.

[Guntaholic]

I sure hope they both make it into production! You might want to post this one over in the MBC forum to drum up some support!

[sal]

The Perrin has a 5" blade.

Thanx for the input on Laci's design.

sal

[old_dog]

The Szabo is getting mixed reactions (Love or Hate). It IS an unusual design. We'll be showing the proto at the Blade show in Atlanta this June.

Unfortunaely, the decision to go into production on a model is highly dependent on whether or not the design will be popular enough to regain tooling & Marketing costs...often very expensive. It also has to "hold it's own" in the design stable to remain. It is sad, but "business" does have an effect on our hobby.

sal

Hello Sal,

Yeah, I know, this thread is almost 18 years old. In a way that's the point. The world and the knife market are both different today than they were in 2001. You might want to give a UUK folder a second look. Even today, there is nothing like it on the market, production or semi-custom. Dust off the prototype and take it to a few knife shows.

I have a UUK fixed blade and love it for hikes with the dogs in the outback of NM. It would be my first choice for TEOTWAWKI but an EDC ... no way.

Larry

PS A photo of your prototype UUK folder would be nice . I'm sure you will get some feedback here.

[blues]

Jeez, I thought two old friends of mine, (Fred and Laci), were gonna show up in this thread out of the blue.

I've spent many hours in the company of each, (even drove to the Blade Show with the two of them in 2000...don't ask. LOL!)

Two wild men. (In the best ways, of course.)

[BLUETYPEII]

Hi Justin. The Perrin FB is being tooled. I would expect them about OCT/NOV this year.

The Szabo is getting mixed reactions (Love or Hate). It IS an unusual design. We'll be showing the proto at the Blade show in Atlanta this June.

Unfortunaely, the decision to go into production on a model is highly dependent on whether or not the design will be popular enough to regain tooling & Marketing costs...often very expensive. It also has to "hold it's own" in the design stable to remain. It is sad, but "business" does have an effect on our hobby.

The design could be a very good design but only to a very small market. The large Calypso was a good design (by our standards) that was very well made. It was retired simply becuase the number of people that chose to purchase one was not enough to maintain the model.

sal

I think it’s a shame the Calypso & Szabo Folder wer discontinued, I recently in the last couple years got back into knives and both of these would have been must haves. Sal you should do a sprint run on the Szabo Folder, I would snap that up in a second as long as it’s a steel with a little corrosion resistance

[Wanimator]

I'd be in for another Szabo

[old_dog]

Just to be clear, this is the Szabo UUK knife I was talking about, not the Spyderco Szabo:





This is a very scarce rendering made by David Mosier years ago.

[JD Spydo]

I've been to several knife shows over the years and I've had the privilege of meeting Mr. Laci Szabo on two occasions. I've admired his stuff from a distance and I almost bought one of his UUK Lightning models at one of the BLADE Shows but I was just a bit short on funds after the second day at the show. At that time Mr. Szabo told me that they were using ATS-34 in their premium blades. I'm sure those UUK Lightning models are probably collector pieces by now and it would be interesting to know what blade steel he is using now.

The Spyderco Szabo folder is one I've been meaning to get but this year's medical expenses have postponed that one unfortunately. I like it a lot because it's the closest thing Spyderco has to their awesome C-60 Ayoob folder. I'm hoping that Spyderco does more blades from both Fred Perrin and Laci Szabo in their long term product pipeline.

[JD Spydo]

[Vivi]

The Szabo folder is a very interesting knife. Amazing lines, wonderful ergonomics, and the coolest expression of the compression lock to date.