Modular Spyderco

Strong-Dog · #1

Would anyone else be interested in a modular version of Spyderco's more popular knives? Like say a manix that you could choose your blade steel out of options, and choose your handle color or something like that. If Spyderco did this, I'm assuming this would be hugely popular. Almost like benchmade does with their build a grip. Also, instead of buying a whole new knife, you could just buy a different blade to try out a new steel. Sure, they'd lose money in the sense that now people wouldn't have to buy a whole new knife, but that would probably be offset by the fact that now the people who couldn't afford a whole new knife before can just buy a blade. Good idea? Or bad and unrealistic?

xceptnl · #2

I am sure we would all love custom tailored options, but it has been discussed before here many times and Sal has stated it just can't work with current production limitations in Golden.

Strong-Dog · #3

xceptnl wrote:I am sure we would all love custom tailored options, but it has been discussed before here many times and Sal has stated it just can't work with current production limitations in Golden.

Oh. Did not know any of that.

Blerv · #4

Yea, not sure about the size of BM but Golden has give/take 50 employees.

Strong-Dog · #5

Blerv wrote:Yea, not sure about the size of BM but Golden has give/take 50 employees.

Really?! I knew they were small, but I didn't know they were that small. I will forever think differently about Spyderco now

yablanowitz · #6

I think they've grown a little now, but they're still about a third the size of Benchmade. When we did the pizza party for them a few years ago, there were 54 employees at the Golden plant.

bearfacedkiller · #7

It was mentioned before that allowing people to fit their own locks would be a no go. I know people do blade swaps all the time but the company cannot condone it for liability reasons.

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... eam-Folder

sal wrote:Hi JToler,

As you mentioned, it's more difficult in many areas than is first apparent. The first simple adversity is locks. Our knives are built by experienced knifemakers and the reliability of the lock is of great importance. Having amateurs fitting locks is scary. I would only consider such a project as a slip joint for that reason alone.

sal

GoldenSpydie · #8

I would love to see a "custom shop" so to speak, but I doubt that it will happen any time soon.

As for the locks, I found it very easy to take apart completely and put back together my Poliwog. I don't know how that would compare to a Manix, though.

yablanowitz · #9

It's one thing to disassemble a knife whose parts have already been fitted by an expert and reassemble it correctly. It is something else entirely to take a handful of parts from various bins and fit them together into a safe and reliable locking folder.

GoldenSpydie · #10

yablanowitz wrote:It's one thing to disassemble a knife whose parts have already been fitted by an expert and reassemble it correctly. It is something else entirely to take a handful of parts from various bins and fit them together into a safe and reliable locking folder.

Very true. maybe we could get that N5 Mule series that people have been talking about? :D

VashHash · #11

This has been brought up a few times and never went anywhere
People even suggested just a folding knife handle with new steels akin to the mule team. Spyderco would prefer not to pursue such endeavors at the moment. Safety issues mainly. Everyone would probably love it but it's never happened yet. Maybe when the new facility is completed this might be an option.

Jeremy_A_Neel · #12

What about offering a knife that has a solid stainless or aluminum frame, and an easily replaced overlay material? That would offer a satisfying amount of personal choice, and also, would not necessitate warranty-voiding disassembly of the knife by amateurs. The whole process could be as simple as swapping out a pocket clip.

Strong-Dog · #13

Jeremy_A_Neel wrote:What about offering a knife that has a solid stainless or aluminum frame, and an easily replaced overlay material? That would offer a satisfying amount of personal choice, and also, would not necessitate warranty-voiding disassembly of the knife by amateurs. The whole process could be as simple as swapping out a pocket clip.

Something similar would be great, but at least I am more concerned about the steels then the handles