Spyderco: The Undisputed King Of Small Blades

[sharpguitarist]

Hey guys,
My wife and son went to Gatlinburg yesterday to see her sister, who came up from Florida onvacation.
I had to work, so couldn't make the trip. They felt bad for me, and stopped by SMKW on their way home.
This is what I was presented with last night.



I'm gonna carry this for the next few days and put it to work.
I'm a very lucky man!
Thanks for looking!
Later,
Don

[bearfacedkiller]

Very nice. I find the Cricket to be a very capable little utility knife. I carry mine often as a backup to my main EDC. Enjoy it. It is just a cool little knife.

[MarcusH]

Unfortunately the Kopas, Kiwi-lockbacks and the Salsa are out-of-production, but the Air is a pretty nice successor

[sal]

Great wife!

sal

[DutchBlades]

Hey guys,
My wife and son went to Gatlinburg yesterday to see her sister, who came up from Florida onvacation.
I had to work, so couldn't make the trip. They felt bad for me, and stopped by SMKW on their way home.
This is what I was presented with last night.

I'm gonna carry this for the next few days and put it to work.
I'm a very lucky man!
Thanks for looking!
Later,
Don

Nice one!
I have the stainless steel version, but the nishijin looks really good :D

[sharpguitarist]

Great wife!

sal

Hey sal,
Honored to be a supporter of your outstanding company and products!
Thanks a bushel!
My wife will appreciate your kind words!
Later,
Don

[street soldier]

Hey guys,
My wife and son went to Gatlinburg yesterday to see her sister, who came up from Florida onvacation.
I had to work, so couldn't make the trip. They felt bad for me, and stopped by SMKW on their way home.
This is what I was presented with last night.



I'm gonna carry this for the next few days and put it to work.
I'm a very lucky man!
Thanks for looking!
Later,
Don

Sounds like your sister in law should come visit more often when you have to work

I have an older FRN SE Cricket. Great little knife. I carry it at work all the time. Excellent cutter.

John

[JD Spydo]

Unfortunately the Kopas, Kiwi-lockbacks and the Salsa are out-of-production, but the Air is a pretty nice successor

I wasn't a huge fan of those "COBRA HOODS" like the one you have pictured with that Green Salsa. But that was one model it really worked well on. I had the Titanium version with the Cobra Hood and it was great for it's size. I'm surprised that they don't bring back the Salsa model with newer/better blade steel. It was one of the most ridgid and sturdy folders for it's size. I also liked the Cobra Hood on the ASSIST model as well.

The Ti Salsa as far as I know was the only one with ATS-34 >> all the other Salsas I owned had AUS-8 blade steel.

[Invective]

I'm surprised that they don't bring back the Salsa model with newer/better blade steel. It was one of the most ridgid and sturdy folders for it's size.

I remember a thread where sal was talking about bringing back the Salsa for a sprint, although there was some debate as to whether or not to keep the hood or not. Most didn't like it although I have to say I would like to have the hood. It's a nice feature and part of what made the Salsa a Salsa at least for me.

Found it!

Eric and I spoke with the maker earlier this year about a Salsa sprint run. Current thoughts are no "Cobra Hood" and a Titanium version with an integral compression lock.

I'd love to see a Salsa in S30V or even a super steel that the Taiwanese plant have shown they can do! I sold off my Salsa because it was CE although I would take anything with Ti integral :D

[JD Spydo]

I remember a thread where sal was talking about bringing back the Salsa for a sprint, although there was some debate as to whether or not to keep the hood or not. Most didn't like it although I have to say I would like to have the hood. It's a nice feature and part of what made the Salsa a Salsa at least for me.

I have to agree with you on that one for sure because to me as well I thought that the Cobra Hood was truly part of the character make up of the Salsa. It also seemed to give it more leverage when cutting. Like I said earlier I didn't like it on some of the bigger models it was on with the exception of the ASSIST model. I thought that it really gave the ASSIST model a safety feature being it was primarily going to be used for emergency purposes.

It the SPRINT Salsa doesn't have a hood I probably won't get one. I really loved the huge selection of colors they had with the Salsa. A very good friend of mine who is now deceased had a complete set of them and they made a beautiful display. The cranberry was another favorite of mine.

[Donut]

I would like to say that their only competitor is themselves!

They are making the Squeak and Pingo in N690Co when they could be using M390 or K390 as a truely amazing upgrade model.

The only super steel LBK's are the ZDP and Super Blue models. ZDP is a pretty nice steel, but it seems like there are better options out there.


There aren't many USA made LBK's anymore. If there were USA made LBK's, we could get S90V or S110V in a LBK.

I think offering nice super steel would make it unquestionably undisputed.

[JD Spydo]

There aren't many USA made LBK's anymore. If there were USA made LBK's, we could get S90V or S110V in a LBK.

I think offering nice super steel would make it unquestionably undisputed.

Donut I'm thinking along the same lines. But not just for the Ladybug and other Micro blades but Spyderco's small bladed knives in general. I do believe that making many of the popular small bladed model Spyders in one of the supersteels whether it be American or Japanese is fine with me. But with all the Supersteels currently offered here in the USA to me it would make perfect sense to do more Golden made blades with premium USA steel. Like I said before the original Meerkat was made at the Golden plant and the 440C model was the really good one in my opinion.

But if they do a Sprint run of the Salsas for instance and would bring them back in various colors and use CPM, Carpenter or any other premium blade steel I think they would sell great. It really blows me away that the Ladybug and the micro sized Spyders have acrued the popularity that they have. Especially the ones with premium steels. I almost wish I would have kept those 2 Burgundy Micarta Jesters I used to have at one time>> their popularity seems to be gaining as well.

Take the MEERKAT model for instance>> one of the more popular discontinued blades ever in the Spyder Kingdom>> I'm sure it would do well at the box office with a premium steel and made here in GOLDEN Colorado USA Earth would really appeal to a lot of users and collectors both. Something that the General and his men and women at the Great Spyder FActory should be thinking about IMO.

[Donut]

I don't have any experience with the Salsa. =\

The Meerkat is a pretty nice blade, but I have stopped carrying mine. I spent a while looking for a LBK that offered tip down as a carry option and the Meerkat (and the Chokwe :p ) is the only one I found.

I'm not 100% sold on the Meerkat, it is borderline novelty and it's nice to have. I think it would be better to have a back lock version of it. What was that model, the Navigator? I imagine the Navigator was a Japan model.

I was wondering to myself why we see so few Golden lock backs, but the Native and the revised lock back has almost completely nullified that. Once we see the new FRN version, we will be flooded by Golden lock backs.

There is a lot of things to talk about in the LBK section. I think the China slipjoints, mainly the Cliptool, would be greatly improved with the action of Golden's split spring. My Cliptools are difficult to open, requiring a large amount of concentration or two hands. China and the stainless bug series would be more interesting with different steel and if they were easier to open. Rumor has it that 1095 is available in China. IMO, a slipit Kiwi or Grasshopper or even an Ambitious with 1095 would make for an interesting knife.

You know what is interesting that I noticed the other day? The Cliptools have a choil and I can almost get a full 3 finger grip on a knife that is the same closed size as a Ladybug.


I heard the S110V Mule was made in Taiwan so that the maker would gain experience with S110V. (Hope for other Taiwan models!) The only problem with that is that I don't know many LBK's that are produced in Taiwan! The Chaparral is supposedly going to use XHP forever and the Air and Techno are the only other LBK's from Taiwan that I know of.

[JD Spydo]

I'll admit I've been pretty busy here work-wise in the past 3 months and I just really don't know what Spyderco has planned on the Sprint Run Pipeline. I'm so grateful for the G-10 Ayoob, VG-10 C-44 Dyad and the C-54 Calypso Sprint>> it's stuff of that nature that makes my life worth living. I'm not sure what they have planned on Sprint Runs with older small blade models but I think maybe it's time to talk about it.

Not only the MEERKAT being a prime target for a SPRINT RUN>> I would add the older C-32 SPUR model to that suggestion box list. It makes perfect sense because of the draconian knife carry laws that some of our great Spyder Brothers and Spyder Sisters are subjected to. So to me it makes perfect sense to maybe focus on making some small Spyder Folders into "creme de le creme" premium caliber blade category. If I lived in a police state type city like the Big Apple ( NYC) or Washington D.C. I would focus on stuff like the C-39 Dyad, The Dodo and other Small Spyders that fall into that legal blade limit dilema so many are oppressed with.

Wouldn't a MEERKAT with a Peel Ply Carbon Fiber Handle and an XHP blade be the bomb?!!!!? Or A SPUR model with ZDP-189??!!! Oh how I would love to see the Dyad Junior with the Micarta Handle return with a pair of S90V blades!!! You all get where I'm going with this. We've seen it done with some of the big Spyders and to some degree there have been a few of the smaller ones>> but why not ratchet up the small blade market significantly???

Benchmade has their GOLD Series so why couldn't Spyderco have a small blade PLATINUM Series or something of that ilk???l Hey it's worth kicking around. I might even be tempted to EDC something of that caliber.

[Donut]

Too bad the Dyad was a Japan model, too. Maybe the Hitachi equivalent of M4 for both blades. If you're dreaming, why not do the serrated blade in H1 and the PE one in S90V. :)

Now, when I unlock the Meerkat, I rely heavily on the bumps on the scales. Peel-ply Carbon Fiber would be like sand paper on my thumb and finger while operating that lock.

Since Spyderco is more into steel and performance, I think the name of a really high end steel would be a better name than Gold or Platinum, which are pretty much useless metals when knives are involved.

[twinboysdad]

I have been at Disney this week with a LBHB on my keychain and a Pingo clipped to back pocket. Have not had a single cutting opportunity that those two could not tackle. Neither is really a stand alone. But a Ladybug Hawkbill and a Pingo are kinda like Batman and Robin, a freakin dynamic duo. Now those who are SD driven would cringe at that selection, but if either were confiscated I would not have been as bother than if a sprint got grabbed by a mall cop

[sal]

The Meerkat is really dependent on the bumps in the scales to permit unlocking. They were designed to do just that. We tried many combinations and the one we ended up with we felt was the best option.

sal

[JD Spydo]

The Meerkat is really dependent on the bumps in the scales to permit unlocking. They were designed to do just that. We tried many combinations and the one we ended up with we felt was the best option.

sal

I actually liked the locking mechanism on the Meerkat model. I had 2 of them at one time>> one was strictly a collector piece that I eventually sold to a friend of mine and the other was a used model that I did EDC a little. I did like the original GOLDEN CO USA Earth model with the 440C blade>> I also wondered why they never made that model in Spyderedge????

It seems to me as popular as a discontinued model that the MEERKAT is I would think myself that it would be a prime candidate for a SPRINT RUN??

Also I do believe that the Dodo in Spyderedge would be a nice SPRINT RUN as well.

[opusxpn]

I don't go way back on collecting spydercos but been around them for a couple of years and for me the small blade that I use the most has to be the Manbug, I used the ladybugs a lot before but when I got my first Manbug just got along with my hand better and that is the smallest workhorse knife I have.

[RJNC]

They are THE BEST makers of varied/well-made/consistent-new-models small knife makers.