Spyderco Forums

The Mule team is the whole “super cool company” proof.

Let us do some testing of steels and have some fun. I started my knifemaking journey putting handles on Mules. Each Mule I tried a different handle material which led to myself being educated on handle materials.

I can make a knife now but still get excited about a Mule drop in a new steel. These are my little treasures that give me inspiration and insight into new steels at an affordable price.

Spyderco really revolutionized what a folding knife is in terms of one handed opening, clips, construction, ergonomics, etc. Today the entire industry is making knives that follow in Spyderco footsteps. That was a tremendous amount of innovation.

The round hole opening. I can’t stand thumb studs. Plus they just seem to cut better than other brands.

A couple of things I could add to "David's" reasons both deal with overall function. It seems to me that most all of Spyderco's models have a very practical application for a wide range of different cutting jobs.

No matter what type of job you are needing an edged tool for it is safe to say that Spyderco has something to accommodate just about any cutting job you can imagine. And great quality cutlery at that.

Also they have a wide range of blades that can be used for self defense.

I think that for me Spyderco’s key market differentiator is their willingness to iterate on their designs, both through series’s (Native 1-5, Delica 1-4, etc) and CQI.

Yes, they do awesome steels.

Yes, they engage with their fans/end users.

Yes, they make knives with aesthetics that some might find questionable until they pick them up and use them.

But for me it is their iterative design processes that sets them aside and makes them my preferred purveyor of sharp and pointy things.

Spyderco makes purpose built knives that are made to be used, not just flashed around to make you look mucho macho!

Awesome sharpness out of the box.
Superb sharpening solutions.

1. Awesome customer care.
2. Sal is very attentive (he even wrote my wife and told her he'd make a purple Dragonfly, and though I am sure it was in the works, it was the thoughtfulness).
3. Attention to detail.
4. Sharpness out of the box. I've had two that would cut free hanging toilet paper, a Caly3 and a 204P Delica.
5. Build quality
6. Ergonomics (and...Spyderco is thankfully not into this blade to handle ratio nonsense. A Spyderco is made to fit the hand).

Unlike many early innovators in a given industry, they continue to do so. I had my first spydercos in the 90s which were revolutionary at the time.

For me the biggest attraction is pure performance. Full flat grind on thinner blade stock in a lightweight package is what I gravitate to.

Also, the offering of new steels is a big thing for me these days as a hobbyist. This falls under both performance and innovation which go hand in hand but also keeps me wanting more. (I think I have a K390 addiction )

Sal.

Pretty practical designs, fairly derivative and incremental, not as flashy, creative or interesting as some other shops but they work well.

The main aspect where Spyderco really stands out to me is their experimentation and use of different steels. That's really what drew me to them a couple decades ago, and mostly what keeps me checking back on what they bring out. They also used to be a much more budget friendly option for similar quality knives than the butterfly, but that gap seems to have narrowed and of course there are so many new players since then.

On the negative side, it does seem like there is a longer lag between when a new variant is introduced and when it actually becomes available with Spyderco than other large makers. If you see something you like in a reveal it will probably be a year before you see one available. I much prefer the way Ruger does intros, when you see the news about a new gun they are introducing, there's probably already one on the shelf at your local store.

If Spyderco didn’t do all the admirable things we have identified here, then I doubt a forum such as this would be offered to us.

Here, we—from across much of the world—get to be heard, to be alerted, to be educated, to be thanked, to show-off, to humble-brag, to whinge, to disagree, all while towing a line. So, yeah, Spyderco makes superb knives of stunning variety, but rather more than just that.

“Just that”?!

Indeed, I think everything—and that’s a lot of things—that Spyderco does is highly integrated, not by accident, but on purpose. Who else does that?

Honestly, I’ve never been curious enough to find out.

Hard to believe there are so many positive comments here. I’ve really enjoyed the different perspectives. Thank you all for taking the time to educate me.

Gtscotty wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 08, 2024 8:17 am

Pretty practical designs, fairly derivative and incremental, not is flashy creative or interesting as some other shops but they work well.

The main aspect where Spyderco really stands out to me is their experimentation and use of different steels. That's really what drew me to them a couple decades ago, and mostly what keeps me checking back on what they bring out. They also used to be a much more budget friendly option for similar quality knives than the butterfly, but that gap seems to have narrowed and of course there are so many new players since then.

On the negative side, it does seem like there is a longer lag between when a new variant is introduced and when it actually becomes available with Spyderco than other large makers. If you see something you like in a reveal it will probably be a year before you see one available. I much prefer the way Ruger does intros, when you see the news about a new gun they are introducing, there's probably already one on the shelf at your local store.

I think I can comment on the last part as to why so long.

Sal and Eric are perfectionists. When Sal starts a design in the drawing stage they get feedback. Then his man builds a demo that Sal and Eric back around and use themselves to see how it goes. There are almost always refinements to the design. Anything from the blade angle, the lock, the grip, the stuff they put on the grip to the steel they decide to use. Then there is which company is going to make it. China, Taiwan, Japan, USA, Italy????? Many of there suppliers are at max production and have to finish one thing before staring another. Along with that deciding which market it’s going to fit into. Inexpensive, mid range or the multi hundreds of dollars kind of knife. I’m a huge gun guy. I won’t publish how many I own but it a lot. From what I know about gun manufacturing I think Sal and his team put more into building a knife than the gun manufactures into a new rifle.

- All the products have a very distinct look and feel.
- Delica 4 K390
- Sal Glesser asnwered my question on my first thread on this forum, recommending me what is now my favourite knife (Delica 4)
- The brand has a special "feel"? Like Opinel for example. Something I miss in a lot of competitors, which is why Spyderco is the only company I buy modern knifes from.
-Delica 4 K390
- Ergonomics. Way ahead of anything else I've ever held in my hands. A knife as small as the Lil' Native should not feel as good as it does, I don't know how it works. Magic?
- Delica 4 K390
- Probably the upcoming Lil' Native Lighweight. I know I'll love it.

For me the most significant thing that sets Spyderco apart is the willingness to completely disregard what a knife "should" look like. 99% of the market is generic knife shaped objects that match what consumer thinks a knife looks like based on what they saw as a child.
Spyderco is the only company that seems to take the experience of using a knife and be able to put 2 and 2 together and observe that this saber ground clip/drop point isn't actually that good of a cutting tool.

There was a book published back about 2000 with the title, The Cluetrain Manifesto. This book discussed how there would be conversations among the customers of companies. Companies could try to prevent those conversations. Some companies even went so far as to sue individuals just for linking to their products. That is a bit more difficult to imagine happening today. If the company was more enlightened, they could participate in the conversations.

That is something Spyderco does very well. They encourage discussions even providing this forum for doing it. They actively support the conversations on another popular forum as well. And, in both locations, the head of the company welcomes new members to the community. To me, that level of participation by a company is extraordinary. Along with the wide variety of wonderful products created and the great customer service, this makes me proud to be a part of this community. Well done, Sal and Spyderco! Of course, others at Spyderco assist in that endeavor and are also much appreciated.

Sal, a founder and CEO that engages directly with his customer base.
An extraordinary understanding of ergonomics.

Spyderco's most attractive quality for me is their function-over-form ethos. "Designed in the dark" is the only way that makes sense to me when we're talking about ergonomics of user knives.

Add to that their tendency for creating some unique designs (Chaparral Sun & Moon, Canis, Dodo come to mind), most of which tend to be my favorite, most-used knives, and I've kinda become a fanboy.

Many excellent comments in this thread and I agree with many of them 110%.

I've never had a bad Spyderco knife or a Spyderco requiring service out of the box. I've never had a Spyderco requiring service, period.

Many companies are offering great steels now, years after Spyderco first offered them. Spyderco is a risk taker, proving to all of the other companies in the knife industry what can be produced.

I have owned a lot of knives compared to the average Earthling yet there is still a lot of Spyderco for me to discover. So many designs, mules, special knives for foreign markets I still have quite a few knives to check out.

This is a successful company. Everyone loves to be around a champion.