Come on! Why's my favorite knife have to be so damned pricey?!

RIOT · #61

peacefuljeffrey wrote:Thank you. That about nailed it.

My thanks also to Sal--for one thing, it's a thrill to be directly addressed by him, and for another, I want to reassure him that I'm still a Spyderco fan, still love the knives, still feel loyal to the company. I understand that things have moved in various directions over the years and that is what has to happen in individual cases as necessary. I hope for continued success for Spyderco and all involved with the company. Sal, please know that I don't mean to bash Spyderco. I was just taken aback by where the price of the new Dragonfly ended up. I'm sure I'll get over it.

RIOT: I don't plan to get one until/unless a different color of G-10 is introduced for it. I'd really prefer black, but as I think I hinted, I'm not keen on laying out the cash for this knife if it's in a color that I am not that fond of.

So Sal, will there be any Dragonfly versions in black G-10? :D

No prob,

you can still buy one and do the RIT dye (black) and totally get what you want.

to edit this post.. i think the black G10 is somewhat of the past recently, there are a few but no too much anymore....

Th232 · #62

I can't remember the numbers, but does anyone know how much FG G10 Spyderco ordered? I remember it being a disturbingly large amount.

The Deacon · #63

Th232 wrote:I can't remember the numbers, but does anyone know how much FG G10 Spyderco ordered? I remember it being a disturbingly large amount.

Don't recall ever reading that figure, but it must have been a bunch. I've resigned myself to the idea that some folks must like it, even if I don't, or they wouldn't be using so much of it. At least it's better than camo. :rolleyes:

The Deacon · #64

letsgoworkout wrote:With these hypothetical numbers, wouldn't it be cheaper and make more people happy to produce more knives in the US instead of Japan? Or would the cost to build a factory and pay wages in the US outweigh moving production? Do the large numbers of layoffs in the US play a role as well?

Wages wouldn't be the issue as much as finding or training the additional work force. Then, you have a bigger factory to maintain and more mouths to feed, regardless of how business is. Your can "save" some money in a slump by laying folks off, but that hurts them and you still have a bigger factory to heat and pay taxes and the mortgage on. It's a lot less "painful" to just place a smaller order with a supplier, or not order at all. By the same token, if business suddenly surges, it's easier to increase orders than increase capacity. So the current setup allows them valuable flexibility.

It does pay to keep in mind that Spyderco has been designing, producing, and selling knives for close to thirty years now, but only manufacturing them "in house" for about fifteen. At one time, all their production was outsourced. The revenue stream that provided allowed them to create their US factory , and the income the outsourced models continue to provide has allowed them to increase production in Golden to where it is today. There are currently more US models than ever, more versions of those models than ever, and yet more planned. They've created jobs that did not exist, and increased both production and production capacity in a down economy. That's pretty **** impressive, if you ask me.

Current Golden Models:

Citadel 92mm
Citadel 83mm
Chinook
DK Penknife
Embassy
Leafstorm
Manix 2
Military
Mule Team
Native
P'kal
Para-Military
SmallFly
SzaboFly
UK Penknife

Plus, for every person who shares your view, there are probably a hundred who don't give a flying fart what follows "Made in" on a label and would prefer to see all Spydercos produced wherever it can be done the cheapest. Catering to those folks is what's made Wal-Mart as successful as it is.

bohica1998 · #65

Catering to those folks is what's made Wal-Mart as successful as it is.

Unfortunately, Walmart doesn't have anywhere near the QC that Spyderco does! :eek: :D :rolleyes:

#66

Hi Azad,

The G-10 D'fly is a pilot for the new FRN D'fly. Improvements like the jimping on the spine and finger choil will be incorporated into the new model. The left/right wire clip will also be used in the new model. We will more than likely go with a once piece FRN handle with no liners to keep the weight and price down.

Letsgoworkout,

We don't need to build a factory, we have one. At this time, we're making as much as we can in the Golden plant. As we add equipment, we increase capacity.

We've found very few makers worldwide that can meet our quality needs. Some of them are in Japan and have worked with us for almost 30 years. There are few in the world that can match their quality.

The makers are still in the same place, it is the Yen that has moved.

Hey Jeffrey,

I didn't think you were "bashing" Spyderco. I just "figgered" you needed more information on production knife-making. Most of the time people complain about the price of something we make, it's more a case of "they can't afford it", than it being overpriced. Not being able to afford something is certainly ok. That's why we make so many models with variety in price. There is much I just simply can't afford.

As far as color of the G-10, we're open, it depends on demand. The foliage green G-10 is in the US and it's a custom color made just for us. It's also machined in the US, then sent to Japan.

I believe foliage green will become more popular in the future because it's low key and knives are becoming a target.

The FRN version will probably come in a variety of colors. Again, depends on what you want.

As Deacon mentioned, we are increasing US jobs, not decreasing them. We're also small by design and keeping everyone working is important.

The new models already in US engineering include the new Native4 (G-10 and FRN), the FRN Manix2, FRN UK Pen Knife and Paramilitary2. Eric and I are now planning what will be next on the list.

sal

Jay_Ev · #67

peacefuljeffrey wrote:So Sal, will there be any Dragonfly versions in black G-10? :D

RIOT wrote:you can still buy one and do the RIT dye (black) and totally get what you want.

RIOT is correct, I ended up doing this to my foliage green G-10 D'Fly:

This was done a couple weeks ago, and I have carried and used the knife daily since then. To date, nothing bad has happened, and no green is showing through the black. The G-10 is showing the same wear as a factory G-10 scale would.

peacefuljeffrey · #68

Thank you for the input about the dyeing of the green to black. I'm gonna pass on that, myself, though. I just don't want to worry that there's green under there, will it ever wear through, etc. I'd rather wait for either black G-10 or other colors in FRN.

I have no problem with FRN. I love G-10, sure (Spyderco's G-10 handles always feel great to me--on my ParaMilitary, for instance, or my Gunting) but if a Dragonfly in FRN is less costly than the G-10 version, I'd go with that.

To be unequivocal and clear, WHAT I WANT, REALLY, IS A BLACK-HANDLED DRAGONFLY THAT IS NOT RIVETED. That is THE reason why I never got the old FRN version. I love the knife, but do not like riveted knives. I want the ability to disassemble, clean, adjust. (Call it a hangup if ya like.

)

That's why I was so excited to see that there is a G-10 Dragonfly now, but then disappointed by the color and price.

Sal, thank you for being around, being so close, and helping folks like me to understand more about what goes on in your industry and your company. :)