Spyderco Forums

JD Spydo wrote:

demoncase wrote:Obscura? Let me begin:

The Zowada has a beautiful symmetry to it and is rarely mentioned these days. I love mine.

The Phoenix seems to have been forgotten as one of the earliest ball-bearing locks.

The Des Horn is another little gent's knife with that polished G10 which makes it stand out :)

You've just struck a sentimental, old school nerve when you mention the Zowada model. If they ever brought that bad boy back in one of the newer Supersteels I would be all over it in a nanosecond. The blade design makes it a perfect utility knife.

The only reason I never got a Des Horn or Chokwe is because they were only available in S30V as far as I know but again if they would do either one or both of those in a supersteel I would even be picking up pop cans to make sure I got them. It's so interesting that some of the obscure models were truly some of the best designs as well.

I have a Chokwe- it's magical....how does something with a grip made entirely of straight lines melt into your hand like it was made for it? :)

Jess Horn...I have a burgundy ZDP Sprint that gets some pocket time.

For anyone who thinks the Spydie "Hump" is ugly...Jess Horn's models are more easy on the eyes.

The white Micarta A.G. Russell's are especially classy! :cool:

The backstory between Jess & Sal over the development of the C27 is pretty interesting. :) :spyder: :)

paladin wrote:Jess Horn...I have a burgundy ZDP Sprint that gets some pocket time.

For anyone who thinks the Spydie "Hump" is ugly...Jess Horn's models are more easy on the eyes.

The white Micarta A.G. Russell's are especially classy! :cool:

The backstory between Jess & Sal over the development of the C27 is pretty interesting. :) :spyder: :)

Yes it is interesting the relationship that Sal had with Jess Horn>> he also had a very interesting relationship with Al Mar too which I thought was very intriguing. I'm sure those guys had a huge and positive influence on how Sal put the company together. As far as the "hump" being considered ugly >> that's just not the way I look at it because a lot of what some people perceive as being ugly is actually functional.

You mention the Jess Horn not having a Spyder-hump>> you could lump the Zowada and C-50 Centofante into that small group as well

The Toad is such a solid, obscure little design. Too rare these days to actually put mine to use, so that would be a fun one to get a sprint of.

The SpyKer is perhaps not overly obscure, and was almost perfect, if not for the godawful billboard on the blade. Sold mine because of it, but it's the one I look up on eBay the most often these days.

docboy wrote:The Toad is such a solid, obscure little design. Too rare these days to actually put mine to use, so that would be a fun one to get a sprint of.

The SpyKer is perhaps not overly obscure, and was almost perfect, if not for the godawful billboard on the blade. Sold mine because of it, but it's the one I look up on eBay the most often these days.

To me the TOAD model was one Spyder that I personally just didn't have much use for except for just being a collector piece. I was told by a friend of mine who is really into cigars that it would make a perfect "cigar knife". Maybe that is what it was designed for.

Now the SPYKER on the other hand is about my favorite Spyderco recurve model. I very much would love to see a serious Sprint Run of the SPYKER at some point. As far as I know it was the only collaboration between Spyderco & Kershaw. Yeah I know what you mean about the writing on the blade and so forth but the knife overall was truly a well built folder IMO.

JD Spydo wrote: To me the TOAD model was one Spyder that I personally just didn't have much use for except for just being a collector piece. I was told by a friend of mine who is really into cigars that it would make a perfect "cigar knife". Maybe that is what it was designed for.

Now the SPYKER on the other hand is about my favorite Spyderco recurve model. I very much would love to see a serious Sprint Run of the SPYKER at some point. As far as I know it was the only collaboration between Spyderco & Kershaw. Yeah I know what you mean about the writing on the blade and so forth but the knife overall was truly a well built folder IMO.

True, the Toad is just plain fun, not the most practical EDC. It looks like a Toad!
(can't seem to get this recolor of the Toad to post, so see link below)
http://imgur.com/a/KQmQP

I always figured the Spyker was the original Flash Batch, but I would totally buy multiple Spykers if they came back in a sprint run without the logo as big as it was, where it was (just put a smaller version on the other side like all the other Spydies, on the non-hollow ground portion). The sad part is I actually think the logo/name is kind of clever.

Favorite obscure Spyder?

Toss up between the Mini Dive Probe and the K05 Kosher Butchering Knife. They both show two things I think of when I think of Spyderco--rather weird-looking designs, and catering to specific demonstrated needs of their consumers.

GoldenSpydie wrote:Favorite obscure Spyder?

Toss up between the Mini Dive Probe and the K05 Kosher Butchering Knife. They both show two things I think of when I think of Spyderco--rather weird-looking designs, and catering to specific demonstrated needs of their consumers.

I've actually owned that K-05 Kosher knife before>> and I believe I traded it to UK ken across the pond. It was a really well made culinary knife but the other kitchen Spyders I had and still have serve most of my food needs. But you are right those are getting extremely rare. I haven't seen either one o of those models you mentioned for sale or trade in at least 5 years or so.

You've probably nailed down two of most OBSCURE Spyders so far.

I have one that has yet to be mentioned and that is a variant of the Jess Horn. I think that the white micarta version of the Jess Horn was an A.G. Russell exclusive if I remember well. But it was not only rare but it was the most beautiful of all the Jess Horns IMO. I know most of you think that the C-27 stag handled was the prettiest but I think the White Micarta version was the Creme-de-le Creme.

JD Spydo wrote:I have one that has yet to be mentioned and that is a variant of the Jess Horn. I think that the white micarta version of the Jess Horn was an A.G. Russell exclusive if I remember well. But it was not only rare but it was the most beautiful of all the Jess Horns IMO. I know most of you think that the C-27 stag handled was the prettiest but I think the White Micarta version was the Creme-de-le Creme.

Agreed, nothing like white Micarta. I wish I could find a reasonably priced white Jess Horn. Most of the ones I've seen for sale are asking more than I paid for my plain edge C27! :eek:

Of course my favorite obscure Spydie that I don't own is the Cranberry Lum.

C22 Michael Walker in CF.

NoFair wrote:C22 Michael Walker in CF.

Many of those Spyders from the late 90s/early 2000s are really becoming a group of elite folders already in "Holy Grail" status. You could add the Titanium Herbst, C-27 Jess Horn, The original "Q" models, The original "R" models as well as the first run JD Smith models into that elite group.

It's funny that when most of those were available they really didn't sell that well from what I can remember during that era. It just bolsters my case that from 1998 to 2003 truly in my humble opinion is the GOLDEN ERA Of SPYDERS>> and probably more really rare and obscure models came from that era as well.