The trip was great, largely thanks to pre-planning tips from Joyce. If you didn’t want to visit the Spyderco facilities, I still suggest you visit Golden and its surroundings. It’s a stunning piece of America to visit, drive or hike through. But…you may be more interested in my time with the spyder-family.
One word: awesome. Joyce was our personal guide for the entire day, and Olive was with us for a good part of the day as well. Everyone we met was so kind and generous with their time. I got to see the CATRA machine and how it worked, ‘we’ broke some knives in another machine. Apparently this (large and heavy) ‘lock-breaking machine’ actually jumps a bit off the floor in order to defeat a Chinook II!
I saw lots of prototypes. A couple of familiar designs, which were in a further stage of development. Like some Kopa suggestions, the Li’l Temp II and a -very- exciting Ed Schempp folder design I sincerely hope will see production. If we can get a steady supply of properly produced titanium parts into the production pipeline, it will be a very good year for the spyderholics! And I’m not just talking about the ATR here guys. And there were some new knives, like the knife Spyderco is developing with the 82nd airborne.
Which did I like best? I think Olive said it best to my wife after seeing me continuously fiddling with one particular knife: “Guess what he wants for Christmas?!”. That knife was the Ocelot. I also completely fell in love with the new Delica. The new trainer model just sticks to my hand like glue, even through all sorts of manipulations. It feels more solid and ergonomic than the current/previous Delica. Of course the mini Manix will be a winner, just like the Kumo.
