[/CENTER]People carry knives in every environment on earth. No matter the landscape--gritty sand, thick foliage, hewn stone--we keep sharp tools by our sides. But as we grow and progress as a society, a different, manmade landscape threatens our ability to carry our most reliable tool. The heat rising off asphalt, the enveloping humidity of sound, the lined ascent of buildings--this is the urban landscape, and it challenges us like nothing before.
Spyderco adapted to this environment by designing the Urban. The 2.5” blade of laser cut VG-10 steel doesn’t lock to remain legal in cities across the globe. So that the people you meet and work with every day can see the Urban as a non-threatening tool, Spyderco outfitted the handle with bright blaze-orange G10. A wire clip completes the package, keeping the slim, light Urban deep in pocket until needed.
To help the Urban blend with every person’s unique tastes and cutting needs, Spyderco plans to offer several styles of interchangeable blade shapes and handle scales.
[CENTER]Spyderco Urban
The Future Unlocked[/CENTER]
[LEFT]Pictures[/LEFT]
Colin's custom Urban. Image by ColinKC on the British Blades forum
Urban prototypes from the IWA show. Images by Wouter
[LEFT]According to Sal[/LEFT]
Newest release date estimate
---Originally Posted by sal
We're told that the Urban will be available in October. I would guess that it means November for shipment.
Sorry for the delay on this item. Some parts are made in the USA and shipped to Seki.
sal
Originally Posted by sal
We're expecting to finish the prodcution samples later this month. We'll show them at the SHOT & IWA shows and the UK, A'dam & Solingen meets. I imagine we'll take a few pics along the way.
The Urban is a shortened UKPK. 2.5" blade length clip carry, non locking folder. VG-10 blade steel. 4 blade options: Leaf, warncliffe, lambsfoot (plain & serrated) and a "safety" blade. All Mix & match.
Handles will be available in G-10 (foliage green & safety orange), FRN and bolstered versions with more exotic scales (Walnut jigged bone, etc).
Not all of the options will be available at once, we'll add as we can.
This should solve the most of the complaints (other than "it's fugly") on the UK.
sal
Hi Jag,
The "plan" with the Urban is mix & match for anyone to be able to do. We've learned quite a bit about "Slipits" in the past few years and we believe it is do-able. Perhaps difficult, but do-able. It wouldn't be the first time we did something new or difficult.
Hi Joe,
The 2" version is more like the dragonfly.
sal
Hi Kris,
May might be "really" tight, but we'll try.
sal
...The "Urban" has 4 blade shapes: leaf, warnie, lambsfoot and "safety" (rounded point). The future scales will be: bolsters & natural materials, and the FRN version, for which the texture is a keyboard with any color possible.
The lamsfoot and safety blades are thinner with a hump over the hole only.
According to forum members who've seen, pet, and possibly fed an Urban in the wild
Originally Posted by Mr Blonde
The Urban will be more of a 'workhorse' in my carry rotation than the previous models. It's very light and highly 'pocketable', it's thin profile means that it's comfy to carry. At least for the minute or so it spent in my pocket. This one should be a nice travel knife.
I will get a leaf shape Urban for sure. I've recently come into the possession of the new UKPKs and they do seem a bit more refined to me, compared to the earlier black model. The action is much smoother, there's a hint more belly in the blade and the overall fit and finish is really nice. The Urban prototypes were just as smooth as their bigger brothers. Moreover, the handle even seems a bit more comfy because its shorter. I always have a bit of handle 'left' when holding the UKPK and using the choil. This 'extra' handle is gone with the shorter handle of the Urban, I liked it a lot.
On the spring mechanism of "slipits"Originally Posted by Jurphaas
Yes, the Urbans are great little powerhouses. In fact most people who held and inspected them at the mini-meets and at the IWA, commented very possitively about them.
One of the Leeds visitors to the UK mini-meet referred to them as "Slippits". This name struck a chord with Sal and he - with the approval of the initiator of the name - is calling all slipjoints by spyderco now "Slippits".
" Slippits" are the pocket knives of the future according to Spyderco. In 10-15 years from now, the pocket knife as we know it today will have changed quitte a bit due to more and more restrictive ledgislation thru out the world.
So, we better get used to a schrinking of our beloved pocket knive and forget about the locking features all to- gether.
Pocket knives will become "Slippits" and "Slippits" will still remain as HighTech as posible with super steels and the best handle materials available. Although many may not see it yet, the future looks bright!
Cheers, Jurphaas
The insides of the "slippit" mechanism. Images by Murdoc (see post #43 for larger images)Originally Posted by Senate
despite the fact that they share the same name, the lock on the SAK and the UKPK/Urban are very different. on a SAK the spring is really stiff and exert a tension on the blade during 90-95% of the opening, which is why they're so prone to close on your fingers.
on the contrary the urban/UKPK have a two steps opening: first step from closed to half opened position is like a SAK, the spring is pushed back by the increasing size of the tang of the blade and as a reaction puts tension on the blade to close it. once arrived at half opened position there's small depression on the tang of the blade where the spring rest in the same position as if the knife was closed, no tension here. the knife wouldn't move from this position if left alone, i believe a SAK would eventually close itself overtime if left in the same position.
then you have the second step from half-opened to fully opened, which seems to have a constant and small/weak action on the spring therefore not a lot of tension on the blade up to the final position.
breaking the opening in 2 steps has given the slipjoint a great security, a SAK just want to bite your fingers as soon as it starts to close, a UKPK won't close itself before you passed half opened position, and there's a bump to pass so that definitely requires human interaction.
So, let's hear it. Who else is as excited for the Urban as I am? I'm a big wharnie fan, and the Urban's size, appearance, and apparent pocketability match perfectly with the full-flat wharncliffe blade.
I'm also excited about the idea of swappable handles and blades. I think this will be a big step toward other people seeing knives as tools. I also think that most people like things that are customized to their personal style.
But I'm most excited about the Urban because the creation of the model is just another example of how forward thinking Spyderco is as a company. A lot of people see knives as intimidating weapons, and Spyderco knows this. There are laws in place now that restrict the carry of knives, and I don't see these laws loosening any time soon unless knives are accepted as tools. Making the every day carry pocketknife as non-threatening as possible, while still packing in functional design features, is really an amazing accomplishment.
What do you think?
[CENTER]Spyderco Urban
Function Unlocked[/CENTER]
[CENTER]
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