Spyderco Forums

Higher visibility colors are easier to find if dropped. Unless you are some kind of super commando, you don't need to be as "tacticool" as you think. The blue, yellow, orange, green, pink, etc...colors done by Spyderco are very practical and very appropriate for 99% of users. I don't really do saltwater anything, but lately, H1 Spydercos are my favorite simply because the high vis yellow has recently prevented me from losing a knife several times.

sal wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:17 pm

Now we like colors :eek: So I would be interested in learning why you like colors on knives? :D And even what colors and why?

That is puzzling. I've been a Spyderhead since 2007 and I still prefer black or muted dark colors. Never gotten into the brightly colored handles thing, don't understand it.

Very cool back story Sal

I really like colorful knives as it makes then look less threatening

Dragonflys in a non threatening color are my favourite urban carrys

I would always pick a color other than black if available in the same steel. I have maybe 125 knives or so and if they were all black, that to me would be boring, like said above. Olive drab is a 2nd. Also, as said above, the color sometimes is easy to identify what steel the blade is.

Id like to see more micarta and shredded carbon fiber in Spyderco knives.

Im not the kind of guy on Instagram that matches a hanky, flashlight, knife and his clothes either.

I did buy this knife below just for a conversation piece, knowing it comes in black, olive, etc.

Blue is my favorite color, so I love buying blue stuff. I have 2 k390 knives based solely on the fact that they come in a shade of blue. Any other color and I wouldn't own a k390 knife.

Have you given any thought to making knives with easily replaceable scales? I could see myself buying a knife and then two or three different color scales. People love personalizing stuff, you could have a whole side racket selling cool colors of scales.

Dear Sal, reasons behind customers wanting more colour variety were pointed out in some cases correctly I think as well as personal preferences.

My reasons would be as follows:

1. More colours are more NKP friendly as these days in Europe pocket knives are considered "threat". I do care about my environment and try to spread good word about knives so non threatening non tactical tool looks more "cute" to people and less dangerous - good example would be that in many cases guys who are dressing up in "tactical" manner are as well more often eye checked by police and showing off how great bad attitude they have (laughable). Simply that raises eyebrows if you are in urban environment of Capital city trying to look like mercenaries\bad boys\secret service agents\ninjas etc. wearing black bladed auto knife and flashing it to ostentatiously clean nails on the street as opposed to person wearing Sports Jacket\blazer and using smaller gents folder to cut piece of pastry to share with their better half. I am guy wearing prescription glasses, working in corporation, dressed in clean fresh pressed clothes, and trying to look nonthreatening as much as possible especially with background of few years in Muay Thai, Serrada Escrima and Modern arnis. I do not like to look as dangerous person as that might put me potentially in bad position in case of any court case (pray to God I will never have to use knife in any dangerous scenarios). I would like to quote few people here "pink knife can´t be dangerous"... "Everytime you buy tactical knife fairy dies"... "knife should not be seen but felt. Fred Perrin".

Simply put - coloured knives are percieved to be less threatening by NKP and that is simply that.

2. It is simply as well matter of fashion as mentioned before, many people like to bring more colour into their lives which I find nice and totally ok. I like personally to add little bit of colour in my life in form of coloured stem on my briar pipes, watchstraps, knives etc. So definitely market is moving towards more colour and less tactile EDC and I find it refreshing.

I like colorful knives because they help me keep track of different steels when I have multiple versions of the same knife. I like being able to match the knives to my clothes, half the time to make them disappear and half the time to make them stand out.

Same thing with shiny clip versus black clip or wire clip.

I like a little touch of color, currently I own bright orange and light blue. I have some gray, burnt orange, carbon fiber, jade, but those are not bright colors. I almost always wear jeans to my office and I can carry any of these colors with no problems. I'm a person who thinks a PM2 is perfectly fine as a gentleman's knife and I will carry most of my knives while wearing a dark suit, except maybe the bright orange and bright blue. When I buy a new knife, the knife model and the steel are the most important factors to me, the color is secondary.

Spyderco does a great job using wide range of colors for the knives' handles (scales).

I think, it would be a good idea to sell FRN and G-10 scales in Spyderco used colors. In this way, the users would buy scales to change the colors of their knives.

A variant of this idea is to sell unpainted scales and the customers would paint (Rit Dye) them in their favorite colors.

Great question, Sal.

I like knives with color because I like color. It appeals to the eye, evokes positive feelings, adds variety, and makes things more interesting. Don't get me wrong. Black and stainless look great too, and they'll always have a place in my knife drawer. But as someone has said, "Variety is the spice of life."

As for looking less sinister, I'm not sure that colors really make that much of a difference to non-knife people. I have had numerous instances when someone has openly expressed concern over the sight of one of my colorful pocket knives. For example, I remember the time when a coworker began to fret at the sight of my green Victorinox Cadet. I can't think of a less sinister knife than that.

The one downside to the brighter colors, for me at least, is that they catch the eye and draw attention. For that reason, I tend to carry more subdued colors in public and save the neon greens and safety oranges for the home and the outdoors.

I personally enjoy getting a whole series in the same color because I can put them in my hanging knife storage and look at the all lined up. Like my 4 Rex45 variants. :D

Seriously though, I think that colors and variety and make knives more collectible. Like others have said, I'd buy any other color than black in most cases, all else being equal.

As for my favorite color, I really like some of the dark red FRN that Spyderco has released over the years. Like the burgundy Goddard and Caly Jr, or the dark red St Nicks FRN.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:50 pm

I like colors, more of the earth tones though. Bright, obnoxious scales or ones that look like an Easter egg are easy passes for me. I think of a knife as a tool, and you don't see any man running around with a bright teal blue Craftsman wrench in hand! Yes, I'm comfortable as a man and could carry any colored knife if it does the job, I just personally wouldn't pay for a knife in those kinds of colors. Had the Salt 2 for a bit, but that yellow eventually wore out its welcome :p

Grey's, browns, tans, greens, Rex45 Orange sprints and St Nick's reds are all my personal favorites.

My thoughts as well. I like color sometimes, but I often find myself going back to black FRN or G10. Definitely more earth tones.

If the handle must be black or metal, I at least think there should be a "splash". A red, blue, or other brightly colored backspacer, or colored liners.
This.^^
I prefer colour to plain black but really like the siren with its blue liners and the Kapara with its red backspace.
For edc in urban areas plain black, denim blue, tan and olive work well for blending in with trousers, chinos, jeans etc. but outside of this brighter colours are my preference. I like the subdued orange on byrd rescues.
Also, while we are talking of coIour options, would love to see a Jester with one red and one green scale.

A RockJumper with a “zomed” rainbow FRN handle would be a hit, I promise. Wouldn’t even need a special steel, VG10 would do fine. I’d buy one in every blade configuration and would bet the farm you’d sell a crap load, especially in the month of June.

As I've acquired knives over the years, I've tended to err on the side of understatement to avoid the bright flash of color peeking out of a front pocket. So most of my EDC knives have black scales, and a few have some form of olive drab; and deep-carry clips (or no clips) were king. Unnoticed/unnoticeable was the way. But my interest in more "outspoken" colors has increased a bit recently. I'm not a serious tactical guy, so I don't feel like I "need" all that black. I think the brighter colors "feel" a little more user-friendly to my non-knife friends and relatives, and I'm ok with that because I know I have good "serious" blades behind the "casual" scales. One of my favorites is my Mini Bugout with bright orange scales. I just wish someone <*clears throat and looks suspiciously in the mirror*> would swap out those Grivory scales for the similarly orange G10 scales that he bought months ago.

One more little thing about color, for me, is a bit of an identity thing, and I'm sure some of you may laugh, or maybe just scowl in derision. But, I just really like bright green, in the same way my sister really likes red, and my mum loves yellow. I have Thermoworks silicone spatulas that match some of my Victorinox kitchen knives, and my Nalgene water bottle comes close to matching all of that. It's sort of "my" color. It's no surprise, then, that I was very happy to see Salt 2/LC200N variants show up with those bright green FRN scales. If I could have a Native 5 in LC200N with those green scales, that might just be my daily carry forever. But I'd also be quite glad to be able to purchase those scales to put on my own current N5+SPY27. (FWIW, I haven't picked up a N5 Salt yet because I don't like the yellow scales...)

VooDooChild wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:55 pm

1. High visibility for outdoor applications.
Salt series is a perfect example of this, but anything outdoors, camping, hunting, beach, etc... Its nice to be able to see your knife if you drop it or just set it down.

This right here is exactly why I like color on my knives. I have dropped my DLC coated black knives while working in my garden or back yard and went through long stressful searches through my back yard. Since then I will either attach bright para cord or a glow In the dark fob to the handle of my black knives when in use outdoors. I have a three year old that helps me in the garden and goes on hiking adventures with me, I prefer that she not accidentally find daddy’s knife. For outdoor use, I’ll take the glow in the dark super bright handles .

Hi, nativesojourner and Netherend:
Welcome to our forum. We hope you enjoy your time with us!

Kristi

The time of when just making the scale in one different color was 'in' are over. Look at the massive amount of custom materials that have flooded the market. Even normal carbon looks boring today (albeit still very classy). I am super happy to see the yellow and bright green LC200N and H1 models (but why not also Siren?), but I think Spyderco is leaving money on the table for not offering more than just very basic micarta (like the upcoming PM2) and some carbon fiber. Obviously there is a market for more upscale scales - both when it comes to materials (just look at what fatcarbon is offering) and shape (3D CNC shaping can be seen even from small makers). I would explicitly like to stress the 3D shaping - 3D handles that cause less hot spots are becoming more and more common - I would have long expected 3D shaped handles on the mainstream spyderco knives - especially with G10.

Strangely - it often feels like colors are often left for sprint and exclusive runs.

With all that said - I do think that it would be cool to see more white FRN - many would appreciate the ability to dye their favorite knife to whatever color they please. Maybe even introduce some kind of competition for the coolest dye job :)

It is not really a color, but I would love a strip of reflective material to be worked into a knife scales. Same idea as a stop sign. Light hits it and bounces back. Most of my knife use is out door, or hunting. Finding a reflective knife with a flashlight would be sooo easy. I like the visibility of glow in the dark but it does have the down side of not charging well when in a pocket or a backpack. Reflective please.

Black is great. I also love British Racing Green (being dark).