Spyderco Forums

I just heard from Heinie Haynes that Spyderco has stopped making exclusives because of COVID. I was told there likely will not be anymore HH Exclusive UKPK.

I want one, but everytime I started to buy one something came up demanding money elsewhere.

Perhaps Sal will make me feel better and give us something similar in a USA model?

That’s very odd…

Iirc, Sal mentioned there was another HH exclusive in the works! Having said that the HH Urbans were not well received - the Maniago QC issues disappointed a *lot* of people - so maybe something has changed.

sal wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 19, 2022 1:12 pm

Hi Marius,

I think that it took a long time for the Slipits in general and the UK in particular to gain in popularity. Certainly longer than I had hoped for. Now it seems to have found a place among the general knife user, so variations are more possible. The LC versions are nice. HH seems to have a good eye on their market. They've got another one in-the-works.

I'd like to get the Damasteel UK in motion. Golden is still backed up, but capacity has been increasing every month. I wouldn't be opposed to a SPY27 version. It's my steel and I'm partial to it. It's been a long time since we've made a Wharncliffe.

I'll watch the thread and see if there is demand? And what might be asked for? Just a bit of distraction

sal

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Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Mon May 23, 2022 11:46 pm

I just heard from Heinie Haynes that Spyderco has stopped making exclusives because of COVID. I was told there likely will not be anymore HH Exclusive UKPK.

I want one, but everytime I started to buy one something came up demanding money elsewhere.

Perhaps Sal will make me feel better and give us something similar in a USA model?

I suspect they either misunderstood or are trying to shift blame. Spyderco may indeed have told them they were not accepting orders for exclusives at this time while they get regular production caught up. That's not the same as "we will no longer make exclusives".

As for "Covid being nearly endemic should no longer be affecting manufacturing or supply chains", we'll be riding out the unintended consequences of the lockdown for many years to come. Way too many people got used to not working or found jobs where they didn't have to actually work for the economy to simply snap back. Too much experience was lost to death or early retirement for manufacturing to resume its pre-pandemic pace without a long training time. Those who have marketable skills and experience are demanding more money, driving inflation ever higher. It's a mess, and it's going to take years to straighten it out.

Well, this is quickly going political/conspiratorial... But seriously, if you think Covid doesn't still have an effect on production I would ask that you talk to someone working in a production situation. My wife works at a small manufacturer and having 6 people out with Covid recently set them back weeks. Spyderco is running behind and pausing exclusives is a means to get production back on track. I hope they can get caught up and that we see new models and collabs coming out soon. We all know that there have been heaps of exclusives lately, to the point that people complain that there are too many (damned if they do, damned if they don't). Spyderco is also probably in the midst of another facility expansion, which is probably not easy to work through.

My guess is we'll see the HH UKPK again down the line...

Yes, the most likely scenario is that Spyderco has temporarily paused making exclusives so that production can catch up. Once it does, they will resume the exclusives.

Now, I don't have to have a HH UKPK. What I would like to see is Spyderco produce one like that at the same or less price level. Maybe S90V or Magnacut with linerless G10. Okay, well, I'm happy with the current FRN, too, but I would like an upscale model that is not priced out of the ball park.

Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Mon May 23, 2022 11:46 pm

I just heard from Heinie Haynes that Spyderco has stopped making exclusives because of COVID. I was told there likely will not be anymore HH Exclusive UKPK.

I want one, but everytime I started to buy one something came up demanding money elsewhere.

Perhaps Sal will make me feel better and give us something similar in a USA model?

Hi, Doc! I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding. We have not stopped making exclusives. We've only paused contracting anything new (or additional runs of previously made exclusives) as we work to catch up in production. Don't give up just yet.

Kristi

Outside of the internal adjustments Spyderco has made and is making, there are still very real supply chain issues at work. If anyone thinks the COVID related issues are over, they are wrong. Lead times for many things are months to years out in the best of times, now add one to two years of decreased or stopped production of some supplies and it's obvious there will be a long tail to this situation.

Thanks to TazKristi for the clarity!

After waiting over a year for my pre-ordered/pre-paid UKPK from Heinnie... I told Nick from the company that Sal suggested on the forums here that they should put their next order in right away because the backlog for new orders was creeping up to over a year. He ignored me and said the information should be coming from the Spyderco sales team.

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TazKristi wrote: ↑

Tue May 24, 2022 9:34 am

Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Mon May 23, 2022 11:46 pm

I just heard from Heinie Haynes that Spyderco has stopped making exclusives because of COVID. I was told there likely will not be anymore HH Exclusive UKPK.

I want one, but everytime I started to buy one something came up demanding money elsewhere.

Perhaps Sal will make me feel better and give us something similar in a USA model?

Hi, Doc! I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding. We have not stopped making exclusives. We've only paused contracting anything new (or additional runs of previously made exclusives) as we work to catch up in production. Don't give up just yet.

Kristi

Thanks! I am so glad to know that. It is weird that HH would tell me that.

I'm glad I've already covered my Heinie

I can tell you with reasonable certainty that there will be more HH UKPK.

This is based on the new HH that I have received today. It's not one that they have done before...

And that's all I can say at this time.

Superfool wrote: ↑

Thu May 26, 2022 3:49 pm

I can tell you with reasonable certainty that there will be more HH UKPK.

This is based on the new HH that I have received today. It's not one that they have done before...

And that's all I can say at this time.

Keeping my eyes peeled on this. Slept on the leaf blade and regret it. Hoping the mystery UKPK is a drop point version...or S90V!

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It is rumoured that it will be the red g10 **drop point** s30v UKPK….

ChrisinHove wrote: ↑

Fri May 27, 2022 9:26 am

It is rumoured that it will be the red g10 **drop point** s30v UKPK….

While I would prefer a different steel a red drop point UKPK will likely be in my future if HH has them.

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Edit: So it makes more sense. It read as if I implied I had some kind of insight into how to make a world-class business manage time-frames better. I don't.

I have been hassling Nick at HH and Sal about this.
They confirmed a variation was in the pipeline.

I feel it is not my place to say any more unless Sal gives his approval. It's his design, his company and his product. If he says I am ok to spill the beans, then I will.

I have no idea about timeframe though. Sal will never be pinned down to dates. Sorry. is going at full capacity across the globe.