Spyderco Ayoob

 “Captain, she’s phasing.  I can’t stop the dilithium drive occultations.  We’re entering intercostal space!”

Don’t worry, the brilliant chief engineer and intrepid captain, with the help of a beautiful alien female scientist, will solve the problem. 

Let’s be real.  Intercostal space is the distance between ribs.  Around 2001 Massad Ayoob designed a folding knife to fit between the ribs and lacerate the heart.  The design locked the blade open at an angle of less than 180 degrees.  This allows you to utilize the knife with the wrist very close to the strong, neutral position.  More on that later.  Spyderco has re-issued it as a sprint run.

Stolen from University of Nottingham - Note the heart and intercostal space.

 The original was produced as both a fully serrated and plain edge with a black Almite handle and a blade made from VG-10.  Almite is a surface coating used on aluminum for decorative and protective reasons.  It is available from “super hard” to “soft” with differing Vickers hardness.

The Ayoob sprint run. The handle is a lighter gray.

VG-10 was initially produced for Japanese chefs.  Its properties soon caught the attention of other knife companies.  Spyderco was not the only one to utilize this steel.  Kizer, SOG and Fällkniven are among VG-10 users. 

By the way - - if you aren’t reading this at “The Knife Edge: One Man, So Many Knives,” it has been stolen and used without my permission.  Please let me know at Frank1karl@yahoo.com.

Years ago, Joyce Laituri told me Spyderco didn’t like making knives whose sole purpose was to harm people.  But they would if agencies requested those designs.  The Ayoob was in the 2001 and 2002 catalogs but disappeared in 2003.

Note the angle between the blade and handle.

Despite the short run, the Ayoob knife picked up a vocal following and Spyderco has brought it back as a sprint run.  I really like mine. 

The current Ayoob C60GPGY has a G-10 handle over steel liners.  The scales are set up so you can move the pocket clip to facilitate your favorite carry method.  The clip holds the knife slightly visible in your pocket, an important consideration for anyone concerned about concealed weapons.  The visible portion of the knife eliminates the concealed aspect.  A David Boye release lever is incorporated to reduce the possibility of your grip accidentally unlocking the knife.  I don’t believe there are any actual documented cases other than those few that were engineered to demonstrate the potential.

The steel used on the sub-four-inch blade is CPM CRU-WEAR.  It is an interesting steel, but you should know its limitations.  The elemental composition gives it better wear properties than D2 tool steel, better toughness than M2 steel, and more compression strength than either.  The properties of any metal are essentially a teeter-totter.  Raise one property and another property sinks. 

CRU-WEAR has only 7.24% chromium.  The steel’s carbides are primarily produced by 2.4% vanadium and 1.6% molybdenum.  These tiny carbides are more of a ceramic particle, very hard, and they pin grain boundaries preventing movement.  

With less chromium bound up as carbides, more chromium is available for corrosion resistance.  Unfortunately, CRU-WEAR is not a stainless steel.  The chromium levels are too low, and Spyderco warns you about that.  I’d avoid cutting acid fruit and vegetables, as the acid content will attack and stain the blade.  This could be good news to the ketchup patina fans out there. 

The choice of steel utilized by any manufacturer can be a rabbit hole exercise in futility.  Sometimes it’s market pressure to keep up with the other guys.  Sometimes the steel you prefer is no longer available for various reasons.  Sometimes it is just a way to keep your staff engaged.  Joyce once commented that Spyderco sometimes acts like a small independent maker and tries new steels to stay fresh.  It makes it hard on Spyderco collectors, but I like it. 

So what makes this fighting knife special? 

There are several things.  The first was already mentioned.  The blade is designed to fit between the ribs and penetrate deep into the chest cavity, lacerating lungs, heart and other vital structures. 

Deep penetrating injury.

Perhaps the most notable feature and innovation is the angle between the blade and handle.  I’ll let Massad Ayoob explain it.  "With a typical knife, thrusting lifts the blade's point above the line of the forearm, like a boat prow going through water. The faster, harder or more resistance encountered, the higher the prow rises deviating the blade off course from its original target which can mitigate the depth of the cut.” 

What Ayoob doesn’t explain, Jim Davis does:  “Regarding wounds, stab wounds are far more prone to kill a person than slash wounds.  Stabs tend to penetrate and hit arteries and organs, causing internal bleeding.”  http://tactical-talk.blogspot.com/2021/01/jim-davis-on-knives.html

 

When you are fighting for your life, severe measures are called for.

The blade/handle angle allows your wrist to lock into its strongest position, which we call the neutral position.  The medical terms for the positions associated with a bent wrist are adduction, extension, and flexion.  The joint loses strength when your wrist is in these positions, even if not at the extremes.  The Ayoob Clipit lets you cut and stab with your wrist in the neutral position.

Spyderco's Endura with the wrist in neutral position. The blade tip points upward.

 

Spyderco's Endura with tip canted to engage target.  Note bent wrist, compromising grip.

Spyderco amplifies these ideas, stating:  “The C60's radical angle brings the blade into line with the long bones of the forearm, channeling the body's force directly behind the line of the cut resulting in minimized blade deviation and maximized accuracy.”

 

Spyderco's Ayoob on target neutral and strong grip position.

Any knife will open your mail and packages, cut cordage, and slice pizza.  Many of these knives will end up as Safe Queens, only seeing the outside on special occasions, holidays and barbeques when you want to show off the knife.  

That’s okay.  This is a special-purpose knife.  I remember listening to a British WWII commando explain how to properly use an F-S fighting knife.  You couldn’t use the Ayoob C60GPGY for that.  You wouldn’t want to use it to split kindling to build a fire or to saw through a can top when you lost your opener in the back forty acres of nowhere. 

Lastly, who is Massad Ayoob, and why should his ideas be put into production?  Google his name, will you?  Anything I write would sound like hero worship.  I admit, he’s a pretty cool guy and someone you want on your side when you’re getting into trouble or trying to survive the aftermath. 

The Spyderco Ayoob is a limited sprint run.  I find the Ayoob C60GPGY an attractive knife.  You’ve been warned.  They’ll run out fast.

Might be the right backup weapon.

Color me Anodized

I like anodized titanium.

Titanium anodizing is an electrolytic finishing process that creates varying thicknesses of a titanium oxide layer on the metal surface.  The titanium item forms the anode (positive electrode) of an electrolytic cell, hence the name “anodize.”

Spyderco's Shaman in anodized titanium

Anodizing titanium has been around for almost a century.  It was first used in 1923 to protect British seaplane parts from salt-water corrosion.  Aerospace companies continue to use anodizing processes today to protect metals from the effects of aging, wear and corrosion.

There are three types of anodizing.  The first is a high-temperature process.  I used to etch titanium wire with molten sodium nitride into amazingly sharp points.  I would find little splotches of concentric color on portions of the metal.

The second is called type 2.  Type 2 is used chiefly to protect the metal surface against the effects of wear.  When untreated titanium parts rub against each other, they produce titanium dust.  Titanium dust is not a major health problem, unless it builds up in joints utilizing orthopedic implants.  Type 2 anodizing provides a wear-resistant surface and helps prevent seizing or friction between sliding titanium surfaces.  AMS 2488E has the engineering specs if you’re interested.

Shaman tear down - remove the clip

Type 3 is the color.  You’ll find colorful titanium used in the orthopedic field to help surgeons ensure the correct plate, screws, and what-nots are used.  You’ll also find colorful titanium in jewelry.

The color is not produced by dyes, but by manipulating the oxide layer to create an “illusion of color.”  This is similar to the rainbow colors an oil film forms on water.  These layers are very thin.  The entire range of colors is produced over a 30 to 55-nanometer range, very small stuff indeed!

The process isn’t complicated.  The titanium part is immersed in a trisodium phosphate (TSP) solution and a direct electrical current is applied.  Most people use a specialized rectifier to convert AC to DC and control voltage and amperage.  Since it is just a thin, durable coating, color mistakes can be stripped off with the right detergent, and you can try again.

Guts!

The prep for industrial products can be a bit daunting.

Sean Krizan at Meton Boss (https://www.metonboss.com/) produced anodized titanium scales for Spyderco’s Shaman.  The scales were engraved to resemble an interlocking jigsaw puzzle, with the ‘pieces’ having different anodizing colors.

It was amazing, and I threw money at him to make it mine.  I didn’t have a Shaman yet, but that shouldn’t be a problem, right?

It was the beginning of the Covid age of supply shortages.  I placed an order for one from a knife seller.  A year later, I was still waiting.  I called Spyderco and was told the knife was still in production, but supply shortages ..yadda…yadda…yadda.

What if they were discontinued?

What if I couldn’t find one?

Was I FUBARed?

Yes, Igor threw the switch - Is it alive?

I purchased a fully serrated Shaman, despite wanting a plain blade, just in case.  Now that I had one, even if it was a plan B option, I could relax.  Eventually, I finally found a plain edge at a knife show and bought it.

I had to dissemble the knife to remove the original scales, voiding Spyderco’s warranty.  I took lots of snapshots of the process, just in case I ended up with an extra washer or screw when I was finished re-assembling my Shaman.  I worked on a pile of newspaper for the cushion and used painter’s tape for surface protection.  I also discovered I was all thumbs.  Still, it all worked out.

I get nothing for showing his card.  Still. there are some amazing products there!

It's alive!!

The Shaman is spectacular!