Spyderco

 

Spyderco was established in 1978 by Sal Glesser.  Surprisingly, his first product wasn’t a knife but the Portable Hand, a device created in 1976.  It was a spider-shaped device with ball joints, angles, and alligator clips that helped hobbyists and jewelers work with small parts.  Following the success of the Portable Hand, they produced the Sharpmaker in 1978.

Over the years, they have driven other companies to use new steel to stay competitive, and were the innovators of the one-hand opening folder.  They have become one of the drivers in the knife community.  Undoubtedly, success didn't come overnight but through hard work.  I greatly admire them.  Spyderco lives up to their motto: "Integrity is being good even if no one is watching."

I have been fortunate enough to acquire a mix of Spyderco folders.  In the pre-911 days, I flew with two Spyderco Delicas, and my wife also carried one.  I still carry a Spyderco almost daily.  Let’s take a shallow dip into my favorite Spyderco knives.

C28 - The Dragonfly

The Dragonfly was originally introduced in 1994.  The original steel was GIN1/G2.  G2 was Spyderco code (Good Shit 2) for the steel used.  Mine came in a little solid black box made in December 1997.  By this time, they were using AUS8.  AUS8 is a slightly better steel than GIN1.  Spyderco was still using plastic clips on FRN handles.  The clips worked well but tended to deform if caught in a seatbelt or such.  Unlike metal clips, first used on the Worker in 1981, a damaged plastic clip was bent for life. 

The Dragonfly

I like the Dragonfly.  It was a compact knife you could carry while wearing suit or dress slacks.  The small size makes it compatible with the tiny pockets in women's slacks. The weight of 1.2 ounces didn’t tug at the lines and deform your trouser pocket.  It is a classy knife.

C11 - Delica

The Delica has always been in the top ten best sellers at Spyderco.  You can get it in an amazing variety of steels.  Perhaps my first two were a green FRN and a black FRN Delica.  At the time, Spyderco serrations were still suspect.  We weren't sure about sharpening serrations or what to use them for, and even today, they are a polarizing feature for many knife owners.   Sal Glesser designed the Delica in 1990.  The early ones did not have the type of steel used stamped on the tang and were tang stamped with the acknowledged knife capital of the world, Seki, Japan.  Later ones were stamped Seki-City.  At the time, all the FRN (short fiberglass reinforced nylon.  Engineers often use it for high strength and low weight.) knife bodies had a molded clip.  The clip helped make the knife popular as a tactical knife.  You could fix it at a specific location, and it would remain there.  No hunting in your pocket trying to determine the knife’s orientation.  The clip held the knife tip up, and if you carried on the right side, the blade would nestle against the back seam of your pocket, out of the way until you needed it.

The Green Delica

The green FRN became first available in 1990.  Spyderco started stamping their knife steel in 1992.  I purchased it sometime between 1990 and 1991.

The plastic clip was always something of a question mark.  While it was convenient to anchor the knife in pocket, pouch, or shirt neckline, the clip could be deformed if caught on a seatbelt or forced around thick fabric.  Unable to remove the clip, re-bend it and re-install or replace it, Spyderco responded by grinding the clip off and fixing a metal clip with small screws.  Over time the screws would deform the FRN plastic and loosen.  Most owners who went that route ended up taking the clip off and dropping the knife in a pocket.  I would have bought a new one and exiled the bent one to the car glove compartment or tackle box.

Green Delica - Classic Plastic Clip

The black-handled Delica is marked AUS8A.  The A means the steel was factory-annealed.  AUS8 is very similar to 440C with a slight addition of vanadium, which forms very small and hard carbide particles.  These carbides represent an improvement in steel properties.  At the time, AUS 8 was one of the best available steels for knife blades.

The Black Delica

The tang stamp reads Spyderco AUS8A Stainless.  The reverse is stamped Seki-City Japan.

The Plastic Clip - Everyone loved them until the bent beyond repair

Both knives have the traditional ‘volcano checkering,' a margin defined raised square with a slight spherical depression in its center.  The pattern improved your grip with wet, soapy, or bloody hands.

AUS8A tang stamp

C71 - Salsa

Spyderco's Salsa was made in Taipei, Taiwan, and sports a green anodized finish with a pepper engraved.  It came with a shallow pocket wire clip and top compression lock.  The blade is AUS8.

The Salsa -  Still sorry I didn't get other colors too!

It’s not the first Spyderco with a compression lock, that honor goes to Bram Frank and his design, the Grunting.  The green Salsa was only made in 2002.  The blade is 63mm long with a cutting surface of 53 mm.  The thumb hole is 14 mm in diameter.  As a point of reference, the thumb holes on the two previous Delicas were 12 mm in diameter.  The Salsa thumb hole also has a cobra hood over the hole to promote the blade opening.  Then the blade is locked open, the hood becomes a wide, jimped thumb rest. 

Salsa top compression lock and Cobra Hood opener

My Salsa is partially serrated.  Serration increases the cutting ability of a knife by changing the geometry and increasing the cutting edge.  This is especially valuable in a short-bladed knife.

I'm sorry I didn't buy some of the other colors when they were available.  That is the life of a knife collector, one regret after another. 

C242 - Ikuchi

Ikuchi is one of Spyderco’s ethnic line knives.  This line pays tribute to many diverse cultures and their contribution to knives.  The Ikuchi is named after a mythical Japanese eel-like sea monster.  Paul Alexander designed it with a tapered, curved handle.  Skeletonized stainless steel liners and bitchingly cool carbon fiber/G-10 laminate scales.

The Ikuchi

You can find an excellent description of the Ikuchi in the August 2022 issue of Knife Magazine.

The knife was first shown in Spyderco's 2019 product reveal and was still available in the 2024 catalog. 

The Ikuchi top compression lock and finger opener.

The blade is full-flat ground 83 mm long graceful curve of CPM S30V and sports a tiny 6 mm Spyderco thumb hole.  The thumb hole on Spyderco folders has become a trade make.  I remember when Benchmade lost the rights to Spyderco’s thumb hole and had to change to an oval opener.  The clever thing is, when closed, the blade thumb hole lines up with two holes set in the handle.  That's mega-cool.

The top of the tang is slightly enlarged and becomes the flipper to open the knife.  The index finger of either hand works quite well when opening the Ikuchi.  The closed knife tang rests on a stop block, protecting the blade from hitting the pin connectors between the handle sides.  I like Spyderco's top compression lock, as I don't have to have my fingers in the path of the closing blade.

The wire clip is reversible, but the knife can only be carried tip-up.  I don't see it in the same light I see the Delica.  The Ikichi is much more of a formal dress knife.

We will see what's next!