Sunday, the last day of the Blade Show, is always a day of mixed emotions. Everyone must leave and for many dealers that means packing up and making flight connections. Some, like Pro-Tech, are completely sold out. For knife fanciers, like myself, it's a sad day. My wife and I are leaving a community, even as temporary as the Blade show, and reentering a world of people who don't carry a knife, don't understand about knives, and if they own one, they have owned it for thirty years. It is as if an invisible wall is erected between me and them. We don't speak the same language,
The upside is my
visit with Spyderco. I really want to thank Kelly Towers, the Director of Sales
and Marketing, for taking the time to talk with me.
Spyderco is
still in the final stages of building and enlarging manufacturing facilities in
Golden, Colorado. They have been at it for some time. The COVID epidemic and
the shortages that followed put a damper on their progress. The exciting thing
about their expansion is that they are expanding the manufacturing areas, not
office space. The difference is that manufacturing space makes money, not
office space.
To my surprise,
much of Spyderco's new production space will be set aside to develop new knife
lines made solely in Golden. I have always associated Spyderco with Japan. Many
of their knives are still made overseas, but things change. Don't be surprised
to see more knives stamped "Golden Colorado U.S.A. Earth" on their
tangs.
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| I always carry one of these, incase I get kidnapped by aliens, at least they know where to return me |
Their value folder line, which serves as their introduction line, is still made in China. If you're a knife person and you aren't aware that China is a huge player in the knife industry, well, you better get caught up. Spyderco makes many of its fabulous knives there, as well as in Italy, Taiwan, and Japan. The Tenacious is one of their better sellers, but a blue titanium-handled Tenacious will be released later this year. https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details/C122TIBL/Tenacious-reg-R-I-L-Blue-Titanium/2554
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| Titanium Tenacious |
The blue Tenacious is fantastic. And at an MSRP of $170, you're going to want one.
Spyderco is
known for their sprint runsd, short production runs of new steels combined with
unusual handle materials. One sprint run you should watch out for is the
Micro-Melt PD#1 series. It's the next super steel. It contains about 7% chromium,
over 1% carbon and a whopping 2.3% vanadium along with other elements.
Carpenter Technology describes their steel as "…an air hardening cold work
die steel possessing wear resistance superior to that of conventional grades
such as AISI D2, while still maintaining excellent toughness. This steel can be
considered … where a combination of excellent wear resistance and good
toughness is required. Many of the benefits realized including … greater wear
resistance, and increased toughness."
Carpenter Technology attributes these properties to "smaller, more
uniformly distributed carbide particles and a finer grain size.”
The run will
feature a black, non-reflective TiCN coating and dark burgundy grips. Look for
this steel in many of your favorite knives, Delica, Eldela, Police, Stretch XL
and others. Woo Hoo !
I casually mentioned
to Kelly that Spyderco likes dealing with different steels and struck a nerve.
Kelly told me that one fan sat down and tabulated all the different steels
various knife companies use. Spyderco topped the list at 64 different steels
currently in use. The next biggest user fizzled out at 9.
Speaking of
steel, I fell instantly in love with their CPM Rex 121 steel line with their
bright orange handles. I know black is tactical cool, but this bright orange is
a cup of hot coffee on a rainy morning. You wouldn't believe me telling you
about the wild mix and amounts of elements this steel has. Check it yourself!
https://www.crucible.com/eselector/prodbyapp/highspeed/cpm121.html
The initial run is limited to just the Sage with a $400 MSRP.
Still no word on
expanding their lines of automatic knives. Spyderco makes a limited number of
autos, chiefly the Autonomy and Autonomy 2, at the request of the US Coast
Guard Rescue Swimmers. The Swimmers needed a knife that could be deployed with
a single gloved hand, tolerant of salt water, and cut like the devil. Their
answer was the Autonomy. But that doesn't mean Spyderco wants to make
them.
The Autonomy
What’s new? Even as you read this, knives are making their way to retailers. I'd check out the new Manix 2XL in canvas micarta. The steel is CPM Cru-wear, and I'll let Crucible Industry brag about it. "CPM CRU-WEAR is an air-hardening tool steel, heat treatable to HRC 60-65. … CPM (Crucible Powder Metal) (is an) upgrade to conventional Cru-Wear and D2, it offers better wear resistance, much greater toughness, and higher attainable hardness. Both D2 and CPM CRU-WEAR contain carbides for wear resistance, but CPM CRU-WEAR has more vanadium carbides than D2."
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| Manix 2XL with canvas micarta handle. |
If you're a knife guy, you know vanadium carbides are harder than chromium carbides and provide much better wear and strength. This steel has a little secret sauce (tungsten and molybdenum) contributing to a secondary hardening response. D2 doesn’t do that. While Cru-Wear steel isn't strictly classified as stainless, there may be sufficient free chromium to help you with that. I'd run a little oil over the surface and in the pivot, just to be sure. Spyderco has a little product sheet included with the knife warning you to stay away from acid food and use a little oil on the blade. Check it yourself. MSRP is under $300.
It’s a great
time to be a Spyderco fan!
