Aesthetically Ugly, Functionally Exquisite How'd That Happen?

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eak3

Joined
Jan 22, 2016
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18
With five Spyerdcos and counting (I know in comparison this is a piddling). I can't get over how weird or more the point ugly these knives look, but at the same time are exquisitely design when it comes to ergonomics and function.

When I pulled my first Dragonfly out of the box I felt like I got ripped off. How can this dinky knife that weighed less than a toy be of any use, I asked myself. An hour later I couldn't get it out of my hand. With a thumb on the ramp and index finger on the choil the handle only served as leverage as the blade made quick work out of anything it was aimed at, paper, boxes, cheese (dogs eat cheese), an occasional apple everything.

Then I picked up a Delica with that same blade that looks more like the profile for a animated lizard. But when I used to cut down a five foot shipping box and this strange featherlight blade destroy the boxes without the slightest effort and I never had to change my grip on the knife.

So, I'm sitting here staring at knives that I think are so ugly but can't bear to not have one in my hand or on the table next to me.

Something aint right.
 
I have admit years ago when I was edcing junk knives, I kept seeing these weirdly shaped ugly knives with a big hole in the blade and I totally didn't get it. I finally gave a delica a try and was hooked. Now I really like the way they look. There is beauty in simple, functional designs. I love glocks for the same reason and most people think they're the ugliest guns around.
 
Agreed with Surfingringo. I started out on Kershaw, thought Spyderco's designs were, by and large, ugly as sin. Didn't help that my first encounter with one was the Squeak. Fast forward a couple years and now I carry Spyderco nigh exclusively. Heck, when I look at other highly regarded folder designs (griptilian and 940 especially) my first thought is "how much more awesome would these be if Sal got a chance to redesign the handles".
 
not stun him with a kick. Movie quote from Circle Of Iron

The quote by Ben Franklin comes to mind.
He was talking about something ENTIRELY different.
he said "All cats are grey in the dark".

meaning looks ain't everything; performance is where the fun's at.

I am a huge fan of things like ultra light road race bicycles. I mean . . . here is a structure that is seventeen to twenty pounds (for the good stuff) . . . that can go sixty miles an hour down a mountain pass with a rider that is over two hundred pounds on it's back . . . have that rider tromp all over the bike to get up the next pass like some one killing wolves with their boots . . . and hit a pot hole and still not collapse but get the rider back home safely.

Yah
I am more impressed when the machine is unbelievably light and yet still performs like a "Big O' Dog".

Want to talk air craft ? Same thing.

I had heard people say in reviews of the Dragonfly "I was so disappointed with this cheep plastic toy of a knife that I just put it back in the box and sent it back".

Their loss ! BIG TIME !
 
A Manix 2 is sitting on the table next to me. A Centofante 3 is my usual carry.

They're both a bit older but I suggest you stay away from the both of them unless you're in the market for another model that you can't put down.
 
eak3 said:
...cheese (dogs eat cheese)...
Click to expand...

For the record, dogs will eat anything they think we will eat, and many things we won't.

I was in your shoes years ago. I saw the ads for the all-steel Spydercos in magazines but had never seen them in person. I couldn't believe they offered any kind of useful function, and...they were so damned ugly. At the first big gun show I went to (many moons ago), I met a knife dealer with a wide assortment of knives, including the first model Enduras with integral clips. Once I got one in hand, I wasn't parted from it for several years except to shower or attend jury duty. Only after the clip caught on my bedroom door's striker plate and snapped off did I stop carrying it.

All these years later, I still carry at least one Spyderco except to shower or attend jury duty, and own a number of them.
 
I used to think they were ugly compared to other folders, CRK for example. Now I think the other knives are weird looking.
 
They're functional and so is the hole. However, some do take away more from aesthetics than others.

At least, Spyderco has listened and has folders where the hole is not huge and in some cases purely trademark-decorative.

Look at Positron and Mantra 2.

I like the direction that Spyderco has taken with the Mantra series offering the Mantra with traditional big hole and Mantra 2 with just a decorative hole.

C202TI_L.jpg

C203TI_L.jpg


Sometimes, the huge hole just makes the folder fugly!

C40G_L.jpg
 
Wowbagger said:
I had heard people say in reviews of the Dragonfly "I was so disappointed with this cheep plastic toy of a knife that I just put it back in the box and sent it back".

Their loss ! BIG TIME !
Click to expand...

Huge!

The Dragonfly2 FRN is just amazing. The ZDP like carrying around razor knife/box cutter but even smaller and lighter (and you don't have extra blades laying about). I don't live in a community where pulling out anything other than a Swiss Army knife wouldn't go unnoticed (I'm reluctant to carry even my Delica into Philly), so for a Big knife that's never been told that it isn't. Its about as perfect as a knife can get... even if it still feels like a toy.
 
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think all other folding knives look funny. Nothing as pretty as a ffg with a thumb ramp and a Spydiehole to me.
 
Now - I measure all other brands by the Spydercos. Mostly - no contest.

There are some examples that leave me "embarrassed" for Spyderco (see bottom of post 12 - esthetically speaking) but otherwise I am a full fledged Spyderco enthusiast - to say the least!
 
Purchased a Endura in the 90s and never looked back. I never thought they were ugly. Love the spidey hole .Best knives on the market far as I'm concerned and Colorado based company . Don't get any better than that to me.
 
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Ya know it's funny, I remember my first Spyderco I saw as a kid back in the 80's I think. I can remember which model it was, but it belonged to my uncle who was a NYPD officer. I can still remember thinking how cool I thought it looked compared to my dads Kabar folder, or Buck 110. I guess either beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or I was a much smarter kid than I let on! Lol!!
 
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