Ambidexterous spydercos

H

Hesparus

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Oct 31, 2004
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Does anyone know who decides which knives get to be ambidexterous and what the criteria are for making that decision? Spyderco is a lot better than most companies about recognizing the fact that not everyone is right-handed, but I'm curious about a lot of the models that are not ambidexterous, such as the police, civillian and matriarch, military and paramilitary, all of the byrd models, and the "nicer" ones like the koppa. I can understand the cost issue of not putting extra holes in the cheaper models, but if someone is already willing to shell out a quarter grand for a SpyKer, why not make it a couple bucks more expensive and market to the other [somewhat less than] half of the population?

- Chris
 
Here is my left handed perspective;)

While I would love to have Spyderco put holes for left handed carry on all of their models. There are some models where it would just look horrible. The majority of knife buyers will purchase a knife based on appearance alone (only us knife knuts care about the other stuff).

Some models it suits very well, the new Adventura looks better, in my opinion, with all the holes drilled in it. It suits the knife. The new Delica and Endura, also looks good with it.

Holes on a Kopa? Please don't, it would detract from the elegance of the knife. Holes on a Persian? Wouldn't look as nice. (I did it anyway, but I own the knife, and that's my decision)

For heavy duty, hard use knives, like the Manix, Chinook II, and for lower price point knives, like the Delica and Endura, it makes sense.

But for the upscale models, I don't think it's economical for Spyderco to drill every model just to satisfy the small amount of ELUs who are left handed. In the worst case scenario, those extra holes may prevent other ELUs from buying one, simply because they believe it to be ugly. Is it worth it for Sypderco to gain a few left handed/ambi customers at the expense of several dozen right handed buyers?

I am left handed, and it's a pain in the butt to find good left handed knives, but I must commend Spyderco for offering as many as they do. Even the ones they don't can easily be drilled for ambi carry should the user so desire(something I'm actually having done right now).

Relatively speaking, Spyderco is one of the better companies with regard to ambi designs.

If Sal chooses to add more ambi designs in the future, I will happily purchase them, but I'm happy with what they offer now.

Just my opinion of course.
 
Have heard that they will likely be drilled for ambi carry sometime in the future(no idea on actual time though)
 
Let me begin by saying that I agree Spyderco does a better job of providing for left handed users than most knife companies.

The Military and Spyker are liner locks and the ParaMilitary a compression lock. Personally I don't consider either of those locks as truly ambidexterous, although some models using them are less right hand biased than others. So I have no problem with the lack of left handed clip mounting on them, or any other liner, frame, or compression lock models. I realize that making left hand versions of all the models with those locks would be a losing proposition for Spyderco, but I will say that I'd love to see dedicated left hand verisons of the Military and Cricket, even if they had to command a premium price. I think sales on those two would be sufficient to justify making them.

Frankly, the two front lock models I find most difficult to understand lacking provision for LH clip mounting are the Police and the Civilian. Have to think there are more than a few left handed LEOs and Government Agents out there, not to mention right handed ones who might want one for weak side carry.

For myself, it's mostly a matter of priciple. I don't really use a clip and generally remove them. I realize that some right handed people object to having their knives "disfigured" by an extra set of holes, but to me, that's no more acceptable than someone objecting to a wheelchair ramp or any other accomodation for people with physical needs different than ones own.

Some models, like the Persian, would require a second clip, but I can name at least a couple less expensive knives that provide one, and the holes to mount it, so that's not really a valid argument against ambidexterity. The Kopa is the one which bothers me the most, not only is the clip right hand only, it is mounted in such a way that removing it entirely is not a viable option.
 
I have a LH Executive and Police that are probably 1991 vintage. One thing I noticed, at least on my older knives, is that the spyder edge is actually ground for a left hand user (nice).

Being left handed, I don't think I would feel comfortable carrying a right hand liner lock and prefer those that are true mirror image left handers. Most semi-custom/custom makers can accomodate LH requests, but I did own a C-15 liner lock that was a true left hander.
 
I have some standard RH liner locks and I have no problem using them with my left hand, so I don't see an issue with just putting a left-handed clip on a normal liner lock. Certainly the civillian and police model should be ambidexterous because there's no asthetic cop out on these knives, as they aren't much to look at (aside from the beauty of their ruggedness and attractive profile). As for the more attractive knives, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to cover the holes on the unused side with decorative "badge" or something — a fancy spyder, for example — that could be unscrewed and put on the other side depending on where one wanted the clip.

- Chris
 
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