Been in the Army for over 15 years now, have used/owned a myriad of cutting tools. Been given more Gerber Multitools or Leatherman's than I could throw away. Spyderco was not bad in the 90's, however I have not seen one in quite some time. Sad really as I was always interested in the Spyderco Civilian model with the hawk bill, although knowing my line of work/clumsiness I would have probaly broken it. What I do remember however was that it seemed to be (could just be what I was exposed to at the time) was that Spyderco was among the first to use the fast-open thumb hole which was raved among G.I.'s who were lefties. Totally agree with the CS mall ninja warrior ficade, I owned a few of their folders all of them early voyager tanto 50/50 plain/serrated models. They didn't last, clips weren't meant to take a beating from a G.I. and the serrated teeth broke free on even the smallest thing (like widening the drinking hole of a 12oz soda can to be turned into a spitter.....) Had a few throw-away Kershaw's, relatively cheap knife in price but could take a good beating and if ever lost it I wouldn't set a forest on fire to find it. Owned a few throw away gerber folders as well, seen some guys loose their s*** when they broke their applegate folders too ha ha ha. I've been issued/given three different automatic BM's and am sad to see them go. I have only one left, a 9100 Auto-Stryker which I turned in for services roughly 4 years ago. Nice people at BM, they didn't have the original blade stock anymore, so they actually refunded me the standard $25 fee, gave her a smaller blade, cleaned her up, and sent her back to me within 45 days. Have not seen a SOG folder in quite some time, although the last two I saw carried by G.I.'s were tip broken Tridents (really flimsy blade) one of the two I physically watched drop off a desk and broke the blade in half... SOG fixed blades are slightly common, I typically see Seal Pups and Pentagons from that company's line. Every so often I will catch a Geardo or two with a Microtech Troodon for no other reason than the "wow-factor," however having once owned a BM Bedlam I should not throw stones (gave it to a buddy in my Infantry BN a few years ago before we arrived back in Douchbagistan). Now that I think about it, I did finally get my grubby mitts on a Al Mar Jumbo Quicksilver, and I feel like an idiot for doing so based on sheer size. I had to use an ASP pouch to carry the monster, I no longer carry it and it rests in a drawer, its no longer fun to scare LT's with it anymore. The one knife I can honestly still get mad over however was my BM Skirmish 630 SBK. Still on the lookout to buy one, great presentation, good heft, not too big but not too small.
