Endura date history questions for Sal or Spyderco Rep/Expert

messer454

messer454

Joined
Oct 2, 2006
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Sal,

I realize the FRN Endura debuted in 1990 with what is called the "thin FRN clip" and no steel marked on the blade.

1. What year did you start to mark the steel on the blades?
2. What was the first unmarked steel?
3. What was the first marked steel?
4. Was there an order to Gin 1, G-2, and AUS8 or were they interchanged? Dates?
5. What year did the thicker FRN show up?


Example of a made up answer of something like I am hoping to hear from Sal. "The first Enduras were Gin1/G2, in 1991 we began marking the blades Gin1, in 1992 we changed label from Gin1 to G2 and left it that way until 1994 when we switched to Aus8." Or maybe they were made with markings of Gin1, G2, and Aus8 interchangeably during the same time period?


If this information is not recorded anywhere I would appreciate a best recollection anyway.

This might not be important to many people but I have been trying to piece together the Endura history and cannot find this info anywhere. I do not believe this is spelled out anywhere online or in the Spyderco Book.

Thanks,
Jerry SpyderNation #19
 
Last edited:
G2 is aka GIN-1 ,that answers 2 and 3

AUS-8 came after the G series steels
 
Guesses to question 1 would be 92 and question 5 94 to 95
 
Thanks, I knew Gin1 and G2 were the same just not if the labels were introduced in a particular order or interchanged. Example of a made up answer of something like I am hoping to hear from Sal. "in 1991 we began marking the blades Gin1, in 1992 we changed label from Gin1 to G2 and left it that way until 1994 when we switched to Aus8." Or maybe they were made with markings of Gin1, G2, and Aus8 interchangeably during the same time period?

Thanks for clarifying though rycen.
 
The originals were G-2/GIN-1 steel except for occasions when that steel was temporarily unavailable, and AUS-8 was substituted. The G-2 stamp on the blade was used from around 1992 to 1994. Prior to 1992 Spyderco knives were not marked with the steel used. In 1994, the steel remained the same, but the marking was changed to GIN-1, the name given by the steel's manufacturer.
 
Thanks for the info yablanowitz. It seems to track pretty well with what the Deacon recalls over on the Spyderco home forum. I went over my collection and was a little bit bummed to find that I did not have any Enduras marked Gin-1. I always assumed that was because Gin-1 was older, guess not.
 
Hmm, I'll have to see if I can dig up my first one from back then.
 
I found my old Endura last night after a bit of digging!!! :cool:

I KNOW I bought it when I was in 8th grade, so that was somewhere in 1990-1991, and the blade is marked G2 stainless. Seems like it was late Summer / early Fall, and I recall having it most of that year, so I'm thinking it was 1990. I purchased it locally at a warehouse sales store called Pace (which became Price Club, and is now Costco).

I'll get pics of it this weekend, as I know there will be some who will get a kick of how used and abused it is. Looking for it took me back down my Spyderco memory lane, and I think I need to write something up later today about that.
 
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