Hate for benchmade or spyderco

[diamdave]

Boy, I'm sorry to hear all of this. You've really had a bad run with Spyderco.

I"ve owned four Delicas, a Perrin, that ball-bearing thingy, a J.D. Smith, a Native, Vagabond, and except for a broken tip on the ATS-55 Delica, I"ve had nothing but satisfaction. When I have extra money, I want to buy a Centofante III.

Speaking of community service, when Exxon contributes 10% of it's record-braking $36.13 billion dollars profit then I'll demand the same percentage from lil' ole Spyderco.

To me, a "community service" is buying a Spyderco in 1995 for around $43-45 bucks, and buying my latest one at around $43-45, with better steel, re-design, and more years of experience, research and development behind it.

Can you buy your house, your milk, your car for the same price you paid in 1995? I didn't think so.

Why is MBC disgusting? Sometimes knives are used for things other than opening the mail and cutting salami, or weeds. If you don't like them, don't buy them. Geesh!

As far as the Persian thing, go into three different Iranian villages and you'll get three different interpretations of the Persian knife. You think there is only one manifestation of the dagger? or the filet knife? Gut en Himmel!

 

[fudo]

Mr. Glasser,

I believe the decisions spyderco has made are due to market pressures and there is not much chance of change. But since you asked, here are some suggestions:

1. Start by honoring the original warranties for knives bought under that warranty. For example, when a Jot comes in with the screws pulled out of the handle. Replace it with a new knife because it is a design flaw. When an endura comes in with the intergral clip broken off, replace it for free. When a knife needs reprofiling and it was bought under the old warranty, fix it. Be honest about the true changes in the warranty…spyderco now longer repairs and replaces for design flaws. Say it directly not by omission.

2. Stop claiming lock back slippage is normal. For example, Queen is having the same problem with their Mtn man lockback. They don’t claim its normal. They fix or replace. As an aside, why doesn't spyderco stock parts to fix your knives? I've been told that a japanese made spyderco, still in production, could not be fixed because there are no parts in america. When I told your customer service rep that in my business we use FedEx and get parts in three days from Japan, he laughed and said not at spyderco. In another instance, the "repair" department wouldn't tap new screws for a handle, other firms do this.

3. I was aghast when you said the ZDP wonder steel had not been fully tested before use in a knife. Spyderco used to be known for full testing. However, with some of the recent failures in the early versions of knives, maybe spyerco needs to go back to the old practices. It seems spyderco is falling into the steel of the year trap and not doing sufficient testing…remember the problems with CPM440V?

4. Don’t bow to market pressure when it’s wrong. I know two people other than me who won’t recommend delicas now that they are heavier and don’t have fine points. You proved to me that there isn’t a need for steel liners with FRN.

5. The MBC stuff is disgusting. Stop it. Don’t openly market the civilian. Get rid of spyderco weapons line (that’s why I can’t stand the Kris.)

6. Spyderco likes to pride itself on being brutally honest. Well then carry it through. Scagel had opening holes on his knives…spyderco made them round. The cobra hood is just a modified Terzuola thumb disk. Spyderco’s first ethnic knife was the Jot not the Shabaria. The Kris is not a Filipino design, it’s found elsewhere also, its true origins are not known. Persians I know laugh at spyderco’s Persian knife. The upswept blade is common to many cultures in the middle east. You know the difference between Persians and Arabs, right? Be honest about the true changes in the warranty…spyderco now longer repair and replace for design flaws. If it’s the seki people that have trouble with liner locks, why does my American made starmate have the worst liner of the bunch. Spyderco repaired it once…sent it back in two days…repaired it again…went bad in 3 weeks…fixed it myself and it’s been fine for years.

7. What is more useless than a balisong w/o a latch? You’re SOL when it’s dropped. It can’t be thrown. When used as a tool it’s a pain to pick up once set down. Did spyderco bow to some lawyer?

8. Do some community service other than a high price WTC knife. Spyercos one-armed man knife (Maddox?) was a great design. Very popular with my two friends with one arm. Why is it gone? From what I could tell it was poor marketing. None of the occupational therapists my friends go to new about the knife or where to get it. Does spyderco spend 10% on community service? Put some of it into this blade, not knife fighting seminars.

9. What has happened to the kitchen knives? They are not in the catalog. Spyderco’s cut back on the line over the years, is it gone now? Not martial enough for you? I think its poor marketing. Spyderco has the best serrated knives in the business. I give them as wedding presents and at least half the time I’m told it’s the sharpest knife in the drawer all the time. Still sharpen them for free?

After reading the above, I guess the true problem I have is I was attracted to spyderco because of the excellent kitchen knives. Then I investigated your firm and became enamored with its declared philosophy of honesty, knives as tools not weapons, designing for function, not fashion, and continuing improvement. My experience has taught me otherwise, thus I am disappointed. When a company claims to work to a higher standard than its competitors, but doesn’t live up to it, denies when it’s missing the mark, and then lowers their standard, this leads to disappointment.

......:jerkit:

 

[Monocrom]

I"ve owned four Delicas, a Perrin, that ball-bearing thingy, a J.D. Smith, a Native, Vagabond, and except for a broken tip on the ATS-55 Delica, I"ve had nothing but satisfaction. When I have extra money, I want to buy a Centofante III.

I can definitely recommend the Centofante III. I'm currently using it as my EDC. An excellent knife that, IMHO, looks better than a Delica. :thumbup:

 

[diamdave]

Monocrom:
How is the grip on it? Would you say it is slipperier, grippier, etc? Thanks, that has been my main hesitation not being able to actually hold one yet.

 

[Monocrom]

Monocrom:
How is the grip on it? Would you say it is slipperier, grippier, etc? Thanks, that has been my main hesitation not being able to actually hold one yet.

Sorry, didn't see your post before I logged-off a few hours ago.

Honestly, as much as I like it; the grip is very smooth on the Centofante III. There's two wide, shallow grooves cut into the left-side of the handle. The right-side (where the clip is located) is completely smooth.... If a slippery handle is your main concern, get a Delica 4 instead. You'll have a grippier handle, and still be able to reposition the pocket-clip for whichever way you prefer to carry the knife. :thumbup:

 

[Macchina]

I just gotta say, I love my mini grip, but I hated paying $70 for a "plastic knife." Why do I have the urge to buy three more? They should make a patch or a gum for benchmade, their quality is addictive.

 

[Aldebaran]

I am not impressed with Benchmade at all. Every knife I have purchased from them has failed. I posted about this before, but one of my posts have disappeared. I sent all three knives to them and got back three "fixed" knives.

My Ritter Grip came back with a new omega spring. Hasn't broken yet......

My Pinnacle came back with a note "Adjusted as best as we can", but not fixed at all. A phone call and some discussion later they agreed to replace the knife with something comparable in price as they cannot repair Pinnacles at all anymore. I guess thats fair enough, but why send a knife back in the same state is was shipped without contacting me first? Should I have to complain about not getting my warranty service after paying for the shipping? It is a waste of my time and theirs.

My Mini-Ambush came back, or rather a replacement did. The one I sent to them was a 2003 first production though and I got back just a regular one. I also realized that this replacement is sharpened wrong. One side is around 10 degrees, and the other is at around 25 degrees. I spoke to them about both these issues and they decided to send me out an inspected replacement, possibly a first production run if they have any left. Apparently they don't even work on red class knives, they toss them and just ship new ones as warranty repair.

So this all sounds good till the Mini-Ambush I have on hand right now just failed the exact same way the old one did. and this in 1 week. The in-draw spring bar has fractured. I have absolutely no confidence in this model at all and it is to be considered a dangerous model IMHO. The failure of the in-draw spring allows the tip to fall out and cut you fingers or body inside your pocket. Please be careful if you have one of these.

Any suggestions on which knife I should get to replace my Pinnacle?

 

[jlh2600]

The question now is, "what can we do to win you back?".

We certainly can't be "all bad" and there must be something that we can do to get an opportunity to show you that we are in fact a responsible passionate company that is dedicated to serving our customers, and we would like for you to be one of those.

sal

I am impressed.

Browneye might have a point with number 1 (if true)- warranty policy at the time of purchased should be honored, even if it changes subsequently. Though I am amazed that not only does a company have to "make the kind of knife I want", but also "DON'T offer a model I'm not interested in"??!!

Having to approve of everything a company makes before you can buy something from them has got to be difficult. Some of the super corporations make alooooot of different products, across dozens of industries. Some of it your bound not to like.

I would buy an Escalade, except that GM has the nerve to make a Corvette. No Caddies for me until they get that dangerous little rocket car off the market.

 

[Halfneck]

Brownshoe

I like the new Kris design. Many don't because of it's off beat look, but that does not make it a bad design. I have a new Endura 4 and like it better than the previous models. Have had no problems on fine cutting with the new thicker tip. Addition of the steel liners only added a few ounces. I think it is more personal dislike rather than the quality of manufacture driving post.

Spyderco and self-defense use is not a recent development. If you go back to the 1st issue of Tactical Knives (1995) there is an article in there about Eric Remmen (spelling?) and a course he taught that focused on the use of the Delica. I also remember James Keating showing some uses of Spyderco Knives back in 95 when I attended his "Riddle of Steel" course. I guess if you dislike Spyderco for their MBC line you must really hate Strider Knives. Also the Kris is part of their "Ethnic Series" not their MBC line - you really dislike the Kris don't you?

Latchless Balisongs useless? Go post that in the Balisong/Butterfly Knife forum here and see what responses you get. Several of the custom Butterfly knife makers like Darrel Ralph & Korth make latchless models. How are you SOL if you drop it compared to any other knife? Cripes, it might even flip closed on the fall preventing you getting cut. I will admit that no latch means it is not very secure when I am not gripping it. Then again I have yet to figure out how to use it without holding it.

Community service other than a expensive WTC knife? How about all the knives that were GIVEN away to U.S. Soldiers serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Granted they did have to cut back after word got out and soldiers started flooding them with requests. Maddox was an interesting design but did not sell so it was dropped. As a disabled Vet with limited use in my left arm I see its use but get by just fine with my other knives

I think it is more your personal dis-like driving your post compared to the actual quality of their work. I don't like the Spyderco Native or the Benchmade Griptillians. Both are highly popular and quality knives, I just don't like how they feel in my hand. My personal opinion and I don't think less of either Benchmade or Spyderco or the people who like those knives.

Of course I don't expect this post to change your personal opinion, just voicing mine.

 

[Nick Hyle]

Any suggestions on which knife I should get to replace my Pinnacle?

The closest thing, in performance, size, function and price, is the 635 Mini Skirmish. If it looks good to you, that's what I'd propose to them.

If you don't like the looks or design or feel of the Mini Skirmish, then I'd look at a Pinnacle-sized axis lock, probably a 520 Presidio - of the numerous axis locks I own, I think it's the closest current production knife to the size, strength, and performance of my Pinnacle.

So this all sounds good till the Mini-Ambush I have on hand right now just failed the exact same way the old one did. and this in 1 week. The in-draw spring bar has fractured.

I love Benchmade, but they certainly aren't perfect. I gave my full sized Ambush to a buddy and something - it sounds like the in-draw spring bar to me but I haven't seen it - has broken. I like the ergos of the Ambushes, and the blades, and the Rolling Lock. But I've never liked the addition of the Indraft bar, and it's looking more and more like that may have been a significant bad design decision.

I just gotta say, I love my mini grip, but I hated paying $70 for a "plastic knife." Why do I have the urge to buy three more? They should make a patch or a gum for benchmade, their quality is addictive.

The only guys I know who succesfully broke their Benchmade habit had to go cold turkey. It wasn't pretty.

 

[smcfalls13]

I believe the decisions spyderco has made are due to market pressures and there is not much chance of change.

That's how a business is run, if you only do what you want, your business fails. In order to survive, a business must listen to the market.

1. Start by honoring the original warranties for knives bought under that warranty.

True. I'll give you this one.

2. Stop claiming lock back slippage is normal.

It's not normal, but it can be beneficial, if done properly. There is a difference between engineered blade play to account for user error(meaning lack of maintenance) and "oops we screwed up" blade play.

As an aside, why doesn't spyderco stock parts to fix your knives?

Not sure of Spyderco's reasoning for that, but maintaining a surplus of parts is tedious, time consuming, expensive, and prone to poor inventory control. The more you have, the harder it is to keep track of. Spyderco does not have hundreds of employees, so it's not logistically feasible.

3. I was aghast when you said the ZDP wonder steel had not been fully tested before use in a knife. Spyderco used to be known for full testing.

William and Henry have been using it for years, with good results. Should Spydero test 440C before they use it in their knives? Seems redundant to me.

4. Don’t bow to market pressure when it’s wrong. I know two people other than me who won’t recommend delicas now that they are heavier and don’t have fine points. You proved to me that there isn’t a need for steel liners with FRN.

That's three opinions. Hardly enough to make the decision seem like a bad one. I for one prefer the liners, as the weight is hardly noticeable. The fine points I'll agree with though, I do prefer them, but the majority of the market seems to prefer otherwise.

5. The MBC stuff is disgusting. Stop it. Don’t openly market the civilian. Get rid of spyderco weapons line (that’s why I can’t stand the Kris.)[/QUOTE

Disgusting how? Sure they're ugly, but they're not meant to be pretty, they're meant to save your life, now wow your friends. Functionality over aesthetics. As for the Kris, do some research on the Kris blades and you'll see that Kris knives are poorly suited to combat, and were mainly ceremonial. This particular Kris is also poorly suited to combat, given it's slick micarta handle and bolsters. If it were an MBC Kris, it would have full G-10 handles.

6. Spyderco likes to pride itself on being brutally honest.

They always have been in my experience.

The Kris is not a Filipino design, it’s found elsewhere also, its true origins are not known.

True, but the culture it's most associated with is the Filipino culture.

Persians I know laugh at spyderco’s Persian knife. The upswept blade is common to many cultures in the middle east. You know the difference between Persians and Arabs, right?

Arab is a general term(I consider it derogatory) used to describe someone of middle eastern or northern african descent. Persian is more location specific, meaning someone who hails from Persia (present day Iran). Iran is considered part of the middle east, so it's a common misconception. As for the upswept design being of Persian descent, of course it's not only Persian, but like the Kris and Filipino culture, the upswept blade is most associated with middle eastern culture. The Persian empire was one of the most widespread in history, second only to the Roman empire(If I remember correctly). It makes sense to name a blade associated with the middle east after the most dominant empire in the middle east.

Perhaps I'm wrong in this assumption.

7. What is more useless than a balisong w/o a latch? You’re SOL when it’s dropped. It can’t be thrown. When used as a tool it’s a pain to pick up once set down. Did spyderco bow to some lawyer?

Being a Bali enthusiast, this just offends me. Dropping your Bali is bad, but whether it has a latch or not has no bearing on anything once it hits. As for throwing your Bali, you've been watching too many movies. Throwing a Bali is BAD idea, and if you've tried to throw one, obviously you don't know what a Bali is for. The Spyderfly only latches closed, which is all it needs. There is no point to having the knife latch open. Anyone who handles Balis knows how to use one without latching the handles open. As for flipping, again, the latch serves no purpose.

Latchless Balis perfectly acceptable, and a lot of us prefer them.

8. Do some community service other than a high price WTC knife.

I take it by that comment you didn't want to buy one due to the high price. Remember that all the profits of that knife went to charity. Spyderco made NO money on that, and in all likelihood, probably lost money.

Does spyderco spend 10% on community service? Put some of it into this blade, not knife fighting seminars.

Does any knife company spend 10% on community service? Spyderco is the only one I know of that does anything comparable. As for the Maddox, it was discontinued due to lack of sales. They are still readily available pretty much everywhere, they're easy to get. Spyderco currently has no knife fighting seminars, since their MBC instructors are no longer associated with Spyderco.

9. What has happened to the kitchen knives?

I'll give you this one too, I wanted some of the kitchen knives.

When a company claims to work to a higher standard than its competitors, but doesn’t live up to it, denies when it’s missing the mark, and then lowers their standard, this leads to disappointment.

You must have had some bad experiences, because I can safely say that I have never problems with any facet of Spyderco's business. I think Spyderco is among the top five production companies in the industry, and I think it's ridiculuous that the President of the company himself responded to this thread and apologized for your bad experience, and even asked you what could be fixed, you fire back with a bullet list of problems, some of which are valid points, but the majority of which are based purely in your own opinion.

Spyderco listens to their customers, but they shouldn't change their entire business practice for one overly opinionated customer.

 

[Sal Glesser]

Hi Mr. Brownshoe,

whew? You do seem to have an axe to grind? But I will try to answer.

Mr. Glasser,

The name is Glesser, not Glasser

I believe the decisions spyderco has made are due to market pressures and there is not much chance of change. But since you asked, here are some suggestions:

I appreciate your taking the ime to respond

1. Start by honoring the original warranties for knives bought under that warranty. For example, when a Jot comes in with the screws pulled out of the handle. Replace it with a new knife because it is a design flaw. When an endura comes in with the intergral clip broken off, replace it for free. When a knife needs reprofiling and it was bought under the old warranty, fix it. Be honest about the true changes in the warranty…spyderco now longer repairs and replaces for design flaws. Say it directly not by omission.

I think we do honor our warantees, as warranteed. We always take care of our customer, as most here will attest to. It's hard for me to believe that you personally had all of these problems with our company. Perhaps you don't know what our warrantee is? Perhaps you are repeating complaints you've only heard? I do not believe that you bought all these new knives, had the aforementioned problems and we didn't take care of you. I think there is more going on here that you are saying.

2. Stop claiming lock back slippage is normal. For example, Queen is having the same problem with their Mtn man lockback. They don’t claim its normal. They fix or replace. As an aside, why doesn't spyderco stock parts to fix your knives? I've been told that a japanese made spyderco, still in production, could not be fixed because there are no parts in america. When I told your customer service rep that in my business we use FedEx and get parts in three days from Japan, he laughed and said not at spyderco. In another instance, the "repair" department wouldn't tap new screws for a handle, other firms do this.

It's been a long time since we've had a "he" in our warrantee & repair dept. I believe I did apologise for any problem you might haver had and offered to "make it right". It doesn't sound like yoy want anything "made right", you just want to complain.

3. I was aghast when you said the ZDP wonder steel had not been fully tested before use in a knife. Spyderco used to be known for full testing. However, with some of the recent failures in the early versions of knives, maybe spyerco needs to go back to the old practices. It seems spyderco is falling into the steel of the year trap and not doing sufficient testing…remember the problems with CPM440V?

We did extensive lab testing. Real world testing is still the final test. We are the company that offers the "new" steels, more than anhy other. We didn't have a lot of problems with 440V, (some complained about sharpening) we changed to S30V because it was a better steel.

4. Don’t bow to market pressure when it’s wrong. I know two people other than me who won’t recommend delicas now that they are heavier and don’t have fine points. You proved to me that there isn’t a need for steel liners with FRN

.

The E4 & D4 are better knives. We can agree to disagree.

5. The MBC stuff is disgusting. Stop it. Don’t openly market the civilian. Get rid of spyderco weapons line (that’s why I can’t stand the Kris.)

It is surpising that you would think that your "opinions" are somehow "absolute truth". Quite egocentric in my "opinion". We will agree to disagree.

6. Spyderco likes to pride itself on being brutally honest. Well then carry it through. Scagel had opening holes on his knives…spyderco made them round.

Truth is the "big circle" and we are honest. Scagel never made a one hand opening hole in a knife. It was the "one hand open" that we created.

The cobra hood is just a modified Terzuola thumb disk.

How is that relevant to anything? We didn't try to patent the Cobra hood.

Spyderco’s first ethnic knife was the Jot not the Shabaria.

I'm sorry, you are wrong. Jot didn't place any ethnicity in his design. It was his personal design, which was modified many times by him before he finalised it. The Shabaria was in fact fashioned from the Jordan Valley piece.

The Kris is not a Filipino design, it’s found elsewhere also, its true origins are not known. Persians I know laugh at spyderco’s Persian knife. The upswept blade is common to many cultures in the middle east.

Please write to all those that have made a "Persian" style" design and tell them that they are ALL wrong, and your "Persian" friend is right, and then get back to me.

You know the difference between Persians and Arabs, right?

No I don't, please enlighten me. It was my impression that Persia was a location and Arab was a culture.

Be honest about the true changes in the warranty…spyderco now longer repair and replace for design flaws. If it’s the seki people that have trouble with liner locks, why does my American made starmate have the worst liner of the bunch. Spyderco repaired it once…sent it back in two days…repaired it again…went bad in 3 weeks…fixed it myself and it’s been fine for years.

I'm afraid here we will have to agree to disagree. We do repair or replace for design flaws.

7. What is more useless than a balisong w/o a latch? You’re SOL when it’s dropped. It can’t be thrown. When used as a tool it’s a pain to pick up once set down. Did spyderco bow to some lawyer?

Our opinions differ here. My balis are latchless. I didn't know you were an expert in balisongs?

8. Do some community service other than a high price WTC knife.

Our WTC project was a good thing, why would you try to make it out to be a bad thing? We still do our monthly lottery for the troops in the Middle East, we donate thousands of knives. What do you do for our troops?

We do many things for our community, my guess, far more than most companies.

Spyercos one-armed man knife (Maddox?) was a great design. Very popular with my two friends with one arm. Why is it gone? From what I could tell it was poor marketing. None of the occupational therapists my friends go to new about the knife or where to get it.

I agree that it was a good design. That's why we built the item and provided it to the market. We spend more on marketing than we did on the knives. The market didn't buy them. They are still available through the designer. Perhaps your therapist friends will have to look for them?

Does spyderco spend 10% on community service? Put some of it into this blade, not knife fighting seminars.

No doubt all of your favorite companies offer up 10% of their revenues for community service, but it is beyond our ability.

9. What has happened to the kitchen knives? They are not in the catalog. Spyderco’s cut back on the line over the years, is it gone now? Not martial enough for you? I think its poor marketing. Spyderco has the best serrated knives in the business. I give them as wedding presents and at least half the time I’m told it’s the sharpest knife in the drawer all the time.

The vendor system couldn't provide the models. We're working on new vendors. The early ones that were disco'd just didn't sell. I resent your comments on "poor marketing". I don't think you know much about marketing, but we can again agree to disdagree.

Still sharpen them for free?

yes, you pay shipping. one way.

After reading the above, I guess the true problem I have is I was attracted to spyderco because of the excellent kitchen knives. Then I investigated your firm and became enamored with its declared philosophy of honesty, knives as tools not weapons, designing for function, not fashion, and continuing improvement. My experience has taught me otherwise, thus I am disappointed. When a company claims to work to a higher standard than its competitors, but doesn’t live up to it, denies when it’s missing the mark, and then lowers their standard, this leads to disappointment.

After reading all of your comments, I must agree that we will not be able to please you or win you back. My apologies. There is more going on here than you say.

sal

 

[LJK]

Regarding Brownshoe and Spyderco I believe Sal has gone above and beyond addressing complaints. For crying out loud what other major knife maker would spent so much of his valuble time here? I remember a few years ago when Brownshoe pissed off Mick Strider he tourched his ass forthwith and was done with him. Sal your to nice. I have 3 BM's and 11 Spydies. I brought BM's for 1st: Low pocket carry, 2nd: M2 steel, 3rd: Axis lock. Both great companies, but Spyderco

 

[Keith Montgomery]

One thing I can say for brownshoe is that he is consistent. When I see a thread about Spyderco or CRK and brownshoe has posted there, I don't even have to read his posts to know what he has added to the discussion. In general it will be that he doesn't like the companies policies or their knives. He sure is dogged in his determination to let everyone know his feelings about these companies.

One thing is for sure, no company should base marketing decisions on the suggestions of a single malcontent or his hearsay comments of other people he knows. If however they receive many such suggestions, then it is time to look at what you are doing as a company.

 

[Daniel Moore]

No need for a disclaimer, Hair- you're 100% absolutely without a doubt right.

 

[T.K.C.]

Keith: You are so right!!

 

[thombrogan]

Offering a product at a price and quality level that the consumer's actions indicate is more than acceptable has been the greatest community service ever offered. It's allowed our lives to become so pleasant that we can have vitrolic shoutfests over what are truly petty issues. Who can hate that? I'd rather be seething with rage over someone calling a Compression Lock an inverted Linerlock than couped up with 16 other folks in my apartment hoping it'll get quarrantined for TB so I can finally take some time off.

 

[Grover_Cephas]

The vendor system couldn't provide the models [to continue offering kitchen knives]. We're working on new vendors. The early ones that were disco'd just didn't sell.

I really hope you find yourself in a position to offer plainedge Western knives again; they were my first-resort recommendation to friends who wanted good kitchen cutlery, but didn't want to spend a lot.

 

[Monocrom]

Regarding Brownshoe and Spyderco I believe Sal has gone above and beyond addressing complaints. For crying out loud what other major knife maker would spent so much of his valuble time here? I remember a few years ago when Brownshoe pissed off Mick Strider he tourched his ass forthwith and was done with him. Sal your to nice.

I agree, especially with the last part.
I also believe the Endura 4 & Delica 4 are improvements. (With the possible exception of the hole punched out of the clip. I think it might make the clip more suseptible to breaking, if it snagged on something. But I understand why it's there). Over the years, I realized that I prefered tip-down carry; so it's been awhile since I've owned a Delica or an Endura. But thanks to the multi-position clip, I'll be buying an Endura soon.... Been quite a few years since I had one clipped to my pocket; feels longer than that!

Benchmade began offering folders that could have their clips mounted on one end or the other, on their Axis-lock knives..... then promptly discontinued those models.:grumpy:

Here's to hoping the same thing doesn't happen over at Spyderco.

 

[brownshoe]

I'd like to respond comprehensively but there is way too much stuff. I'll pick what I find most egregious:

1. Honoring past warranties: One example, I've got more, the Jot has a design flaw where the screws pull out of the micarta. You used to admit this and replace, now your warrantee department says Too Bad, and you could easily fix it if you had a competent cutler.

2. Repairing knives: Do you stock repair parts for foriegn made knives?

3. Persian: Amazing someone with your background does know that Persia is a culture that shares a language and is part of Iran, Iraq, Afg, Russia and US. Talk to some Persians to find out if an upswept blade, very reminiscent of a butchers tool, has anything to do with persian culture.

4. Marketing: Think my point was missed. Spyderco kitchen knvies are the best product out there. If you can't sell the best, then its got to be marketing or cost, and in the world of kitchen knives, spydercos are not expensive.

5. 10% back: Just threw that in since I saw it recently in a business seminar. There are some companies that do put a specific percentage to community service...note all the company names on arenas, zoos exhibitions, etc. Its good advertising. Be nice if the Maddox could live through that kind of program. How about it.

6. Loose lockbacs: So its normal right?

7. Lack of testing: Didn't poperly test CPM440v before use in a knife, by spydercos admission. Didn't fully test ZDP for corrosion before use in a knife by sypderco's admission. Why not wait and test out the steels to assure the wonder product makes a good knife?

Mr. Glesser, maybe i am mistaken, but ibelieve you no longer own the company, so you have constraints. You are a consistent and skillful champion of your firm; however, please don't forget, a knife is a tool first and customer service is more than warranty fulfillment. As for me, in the recent past, I've generally keep my negative opinion of spyderco to myself, until the spyderco sycaphants get on my nerves as was this case in this thread. Knives and companies can sometimes get fans that are a wee bit too rabid, so a different perspective can helpful. Maybe I should be more like the knife magazines and say nothing when something sucks or the truth is twisted and only write words of praise.