History of Spyderco?

Molded clip? Now that jogged my memory. Seem to remember the knife i had had a molded (plastic) clip. Probably why i lost it while sitting in the Go Kart lol. Molded iteration still called a Delica? A pictorial history book ie. Coffee table book would be an idea. Keep it fun and Simple.
 
David Nowlin said:
Molded clip? Now that jogged my memory. Seem to remember the knife i had had a molded (plastic) clip. Probably why i lost it while sitting in the Go Kart lol. Molded iteration still called a Delica? A pictorial history book ie. Coffee table book would be an idea. Keep it fun and Simple.
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All of the early FRNs had clips molded into the scales, which tended to break (many of which were repaired w/metal clips) and Spyderco eventually abandoned the plastic clips entirely and just made them w/metal clips instead.

Below a pic of my collection of Gen 1/2 Enduras with those clips still intact.

My early Merlin hawkbill also has the same type of clip on it.

tIgLw6ol.jpg
 
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Yes that is the style i had. But the smaller Delica sized model. Thanks for reminding me of that small but relevant detail. When i bought the knife i was blissfully ignorant of the model name,type of steel or where it was made at the time. To think i was stationed at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs in early 1978-80 when Spyderco was just starting to sprout in its permanent home if i have the history right. I know where i bought my Military model and how much i paid but no idea the details of that first purchase. All this has me itching to find a few older Spyderco knives but i think as usual I have missed the boat again lol.
 
David Nowlin said:
I worry they will be fakes but i will check it out.
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There are a lot of fakes of Spydercos (and other knives out there) but they are mainly of newer popular models where there's more demand and profit potential.

The older, more esoteric knives are much less likey to be cloned unless they are very expensive and still in demand, like the SpyderFly.

I've only encountered 1 Spyderco fake on EB. It was Yojimbo and the seller actually warned me that he was told it might be a fake after I won it but b4 he sent it. Did some research on the Net (lots of videos on it) and determined that it was a fake and the seller refunded me the sale price.

Not all EB sellers are crooks!
 
sgt1372 said:
There are a lot of fakes of Spydercos (and other knives out there) but they are mainly of newer popular models where there's more demand and profit potential.

The older, more esoteric knives are much less likey to be cloned unless they are very expensive and still in demand, like the SpyderFly.

I've only encountered 1 Spyderco fake on EB. It was Yojimbo and the seller actually warned me that he was told it might be a fake after I won it but b4 he sent it. Did some research on the Net (lots of videos on it) and determined that it was a fake and the seller refunded me the sale price.

Not all EB sellers are crooks!
Click to expand...
Very true, although I like the bad rep EBay has for many, makes it easier for me to find mine. Although most of mine have come from here, patience has paid off very well for me.
 
What was the timeline for that molded clip production? (Is that considered the stamped clip?) The one that is an extension of the scale if I understand correctly. Are we talking 80’s or 90’s and how many years before discontinued? Thanks
 
The plastic clip was molded into the backside scale. The earliest plastic clip versions were made in 1990. The metal clip was adopted around 1998.

To make it more complicated, there were 2 versions of the plastic clip (thin/thick) in Gen 1; the thick version was carried over into Gen 2. In the pic I posted above, the Endura at the top is a Gen 1 w/o any steel marking (but was probably Gin (Gingami) I steel) and has the thin clip. The other knives w/o the clips showing are Gen 2 w/AUS 6 marked steel and have the thicker plastic clips.

This is based on the description of the chronology of the development of the Endura on SpydieWiki, including comments made by Sal on the Spyderco forum, which should parallel the production of all other FRN model knives by Spyderco during this time period.

See: http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=C10_Endura
 
Hi David,

As Sgt mentioned, 1990-1998.

There were actually 4 variations of the molded clip. ( 4 mold changed ) All in an attempt to sort out clip issues. At the time, if you broke your clip, we replaced the knife. Then we learned that people were actually intentionally breaking the clip to get a new knife, so we abandoned the idea and went to a a new clip design. For people that broke their clips, we screwed a metal clip on to the plastic body.

sal
 
Ha ha ha very not funny! But I wouldn’t put it past some people.
What i would like to know is how can you tell which of the 4 clips you have. I recently won a bid on a new C33PSBK Pro Grip with the plastic clip circa 1994-1999 i guess.
It’s going to be fun narrowing down the year and learning which clip it has should help.
Of course i can always post pictures when i get it in a new thread. Ahh the fun to be had!
 
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Update. My Military is a 12/97 not a 92 as i mentioned incorrectly in the#6 comment. I found it strange when looking at all the old catalogs and not seeing the Military. Is a 12/97 considered a 98? You know like Cars?
DN
 
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just confused about the steel. Mine has the ATS-34 but this 1998 shows 440V as does the 1997 catalog. Did Spyderco use both at the same time?
 
I will testify that if you can find a copy of "The Spyderco Story" By Kenneth Delavigne that won't break your bank account I think you'll really enjoy it. I've had mine since around 2001 and I still get mine out on occasion and look through it for a different type of entertainment.

I got mine for $22 which even at that time was a "steal". Recently I turned down an offer of $200+. Now I also heard that Palladin Press ( the publisher) has gone out of business. But I did hear that they did a few paperback copies of that book and you might find one of them at an affordable price. It seems like about once a year I see one go up for sale in various places >> but not too often. I have no idea of how many were in print. I wish some other publisher would do another run of them.
 
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