How did you discover Spyderco?

met Sal at a boat show in Stamford Conn. maybe 1985 or '86. man I am getting old. He had a table and was showing knives to anybody who would stop. Spidey holes and serrations. I still have that Delica 26-27 years later.
 
A few years back, I became aware of the brand while researching for my first Benchmade, a mini-Barrage. Bought and liked the Barrage a lot, but kept seeing references to two other brands in the forums and knife sites - Spyderco and GEC. Around the same time, I needed a replacement for my lost (airport security) "money clip" - a Gerber Trendy, so I snagged a Spyderco Spin online, and that thing was one smooth little scalpel! After that got my interest up, I lurked on the Spyderco forum for a bit, joined it, and started asking questions. A really knowledgeable and patient member there (thanks, Deacon!) helped me narrow things down to my second Spyderco, a Giraffe bone Kopa. I've been hooked ever since, and have converted more than a few knife carriers to the way of the Spydie.

I now have quite a few Spyderco knives, as well as many other makers' knives, but for value, ergonomics, and innovation, no one else comes close.

~ Edge
 
Honestly, I had no idea what a Spyderco was until I joined this forum and kept reading how awesome the Para 2 was. When I bought one, I understood what the hype was about. It is just a perfect EDC for me.
 
It was around the mid-nineties I first noticed Spyderco knives popping up up everywhere. I wasn't at all attracted to the odd looking blade shapes and the ugly, cheap looking FRN handles but I decided to buy a Dragonfly serrated to see what all the fuss was about. (wanted a pro-grip but they were out) As they say, the rest is history I lost the d-fly about 6 months later (damn plastic integral clips) but I was hooked and replaced it with a plain edge wegner jr. Then got into the smaller spydies with the cricket, meerkat, mouse and toad. At last count I had over 50 Spydies and I've got another 1/2 dozen (give or take a dozen :D) on my radar.
 
I think that I saw an ad for a Delica somewhere, and decided to step up from the Cold Steel and SOG stuff I had. I bid on and won a Delica online, but when I got it, it was a Ladybug, unbeknownst to me. When I re-checked the specs on the Delica, I started looking for one, and got one of the plastic clip models, GIN1 maybe? That started the downward spiral...
 
I started browsing for "real" knives on the internet after I got an S&W as a gift and realized that there was a brave new world of modern folders(after just carrying a local bali for years).

When I first saw Spydercos(probably serrated enduras or millies), I really thought they were a joke or a gimmick made up to look like alligators(with an eye and teeth). The more I looked around the forums, the more they started to look good to me. Then I got a millie...
 
In 1994 I broke the tip on my Kershaw 2420. Walked in to local outfitter and there was a spyderco display. I never seen or heard of them before. Decided on a serrated Endura with the frn clip. It jumped out of my pocket 2 months later on a hunting trip. Wrote spyderco suggesting a stronger clip. Two weeks later a new Endura showed up with a metal pocket clip screwed in where the frn one had been ground off. That is customer service. Still have it along with a dozen or so more. I have never lost another one.
 
I read about Spydercos in knife magazines back in the early 90s and at the first available Gun & Knife show in South Florida I bought an Endura and a Civilian from Buck's Knives, who used to have a good space reserved on these shows throughout the 90s. He is the cutlery dealer at an Atlanta g&k show mentioned by Thomas Harris in the novel Hannibal. I later asked Buck about it and he told me that the publishing firm had sent a researcher, a lady, to ask him about his wares. She was apparently looking for the deadliest blade that Hannibal the Cannibal could carry in the book. IIRC, it was a Civilian.
 
I used to drive past their shop in I believe it was Golden Colo.,Don't remember the year, maybe late 70's early 80's. One day I stoped in to the store,very small shop,friendly people, Even then I thought the knives were a little pricey. It still took several years for me to get my frist spyderco knife in a trade. At the time I think they actually made them in the rear of the shop, Wish I would have spent more time at the shop as I lived Just a few miles away but I was just not into knives at the time. I was to busy trying to shoot my first elk and hunting other critters in the Rockies.
 
First in the Cold steel catalog; they sold the sharpmaker. Later I saw one of their kitchen knives at a gun show.
 
I was looking for an inexpensive (CHEAP) knife to carry and play with. Bought a Tenacious and have been hooked on Spyderco ever since.
 
arlessinfl said:
I was looking for an inexpensive (CHEAP) knife to carry and play with. Bought a Tenacious and have been hooked on Spyderco ever since.
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This.....I had bought a Tenacious to check out the spyder hole and full flat grind. Great knife so I now use a CF/M390 military and it's even better.
 
Hammertyme said:
Nutnfancy of course!
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Haha, me too! I was fine with my Swiss Army Knives and box cutters but always liked knives, just had a habit of losing them when I was younger. So, until recently I ignored modern pocket folders until I started looking for sharpening equipment and fell in love with one handed opening, locking knives. Lots of youtube later, I enjoyed the philosophy of the spydie hole and their apparent value (over a brand like benchmade) and that is how I started lurking on forums like this!
 
Around 1997 my "gun mentor" became briefly a "knife mentor" when he recommended them. I'd never carried a knife before on any regular basis (pocket tool yes, plain blade, no) so a Gen1 Delica was my first EDC. When the plastic clip broke (as they are wont to do) I tossed it into my gym bag as a backup and bought another. When THAT clip broke I tossed it into a drawer and basically gave up on EDC for about a decade. Recently I found them both and started carrying one loose in my pocket, remembering how much I loved that old knife.

However, the lack of a pocket clip got annoying fast, which led me to the purchase about $50 in random inexpensive folders as I tried to work out what I wanted to carry, a blitz of internet research, membership on this forum, and the discovery that Spyderco sells self-tapping clip kits for the old Delicas!

So... I am typing this with my resurrected 15-year old Delica clipped in my back pocket, the second one as backup in my bag, an Enlan EL-02 clipped to my front pocket, and a Benchmade 943 waiting for me for a Father's Day gift. :-)
 
I'm a late bloomer. I first found out about Spyderco from this message board. My first Spydercos (ordered two at once) were a Sage 1 and a Gayle Bradley. I was getting into fixed-blade knives and starting to look at folders that were a little nicer than what I already had. I was not disappointed.

From that point, it's been like a disease that just keeps spreading :)
 
EZ Bake said:
I'm a late bloomer. I first found out about Spyderco from this message board. My first Spydercos (ordered two at once) were a Sage 1 and a Gayle Bradley. I was getting into fixed-blade knives and starting to look at folders that were a little nicer than what I already had. I was not disappointed.

From that point, it's been like a disease that just keeps spreading :)
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Dang -- that's a nice One-Two punch of Spyderco knives...I might have stopped right there and never looked back... :)

But, of course, "last knife" is an oxymoron...
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Nutnfancy videos. I know, I know, not everybody likes his vids, but I do.

I kept watching knife videos and looking at all the Tacti-Cool stuff. Bought some Benchmades, Cold Steel knives, SOGs, and all sorts of other stuff. I was sort of bewildered as to why he kept reviewing Spydies so highly in his videos. I ended up giving a Native 4 FRN a shot since I had money burning a hole in my pocket and had been hearing a lot about how great S30V was at the time. I figured it would be an opportunity to see what all the fuss was about and the knive was less than half the price of the next step up in S30V that the shop carried. The first time I felt the FACTORY EDGE on that Native glide through a clam shell package with a fraction of the force needed with Benchmades or any other knife I'd used in the past I was transformed for good and realized exactly why Spyderco blades were being touted as such great knives.
 
I first heard about them a few years ago by watching a nutnfancy review. He is not my favorite reviewer but he did introduce me to this nice line of blades. Got an endura then a delica. Now I have 9 syderco products and really enjoy them all. I favor form based on function so I was a sucker for these "funny looking" knives.
 
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