How receptive is Spyderco to ideas for new knives?

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pathfinder74

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Dec 15, 2005
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I'd love to see them do more dive knives. I'm not crazy about the current options they have. I'd prefer something with a little less blade length, and maybe a fixed blade option as well.
 
Have you looked at the enuff h1? I want the original yellow se aquasalt for a dive knife but i guess im going to have to settle for the new coated version.
 
I'd like to see something like this but water/corrosion-proof.

It would be perfect for cutting lines but also scraping crud off sub-surface buoys and prying things open.
 
pathfinder74 said:
I'd like to see something like this but water/corrosion-proof.

It would be perfect for cutting lines but also scraping crud off sub-surface buoys and prying things open.
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If that's design is perfect for you, why do you have to have Spyderco make it? Why not just get it?

You can always ask, we never know with Mr. G since he's very good at pleasing his fanbase.

I doubt that that design will be a moneymaker for Spyderco since they are known for knives that are good at cutting. Their forte is not really scrapers and prybars.

It's actually really easy to make a scraper and a prybar in the shop. Designing and producing ergonomic knives that have really good cutting performance is something else.
 
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I would like to see some slots on the new Aqua salt sheath for some straps to make it easier to secure when diving.
 
Have you looked at the Caspian Salt? It's discontinued, but still able to be found if you look hard enough. The army surplus store in Whitefish Montana had an unsold one when I was there in late February, as well as an unsold Rock Lobster and a few other discontinued models. Their prices were a little high, but I didn't try to barter him down because I didn't need either model, and I've never found a knife store that I couldn't barter the price down at least a little bit.
 
The blunt tipped Caspian is very good. The straps are crap, but are easily swapped out with rubber ones. Although Sal dives (or at least used to) their sheaths aren't really well suited for diving imho. Probably because (except for the Caspian) they aren't meant as diving knives, but general use around seawater knives..
 
singularity35 said:
If that's design is perfect for you, why do you have to have Spyderco make it? Why not just get it?
You can always ask, we never know with Mr. G since he's very good at pleasing his fanbase.
I doubt that that design will be a moneymaker for Spyderco since they are known for knives that are good at cutting. Their forte is not really scrapers and prybars.
It's actually really easy to make a scraper and a prybar in the shop. Designing and producing ergonomic knives that have really good cutting performance is something else.
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It doesn't have to be Spyderco, but why not?
The one I linked to isn't water proof and definitely not corrosion resistant. I emailed them and asked.

EDIT... well, this is weird. I know I emailed Boker and they said it was definitely not suitable for diving in salt water.
 
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pathfinder74 said:
It doesn't have to be Spyderco, but why not?
The one I linked to isn't water proof and definitely not corrosion resistant. I emailed them and asked.

EDIT... well, this is weird. I know I emailed Boker and they said it was definitely not suitable for diving in salt water.
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Because I believe that they will lose money on what you're proposing. I am an admirer not only of their products but of the company and of the owners. They do a lot of things for the ELU that doesn't make them much money but because the owner is a knife nut's knife nut, he indulges us with afi products that we can get nowhere else. For you to suggest they make a niche product which will have limited appeal to knife afis would only be a burden to them that might cause them to drop a knife that's in production or to delay a bringing a knife into production that will be more popular than a scraper cum prybar.

How often are you in salt water? What harm really can happen to that boker if it's washed after being immersed? There are more than a few custom makers in BF, you can maybe commission one of them to make a knife that fits your requirements.
 
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Spyderco is obviously very receptive to ideas for new knives. They've produced knives designed by Spyderco forum members who were not knifemakers and loads of collaborations with custom knifemakers, they've even produced knives based on suggestions and input by forumites. They've also brought back discontinued models when they senses sufficient interest on the forums. What they've never done, and I doubt they'll ever do, is copy another company's design. As NoFair noted, the Caspian Salt II is probably as close to what your looking for as you'd be likely to get from Spyderco. It was discontinued, because it didn't sell well, but does show up for sale occasionally, and there's at least an outside chances of it making a comeback in a Sprint Run or Exclusive.

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Or, as singularity35 suggested, just get the Cop Tool and rinse it after use.

EDITED TO ADD: What would you be willing to pay for such a knife? For perspective, MSRP for the Caspian was $200 in 2009, so today it would probably be $230-240. That would put the average street price around $150.
 
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Thanks for mentioning the name of the knife. I googled and it seems to be a $50 knife. If it lasts a year and falls apart from rust, the OP will have gotten his money's worth. if you absolutely need that design, $50/12=4.16. For $4.16 a month for a design that you absolutely need, that's effing peanuts.
 
Sal is very receptive to ideas for knives, but it helps to have done your homework.

Fail approach: show Spyderco drawings of knives. Have never made any.
Win: do extensive testing and have working models to show. Be innovative and meet a potential demand.
 
Thanks everyone for the input.
I think you're right, after hearing some thoughts, that it would be a waste of Spyderco's time for this knife. While it wouldn't necessarily be a niche knife (water-proof/corrosion resistant knives can be used on the surface) I can see how marketing it specifically as a dive knife would limit interest.

The Boker knife would be a gamble. It says the blade material is bead blasted 440C stainless steel. I know I read somewhere on this forum or EDC that bead blasting makes the metal more prone to corrosion. I dive in salt at least 1-3x/week and the salinity where I dive is pretty high. I've come out of a 1 hour dive with something I thought was stainless and it was already rusting up. I don't think it would even make it to the rinse tank without some serious damage. And I'm guessing the hardware on it isn't SS, so the nuts would probably be even worse than the blade.

The Caspian looks decent, but a little pricey. But I know for a Spyderco I'd be getting what I paid for so it would be a sound investment.

I'll look around for a commission option as well.
 
The ARK is H1, and is a handy little thing, but I don't know if you'll want a sharp tip on a dive knife(?).
 
Anything in H1 will be completely rust free for you regardless of whether you rinse it after use or not. Just ask SurfingGringo. You might consider a folder, and have a custom sheath made for it. The Atlantic Salt has a fairly blunt tip and in serrated edge would likely make a good dive knife candidate, or the Saver Salt if you want something a little smaller.
 
Spectre said:
The ARK is H1, and is a handy little thing, but I don't know if you'll want a sharp tip on a dive knife(?).
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I'm personally not a fan of a sharp tip on a dive knive. I see no need for it. I'm not stabbing anything while I'm in the water. I'm not a knife fighter on the surface, I'm certainly not going to go to battle with the wildlife below.
 
pathfinder74 said:
I'd love to see them do more dive knives. I'm not crazy about the current options they have. I'd prefer something with a little less blade length, and maybe a fixed blade option as well.
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After seeing things develop over the last 15 or so years, I'd say probably one of the most receptive companies out there, if not the most. Dive knives are a very market specific niche, far less than a standard utility knife, hunting knife, self defense knife, or a collaboration design. There are several knives that were produced for years the Salt series featuring H-1 steel has been bog for a long time now. I don't think anyone can beat Spyderco in designing knives that have a blade length of 3" or less, this includes various locking and non locking blades made of a wide variety of steels, and handle configurations in just about any price range you can think of.
 
pathfinder74 said:
I'm personally not a fan of a sharp tip on a dive knive. I see no need for it. I'm not stabbing anything while I'm in the water. I'm not a knife fighter on the surface, I'm certainly not going to go to battle with the wildlife below.
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If you can't find anything else that fits your requirements except one that has a sharp tip, why not grind the tip off?
 
singularity35 said:
If you can't find anything else that fits your requirements except one that has a sharp tip, why not grind the tip off?
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Does grinding it down remove anything that might make it more susceptible to corrosion? Like the heat treatment... does that also create some kind of finish that would be removed by grinding it?
 
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