I want to see those 60s and 70s Spydercos!

hank_rearden

hank_rearden

Joined
Jun 7, 2002
Messages
3,411
as a kid i used to see them advertized in monthlies like popular science and popular mechanics (just one knife type i think.) i'm curious how those serrations were like. i also want to ask whether or not there was a "big bang" episode for newer spyderco models and when. thanks.
 
You may be hard pressed to find 60's and 70's Spyderco knives. If I'm not mistaken, the first production Spydercos were made available in the very early 80's. If you're interested in Spyderco history, find a copy of "The Spyderco Story - The New Shape of Sharp" by Kenneth T. Delavigne. Very interesting and entertaining reading. Mike
 
huh? i''m sure it was in the 70s because i was in highschool then (graduated 1980.) also saw them in a few gun magazines in the 70s.

addendum: wiki says the first was the 1981 c01 worker. :(
 
Last edited:
I see your Wiki note....originally, I thought that I had purchased my first Spyderco in the 70's (memory going) and was surprised to read reference to the 80's for the first production knives. Could be wrong. Maybe someone with better memory and authority will chime in. I have a few years on you - graduated in 1972. I remember having mostly Swiss Army knives in my pocket with a few early Kershaws and Gerbers. It took me a while to warm up to the Spydi-hole and blade shapes. And I thought pocket clips were just unnecessary baggage. I promptly removed and in many cases tossed the clips for any knife I bought for a number of years. I have since found that I'd rather have frayed edges on my pockets caused by the clips than the holes the knives made in my pockets after a while. Spyderco knives are one of my favorites and probobly see the highest percentage of pocket time.
 
Obviously someone will give us the facts. I thought they started out with a multiple arm gadget allowing you to hold difficult items (Spider arms?). Then came the Triangle sharpener. IMO Glaser is to knives what Glock is to handguns in the new millenium.
 
Sal Glesser started with the Helping Hand, a multiple clip jig for holding work. I've never seen one, just an old stock picture. Sharpeners were next for a few years, then the C01 Worker in 1981. Spyderco didn't start making knives in the U. S. until the '90s.

Edit to add: the Spydiewiki is back up. This will give you a bit more info:http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=Spyderco:_the_company_history
 
Last edited:
A Spyderco from the 1960's?

iron_ore.jpg
 
hank_rearden said:
addendum: wiki says the first was the 1981 c01 worker. :(
Click to expand...

Don't feel bad. For a long time I insisted that I saw stainless-handled Spyderco Enduras back in the 80's during my navy days. Later I found out that the FRN-handled Endura & Delica were introduced in 1990, and the stainless-handled models came out later. To this day I still can't figure out how I thought I saw them in the 80's. (Maybe I saw a Worker, and didn't realize that it wasn't the Endura.)

~Chris
 
orca8589 said:
Don't feel bad. For a long time I insisted that I saw stainless-handled Spyderco Enduras back in the 80's during my navy days. Later I found out that the FRN-handled Endura & Delica were introduced in 1990, and the stainless-handled models came out later. To this day I still can't figure out how I thought I saw them in the 80's. (Maybe I saw a Worker, and didn't realize that it wasn't the Endura.)

~Chris
Click to expand...

My guess would be you saw the C07 Police model, introduced in 1984. I've seen a lot of people confuse it with the Endura II.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top