Love at first sight?

G

Grover_Cephas

Joined
Apr 7, 2002
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Something occurred to me when the Spyderfly was unveiled last month, and it's come back to me with the release of the Yojimbo, kerambit, and Paramillie photos.

I've never liked a Spyderco knife the first time I've seen it.

Every time I've been exposed to a new spydie, I've either disliked it or been unimpressed, from the first time I discovered modern knives (the Spyderco page on knifecenter.com looked like crap to me--until I actually held a Delica in my hand) up to the present.

_But_ I've always, always, always grown to appreciate them with time. There isn't a Spydie in the catalog that I can't look at and say "that's beautiful because it _works_".

I know a lot of you find Spydies attractive in their own right... But is anyone else with me on this one? :D
 
I've never found spydies attractive first time I saw them either. Hump backed, big old hole through blade, etc.

But there's a reason that my knife that I carry all day, and use for everything(and to be quite honest, abuse at times) is an Endura II. They do what they're designed for, without ever having trouble, and continue to do it every time.

Not prettiest, but fits my hand perfectly, does what I want, and so on

Repeating myself and repeating things any other Spyderco fan knows, but yeah. Love my Spydies. Even if I don't think they're pretty, that's alright, I'm rather ugly myself. ;)
 
Grover,

LOL- We DO make homely knives. I once heard Sal say he "designs in the dark". This is true- function and performance come first above all else and looks definitely fall in second place, kinda like putting lipstick on a pig. :D

Joyce @ Spyderco
 
This is exactly the sentiment I was trying to convey in the thread I started this morning called "An Admission..." Here in the Spyderco Forum.

It took me a LONG time to get around the looks of the Spyderco line. Once I was able to put that all aside and look PURELY at function, I began to see how wonderful Spydies really are.

Spyderco's are like Glocks in this sense, their beauty comes from the fact that they do what they are supposed to do VERY WELL, not from aesthetics.


They ain't pretty, but they are beautiful!!!!!


-John
 
Thanx for the comments.

You're funny Joyce.

We have noticed that it is rare that a new knife buyer will purchase a Spyderco. The more you know about knives, the better we look because we truly try to fill our niche.

It's a good thing we have collaboration designs to bring some "pretty" into the line.

Often the most effective "form" of something is not what the "mind's eye" might have imagined.

sal
 
Funny you mention the collaborations Sal, as after posting this, was thinking back,a nd only Spydie I've held that really struck me as pretty from the start was one of the Lum Chinese folders that was in a passaround.

But yep, they do what they're inteded for, and do it well. And continued support(such as thread over in blade discussion) shows I'm not only one who thinks that.
 
The only 2 lines I've been hit by as to looks the first time was the calypso and dragonfly lines... they flow, both open and closed.

as to the overall looks of sal's designs... Well, put simply, they're fugly. He designs in the dark, and they work for your hand if not for the eyes(might be a bit painful, but if you want to hold a knife in your eye, go for it:)).

Been buying spydies for over 4yrs now, only a couple don't work for my hand(or I'm just too picky about). I started with a delica, bought another one in august and had it for a week or so, before I was on the way to getting rid of it. The frn/se endura doesn't leave my left side(it's the only "perminant carry").
 
Originally posted by VampyreWolf
The only 2 lines I've been hit by as to looks the first time was the calypso and dragonfly lines... they flow, both open and closed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree, those two knives did it for me. However, once you get hooked on Spyderco's you tend to appreciate the designs. I guess it's because you start to look at them from a different viewpoint.

Also, they have a unique character. You can't mistake a Spyderco with anything else (at least to my limited exposure). They are distinctive and different, which I personally like.

Guy
 
The only two Spydercos that I own are the Meerkat, my first one, and the Cricket, my favourite small knife. I liked the looks of both of them and came to appreciate the quality later. Most of the others I don't find especially attractive but now that I've seen the quality I'm seriously considering getting a Native.
 
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,or so it's said.I for one liked the Spyderco design when it first arrived on the scene.Then when the FRN Endura was introduced I could finally afford a Spyderco and I bought one of the first ones.I haven't looked amorously at another brand since.tom.:eek:
 
I must admit that some Spyderco knives have been very beautiful. The prettiest is the Viele. I also like the old aluminum and G-10 Centofantes. Also very pretty was the old jigged bone jess Horn and the carbon fiber Michael Walker. I thought the Lum Chinese and J.D. Smith were nice and I presently think the new Persian is great looking.

All that said, I currently can't go anywhere without my Dodo, and I definitely thought that was one butt-ugly knife when I first saw it!:D
 
I think my Meerkat and Native are absolutely gorgeous! My wife bought the Meerkat for me because she thought it was "cute". Keep making knives like these so my wife will buy them for me.
Dave_B
 
Native looks like perfection for me.
My starmate, albeit not the best looker, is the best Spydie in my opinion.
 
As far a "in-house-designed" Spydies go, I fell in love with the Native, the Kiwi, and the Calypso the minute I laid eyes on them. Others, like the Jester and the Dragonfly, took handling to see the beauty of them. The Delica never excited me, till I got a good look at the 25th Anniversary model, then I had to have one.

As far as the "collaborations" go, the JD Smith, all the Jess Horns, and the new Ed Shempp Persian were love at first sight.
 
I've got to agree. When I first became interested in knives, I convinced myself I would never buy a spydie because they looked so horrible for the price. After a while, it occured to me that the blade technology I wanted, was only available at a reasonable price, from spyderco! Since buying my SE FRN Delica, I am a convert. The build quality is incredible and there aren't many other VG-10 knives available in this price range. My only problem now is, which one is next!
 
I first saw a Spderco in an SF movie ("Screamers"). It was an SS SE Police (or Endura). And it was love at first sight. My first thought was "the movie isn't great but at least they designed a really futuristic and functional folder" ;) Imagine when I discovered that there actually is the real stuff out there... :) Went there and never looked back :)
 
That would have to be my stainless, fully-serrated VG-10 Police model...What a thing of beauty!.:).
 
The Wayne Goddard Ltwt was the knife for me. It won me over to Spydercos. The simplicity of the desgin and the way it flowed made me jump on board.
 
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