matriarch

You flatter me too much, JD. :)

But I like that front view photo myself for a couple of reasons. First, it shows what a terrifying sight the Matriarch blade might be if seen from the wrong side. I hope that no law-abiding good citizen has to see that, ever. Basically, it's just a pocketknife but this one can be particularly nasty.

The other thing: here you see why this knife comes with a tag saying it is not for general utility purposes. That tip is thin, boys and girls! If you have one, do not fall to the temptation of cutting Coke bottles and manilla ropes with it. Not meant for that. :D
 
well i'm glad to see some folks still remember 'em, great little knives imho,

i have had 4 of them, my user is a ATS55 and i have a LNIB VG10, i had one of the grey handled ones a long time ago, 5 or 6 yrs maybe? i swapped it off for something, and another ATS55 too, but i knew the VG10 was kinda rare so i kept it LNIB and in '03 or so new graham had some ATS55 ones for IIRC $59.95 so i grabbed one which is the one i carry every now and again, i was looking at 'em last week and thought what the heck and carried the user one for a few days, didnt cut much though, just opened an envelope or 2, carried very well though, thin & lite.

i could sure see a sprint run of mat's, with the FRN they outta be almost cheap, some super steel would be cool but '55 would be ok too with me, i bet they could sell a lotta the things at $75 or so,

i bet i hadnt seen a thread about 'em in 2 or 3 yrs lol, 5 yrs ago they were all the rage, IIRC spyderco had just done a run of them and they were easy to come by and cheap, then they dried up and they kinda disappeared.

cool knives though no doubt, i always liked the civvy with the G10 a bit better but never ever edc'd a civvy, always the mat', guess because they were so cheap i probably wanted to keep the civvy LNIB.
 
SIFU1A said:
well i'm glad to see some folks still remember 'em, great little knives imho,

i have had 4 of them, my user is a ATS55 and i have a LNIB VG10, i had one of the grey handled ones a long time ago, 5 or 6 yrs maybe?

cool knives though no doubt, i always liked the civvy with the G10 a bit better but never ever edc'd a civvy, always the mat', guess because they were so cheap i probably wanted to keep the civvy LNIB.
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Well Sifu you hit the payout button when you said G-10 handle a bit better. That's why I believe that if they ever did a re-intro or a sprint run of the Matriarch I personally think that a G-10 handle would truly take the Matriarch to a much higher plateau.

As far as the gray handled versions go I've had 2 of them myself. They would be nothing but a collector piece to me because of their very short run and because the black handled ones are essentially the same.

VG-10 steel would be fine with me because my EDC Matriarch has VG-10 and I have no doubt that it is a great steel for that blade. Also if they could make the Matriarch with a slightly thicker blade it could also be used as a regular, utility Hawkbill as well as a great SD blade.

By the way? Where in blue blazes is Mike Sastre? He is our resident expert on the Matriarch and Civi models. He must chime in!!
 
G10 handle makes it a civilian. Matriarch was nice and cheap since it used the old endura handle w/o the current useless liners. This also made it light weight, unlike G10 with steel liners aka civilian. Thicker blade would make it heavier, lessen its usefulness as the last ditch concealed weapon it was meant to be. It's not a utility knife and should never be one.

It's also not a hawkbill in my book.

The matriarch was good to go as it was, and the price was good too :)


Spyderco will never bring it back since it would compete (successfully) with Spyderco's own product...the civilian.
 
I kind of think that if they were to bring it back it would compete with the Harpy/Tasman series and the Spyderhawk.

Although from what I understand the Civillian/Matriarch had MUCH thinner grinds and more exposed tips which left them very thin and not very good for daily tasks.

I've been really tempted to get a Spyderhawk for Christmas as it is less expensive than a civilian and seems to be more durable. Besides, getting a knife made out of H1 will save me bundles on rust preventative lubricants.:D
 
it already competed with the civvy for yrs, though its really quite a bit smaller than a civvy, if they did a run of them in FRN & ATS55 like the old ones where the price was still low i bet they could sell a lot to folks who like the civvy design but dont wanna choke up so much more $$, or to folks who want something liter/thinner/shorter than a civvy.

if they came out with one in G10 it would just be a mini civvy imho, & it would lose a lotta the compactness which lotsa folks like, not to mention cost a lot more, if i'm gonna spend the kinda money the civvy's run i would prefer a civvy to a mini civvy..
 
Hey I don't mean to sound like a smart-alec but there just seems to be some stuff here that don't make any sense to me. First of all some of you say that if the Matriarch were re-introduced it would maybe unfairly compete with the Hawkbills that are already in the Spyderco line up. So What? is my answer to that. And I don't mean it in an obnoxious or mean spirited way.

But what I am saying is even if that is the case ( which I don't believe it is) then it would be time to let a superior product succeed by means of fair market preference. Truthfully I don't think that the Harpy, Tasman, H-1 Spyderhawk or Civilian have anything to worry about. The people that buy those other Hawkbills buy them because that specific hawkbill regardless of which model just happens to be the one that will work the best for that particular buyer. Let the market show us which one is preferred.

AGain I say that if they would bring back the Matriarch with a new set of materials it would attract the same type of buyers it attracted in the first place. It's design is primarily intended for SD use. Now I still say if they would make it with a thicker blade it could also be used as a conventional, hard working Hawkbill like the Harpy for instance. Believe me there is plenty of room for the Matriarch. A smaller version of the Civi ( which is essentially what the Matriarch is) would be preferred by women and many smaller men or anyone with a smaller hand. Many people that would buy the Matriarch probably wouldn't even want the Civi. The Matriarch fits my hand much better and I think that's the case with many knife users. I say let the market tell us which one it wants the most. And if it's truly time for another model to fall out of favor. Well that's just the sad reality of the market.
 
Back to the top!

Matriarch Love...wait a minute, that could be misconstrued...not talking about you, honey...
 
A very appropriate bump to the top indeed ;). Hey guys what would you all think about making a Matriarch to match the orange Spyderco Military model?

How apropos it would be to have a matching SD Hawkbill to go with one of the most celebrated multi purpose blades made by any production knife company. An Orange Matriarch to go with an Orange Military model. What a fantastic Christmas gift set that would be.
 
Count me in for an orange Matriarch. I have the Millie to go with it. :thumbup:
 
An orange matriarch defeats the purpose of the easily concealed slim blade. Kind of an oxymoron.
 
brownshoe said:
An orange matriarch defeats the purpose of the easily concealed slim blade. Kind of an oxymoron.
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No one is asking for a change of size or shape. Just a different handle
color. You don't have to wipe your feces everywhere Mr. Brownpoo. ;)
 
amen74 said:
No one is asking for a change of size or shape. Just a different handle
color. You don't have to wipe your feces everywhere Mr. Brownpoo. ;)
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Thank you Amen74 :) Yeah the good brother doesn't need to resort to insulting people. I seriously doubt if the owners of Orange Military models and Orange Rescue models take well to being referred to as "morons"

For crying out loud folks we can respectfully disagree without being insulting and indignant.

I happen to like a lot of Spyderco's brightly colored handles. They make it easy to find when working in the forests or doing landscaping jobs. When I was doing a lot of work in the North Missouri wetland I always took my yellow handled Spyders with me. I had 2 machetes that I put red duct tape on the handles so they would be easy to locate after laying them down.

No matter what handle material they would use for a sprint run or a re-intro of the Matriarch model I'll be in line to buy one for sure. It was just a suggestion for a Christmas gift set. This thread is about how great of a blade the Spyderco Matriarch is and I think that the Matriarch is a great knife no matter what handle material they would use.
 
SIFU1A said:
i always liked the looks of the old grey ones myself.
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I did like the gray one myself. As far as I know they only made those gray ones with ATS-55 blade steel.

That digital camo would be really neat for that blade as well.

I really don't think that G-10 handle material would make the Matriarch to heavy either.

I think we can all agree that the Matriarch was truly a great SD design and I'll always believe that with a thicker blade of VG-10 it could also be used as a great utility Hawkbill as well.

As far as comeback blades would go and I would get my wish for some Spyder re-introductions I would put the Matriarch in the top 5. My biggest wish would be for a VG-10 big Dyad. But that's another thread for another day. I truly hope the Great Spyder FActory can see that there are a lot of us who deeply appreciated the Matriarch.
 
Where did this come from? "You don't have to wipe your feces everywhere Mr. Brownpoo." WTF???

But I see JDS' post clued me in.

An oxymoron has nothing to do with morons. Look up the word it means: oxymoron (òk´sê-môr´òn´, -mor´-) noun A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.


IMHO the top of a orange knife sticking out of my pocket is not very concealed. For a concealed weapon to be bright orange is "contradictory" by nature, thus an oxymoron.

JDS or amen74, are you adult enough to apologize for your failure to know an elementary school vocabulary word? Although, possibly english is a second language for you both.

Still no reason to be insulting.
 
If they would consider making the Matriarch with a slightly thicker blade I think it would make the Matriarch just as much as a utility/work knife as it is a self defense type blade.

As much as guys/gals in the fishing industry tend to like the Harpy for their cutting chores>> well then just how much more would they like a blade just a little longer with more leverage to boot. Not to mention how versatile it would be for the needs of Law Enforcement and other vitally important first responders. This would truly give the model a wider array of targeted markets to sell to.

Consider that the Matriarch was primarily marketed as a Self Defense tool the first go around. Oh don't get me wrong it is an excellent self defense tool. But why not tweak the design and make it useful in other areas.

Am I the only one thinking along these lines? I doubt it. Worth considering and worth looking into.
 
Nice and cheap? I won't even tell you US guys how much I paid for my Matriarch 'cos it'll just make you cry. Still, less than the Civilian, here. :cool:

Ok, if you re-introduce it.. don't do it! That would ruin the collector value of mine, VG-10 and all. :D

No, just kidding.

If you do re-introduce it, no orange g-10 please! Wire clip and subtle colours please, since it's supposed to be a concealed SD tool.

But I've read what Sal has said about the what, where and why of this model and I think I understand what he means. This one may not be coming back to the lineup no matter how much we wish for it.
 
I would prefer some other color than orange...dark green, dark blue, camo...but i'd probably buy one or 3 in any color.
 
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