My ideal Spyderco knife. Please make it for me.

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kgriggs8

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Here is what I would consider the very best knife that I could hope for from Spyderco.

A slightly smaller Calypso (not Jr.) with a liner lock instead of the back lock. Maybe 1/2" shorter in OAL would do. Needs to be bigger than the JR. but not quite as large as the full sized one. Closer to the full sized than to splittling the difference between the two.

Blade should be the same design and shape and made of VG-10 like it already is. Just a touch shorter.

Handle could be just about anything, I don't care. G-10 seems to wear the best but make it less rough than some.

Liner lock or frame lock is a MUST! I love Spyderco knives but the back lock is not as fast and easy as a liner or frame lock. It is also more dangerous when closing one handed. Spyderco needs to offer more liner locks!

I used to be a fan of the thumb studs but I am used to the "hole" now and that is just fine.

Is this design doable? I really think you would sell a ton of these! If you make it, I would take the first one to beta test for you. ;)

The Calypso is a knife man's knife and it needs to live again in liner lock form!
 
I think the dimensions you suggest are certainly possible to produce.

A liner lock with G10 handles should be easy enough. For a frame lock, though, you'd probably want titanium. Maybe a titanium framelock with G10 overlay on the handle?
 
I'd take a lock back over a liner or frame lock any day. Plus I don't think it's more dangerous to close one handed. I think it's safer. :)
 
Fisher of Men said:
I'd take a lock back over a liner or frame lock any day. Plus I don't think it's more dangerous to close one handed. I think it's safer. :)
Click to expand...

Agreed. Liner is my least favorite of all the locks.

N2
 
kgriggs8 said:
Here is what I would consider the very best knife that I could hope for from Spyderco.

A slightly smaller Calypso (not Jr.) with a liner lock instead of the back lock. Maybe 1/2" shorter in OAL would do. Needs to be bigger than the JR. but not quite as large as the full sized one. Closer to the full sized than to splittling the difference between the two.

Blade should be the same design and shape and made of VG-10 like it already is. Just a touch shorter.

Handle could be just about anything, I don't care. G-10 seems to wear the best but make it less rough than some.

Liner lock or frame lock is a MUST! I love Spyderco knives but the back lock is not as fast and easy as a liner or frame lock. It is also more dangerous when closing one handed. Spyderco needs to offer more liner locks!

I used to be a fan of the thumb studs but I am used to the "hole" now and that is just fine.

Is this design doable? I really think you would sell a ton of these! If you make it, I would take the first one to beta test for you. ;)

The Calypso is a knife man's knife and it needs to live again in liner lock form!
Click to expand...
Dude, are you kidding?

1) The caly is plenty small enough, it's even too small for my little niece.
2) Rough G10 = nonslip G10 = VERY GOOD.
3) Lockbacks by spydie are more tougher & possibly morereliable than liners or frames.

You must have been kidding..

If there's anything that I'd like to see from spydie it's a larger version of the native in S30V & G10 (yeah!). Sorta like a manix with a swedge.
 
Garlic, Kgriggs8 is referring to the C 54 Calypso (without jr.), and this knife is about the
size of a Police. So - how big is your little niece ?
 
Take a look at the Paramilitary. It matches all your requirements except for the linerlock thing. But it has a compression lock which has all the advantages of a linerlock and a few more. ;)
 
i do so hate liner locks. i have one of the new spykers in my pocket right now and i absolutely love every thing about the knife EXCEPT the liner lock.
 
anson argyris said:
Garlic, Kgriggs8 is referring to the C 54 Calypso (without jr.), and this knife is about the
size of a Police. So - how big is your little niece ?
Click to expand...
Haha, my bad. I was thinking in terms of the Jr. Perhaps I was too dumbfounded by the idea of liner over lockback (?!). & my niece is a pretty healthy girl, lol.
 
I know alot of Spyderco fans are also fans of lockbacks but I think Spyderco is missing the boat by not making more liner locks. People like liner locks and they have become the most popular lock for a reason.

I would like to see Spyderco make a slow transition from lock backs to liner locks and frame locks. I think Spyderco can make a liner that is plenty strong enough and safe enough. I don't use my folders in a way that would break a lock anyway. I would break the blade before I broke a lock i think. I prefer thinner flat ground blades so I don't use my knives in a rough manner most of the time.
 
kgriggs8 said:
Liner lock or frame lock is a MUST! I love Spyderco knives but the back lock is not as fast and easy as a liner or frame lock. It is also more dangerous when closing one handed.
Click to expand...

I close my Delica/Native by squeezing the lock between my thumb/middle finger and moving the blade closed a little with my index finger. Then I rotate the knife so the edge is up and no fingers are in the way and push it closed. No danger there.
 
Give one of the best-designed knives in the world, the worst, most unreliable lock format? Boo! Boo!

Now, G-10, compression lock, and a half inch bigger, and we're talking :)
 
I've got your back, kgriggs8! That sounds like a cool knife. :cool:
  • The Calypso and Calypso Jr. both rock, but I find a blade length around 3.5" to be most useful for me.
  • I love liner locks... seriously! :)
  • The G10 scales on my knives often get sanded down before I even carry them.
The only thing that I'd add is make the handle light and thin. Maybe Military style, with just one nested liner and a small backspacer.
 
jestyr said:
i do so hate liner locks. i have one of the new spykers in my pocket right now and i absolutely love every thing about the knife EXCEPT the liner lock.
Click to expand...

What is up with people bashing linerlocks? Granted, there are some knife manufacturers that have no business producing them due to poor design, but I own several well executed linerlock folders by Spyderco, Benchmade, Al Mar, Emerson, and Kershaw (among others). None have ever failed me and all still lock up tight after several years of use. What is it that you guys don't like about them?
 
I don't like watching the liner lock wear and get closer and closer to the other scale. I have some lock backs that are over 30 years old and still tight.
 
I understand about linerlock wear, but that takes a while before it becomes a problem. If the linerlock wears prematurely and there's no apparent abuse of the knife involved, shouldn't that be covered by the manufacturers warranty? I would have to say that some manufacturers execute their linerlocks better than others, but the same can be said about lockbacks.
 
Cosmic Superchunk said:
What is up with people bashing linerlocks? Granted, there are some knife manufacturers that have no business producing them due to poor design, but I own several well executed linerlock folders by Spyderco, Benchmade, Al Mar, Emerson, and Kershaw (among others). None have ever failed me and all still lock up tight after several years of use. What is it that you guys don't like about them?
Click to expand...
My only "issues" with liner locks (and framelocks as well) is that, in general, they are the most handed of locks and that the liner lock in particular is often used on designs that are even more handed because the opening hole not fully accessible to a lefty. On the other hand, I have a custom LH Chinese Folder on order from Bob Lum and if Sal made a LH version of the Military or the Cricket, I'd be fighting to be first in line to buy one. What I hope most, and am most certain will be the case, is that Spyderco continues to offer a variety of locks to suit our varied tastes and needs.
 
redhawk44p said:
I don't like watching the liner lock wear and get closer and closer to the other scale. I have some lock backs that are over 30 years old and still tight.
Click to expand...

Benchmade fixed this (at least I assume it works) by making the contact area on the tang curved. It is almost 90 degrees on the liner side, then curves away from the blade a little. When new the contact point is pretty much the same as the old style, but the more the liner wears the harder it is for it to wear down enough to make a difference. Like hitting a wall but not really.

You are kind of right about lockbacks because the bar can be hardened while a linerlock has to be flexible. But quality makes a big difference. I found a VERY used Benchmade AFCK at a pawn shop once. It had been sharpened enough to notice a difference in blade shape and the G10 slabs were worn down. But the liner still engaged the blade less than halfway.

On the other hand, I have a CRKT small M16 that has never been sharpened and only played with for a few months and the liner is wearing down terribly.

The AFCK has 2 things making it better than others. The liner is Titanium which makes it a lot more durable than the 420 CRKT uses for liners (I don't know what steel spyderco used for the Walker model or other liner-based locks). The AFCK also has a larger contact area for the lock. The M16 had a very tiny surface that actually touched the blade (it would probably be about half if the knives were the same size), and their lock design is based on a circular tang with a flat area at the bottom. Not a mechanically sound concept. The AFCK has a larger area because the lock cutout goes about all the way to inline with the pivot giving it the largest area possible.

I could ramble on about the pro's and con's of either lock type, but I have definitely seen good examples of a linerlock.
 
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