Phylogeny of Spyderco Models

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Mar 7, 2015
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Phylogeny

So I just received my first Delica (the HAP40 sprint), and while I was playing around with it I got to thinking about the relationships between the different models Spyderco makes. Obviously, since the knives don't actually evolve from each other, the "evolutionary" tree of knife designs won't be quite right, but we can approximate.

For simplicity, let's start with the in-house designs, since we would probably first divide things up by designer anyway.

One layer of distinction we might establish is based on the type of locking mechanism used. The lock mechanism informs many aspects of the knife's design, such as what tasks it's suitable for, what materials it can be made out of, whether it works for lefties, what kind of construction can be used, etc. Specifically, Spyderco makes a lot of midrange mid-lock folders, such as the Delica. Ignoring sprint runs and variations with different handle materials, which we can deal with later, most of these models seem to primarily be offered in a "lightweight" configuration with heavily textured FRN handles.

We can further differentiate based on types of steels, which for Spyderco is also related to where they are produced. We have the Golden-produced Natives that use Crucible powder steels (S35VN, S110V, etc), the Seki-produced Salt series blades with H1 steel, and the knives that come primarily in VG-10 and are also produced in Seki City.

Focusing on the current production VG-10 models, we're left with the Delica, Endura, Matriarch 2, Lil Matriarch, Dragonfly, Stretch, Ladybug, Manbug, Rescue, and Rescue Assist.

That was a very long introduction to the specific problem I was pondering. While it's obvious that the Matriarchs and Rescues are directly related, it's less clear how the rest of them are descended. The Delica and Endura are pretty clearly the large and small versions of what is more or less the same design. The Manbug and Ladybug are a similar situation. For a long time, I thought it was obvious that the Dragonfly was just a smaller Delica, or a larger Ladybug. However, this overlooks one crucial difference: the 50/50 choil. Whereas the Dragonfly has its prominent choil, the Delica and Ladybug do not. The Stretch has one, however, which begs the question: Is the Dragonfly more closely related to the Delica or the Stretch? I posit that the Dragonfly is something of a combination of the Stretch and Delica, but I don't know enough about the history of each model to know which ones came first.

Also, why were the Delica and Endura designed without the choil? From my rudimentary observations, it seems like one could be incorporated with very little modification to the existing design, and would make them even more versatile than they already are.

This post has gotten much longer than I intended it to be when I started it at 4 AM, so I'll just leave it at that. Has anyone else thought about these things or have anything to add? I find this stuff very interesting, but maybe it's just me...
 
Well, if we're going with phylogeny we have the tremendous advantage of a clear and documented timeline. I think the easiest and best place to start would be chronologically and to branch outward from there. Obviously, the now legendary Worker is our progenitor species, if you will. ;)
 
I actually think this is quite interesting because as I read it something dawned on me. Spyderco has more clear and direct evolutionary links in their design language than any other company I can think of. It seems to me most other companies start essentially from scratch when designing a new knife, with occasional upgrades to existing models in terms of materials and occasionally design tweaks. Spyderco, on the other hand, seems to consider what elements from previous models have worked and for what purposes and frequently incorporates those into new designs. The obvious examples are the different design generations like the Endura and Delica 1, 2, 3 and 4, but then there are others like the Hunter that evolved into the Stretch which pretty obviously incorporated some DNA, if you will, from the Endura and Delica.
 
Great stuff! This is why I found "The Spyderco Story: The New Shape of Sharp" such a fascinating read. I hope Spyderco gives us an updated edition someday.
 
The Dragonfly is part of the Calypso family.

The Delica, Endura, Police, Ladybug and Rookie all descend from the standard.

The Stretch is the descendent of the hunter/ provenator.
 
The UKPK seems to be descended from the Calypso, and the Urban and Squeak are descended from the UKPK. The Spy-DK is like the progeny of the UKPK and the Pingo. The PITS and the Roadie are conceptually descended from the UKPK but in totally opposite directions.
 
I actually think this is quite interesting because as I read it something dawned on me. Spyderco has more clear and direct evolutionary links in their design language than any other company I can think of. It seems to me most other companies start essentially from scratch when designing a new knife, with occasional upgrades to existing models in terms of materials and occasionally design tweaks. Spyderco, on the other hand, seems to consider what elements from previous models have worked and for what purposes and frequently incorporates those into new designs. The obvious examples are the different design generations like the Endura and Delica 1, 2, 3 and 4, but then there are others like the Hunter that evolved into the Stretch which pretty obviously incorporated some DNA, if you will, from the Endura and Delica.

It is interesting, I just wasn't smart enough to understand the op. Might have been because it was actually 4 am HERE when I was reading it. :D
 
The UKPK seems to be descended from the Calypso, and the Urban and Squeak are descended from the UKPK. The Spy-DK is like the progeny of the UKPK and the Pingo. The PITS and the Roadie are conceptually descended from the UKPK but in totally opposite directions.

The PITS is a collaboration so I wouldn't say it descended from any other Spydies. :)
 
Sounds like a perfect case for a poster with pictures of all the branching and so on.
 
I actually think this is quite interesting because as I read it something dawned on me. Spyderco has more clear and direct evolutionary links in their design language than any other company I can think of. It seems to me most other companies start essentially from scratch when designing a new knife, with occasional upgrades to existing models in terms of materials and occasionally design tweaks. Spyderco, on the other hand, seems to consider what elements from previous models have worked and for what purposes and frequently incorporates those into new designs. The obvious examples are the different design generations like the Endura and Delica 1, 2, 3 and 4, but then there are others like the Hunter that evolved into the Stretch which pretty obviously incorporated some DNA, if you will, from the Endura and Delica.

I would agree with this completely In contrast to other companies, for example SOG that while they might have a dozen variants on a theme, there are very few that hold to a design language as it where, they are just parts bolted together. Buck does have a certain design language, but its more from the aesthetic rather than the function. Not to say that Bucks are not functional, but function follows form, where as the functional aspects of one spyderco might make their way from one generation to the next, and that determines the final form even if designed from the outside, For example the Pingo. Still says spydie, even if it only tangentially related to the other slipits.
 
I came at it a little differently. I was wondering why Spyderco had such a bewildering array of seemingly similar knives. I was thinking a Spyderco knife-chooser app could be a thing.

IMO the big difference is choil or not, at least in medium or small knives. It seems the 50-50 choil is a more recent evolution, at least in terms of being popular.

Other significant differences:
Handle material
Liner / no liner

Could go on but you should get the idea.
 
Yes, but handle shape and blade shape play a big part in the evolution of various Spyderco families of knives. Also, you can see a clear line of thinking in a Glesser model, versus one designed in collaboration.
Lock evolution is interesting, too. From the good and reliable back lock, to BBL, it is interesting how some models have changed their locks (e.g. Manix) and lock design has morphed (e.g. evolution of the Compression Lock).
 
Well, if we're going with phylogeny we have the tremendous advantage of a clear and documented timeline. I think the easiest and best place to start would be chronologically and to branch outward from there. Obviously, the now legendary Worker is our progenitor species, if you will. ;)
The documented timeline is definitely a help, but it still doesn't clear up some of the questions about which branch of the tree new models belong in. I'm also curious if there are models that descend from two different existing models.

I actually think this is quite interesting because as I read it something dawned on me. Spyderco has more clear and direct evolutionary links in their design language than any other company I can think of. It seems to me most other companies start essentially from scratch when designing a new knife, with occasional upgrades to existing models in terms of materials and occasionally design tweaks. Spyderco, on the other hand, seems to consider what elements from previous models have worked and for what purposes and frequently incorporates those into new designs. The obvious examples are the different design generations like the Endura and Delica 1, 2, 3 and 4, but then there are others like the Hunter that evolved into the Stretch which pretty obviously incorporated some DNA, if you will, from the Endura and Delica.
I think this is part of what makes Spyderco collecting so addicting, actually. For every model you like, there are 3 or 4 others that are almost the same, but have some difference that makes it worth having as well. A very dangerous path, I've found :P.

Great stuff! This is why I found "The Spyderco Story: The New Shape of Sharp" such a fascinating read. I hope Spyderco gives us an updated edition someday.
Thanks! I've seen that book around, but always at ridiculous prices, so I didn't look too hard at it. If this is the kind of stuff it talks about I may just have to forgo a knife and pick up the book instead!

The Dragonfly is part of the Calypso family.

The Delica, Endura, Police, Ladybug and Rookie all descend from the standard.

The Stretch is the descendent of the hunter/ provenator.
I totally forgot about the Calypso knives! I've only started collecting in the last couple years, and it seems like the Calys are quickly becoming an endangered species. May have to pick up a Caly 3 before they become scarse...

The UKPK seems to be descended from the Calypso, and the Urban and Squeak are descended from the UKPK. The Spy-DK is like the progeny of the UKPK and the Pingo. The PITS and the Roadie are conceptually descended from the UKPK but in totally opposite directions.
Did the Pingo come before the SpyDK? I agree that the Spy DK seems descended from the UKPK (which also gives us the Urban and Squeak), but since the Pingo is a collab I think it's a special case.

It is interesting, I just wasn't smart enough to understand the op. Might have been because it was actually 4 am HERE when I was reading it. :D
Haha this was not my best writing I'll admit. I also went a little overboard with the evolutionary biology analogies, which are probably confusing if you're not familiar (there were almost more, but I wanted people to finish reading...)

Sounds like a perfect case for a poster with pictures of all the branching and so on.
That would be amazing! One issue is that I haven't found a comprehensive database of every model Spyderco has produced. Even their website is missing a lot of knives, like the Nishijin Dragonfly, and it doesn't give information about when they were introduced/discontinued. Relatedly, I'd also love to know what the sales of each model are like, and look at how that affects the knives descended from them.

Yes, but handle shape and blade shape play a big part in the evolution of various Spyderco families of knives. Also, you can see a clear line of thinking in a Glesser model, versus one designed in collaboration.
Lock evolution is interesting, too. From the good and reliable back lock, to BBL, it is interesting how some models have changed their locks (e.g. Manix) and lock design has morphed (e.g. evolution of the Compression Lock).
Yeah the lock evolution is definitely interesting. The only ones I know of that have changed are the Manix (mid lock to BBL) and the Centofante (the first was a compression lock I believe, and they're now mid locks). Are there others I don't know about?

Thanks for everyone's responses! I was expecting this thread to die after a couple replies, but it's good to see a conversation starting. My ultimate hope is that Sal drops a comment here somewhere :P
 
That would be amazing! One issue is that I haven't found a comprehensive database of every model Spyderco has produced. Even their website is missing a lot of knives, like the Nishijin Dragonfly, and it doesn't give information about when they were introduced/discontinued. Relatedly, I'd also love to know what the sales of each model are like, and look at how that affects the knives descended from them.

It is missing a few things but this may be the best resource we have.
http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

I like the poster idea. :D
 
It is missing a few things but this may be the best resource we have.
http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

I like the poster idea. :D

Thanks! Was just browsing through and it does seem to be fairly helpful, despite being rather incomplete. A few observations:

1) Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the C-SKUs are assigned chronologically, so that can be used to form a basic chronology of model introduction.

2) The Dragonfly was the first knife to have the 50/50 choil, so it seems that rather than being descended from any of the larger 50/50 choil knives, it might be considered an ancestor instead. Also, the closest thing to a large Dragonfly IMO would be the R, not the Caly models (due to the sharpness of the handle angles). Especially striking if you compare the Nishijin models. Even then, the handle ratios are very thin. The Dragonfly handle is much slimmer than pretty much any other handle in the Spyderco lineup than I know of.

3) The wiki claims that the Copilot was the progenitor of the Pegasus, Navigator, and Meerkat lines, all of which have been discontinued for a while. However, all of those later knives also incorporate the final half-choil area at the butt of the handle for the pinky, which seems to originate in the Dragonfly as an adaptation of the final choil on the Delica handle. This is also prominent on the Dodo (which I think loosely inherits from the Cricket) and to some extent the Poliwog (which suggests a riff on the Native). I think this and the 50/50 choil are cases where a design feature doesn't necessarily indicate direct inheritance, but maybe something more akin to convergent evolution if you will.

4) The wiki notes that the Meerkat changed production from Golden to Seki for the recent Sprints. Does anyone know of any other models where that has happened?

5) The Stretch does indeed seem to share a lot of features with the Hunter model, especially in the drop point blade and curvy handle shape. The Calypso also shares the handle cues, but with a very different blade shape. Cousins?

6) After researching the relationship between the Delica/Endura and the Police/Rookie I'm now wondering how they fit together. They seem to share very similar handle and blade shapes, all similar to the Economy/Standard model. The biggest difference just seems to be the swedge. I also notice that the newest Police models have introduced a 50/50 choil, suggesting that it could be easily added to the Delica/Endura as well (my original point).

7) Since the Mantra is starting to get into people's hands it seems like it could be fun to discuss. To my eyes, it looks like a Delica handle with a blade somewhere between a Caly and R. Oh and with a weird flipper mutation sticking out of it :tongue:. The Mantra 2 is inexplicable.

Another fun discussion would be where the Manix, Sage, and Military models come from.
 
I would say that the Military is the Patriarch of its own family and that the Manix and Sages are part of the Native family. If you compare a Native to either one you can see it.

The skus are not all in order. The Tusk just came out but they had been saving that one. Also, I would say that is irrelevant since the Tusk may be a stand alone model in this discussion.

The ATR was a Golden knife moved to Japan for a sprint.
 
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