Resurrecting the Impala... Possible?

Harry Callahan

Harry Callahan

Fresh outta warranty
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Mar 17, 2002
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Archery season is upon us with muzzleloading soon to come. The almost perfect folding knife to take afield for hunters is the Spyderco Impala. This is such a perfect folder for hunting it is a crime that folks can't score one nowadays. Oh sure, I suppose a guy could post a "want to buy" ad and take it in the shorts but I'm talking about the average Joe that sees an Impala in the gunshop and says "wow what a knife!"

Is it possible to catalog this knife again? Maybe in the Byrd line to keep costs down? There are some knives that are just about perfect for a certain application and they don't come along all that often. The Impala was in that category. A great companion out in the woods.

Is this doable?
 
The impala is a great knife

I dont see it coming back

The open construction of the millie and para work well for hunting just be careful with the tip!
 
If they don't resurrect the Impala I sure wish that they would at least come out with another hunter/folder. I liked the Impala in every variant that they came in. I had every edition that they made at one time and it truly was a great knife for an outdoorsman.

It's another one of those peculiar Spyders that didn't really gain significant fame until it was discontinued just like the Yojimbo, Ronin, Gunting, big Calypso ect, ect,.

I'm sure a believer in fixed blades but I'm also a believer in taking a folder along as well. The Impala to date IMO is the best hunter/folder that had Spydie's seal of approval.
 
When they were on closeout they were on Spydercos site for only $75, more than half off msrp, must of not been a seller.
 
You can grind a Millie to be very close to a Stretch in shape both blade and handle wise. Should be an excellent hunting folder. The tip is a bit pointy on the Millie for skinning..
 
I think the paw prints really put me off. Like others have mentioned, open construction is king when you have to wash them out.
 
Amen74 is right. It was the Ocelot model with the "pawPrints". The Ocelot could still be a great hunting folder. You could fill the pawprints with a top notch epoxy like PC-7 or PC-11. The PC-7 is gray in color and the PC-11 is white.

You all are right about the Impala not being a good seller when it was in the lineup. But the Ronin wasn't really a great seller during it's tenure in the main lineup either. But like the Ronin and at least 6 other models I can think of it really got well appreciated when it was discontinued.

When the first fixed blade Temperance model was in the main line up you couldn't get much for them in the secondary market. But now they are quite coveted.

I truly would like to see Spyderco tweak and modify the Impala and maybe do a sprint run. I would love that knife in either D-2, ZDP-189 or S-90V. Marketing is a very strange science and there is a lot of unpredictable factors are at play. It's like the old Joni Mitchell song used to say "You Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone". And that is so true with many past Spyders
 
I had forgotten they were available without the guthook. Why anyone would possibly want one this way is beyond comprehension but to each his own. It's like ordering a Corvette with no doors. :confused:

Without the guthook the Impala becomes non special and really not worth the trouble of resurrecting into the catalog. As mentioned, the Ocelot is a shade smaller but in the same spirit of the (hookless) Impala. Nice pic BTW.
 
Harry Callahan said:
I had forgotten they were available without the guthook. Why anyone would possibly want one this way is beyond comprehension but to each his own. It's like ordering a Corvette with no doors. :confused:

Without the guthook the Impala becomes non special and really not worth the trouble of resurrecting into the catalog. As mentioned, the Ocelot is a shade smaller but in the same spirit of the (hookless) Impala. Nice pic BTW.
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I have to disagree. I never saw use for a gut hook if you have a decent blade. The gut hook gets in the way during certain parts of field dressing
 
dd61999 said:
I have to disagree. I never saw use for a gut hook if you have a decent blade. The gut hook gets in the way during certain parts of field dressing
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Say "dd61999" I have to respectfully disagree with you on the guthook issue. I've had at least 4 fixed blades with guthooks and 2 folders. Not all guthooks are created equal. There are 2 of them I've had good luck with and the one on the Impala was a good one. The one fixed blade gut hook I had good luck with oddly enough was an older Cold Steel Master Hunter. I also found both of them fairly easy to sharpen. Some gut hooks you can't hardly sharpen at all because of the design.

Now I will say that I believe you can get more leverage from the guthook on a well designed fixed blade. But the guthook on the Impala I thought was a great one on a folder. I do agree with you however that once you've learned to skin an animal you can do an excellent job with a good fixed blade without a guthook. But personally I like the one on the Impala.
 
Domanfp said:
I doubt there will be any more wegner designs in spydercos future.
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The "Ocelot" is a Wegner design as well as the Wegner C-48 & Wegner Jr C-49. But the Impala was designed by a South African knife designer/knifemaker Ed Scott.

With the successful comeback of the Spyderhawk in H-1 blade steel I wouldn't bet the farm that either the Impala or any of the WEgner designs wouldn't maybe make a comeback at some point. Truly I wish they would make some variants of the Ocelot. I would get another one for sure with a CF or G-10 handle without the paw prints and I'm sure many other afis would too.

They did bring back one of the Jess Horn models in ZDP-189 blade steel. So don't ever say "NEVER" when it comes to a Spyderco model. If people prove that they want it bad enough and commit to buying them I'm sure the Great Spyder Factory will always consider what their customers want ;)
 
whoops I always thought it was a wegner design.. thanks for the info
but I would bet the farm that there will not be any wegner designs coming back.
 
The Impala was also a great all around "every day carry" ( EDC). I carried one of mine for a short period of time and it was quite useful as most Spyders are.

I've often wondered why they didn't offer a belt sheath or some type of sheath for the Impala. Most hunting folders I've ever had from other companies did have a sheath and that makes them really handy and easy to store when not in use.

Another thing that was great about the Impala was that they made so many variants of it. They had in in CE & PE with the guthook and CE & PE without. I would love to see more of Ed Scott's designs. South Africa has some very good knife makers.
 
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