Sal-Please sell the parts.

[Boats]

The Gen 4 Delicas and Enduras have opened up a market for modifications that you could exploit.

In the past, most Spydercos were an all or nothing affair. You liked the color or you didn't. You liked the blade or you didn't.

Now that the ELU can disassemble his knife the options don't necessarily have to be the factory's way or the highway.

My ZDP-189 Endura blade did a month in a red trainer's chassis. I'm thinking of flat grinding that blade and putting it into a G-10 and the VG-10 flat grind into the red trainer.

I'd like SS backspacers to increase the strength of all of my G4 Enduras, but here is the official word on that:

"There is only one repair kit sold for the black handled endura's, here's a
link if you'd like to order one
http://spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=290 . Other than that the
only parts that we sell are clip kits."

The part kit is a great beginning, but we should be able to get different color scales, (blaze orange, coyote brown, a desert tan, WOOD?) original color scales and backspacers, or even upgraded steel backspacers such as I seek. We should be able to get skeletonized clips too, but I'd rather have the conventional parts that already clearly exist made available. I wouldn't even mind periodic availability and a wait, but I hope you give some consideration to the customization opportunities you are best positioned to satisfy.

 

[oli]

I'd like SS backspacers to increase the strength of all of my G4 Enduras, .

There really is no need to increase the "strength" of the FRN D+E 4 knives for actual use. Yes the little nipples on the FRN spacers can be damaged by people who are not aware of how things come apart and go back together. Part of the appeal of these knives is the light weight. Adding more steel is counter intuitive. I am quite sure that those little FRN nipples will never be duplicated on any future models.

 

[The CoPilot]

I believe that the thought behind the parts kit was to allow end-line-users (ELUs) to repair broken or missing parts on their knives. Spyderco has never actively encouraged the disassembly of their knives (which voids the warranty on many models) or modification of their products. There are plenty of other folks out there who are perfectly willing (for a fee) to modify a knife to the wishes of its owner.

 

[Boats]

There really is no need to increase the "strength" of the FRN D+E 4 knives for actual use. Yes the little nipples on the FRN spacers can be damaged by people who are not aware of how things come apart and go back together. Part of the appeal of these knives is the light weight. Adding more steel is counter intuitive. I am quite sure that those little FRN nipples will never be duplicated on any future models.

If a steel backspacer is counterintuitive, someone had best tell Sal. There is one in the G-10 Endura 4.

Disassembly used to be prohibitively difficult as most Spydies were pin and press fit constructed. A knife with liners sometimes is best disassembled for cleaning, especially after a trip to the beach. There is nothing tremendously difficult about the procedure other than those pegs being rather delicate.

I haven't mushroomed or sheared any of my pegs, but I have nicked the perfect circularity of them with the steel liner. IMO they are the weak link of this lockback design. The potential is there for the pegs to shear under heavy use, as they are no doubt loaded with force by the locking bar. The liners are steel, the screws and locking bar are steel, and the backspacer is FRN. I'd rather have the negligible weight hit for an all steel lock-up.

Then again, I like options and don't mind voiding warranties. These aren't space vehicles we're talking about in terms of complexity or dangerousness. I've built my own 1911A1 from parts, and removed the "safety billboard" from my Ruger GP-100 as well as given it an action job after fully disassembling it.

I think I can handle modifying a lockback folder with a totally drop-in part. Hell, I'd even resort to sending it in and letting them do it in Golden.

 

[mark greenman]

A ss backspacer would be very nice, and I'm a fan of the replacable handle scales. Perhaps a parts sprint run?

 

[tricker]

If a steel backspacer is counterintuitive, someone had best tell Sal. There is one in the G-10 Endura 4.

the frn version was made to be cheaper/lighter....so yes it would be counterintuitive to put one on there

 

[Boats]

the frn version was made to be cheaper/lighter....so yes it would be counterintuitive to put one on there

So what is wrong with letting the customer decide that slightly heavier and a lot tougher is worth some extra cash? I could have bought the 4 cylinder Jeep for a lighter and cheaper option, but I paid for the heavier, more powerful, and more capable one instead.

And the backspacer debate says nothing about the potential sales of aftermarket scales. Sal already had the dough invested in molds. Color additives aren't expensive for small sprint runs of other colors. There are already scales in black, red, pink, BRG, and FG. However, one can only buy black. That's a shame.

I'd personally buy scales in the following colors tomorrow if I could get them:

International orange.
Brown.
Tan.
Yellow.
Blue.
Grey.

I'd even buy some transparent ones if I had an SS backspacer.