Seeking info on older Copilots

[bquinlan]

Can anyone tell me which steels have been used for Copilot blades? I just bought my wife a customized Copilot and I can't quite read the mark on the blade. The first line says "Spyderco" and below that "?-2 Stainless". The "?" could be B, G, or possibly some other letter. Any idea what it really is?

--Bob Q

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

According to some older Spyderco literature I have (from about 1996 and later), the CoPilot was at one point made of G-2 stainless steel, which was later renamed
GIN-1 stainless (but was the same steel). A newer catalog from Spyderco lists the CoPilot as made of ATS-55. (I recently won a CoPilot in an E-bay auction, and don't know which kind I'm going to get when it arrives.) With any luck, it'll be a newer model, but I really am not partial. I still carry a straight-blade Zytel Delica made of G-2, and it suits me just fine. Honestly, I'm not enough of a steel/knife aficionado to be able to discern the difference, and don't use the knives heavily enough to have it affect their utility. Hope your wife enjoys the knife. Tell her not to let airport security give her any sh*t, either: at their diminutive length, they're supposed to be cleared for airline travel worldwide, according to the hype.

 

[bquinlan]

I had never heard of G-2, but I am familiar with GIN-1. Thanks for the info and the explanation!

--Bob Q

 

[Burke]

Actually, word to the wise, airport security is pretty much at the guard's discretion, and they often don't allow serrated blades of any length.