Seeking some info on an old Endura

brancron

brancron

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Dec 14, 2011
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Good morning!

First off, I also posted this on the Spyderco forum, but I thought I'd post here as well, if that's OK.

I recently purchased an old Endura from Tactical Elements, and am trying to make sure I've got the right idea as to what it is, exactly.

Here are the photos:

16TzUPH.jpg

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As you can see, it has red handles, says "SPYDERCO" on the show side of the blade (no steel marking), says "SEKI-JAPAN" on the clip side, and has a metal clip marked "US PATENT 4347665."

Am I correct in thinking that this is a first generation Endura in either GIN1 or AUS8 steel, which has had the molded clip broken off, and was then sent into Spyderco to have the metal clip screwed in?

The seller lists it as having ATS-55 steel, but I'm guessing this is a mistake, right? My understanding is that ATS-55 came into use only with the third generation Endura, which had two-position clip affixed by a barrel screw.

And, if it is in fact GIN1 or AUS8, there's no real way to tell whether it's one or the other, right?

I am drawing most of these surmises from information gleaned on the Spydie Wiki (what a wonderful resource, by the way).

Anyways, thank you for any light you might be able to shed. I am a huge Endura fan and can't wait to put this one to use.
 
maugust09 said:
According to the bible (http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=C10_Endura) it looks to be a first gen. Ats55 seems incorrect fir the steel and is most likely gin1/g2, doesnt look like the red frn endura came in aus 8 at all. Aus 6/8 were used in Gen 2
Click to expand...

Thank you! And by the way, the man, myth and legend Sal Glesser himself just responded in my thread on the Spyderco forum confirming exactly what you said! First generation, Gin 1 (aka G2) steel, and plastic clip replaced with metal one by Spyderco.
 
Do they still install metal clips? I have one I purchased in 1992 with a broken off, sanded down clip. I would love to carry mine more.
 
Looks the same as a 1st Gen Endura that I still own, except for the clip which is plastic and the scales that are black. The blade on mine is plain but is also only marked "Spyderco" w/o any steel designation, which would probably make it one of the earliest versions issued because Spyderco did not being marking the blade steel used until later.

Many of the plastic clips on the early Enduras broke and were replaced w/metal clips. This looks to be the case w/the one pictured because the screws don't look "right" (the heads are too large). The way to check to see if the clip was an add-on is to just remove the screws and see if the scale has been sanded smooth below it to facilitate mounting the metal clip.

You can still usually see a small rectangular impression in the scale where the plastic clip was originally mounted and the position of the screw holes will also probably be imperfect. However, just looking at the back of the one pictured, I think that you can already see what looks like sanding marks around the hole and my guess is that you'll find a clip mount impression too if you move the clip to take a look.

IMO the plastic clip versions are the better ones to "collect" because they are the "original" Enduras. Here's a photo of my collection of early Enduras, including the one which resembles the one pictured which is at the top of the group, which I had reground by Spyderco (and ended up 1/16" shorter as a result) and that I consider a "user" even though I still don't "use it".

The others are a matched 3 blade type set of "like new" plastic clip Enduras all marked as using AUS-8 steel on the blade; the reverse side of the scales all look the same as the knife at the top:

tIgLw6ol.jpg


BTW, I don't know when they started making them but I consider Enduras w/the black metal clip attached at the factory as a Gen 2 and any Endura w/a plastic clip as a Gen 1. The earliest clips that Spyderco added to the Endura used one big screw attachment.

They looked like this:

s-l600.jpg


Later clips were attached w/3 small screws as all of their clips are attached now which I'd consider Gen 3.


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sgt1372 sgt1372 Thank you for that detailed information, I really appreciate it! That is an awesome group of early Enduras you have.

After owning several hundred knives, and many fancy customs, I've realized that the Endura is probably my favorite knife. It's hard to think of a better knife for actually cutting stuff on a day-to-day basis. Here's my current Endura collection (the Gen 1 pictured above arrives Tuesday):

NzlChsZ.jpg

Thn0nRT.jpg


The ZDP-189 one has a Krein regrind and the HAP-40 and Super Blue ones have zero-ground convex edges by Zero Edge Co. (each with a microbevel by me). The HAP-40 one also has G10 scales by the great boomer52. I'm also excited for my K390 Endura pre-order!
 
brancron said:
sgt1372 sgt1372 Thank you for that detailed information, I really appreciate it! That is an awesome group of early Enduras you have.

After owning several hundred knives, and many fancy customs, I've realized that the Endura is probably my favorite knife. It's hard to think of a better knife for actually cutting stuff on a day-to-day basis.
Click to expand...

I agree.

The Endura was one of the 1st knives (not just Spydercos) that I ever bought/owned and, if I didn't collect knives as a hobby, it and the Buck 110 folder and a Swiss Army "Explorer" (own 4 now) would still be the only knives that I'd need to own. ;)
 
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