Sorry Sal,
I was so looking forward to this knife and the last I heard on your bombshell thread it was to be carbon fiber. I hadn't heard anything about it for a while and all during that while I was really building anticipation for this knife.
I have the name "ManixFan" because that was the first Spyderco that I had purchased and which was the "gateway knife" for me in appreciating the high quality knives that Spyderco produces.
But it is the Stretch that I actually have the most versions of and the one that simply works the best overall for me. Although the Domino is definitely in the running as well as a favourite, especially the most recent Blue Weave CF version that came out recently. What an unbelievably beautiful knife scale!
Since I had the expectation of some sort of attractive CF of sorts for the slabbed version, the last news which strongly indicated a Coyote Brown G10 scale was very unexpected and a bit of an unhappy shock to me. It kind of killed the image that I had been picturing in my mind of my next dream knife and replaced it with the thoughts of a "Southard Brown letdown".
The Southard is one of those knives that I've always thought that I wouldn't mind having but was holding back on because it was pricy and because it also had ugly scales. Despite all the great things I've heard about the Southard, I couldn't justify spending that much and then still having to spend another $60 for scales that I could live with. So in the end it was the scale colour that was the deal breaker for me. So the Southard purchase was one of those that just didn't happen and since I've not used one myself I guess I have been happily ignorant of what I've been missing.
Not so with the Stretch. I know exactly what a great knife that is and that is why the thought of not buying it pains me just as much as the thought of buying it and then having to spend aftermarket money on new scales.
So I guess right now I've been going through the 5 stages of grief which are, if I recall correctly; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.
Well I've already hit through the first two and also am into a bit of bargaining in the hopes of a simultaneous CF Sprint release........ which I know is completely unrealistic and just wishful thinking. So if I end up getting one of the new Stretches then I guess that I also just have to accept that it will cost me an extra $60-70 to end up with something that I would carry and factor that into weighing a purchase decision. The problem is that I know how great a knife the Stretch is and a choil modification would just make it perfect. Well almost, there is the issue of dealing with a colour that I have no interest in. So I guess some more bargaining would be in order and just keep hoping that maybe it won't be as ugly a brown as the Southard and just wait for next years Amsterdam photo's and keep my fingers crossed that it won't be as bad as the Southard brown.
Also, hopefully a CF version would follow sometime soon as a Sprint........it is a shame that the Japanese don't have an equivalent Steel to M390/CTS-204P, but ZDP is still a very nice steel - it just seems to tarnish a little easier for me compared to the other SS's. Not really a rust or anything but a sort of darker steel discoloration running though the grind marks.
So although I am no longer looking forward to the new release of the next Stretch with the same sort of breathless anticipation that I was previously, I will still be very curious to see the improvements of the new choil design. I`m sure the knife will be very successful....even in brown. Even those people whose first preference wouldn`t be brown but still "don`t mind it" will pick it up simply because it is a new Stretch.
It`s just disappointing when it could have been so much more with a more premium scale........but I guess that is what the next Sprints will be for after the new design replaces the current FRN.
I suppose the only acceptance process that I have now to work through is that I would have to wait a bit longer for my "dream Stretch" either that or have to pay for an aftermarket modification to my own specs to achieve the same result.
I really appreciate all of the beautiful, high quality knives that Spyderco produces and will probably be collecting them for the rest of my life but this was one knife that I was really looking forward to and now my interest has suddenly become lukewarm. A switch to G10 would have been a little disappointing on its own but still not so much since I like it very much too and then there would probably have be a future CF Sprint to look forward to in the future as well. But the coyote brown, especially if it is Southard coloured, well - that just killed my enthusiasm.
Oh well, I think that I`ll have to pick up another Stretch now just to make up for my disappointment. When I picked up my Blue Nishijin Damascus Stretch it was quite the hard decision for me. I really love the black Nishijin but I already have it in the Dragonfly and Nishijin R and thought that it would be nice to have a blue Nishijin knife as well. So maybe splurging and picking up a new Black Nishijin Damascus Stretch might be the most suitable prescription to assist with my current depression and move on with my "acceptance" process.
At least it couldn`t hurt.
P.S. I truly have not meant any disrespect to Spyderco or yourself in my opinion of a brown Stretch. If it is not too my liking and I don't want to spend extra for aftermarket scales then I will await the next slabbed Sprint version and hopefully one day my dream Stretch will become a production knife. Thank you for all the beautiful knives that you and your son Eric have made available to us. Regards.....Steve