spyderco happiness

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paulwesley

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Sep 5, 2005
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of the spydies i have looked at or bought i have yet to find one that is that is below par. Just lucky i guess. Anyone had really that much bad luck?
 
Not me. Of all the Spydies I've ever had, I can't recall one that wasn't right. Well, I have a factory outlet second that isn't perfect, but it's not supposed to be--especially not at $20 for a $150 knife.

The thing to remember about Spyderco is that they make knives that are meant to be used, that cut great, and that feel right. They're not supposed to be polished lookers. The Dodo is a great example. Bizarre-looking thing, but hold it in your hand and you understand.

I think someone once said that Spyderco makes knives that engineers would like. Well, engineers and people who use knives.
 
All the Spydies I have had have been excellent. My only complaint was with a Native, as the clip would come unscrewed on a fairly regular basis, and drove me nuts!! I was afraid that I was going to loose it, because of that.
 
Even the best make mistakes and Spyderco has made some, IMO. The first that I noted was the molded clips on the early Delicas and Enduras. I hated those damned things, as they snagged on virtually everything and, once bent, could never be returned tot heir original tension. I have lost at least three Delicas because of this.

Another similar problem was the Kraton inseert in the clip on the Pro Hunter. it made the clip stand out so far from the pocket that the damned thing snagged on anything that you passed.

Finally, I bought the Q and thought that it was a cool design anf gave one to my son and one to his fiancee. But they turned out not to work out very well. They had a tendency to disassemble themselves, as they were held together only by the spring tension.
 
No way am I gonna try to count the Spydercos that I have (and those that are lost).

Never had a bad experience. Of course, I usualy handle a knife before I buy it.

I will count the ones that I want. I saw a lot of them at Blade. Sal, hurry up with those, willya?:D
 
While Spyderco is my favorite company, both knives I've bought have had defects, for the most part, not important ones, but they bother me nonetheless:

Aside the "witness lines" on my VG10 Spyderfly, the latch was significantly bent. It did somehow manage to close, nonetheless, however. For awhile. The spring broke after a couple months of light use so now it has a t-latch. I hate t-latches. Next long holiday, I might get around to sending it in.
Still a very smooth bali.

My paramilitary has an off centered blade and slight vertical play. Very dissapointed, but the para is still my favorite conventional folder.
 
I have three problems with Spyderco.

First, they are discontinuing the large 92mm orange colored fully serrated Rescue Model.

Second, they are no longer putting the word "Military" in small engraved letters on that particular model (for fear of offending someone I quess).

Third, the plastic they use on the handles gives a good grip but holds dirt and wears and scratches easily.
 
Quite a few Spydies have gone through my hands in the past few years and some of them had finish problems, usually minor things though. Rough action on two nested liner models (blade would ride on the G-10 instead of the liner), slightly warped blade on the ZDP Caly. Seems these things usually appear on the very new models.

Still my favorite company though.
 
yea one of my ZDP's is missing about 3mm of the line that seperates the steels but you can still see the difference in the steels....kinda neat looking anyway and my native III has about a click of vertical blade play and man it really bothers me. Iv'e been told thats normal but man it really bugs me but both Caly ZDP's are tight. I should have caught it on the Native before I bought it but it slipped by.
 
I've had a lot of problems with spyderco. I've sent back a harpy, a Jot, a starmate, and a kitchen knife. The repair and customer service was so poor, I repaired my chinese lum, shabaria, harpy (second time now) and starmate (second time again) myself. By my count, spydercos fit and finish can run the gamut and some of their designs are not well tested. When it comes to design and construction, definitely a second tier company behind let say benchmade. When it comes to customer service, they're behind benchmade and coldsteel. Since they changed their warranty, I won't buy a spyderco sight unseen. I need to make sure that at least out of the box I'm satisfied with the design and construction.
 
I've owned over 30 Spyders and only had a problem with two (both FRN Dragonflys). I ended up returning them without any problems. I still pocket a fair number of them on an EDC basis. I think that the Kiwi is one of the best pocket knives ever designed!
Matt
 
I have a fair amount of Spyderco knives and I'm perfectly satisfied with all of them in terms of manufacturing and performance.
 
Spyderco does a good job overall. Keep in mind they produce a wide range of knives from very economical to fairly expensive. I have several Spydies from a limited edition Police to Enduras/Delicas and others to the Paramillie which is really a favorite of mine. No probs.--- quality consistant and good.
 
I'm dissatisfied that both my dodo's are a little inconsistant. The ball lock does not feel the same between the two of them or even the same from day to day! The first one would close sometimes simply by pushing the blade but after a year or so this seems not to happen anymore. So I get another one and on this one the bearing locks so tight sometimes I have to use both hands to close it.

But to be fair I didn't send them back. I figured if I did they would work perfectly once they got there. My other ones are great! I carry my delica the most, I like the thinness of it in my pocket. I also have an endura and native, plus a couple of the smaller ones. I have a couple gerbers, benchmades and kershaws but the better steel in the spyderco kind of has me spoiled now. I love the sharp point on the delica but I hear the new model isn't going to have that sharp point. I can understand why a person would need a knife with a tougher point but there are plenty of other spydies to choose from. The new delica looks like an old one with a broken point then reprofiled. I might have to get me another one before they change the design!
 
I've never had a new Spyderco with any problems; always quality and never a lemon. I got the bug in the 90's and have been collecting them since then. This also goes for the second hand ones I got.
 
I carried my Caly Jr VG-10 for several years and am pretty happy with it. I like their VG-10 a lot. I have several other their folders but I never carry them. I also have 2 spydco kitchen knives and a fix balde (moran?). I use sharp maker to sharppen them, works well. All my spydco knives are very sharp out of box. On the other hand, all Bentchmade folders I bought were not sharp at all and no matter how I try, I can't make them anywhere near as sharp as my spydco knives.
 
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