I was at a local shop today that sells spydercos, and handled a paramilitary. I have a few delicas and this American made knife felt so amazing, and was wondering if there are any USA made spydercos with a blade less than 3 inches? I'd like to be able to EDC it.
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Spyderco suggestion
- Thread starter Cube
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- Jul 21, 2011
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Are u stuck on USA made? The Taiwan knives are AMAZING! If you dont mind that the Chaparral is a nice knife under 3"
http://www.gpknives.com/spydercochaparralcarbonfiber.html
http://www.gpknives.com/spydercochaparralcarbonfiber.html
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2011
- Messages
- 454
I think the general consensus in the Spyderco forum is they are the best overall, even more so than the USA made.
Yeah, in some ways the Taiwanese ones are the best. They seem to have the best fit and finish. They definitely seem to be the best overall Asian Spyderco's. I don't know why it is because you'd think the USA ones would get the most attention and best materials. I have no doubt that Spyderco's US builders could build the same knives just as good as their Taiwan factory, but they just seem to leave the most premium Spyderco's to their Taiwan factory (knives with the best materials and the most "polished" F&F). However, there are exceptions, such as the Paramilitary 2, Manix, and Military, especially the Fluted Titanium Military, which seems to be the most "premium" Spyderco I can think of off hand. The US shop tends to build the more tactical and real durable knives, and just some of the best one's in general. But they seem to have most of their "premium" knives built in Taiwan, such as the Sage models (carbon fiber, Titanium, etc), or the Gayle Bradley (extremely high quality fit and finish, really good steel, carbon fiber, and just a very tight tolerance, high end knife). I assume they do this because building those same exact knife at the same level of F&F in the USA would mean selling us those knives at a much higher price, so they wouldn't be the same "value" knives they are.
I guess they just designate their Taiwan factory as that very tight tolerance, premium knife building factory and they are able to train the builders to make the knives that well and consistent. It's just odd to me because I would thing that factory would be the Japanese one. Japan always seems to me to be the Asian country that puts out very high quality products more along the lines of USA made products (especially when hand made) as opposed to the usual Chinese, lower quality, massed produced products, if that makes sense. I guess I mostly have that in my head because of cars, where Japan makes very good, consistent cars that are reliable and have very good F&F in general, and (especially) things like guitars and other instruments. Because a Korean, or Chinese, or Taiwanese guitar is generally a cheaper and more mass produced product with lower quality and F&F but most Japanese guitars are very high end and along the lines of USA made guitars. A hand made Japanese guitar is pretty much the only Asian guitar that's generally considered on par with USA hand made guitars. So yeah, it seems weird to me because I would think the Spyderco Japanese factory would be the exception where they would make their most premium knives (if not the US), not Taiwan.
All of that, just to say that you can get almost any Tai Chung made Spyderco and it will be just as nice, if not, better. And they will have more of a selection of high end knives in that size range. If I were you I would definitely check out a Sage 1 or 2 or a Leafstorm!
I guess they just designate their Taiwan factory as that very tight tolerance, premium knife building factory and they are able to train the builders to make the knives that well and consistent. It's just odd to me because I would thing that factory would be the Japanese one. Japan always seems to me to be the Asian country that puts out very high quality products more along the lines of USA made products (especially when hand made) as opposed to the usual Chinese, lower quality, massed produced products, if that makes sense. I guess I mostly have that in my head because of cars, where Japan makes very good, consistent cars that are reliable and have very good F&F in general, and (especially) things like guitars and other instruments. Because a Korean, or Chinese, or Taiwanese guitar is generally a cheaper and more mass produced product with lower quality and F&F but most Japanese guitars are very high end and along the lines of USA made guitars. A hand made Japanese guitar is pretty much the only Asian guitar that's generally considered on par with USA hand made guitars. So yeah, it seems weird to me because I would think the Spyderco Japanese factory would be the exception where they would make their most premium knives (if not the US), not Taiwan.
All of that, just to say that you can get almost any Tai Chung made Spyderco and it will be just as nice, if not, better. And they will have more of a selection of high end knives in that size range. If I were you I would definitely check out a Sage 1 or 2 or a Leafstorm!
I'd have to agree with the Chaparral, the F&F just blew me away. It felt like a knife from the future, despite me already owning a Sage 1. If, however you are interested in the Chaparral just a word of warning- some units have been reported as being gritty and difficult to open, but if you luck out with a good knife I can assure you its a joy to open and close this thing