Spyderco & the rodeo

[mnblade]

When I moved back to America in 1998 I was amazed at all the new channels on TV - I even ended up watching pro rodeo. One thing I noticed was that every bullrider, calf roper, etc. had a knife clip showing from one or more pockets. I was just discovering Spyderco knives so I thought that was really cool. Later I learned that Spyderco was a sponsor of the pro rodeo circuit (I think that's right). Recently, though, flipping the channels, I've seen rodeos on there and there's not a knife clip in site. What's up with that? It's perfectly understandable that Spyderco might have discontinued its relationship with the circuit, but ZERO knife clips in site? That's odd, ain't it? Have all the riders gone back to the stockman pattern?

 

[Lone Hunter]

Ah,rodeo the last real mans sport.Get thrown to the ground stomped on by a bull,you just get up hold your head down in shame and walk away.No excuses about no blocking,bad throw etc.

My old Ironstone catalog show spyderco as official knife of the Professional rodeo cowboys assc.Well when you sponsor something/somebody they put a sticker on their car or a patch on their vest,and this time a knife in their pocket.no longer a sponsor,no more advertisings by the cowboy.

 

[mnblade]

>"Well when you sponsor something/somebody they put a sticker on their car or a patch on their vest,and this time a knife in their pocket.no longer a sponsor,no more advertisings by the cowboy."

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That I can understand, but don't the cowboys need a good sharp one-handed opener as part of their gear? There's no way I'd get around all that angry animal flesh with no easy way to cut my self free if I got caught up. If the pro rodeo brass is "forbidding" the guys to clip on Spydies for fear of giving free advertising, well that seems pretty damn petty. I mean, if Wrangler stopped their sponsorship, they wouldn't ride with no pants now, would they?

To make matters even less clear, I just noticed <a href="http://www.prorodeo.com/Store/5.4.storeliscensees.html">here</a> that Spyderco is listed as a licensee for pocketknives. Hmm.

Meanwhile, any horsemen here? What do you carry when you're riding?

 

[mr44]

The fact that knife clips have disappeared is prolly due to the political correctness that has infested pretty much everything in society. I remember seeing early episodes of "The Crocodile Hunter" where he always carried a large fixed blade on his belt. Now that he's a big celebrity that seems to have gone away PDQ...

PM

 

[Lone Hunter]

Hey,I'm just half guessing here,not a rodeo guy.If it was truely a needed piece of safety equipment,I don't think it would go away because of pc.I would think most people would not even notice the clip or know what it is anyway.

Don't we have anyone named Ty,Cody or Shane on these forums to answer this question.?

 

[Simple Man]

My brother-in-law rides Bareback bronc in the IPRA (International Pro Rodeo Association) Series. He carried a Gerber EZ-Out for a while, but never when he rode. The main reasons he doesn't carry a Spydie is that most of his extra money goes to entry fees, and when he rides, he doesn't want anything hard between him and the dirt when he lands. Just imagine being thrown out and/or up/down from the bed of a pickup going 15-20 mph, do you really want to land on that Spydie?

I have seen several of the Calf/Team Ropers carrying Spydies though. In fact, one of the tack stores around here doesn't carry anything in FRN/G-10, only SS Spydies along with a few other knives. The SS is much easier to find in the dirt than the black handled models.