superficial spyderco dilemma

J_Curd said:
If you bend one, that's there it fails.

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I fully intend to keep buying them, I just wish some models would come out without the hole (waves would be great, flippers, even a thumbstud would work for me better). This would also allow for more narrow pocket carry which detracts from many of the cooler designs.
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Isn't this a picture from Spyderco's destruction testing?
 
Anyone have a guess at what Spyderco model's blade and steel that image might represent? :confused:
 
No one is under any obligation to buy a knife they don't like the looks of. Looks are as valid a reason for not buying something as any other reason.

If you want to try one (as 15 people here have already said) get one that is less visually repellent to you, whose design looks useful to you, and haul it around for a bit. If you don't want to do that...then don't.

Folks here could speak all day of the many useful features of Spyderco's-and some will-but if you don't get it, well you don't get it. No one can convince you to try what you don't want to try.

I actually enjoy hearing criticism of knives I like. It helps me see them in a different light and sometimes handle them a bit differently. But at a certain point it do become tedious to hear that Spydy's are "odd looking".

tipoc
 
williamsld8 said:
But is it foolish to skip out on owning/using a particular tool that could be of such great quality,simply because you can't come to terms with it's apearance?
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Certainly not foolish. In knives I think appearance is important to many of us. Since we carry them daily they are more a reflection of our taste and values. More so than say a hammer or wrench.

But I do think you owe it to yourself to look at the line and try one that appeals to you. I don't think you will be dissappointed.

A few suggestions would be:
Gayle Bradley (which others have mentioned...OUTSTANDING fit and finish)
Paramilitary2 (a little hard to find right now, but more should show up soon)
Police3 (if you like a LONG blade)
Military (always at the top on most folks lists)
Tenacious (if you want to start at the bargain end)
Street Beat (if you want a fixed blade, and a great example of one that looks "odd", but once you put your hand on it you realize its perfect!)

Turbomammoth said:
But it is only until you get one in your hands and begin to play with it for more than a coupla minutes... THEN the beauty shows itself.
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:thumbup:Absolutely!
My impression of Spyderco was similar to the OPs for a very long time.
I renewed my interest in knives a couple of years ago and have acquired quite a few from most of the major brands.
In a majority of the cases there always seemed to be something that dissappointed me a bit...sometimes minor and easy to live with, sometimes major (those got traded).
I realized I had been leaning more and more toward Spyderco because every Spyderco I have gotten either met or exceeded my expectations. Steel was excellent to great, fit and finish always top notch, good ergonomics, appropriate pricing. This is true from the bargain priced Tenacious to the Gayle Bradley.
Ok, not EVERY one. I'm not crazy about the surface texture of the carbon fiber on the Caly3 (still a beatiful little gentlemans knife) and the dentent on my Barong is weak to being almost non-existent.

unit said:
Spydercos are sort of like my pink bunny slippers...a lot of people think they look funny, but they feel so good and work perfectly around the house.
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:D That creates a mental picture that still has me chuckling!
But you got across in a few words what a tried to convey with many more.
 
Buy a Native. It has what to you would be a more common appearance associated with a knife -- no hump, etc..
 
J_Curd said:
If you bend one, that's there it fails.

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I cannot imagine any realistic situation that such a thing could occur, apart from "let's stick this knife in a vice and see what happens". And even then, it could only have been done by one of 3 types of people:

A. Some drunken idiot.
B. Noss or equivalent who thinks hitting a knife with a 3lb hammer sideways through a cinderblock constitutes legitimate "testing".
C. The manufacturing company doing in-house testing their own knives to see what they are (or not) capable of doing.

Whatever the case is, that picture is indicative of nothing without context, and even with context, it means little without comparison to similar knives.

In other words, quit your trolling.
 
I am a spyderco man. They're a great value, extremely functional, reliable, etc. At first, I admit their looks sort of put me off. But once I bought my first delica, I was hooked. Since then, I sort of find my delicas and enduras attractive. Blinded by love? I don't know...
 
When I first started to look into EDC stuff - I remember I had the same impression. I didn't like Spydercos at all - I thought they were ALL ugly. So I bought Benchmades... which are so pretty. Then I got my hands on a small Ladybug and Dragonfly - they were MUCH better out of the box than all my Benchmades :)

Now I am a believer. Form is not that important to me anymore.
This is how it feels when you first use a Spyderco: http://www.youtube.com/user/SolosKnifeReviews#p/search/7/uNezULSRyM0
You are AMAZED! :)

Same tire with a Hinderer XM-18: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdySnMwLLJk

PS: also I remember thinking spyderholes are stupid, until I bought a Benchmade Mini-Grip 550 HG. That became my fav knife - and pushed me to try some Spydercos. :)
 
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The knife bent at the hole. No wait, it bent at the plunge of the grind. No wait, it bent where they clamped it. Aww heck, who knows.

If you think Spydercos are ugly, don't buy them. There are plenty of other well made knives out there that you may find visually appealing. Lots of options out there, have fun exploring them.
 
That pic is a pic of a blade I bent! I was opening an envelope and it just bent on me! All my Spydy's have done that! It's that durn hole in the blade! All the blades are made of aluminum foil with a hole in it! Avoid 'em!

tipoc
 
Spydercos aren't aesthetically pleasing(to some, I still think the Para2 is a beauty), but they're more geared towards performance and there's nothing more friendly to a working man with thick gloves. Spyderco is also a steelhead's best friend:thumbup:.
 
I wasn't too impressed with the looks, either. But looks can be deceiving. Then I got one as a gift in '01 and carried it daily for 7 years. It handled every task I threw at it. It has since been "retired" and replaced with a couple of other ones including a Manix which I just posted a pic of on another thread.

I met one of the Glessers (I believe it was Sal's Son) at Blade West in '08 and had a nice conversation. I left the show with a very high regard for the company.
 
Frankly I've owned a number of Spyderco's in the last few years and for me it simply comes down to comfort. The sad thing is that the best advice would be go find a store that stocks them and handle a few - what makes it sad is the brick and mortar experience is nearly gone and with it the try before you buy opportunity. Again and again at knife shows I've picked up knives I was really interested in and in 20 -30 seconds knew I would never use this tool. I enjoy using knives for work - a superior tool is part of what makes my days fly by.
But this is so much a individual thing - based on hand geometry and what you're going to use it for. And in all honesty I'm not crazy about the BOTL products from most manufacturers/importers - including Sal and co. - so judging their suitability based on least expensive models is often a mistake IMHO.
Gotta admit I'm sorta into the Kalishnikov aesthetic - ugly but works is just fine with me.
 
tipoc said:
That pic is a pic of a blade I bent! I was opening an envelope and it just bent on me! All my Spydy's have done that! It's that durn hole in the blade! All the blades are made of aluminum foil with a hole in it! Avoid 'em!

tipoc
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Sorry to hear that.

Rather than avoiding Spydy's, you might consider a different brand of envelopes.

Did you ever get the envelope open? If so, how? Meat cleaver? Blow torch? S&W Specops?
 
tipoc said:
That pic is a pic of a blade I bent! I was opening an envelope and it just bent on me! All my Spydy's have done that! It's that durn hole in the blade! All the blades are made of aluminum foil with a hole in it! Avoid 'em!

tipoc
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Hahaha :thumbup:

Another thing that's happened to me a couple of times in the past is that I've taken blades that I think are butt ugly, use and abuse the hell out of them with absolutely no regard for preserving their looks, and come to admire the design as a result when it takes everything I throw at it and comes back for more. Not to say that will be true of any ugly knife you buy and use, it's just something to consider. :thumbup:
 
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