The Appeal of Spyderco - What is it?

I only have experience with the knives made in Golden and Japan but I am impressed with the quality and value of Spyderco. The Spyderhole is very comfortable to use. Overall very nice knives.:thumbup:
 
Sal Glesser has been accused of designing in the dark, and doesn't deny it. ;)

Esthetics is way down on his design priority list. He is a knife knut, steel junky and high performance buff, and those things are reflected in his company's products. He likes to use the term "fugly" when describing them. It means "functional but ugly", and function comes first. They are not a feast for the eyes, but they are a delight to use. They must be used to be appreciated, and sometimes just to be understood. I could not for the life of me understand why anyone would buy a Dodo until I held one. Now I have two.

As for the Spyderhole vs. thumbstud thing, I guess you've never seen Sal do a speed deployment with a Military. :D
 
yablanowitz said:
Sal Glesser has been accused of designing in the dark, and doesn't deny it. ;)

Esthetics is way down on his design priority list. He is a knife knut, steel junky and high performance buff, and those things are reflected in his company's products. He likes to use the term "fugly" when describing them. It means "functional but ugly", and function comes first. They are not a feast for the eyes, but they are a delight to use. They must be used to be appreciated, and sometimes just to be understood. I could not for the life of me understand why anyone would buy a Dodo until I held one. Now I have two.

As for the Spyderhole vs. thumbstud thing, I guess you've never seen Sal do a speed deployment with a Military. :D
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In that case, I have a better opinion of Spyderco aesthetics than does Mr. Glesser himself. From the first time I ever laid eyes on them (1997?), I found Spyderco knives beautiful in addition to highly functional. The design excellence was obvious. Form is very often a predictor of function and I was not disappointed.
I have a few knives from other makers for various reasons (price, specialized purposes, curiosity, ignorance :o), but even before learning of other opinions about them, I was hardcore with Spyderco. Nothing "fugly" about them, IMHO.
 
Spyderco aesthetics always scared me away from them.

After I used various Spydercos heavily on the job I'm a screaming cheerleader on the value Spyderco offers the working man/woman.
Very good and functional products come from that company consistently.
 
Spyderholes don't fall off. Spyderco has been incredably innovative. They're always doing different things to advance folding knives. They have a multitude of locks and blade steels in their range. They originated the pocket clip, spyderhole, spyderedge, midlock, compression lock etc. and they always give credit to the designer of the features they are utilizing. Spyderco knives cut really well. They make their blades from thinner stock and nobody sells a knife as sharp as Syderco does. They don't make prybars with edges.

There are a lot of great knife manufacturors and the whole industry is better because of Spyderco. Spydercos are perfect examples of function before fashion. Some of their knives may look peculiar but rest assured, their ergos are perfect for the intended task. Spyderco may not be for you but I bet you could find one that you would love.
 
I used to find Spyderco knives not appealing because the thumb hole looked un-tactical.
However i thought that since so many people out there are with Spyderco, they probably know something that i don't. And so i bought my first- delica with wave. And the next thing i know, i'm hit by the Spydie bug.
For normal deployment, i still prefer the thumb stud. But with the spyder hole, i can deploy the blade with my pinky as well at great speed =) I can't do that with a thumbstud or thumbplate somehow.
Spyderco knives also have very good egro and their customer service is great!
Hey, why not you get yourself a para-military 2 and see for yourself?
 
I held out on buying a Spyderco, too, because I thought they didn't look good. Now you might catch me saying that if you buy a knife on looks alone, you're missing out on some really great knives.

A thumb stud seems to put a lot of pressure on a small area of your thumb. If you open a knife a lot, I'm sure you will notice this. If your thumb gets irritated from opening with a hole, you can use other areas of your thumb or even use different fingers or methods to open it.

I agree with you that the hole is probably not faster than a thumb stud.

I think I am still not super happy with the looks of most Spyderco's, but what I find myself looking for is how it will feel in my hand and how it will cut.

I see the jimping and I see that the knife won't slip.
I see the contours of the handle and I see the comfort.
I see the hump on the back of the blade and I see a more controlled cut and a controllable blade angle.
I see the variety of locks and I see versatility.
I see the variety of blade steel and I see varying edge retention and corrosion resistance so that I can choose what I want for my purpose.

I think there are still a lot of things I don't see and Ed Schempp shows me that every time I hear him talk about knives.

There is a lot to this game outside of looks.
 
My experience echos what many have already said, but I'll try to put a different spin on it to keep things entertaining. Spyderco offers a chance to try out steels that are unavailable in many general production knives. Kershaw and Benchmade do offer new steels as well, but not necessarily in the volumes that Spyderco does. A quick look on their website reveals quite an extensive list all the steels used in various knives. Add to this the many locks Spyderco has brought (CBB, Compression to name a couple), pocket clips, non assisted 1 handed openers, etc. Quite a contribution to the hobby we all love.

The OP sounds more like what the appeal of a round hole opener vs thumbstuds. I guess it is personal preference. Spyderhole open just as fast if not faster than any AO or thumbstud can.
 
I perfer spyderco because the hole is easier on my thumb after multiple openings.
 
Planterz said:
Hole vs stud doesn't really make a difference to me. What endures me to Spyderco is their designs, ingenuity, and commitment to the demands of users. Spyderco makes some of the most usable, comfortable, and best performing knives on the market, appearances be damned. Some of their knives might look funny, but when you hold them and use them, you'll understand why they're designed that way.
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That pretty well sums up my view of Spyderco's knives.

For me, Spyderco does ergonomics better than most. They do look odd sometimes, but they handle beautifully. The hole in the blade is a big part of that, for me. Didn't take long to get used to it, and it can be opened as quickly as any auto/assisted knife. No stud on the blade to get in the way when sharpening, or get snagged on the edge of a pocket. Add to that, a great range of choices in blade steels, fantastic edge geometry (all wicked slicers), and what seems to be great commitment to the feedback received from their customers.
 
Alright, well, the general consensus seems to be that I just need to hold one. In my defense, the reason I haven't done this yet is because I'm fairly deprived of knife-related conversation or knives in general, but after hearing everything you all have said about the company, I guess I'll have to order one and see how I like it. Worst case scenario, I can just send it back. Thanks, everyone.
 
Speedemon93 said:
Alright, well, the general consensus seems to be that I just need to hold one. In my defense, the reason I haven't done this yet is because I'm fairly deprived of knife-related conversation or knives in general, but after hearing everything you all have said about the company, I guess I'll have to order one and see how I like it. Worst case scenario, I can just send it back. Thanks, everyone.
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In that case, welcome. This place has something for everyone and more than likely you will find something that suits your tastes and likes. :thumbup:
 
Consistent quality and innovation in materials.
I loathe the opening hole, not for lack of practical functionality, it has plenty of that, but for the hump it gives most blade spines from spyderco.
I do not like shoving my thumb into jagged edges, unlike some people.




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Spyderco has provided innovation that the rest of the knife industry has been following for the last 20 years. One handed opening, premium blade steel, pocket clips, collaborations and the list goes on. I think the holes are the answer for opening and their grinds are as good as one can get for production blades.
 
I also wasn't sure what the real draw of Spyderco was. I never liked the aesthetics, primarily because of the Spyderhole. I decided to buy one of the more popular models just to see what all of the acclaim was about (Manix 2), and it instantly became one of my favorite EDC knives. Kicked two of my Benchmade knives out of my rotation.

If I were to point to the number one reason I like Spyderco, and will be buying more Spyderco knives, it would be performance. The Manix cuts better than any other knife that I own, I think because of the slightly curved blade design, and the heat treat and quality is fantastic. Holds an edge quite nicely, although the grind on mine was ugly, and I did end up resharpening and polishing it. It's clearly a knife designed with performance in mind, and they succeeded admirably on that.

The other feature that really stands out for Spyderco is ergonomics. There's no way around it--the knife is VERY comfortable. I really like the way it feels in my hand, and the added detent in the blade and handle so you can have a finger resting comfortably that also functions as a safety feature in the unlikely event of lock failure. The Kershaw RAM is also quite comfortable and has a nice profile, but doesn't cut as well IMO.

One other benefit to the Spyderhole that hasn't been mentioned is that there's no thumbstud to catch on something if you're cutting a large object. Where a blade with a thumbstud won't be able to cut as deeply because that thumbstud can get caught, the Spyderco functions more like a fixed blade, in that you can cut clear to the handle, and it's nice and smooth.

I agree that the aesthetics aren't necessarily my favorite. But it's a VERY good knife, and I think if you buy one, you'll understand pretty quickly why people like Spyderco.
 
i like thumbstuds too.
HOWEVER:

-The hole make for a thinner knife that wont catch on the hem of your pocket when pulling it out

-The Spyderhole actually offers some additional utility. I've used it to strip wire and make sharp bends in hangers.

-The resulting thumb ramp is nice

-When you deploy the knife you are actually pushing on the blade. The force you exert with your thumb is focused is along the centerline of the blade which makes for an easy and fast deployment. Pushing on a thumb stud causes a moment. This moment may twist the bade causing additional forces at the pivot which may not cause the blade for freely deploy... Are the forces minor? yeah. probably.
 
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