What if there was never a Spyderco or Zero Tolerance???

Dan of Bazz Clazz

Dan of Bazz Clazz

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May 10, 2017
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After being a member for close to a year now, even I have figured out that BF is the unofficial stronghold of Spyderco and Zero Tolerance knives - With CRK being a close 3rd.

So at the risk of offending and alienating a large percentage of the BF membership: :rolleyes:

While I have zero dispute as to the manufacturing quality of Spydee's and ZT's I will also say that neither manufacturer holds any appeal for me what-so-ever. On purely aesthetic grounds I can pass up either brand, with no trouble at all. No interest in buying a knife from either company, (with the single exception of the Spydee "Sprig" ) Again, this is a difference only in style/taste versus knife quality. To each his own.

My question is:
If there were no Syderco or Zero Tolerance knives ever - the brands never existed - What would you buy instead?

The Spydee and ZT crowd obviously know quality, usability, ergonomics. What brand or brands would fill the gap for you? BTW, Saying something like, "If the was no Spyderco, I wouldn't own or collect knives at all" will automatically disqualify you. Zealots are incapable of offering unbiased information or making informed decisions. :D

Let the rants begin! lol
 
Easy.

Before Spyderco or ZT existed I carried a Schrade Sharpfinger and a large stockman.

I wonder who would have thought of one hand opening pocket clipped knives though?
 
And down the rabbit hole...

If those two never existed, how would Gerber, Buck, Benchmade, Cold Steel, CRKT, et all be different? The landscape would be waaaayy different. Someone else would have filled those voids.

Ignoring the rabbit hole and assuming those two brands are simply vacuumed out, I’ll say Benchmade and Cold Steel but the question just doesn’t seem that straight forward.
 
I only have one Spyderco and two ZTs, so my collection would be nearly the same. As far as the knife business in general, other makers would have taken their market share.
 
Well I don't own any ZT (although I have previously). The bulk of the rest of my knives are Spyderco and G&G Hawk designs. I guess I would try and obtain earlier G&G Hawk stuff? Not that I'm not doing that currently....maybe I don't understand the question.
 
Sadly, I'm not sure I would own any knives outside of SAK and Leatherman as it was an ad for a Spyderco Lum Chinese that sparked my interest and got me to buy a Navigator in the first place.
I guess its possible that something else would have gotten me but up until that point, they didn't.
 
jc57 said:
I only have one Spyderco and two ZTs, so my collection would be nearly the same. As far as the knife business in general, other makers would have taken their market share.
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Yes, but I don’t think it’s that simple. Spyderco is to the knife world as Samsung is to electronics. Lots of innovation would have been...different. Who knows if we would have compression locks, middle finger flicks, leaf shapes, etc or what these implementations would have looked like if they did come about.
 
ScooterG said:
And down the rabbit hole...

If those two never existed, how would Gerber, Buck, Benchmade, Cold Steel, CRKT, et all be different? The landscape would be waaaayy different. Someone else would have filled those voids.

Ignoring the rabbit hole and assuming those two brands are simply vacuumed out, I’ll say Benchmade and Cold Steel but the question just doesn’t seem that straight forward.
Click to expand...

^^ Cold Steel or Benchmade.
 
Dan of Bazz Clazz said:
After being a member for close to a year now, even I have figured out that BF is the unofficial stronghold of Spyderco and Zero Tolerance knives - With CRK being a close 3rd.

So at the risk of offending and alienating a large percentage of the BF membership: :rolleyes:

While I have zero dispute as to the manufacturing quality of Spydee's and ZT's I will also say that neither manufacturer holds any appeal for me what-so-ever. On purely aesthetic grounds I can pass up either brand, with no trouble at all. No interest in buying a knife from either company, (with the single exception of the Spydee "Sprig" ) Again, this is a difference only in style/taste versus knife quality. To each his own.

My question is:
If there were no Syderco or Zero Tolerance knives ever - the brands never existed - What would you buy instead?

The Spydee and ZT crowd obviously know quality, usability, ergonomics. What brand or brands would fill the gap for you? BTW, Saying something like, "If the was no Spyderco, I wouldn't own or collect knives at all" will automatically disqualify you. Zealots are incapable of offering unbiased information or making informed decisions. :D

Let the rants begin! lol
Click to expand...
Most of the main brands all seem to have a cookie cutter production line, sadly popularity affects the whole knife industry in its entirety. I am not a fan of Spyderco (with a few exceptions) as much as I am a fan of Zero Tolerance. I lean more towards flipper knives opposed to the spydie hole style. ZT didn't revolutionize anything regarding the flipper. I like ZT because of the collaborations they do with custom knife makers.

To answer the question, if ZT or Spyderco never existed I would definitely go with CRKT as my first choice and Emerson as my second.
 
Spyderco no doubt leads in innovation, but I find that I tend to not hang on to them. I just can’t seem to bond with them over the long haul. I own several ZTs, but they quickly led me to mid-techs like Hinderer, Strider and CRK. So while I like the ZTs enough to not sell them off, I don’t actually carry them much either. Hinderer flippers and a few autos are my long term EDC staples.
 
I was perfectly comfortable before Kershaw, ZT, or Spyderco existed with functional knives. It wouldn't really matter all that much to me in the long run whether they exist or not. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate their knives, it is just not something I would loose sleep about even if I knew what I was missing.
 
Dknight16 said:
Spyderco no doubt leads in innovation, but I find that I tend to not hang on to them. I just can’t seem to bond with them over the long haul. I own several ZTs, but they quickly led me to mid-techs like Hinderer, Strider and CRK. So while I like the ZTs enough to not sell them off, I don’t actually carry them much either. Hinderer flippers and a few autos are my long term EDC staples.
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Couldn't agree with you more on that one! :thumbsup:
 
Interesting question. Whatever innovation can be credited to Spyderco would have been spread over many makers rather than being more concentrated in one company that we see with Spyderco.

I think Spyderco makes a quality product, but, I am mostly not a fan, and I am not so sure I would attribute a lot of knife innovation to the company. "Some," yes, but I am not so sure about "a lot." All their knives look so similar. And, while the Spyder hole is their claim to fame, and is a useful feature in some of their designs, their insistence on including it on practically everything they make hobbles their ability to create truly new blade geometries, and ruins the aesthetics of most of their knives for me. Hell, Spyderco even included a Spyderhole on the Phil Wilson South Fork. As if Phil Wilson needs a hand improving his blade designs. Still, they make a good knife.

JMHO
 
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Spyderco does make a good knife. I believe the pocket clip is attributed to them. On the other hand, I do believe there were gun holsters with belt clips before Spyderco arrived on the scene.
 
Since I've never owned a Spyderco or ZT, I'd have to guess I'd still be carrying a Buck 110 or 112, a Stockman, and a 4 blade Scout knife.
Ohhh ... Wait ... I am still carrying those ...
 
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