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

I respect both companies and they certainly have offerings that are very popular, but I have yet to find a knife from either company that fit me. Since I buy Sebenza's and Hinderer's as well as customs those would certainly be choices for me to fill any Spyderco/Zero void. I did however get along just fine before any of the above existed (or for me) and very little of what I own is needed. Some knives are more fun to own and play with, but at the basest level they are just cutting tool and if they do that they serve their purpose.
 
Dfunk1210 said:
I think ZT sets the bar on where Titanium Framelocks need to be at Production knife prices. Without ZT, the average titanium framelock specimen would be far more expensive today. Either that or more companies could get away with selling lesser at a higher price. A lot of companies have in recent years have jumped on the Titanium framelock bandwagon. If you want to sell a $200 titanium framelock, it has to be at least *this* good. If you want to sell a $350+ production titanium framelock, it needs to surpass a certain level of quality.
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I completely agree. ZT is the rare mass production company that has not raised its prices while continuing to producing high quality titanium framelock flippers. Without ZT, other manufacturers of ti framelock flippers would have demanded much higher prices, I'm afraid.
 
I'm not so sure that the Spyderco innovations would have made their way into the knife world without the unique skill and vision of Sal. Think back on the first time you saw a Spyderco knife; odd plastic handles, humpy profiles, curvy handles and [GASP] a HOLE in the blade! It looked exactly like the LAST thing you'd want in your hand for cutting chores. The classic Spyderco innovations aren't terribly intuitive, they're more visionary. I think you could make a good argument that were it not for Sal and Spyderco, we wouldn't have knives that "look" like Spydercos that derived from an unrelated source.

Other things like pocket clips and even "Proudly Overbuilt" are fairly intuitive developments. If ZT hadn't started proudly overbuilding knives, someone else would have. Heck, other people already do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not loving on Spyderco and hating on ZT. I love both companies and have many knives from each. I'm only saying that the unique knife innovations that came from Sal Glesser and Spyderco may never have come to pass if we imagine a knife world without those odd, ugly, wonderful little knives.
 
World w/o Spyderco wud be different for knife lovers,
I might have gone with Buck,CS,BM,Azero, then again might have saved some $$ by not buying as many knives that I buy of Spydercos

No ZT so far;)
 
There would be less spydie holes and more thumb studs. And probably higher prices for production knives all around
 
i dont have either.
I've had spydies, but for one reason or another, don't at this time.

both have a few knives I'd like it to have, but they are "wants" not "needs" for the moment.

I'd imagine without either, things would be different, but I'd think somebody would come along at some point and get us back to where we are now
 
If we’re going to try account for the unknowable ripple effects on the industry of two companies not existing, I’d say my only real safe bet would be Cold Steel knives.

They don’t seem too bothered by design trends. They’ve updated materials occasionally, but, most of their work seems to be almost wholly independent from outside influence.
 
Comeuppance said:
If we’re going to try account for the unknowable ripple effects on the industry of two companies not existing, I’d say my only real safe bet would be Cold Steel knives.

They don’t seem too bothered by design trends. They’ve updated materials occasionally, but, most of their work seems to be almost wholly independent from outside influence.
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I agree with that they do tend to just do their thing.
 
What if zt and spyderco existed... But you could no longer obtain them.

What other brands or model knives would you choose instead?
 
Rant you say!?

It's interesting with Spyderco. I love them, I own and use several, but I love the ones I have mainly because they are just minimalistic, bare bones, extremely well cutting folding knives with excellent blade geometry and functional handles. That's the "designing in the dark aspect" of them. Then we have the things many people know Spyderco for, their genuine innovating contributions to the knife world, the round hole, the pocket clip, the different locks, the spyderedge etc. Those are things that didn't exist before in the same way, but people would manage anyway, because they would simply handle things in other ways. If you really need a knife for serious work, you can carry a fixed blade openly, which makes up for most of the advantages a modern folder has over a traditional slipjoint. Then if you want to "EDC" a knife comfortably that you use rarely and for small tasks, a slippie is generally all you really need. A lot of the things Spyderco do aren't crucially necessary, but they do them anyway, just because: "what the heck, let's try this stuff out and if people like doing things this way, let's go in that direction and develop it further and make it the best it can be." and a lot of good things have come from it.

If Spyderco didn't exist, things would probably be a bit less convenient and I just hope I would be able to find another company that make knives that are that fricking good. I like that Spyderco aren't really into the whole "overbuilt" thing, that's why I'm not much into ZT anyway. If Benchmade would somehow fill Spyderco's niche, I might go there more, or I might just use more traditional, cut centric folding knives. I like A.G. Russell's traditional style folders.
 
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Spyderco has been a pioneer and the knife world wouldn't be the same without them. If they didn't exist I'd have a smaller knife collection.
 
Fantoni, DPX & Southern Grind are among my ZT and very limited Spyderco collection.
 
I would imagine that the knife world would be much different. If my memory serves me correctly (sometimes it doesn’t) Sal Glesser of Spyderco introduced the Spydie hole and pocket clip, so those features would have came much later or not at all. I’m not really sure what changes Zero Tolerance made to the knife world but Spyderco has made some contributions that I enjoy.
 
There is a theory about the advancing of human knowledge and development that essentially says that once the general groundwork has been laid of knowledge as a whole, humans will inevitably develop or invent the next step. That theory supposedly explains why Newton and Leibniz both invented calculus at the same time period (mid 17th century) independently of each other. The time was right and the need was there. Leibniz gets overshadowed by Newton, mostly on account of the fact that Newton made other tremendous contributions to human knowledge that were at least as important if not more so - Law of gravity, elliptical orbits, laws of motion, optics ...

While that theory could be applied to Spyderco's innovations - if not them, someone else would have come up with the idea - it is hard to reconcile that with the ability and willingness of Spyderco to try new things. An innovative culture and a willingness to experiment and change is generally abhorred by manufacturing corporations who prefer to operate in "tried and true" proven methodologies. Hats off to them for that!
 
I still remember being in high school in the '80s and seeing an ad for Spyderco knives for the first time. Stainless steel handles, serrated edges, a clip, a funky hole in the blade...at the time they looked weird to me, but I was intrigued. The rest is history.

Getting back to your question...Cold Steel and Benchmade. But would they have clips??
 
Spyderco 10 million revenue est 1976
ZT knives. Est 2006
I don't t think either one would have much of an impact. With exception of the spydie hole. But then again not many companies adopted it. ZT too young of a company. The old companies that have been around awhile would have more impact if they never existed.
Buck 80 million revenue. Est 1902
Imperial Schrade. Est 1904 to 2004
KaBar. Est 1943
These plus many more.
 
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