Whats going on Spyderco?

I’ve always considered Spyderco to be chance takers. They make top notch knives that in some cases knock it out of the park. Sometimes...you gotta swing away to hit the homerun. Spyderco ain’t afraid to swing hard.

That means there’s gonna be a miss or two. But when they connect...watch out!

 

If not being able to chase down (yet another) knife is the biggest problem you have ....

Spyderco makes innovative knives, of which many are popular and sells fast. In that sense, the company is a 'victim' of its own success but that you are not fast enough out of the starting blocks ordering a certain Spyderco model is not something you can blame the company for.

Names one model. Prone to wild exaggeration much?

Caveat; Spyderco have on occasion misjudged the market and there have been manufacturing glitches.Nobody is perfect. Compare the occasional stumble to the innovative knives and that Spyderco practically re-invented the folder and continue to bring high quality knives to the market.

First world problems. Groan....

 

Seems like Spyderco making knives that sell so fast that you cannot get your hands on them is not their problem, but yours.

 

Native Chief is readily available, just have to poke around.

I don't agree with any of your QC statements but yes, it seems like demand for some popular models is high. I slept on the CQI Spydiechef, Kapara and a few others I had my eye on. Now they're gone, but really that's my own fault. It's fine, I have plenty of Spydercos to carry and keep me satisfied until they come back in stock. I could complain but it does no good. The anticipation is part of the fun.

 

1st world problems.

Nobody thinking about the hungry ducks in Hungary?

 

A lot of competition these days, man.

I notice a lot of these manufacturers are spinning those wheels a mile a minute in hope of staying ahead. It's not easy running manufacturing plants all over the world that create dozens of different models. Spyderco isn't a small shop, tens of thousands of knives, if not more.

I think that Sal's son is taking things in a good direction. I've watched a few interviews and he seems to really care about correcting previous mistakes.

Me personally, I've held two of the best Spydercos I've ever held in my life at Blade and they were both this year's models. The Paysan was soooooo choice. I could gush, lol.

Spyderco will always be one of my favorite makers. Is there really another company out there as steeped in tradition and influence that's still actively breaking new ground left and right? Way to go, Spyderco.

@Sal Glesser, you're a legend. Sorry I didnt get to introduce myself at Blade, understandably, you were busy

 

I guess I don't have this problem. I don't go after the latest and greatest hotness. I can be patient and wait, especially since I usually buy on the secondary market at a steep discount.

We also must consider production capacity. Spyderco logistically can't even make everything they want, much less everything you want. Remember years ago when they couldn't pump out standard pm2s fast enough and they weren't in stock anywhere for months on end?

As for production flaws, that is why spyderco has the best CQI in the industry. If there truly are problems they will get fixed.

 

What was the other model besides the Paysan?

 

I also don't have this problem with Spydercos. I used to try to pick up some of the GEC made knives that I wanted immediately. After a couple misses, I stopped trying. This urge has passed and I refuse to make the kind of effort. I own too many knives already to care about it to be honest. So I buy another one.... probably will just sit unused anyway.

 

Now I'm going to sound foolish.

I believe it was a drunken, I got to hold it at their booth and there was a lot of choas....I went for the Paysan. Regardless, both were amazing knives. Stellar action and all around function. Was really nice to feel motivated to spend some money with Spyderco again (I usually buy higher dollar stuff.)

 

Spot on. I like that they try out new, funky designs. Some are amazing, some ho-hum, but it is nice to have a ton of options and variety, unlike many other companies. I would say I carry a Spyderco 95% of the time.

 

If you can't find a new one, not available, take a look at some of the older models on the for sale forum link. There are a bunch of older Spydercos that I would like to buy that are new-in-the-box.

 

I love Spyderco for the chances that they take. Sometimes they stumble but I think they have the most reactive CQI program in the business. The Advocate is a great example of their CQI in action.

To most other companies "CQI" means Cash Quick Income.

 

What I've learned is that when demand is greater than supply, someone is always going to be left out. Spyderco isn't the only company with this favorable problem.
Have you looked in the Traditional forum lately?????? https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...drops-etc-a-place-for-people-to-vent.1668783/
When the demand isn't greater than the supply, then getting what you want is more attainable. Case in point, I've been able to purchase three Military sprint runs without any problems, however, the PM 2's sell very fast and the secondary market is the only way I can get one if I'm willing to pay the price.
Personally, I'm glad Spyderco runs their business like they do. You know, make a limited supply of a new model, see what the demand will be and ramp up production based on demand. If demand is not there, go to the next project. I'm thinking it keeps them profitable so they can continue to offer innovative knives.
BTW, the Native chief is a great knife and not hard to obtain.

 

Honestly there likely have always been flaws in Spydercos and anybody else’s lineup of knives.

I was pretty unimpressed by the Tropen particularly though; that has been done to death though.

The geese in Hungary get all the food.

Spyderco made the Tropen with the exposed blade gaff. Now that I have handled one myself I cannot see how the exposed blade is not an issue.

The Ikuchi pricking people when closed is definitely a thing I have heard complained about too but I haven’t seen one in person so I can’t really say anything. The Paysan I have handled 3 of all of which had such weak detents that it was bordering on a real flaw.

I think any company has some poor design choices in its portfolio of knives. Spyderco just puts out ALOT of models so they roll the dice more often and eventually individual knife designs will be released with flaws in design.

In a way its kind of better to know and just avoid certain models than a company with QC issues where any knife has a high likelihood of being F’ed up.

 

Spyderco is going to have some misses. Remember the Lum Tanto fun? How about the T—Mag (ugh). Some even thought the Tuff was terrible

But...looking at 2019

Para3 LW - huge win
Native Chief - huge win
Smock - huge win
Native Salt - huge win
Endela - we didn’t even know we needed it
Drunken - win for those that want to spend
Figuring out Maxamet - huge win
97 different blade steels (or something like that) - huge win
Moar whancliffe - huge win
Police & Sage LW - not out yet, but come on...
Z-Cut - we’ll see, but hard to mess up a kitchen knife!

 

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Spyderco has been making ridiculous and experimental knives the entire time I’ve been aware of their existence. The difference is that, presently, most of their gambles are paying off and selling well. Given some of the flops they have had in the past, I can hardly blame them for having small initial runs.

As for QC, I’ve not experienced a problem personally and cannot really make a valuable broad judgement of the company based on the few nearly useless self-selected samples of stated issues on forums that are specific to individual models, sometimes even just specific runs of models.