While I truely and honestly enjoy Spyderco, there's something that grinds my gears.

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G10

I love G10, G10 is great. My problem is the expense of it. It seems like any knife that utilizes it needs around a $50 higher pricetag assigned to it. My issue is that this doesn't make any sense when considering the Tenacious line, where the highest price seen there is $40 and you can get G10 scales cheapest from an Ambitious at around $25.

Is it all location? I understand that it's more expensive to build a knife outside of China, at least for Spyderco but is it so much more that just changing the material merits a $30-$50 increase in price when much cheaper knives are using the same material and being sold for a fraction of it?

Or possibly I'm seeing it wrong, maybe 90% of the cost in a knife in the Tenacious line is the G10 and the 8cr13mov steel is so cheap to manufacture that there's hardly any cost to make it. All the price is in the scales.

Anyone want to give an opinion?
 
You are going to elicit many opinions and thoughts with a post like this. I'll keep my reply short and simple.

Not all G10 is created equal
Steel
Labor & materials

Something for everyone.
 
Eh, it's just a simple question. Anyone with a viable answer, like yourself has done a decent job of explaining it.

Not all G10 is created equal, I'll remember it.
 
Two words. Exchange rate. The Tenacious line takes advantage of the currency exchange rate between China and the U. S. Those knives would be as expensive in the country where they are made as Golden made knives are here.
 
I would guess that G10 varies in quality from country to country, the price would vary as well as the labor rates and manufacturing costs. Some knives made in Taiwan and China have a completely different G10 feel and appearance than the knives made in the US.
 
As mentioned above point of origin (for materials and labor) will dictate the expense of the finished product. Yab's explaination is very simple and clear. I would add to BigMo66's post to say that not all steel is created equal either. :)
 
idk even if the exchange rate is different its not $30-$50 different. I can buy a huge sheet of g10 for at least (3-5) knives for $30. Price point shouldn't be an issue. I think its more the manufacturing and processing of it which cost more in the usa than it does in say taiwan or china. Just my .02
 
On the price per country issue, this post by Sal is getting on in age but gives a feeling for the drastic price difference in manufacturing between countries: http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showpost.php?p=546507&postcount=16


sal said:
Hi Mgbehard,


$1.00 in the US:

Costs $1.35 to make something in Europe as the Euro is valued higher. Add shipping, duties, tooling costs, etc. which increases the cost.

Costs $1.20 to make something in Japan.

Costs about $.75 to make something in Taiwan.

Costs about $.30 to make something in Chnina.

There are in fact quality differences as well as material cost differences that make the cost equation more complicated.

The US, Europe and Japan produce very high quality blade steels.

We ship US steel to Taiwan.

China produces it's own steel, but as yet, it's not exotic chemistry, though they produce some good steels and they are improving.

Our margins are relatively fixed. Because we might be able to "get more" for a product does not mean that we do. We feel that "to to charge as much as the market will bear" is not best.....for us.

The Tenacious could probably command a higher price. The Dragonfly is probably a better deal based on our costs. The maker that makes the Dragonfly has already proven over time that his quality is very good and the knife will perform for a very long time. The maker that makes the Tenacious is very good, but we've not had the time element yet to tell long term quality.

Hope that helps.

sal
Click to expand...



Back to G10, I remember reading awhile back that the Military uses some special type made for Spyderco with added strength. I searched to add it to this thread to go towards bigmo66's point but couldn't find that. Can anyone else expand on that, or did I dream that up?
 
G-10 with nested liners is more expensive to produce, as there is more machining/parts/labor involved.
 
Cynic2701 said:
G-10 with nested liners is more expensive to produce, as there is more machining/parts/labor involved.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Generally on the Spyderco's with FRN, the entire scale is FRN. With the G10 there is a steel liner (skeletonized).
 
IMO the g-10 line of knives in the Spyderco line is "premium", in other words more attention to detail is performed and better fit and finish is produced. Think the Endura vs. the G-10 Endura. the g-10 endura is more expensive because there is more time in the process, because more attention is paid to each knife.
That's my opinion, and it may well be flawed.
 
kreole said:
Back to G10, I remember reading awhile back that the Military uses some special type made for Spyderco with added strength. I searched to add it to this thread to go towards bigmo66's point but couldn't find that. Can anyone else expand on that, or did I dream that up?
Click to expand...

I doubt I could find the specific post, but it is not just the Military. Sal stated that Spyderco has their G-10 custom made with extra layers of fiberglass to allow machining such as inletting for nested liners without compromising strength. The same may or may not be true for the China produced knives.
 
yablanowitz said:
I doubt I could find the specific post, but it is not just the Military. Sal stated that Spyderco has their G-10 custom made with extra layers of fiberglass to allow machining such as inletting for nested liners without compromising strength. The same may or may not be true for the China produced knives.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I probably saw it in a thread on the Military and associated them in my mind. I wonder which models use that custom G10.
 
I agree here. I'd love to see a cheaper Delica with G10 similar to the Tenacious. But then again, I suppose the VG10, along with a lot of other reasons mentioned here would bump the price up from about $60 to the about $100 aftermarket price of the current G10 Delica.
 
kreole said:
Thanks! I probably saw it in a thread on the Military and associated them in my mind. I wonder which models use that custom G10.
Click to expand...

All of the Golden and Seki made G-10 models use it. I don't know where the G-10 for Taichung comes from, but I suspect it is Spyderco custom as well.
 
I don't know about G-10, but in my opinion, no there is no one that makes a better knife, for the money with the materials used, than Spyderco.
 
RetiredGuns said:
You are going to elicit many opinions and thoughts with a post like this. I'll keep my reply short and simple.

Not all G10 is created equal
Steel
Labor & materials

Something for everyone.
Click to expand...

I think these points are huge. The G-10 on the budget line just isn't as nice as the G-10 on the regular line. Same goes for the steel, and overall F&F.
 
I kind of like the G-10 on the budget line...that having been said, it's definitely different from the G-10 on the PM2 or Manix2 etc.
 
RetiredGuns said:
You are going to elicit many opinions and thoughts with a post like this. I'll keep my reply short and simple.

Not all G10 is created equal
Steel
Labor & materials

Something for everyone.
Click to expand...

I think these points are huge. The G-10 on the budget line just isn't as nice as the G-10 on the regular line. Same goes for the steel, and overall F&F.
 
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