Why are spyderco so popular?

joeyza

joeyza

Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
916
First off, I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST SPYDERCO.
I have never had one, never handled one but am curious to know why they are one of the most popular brands out there. Just lookin at the exchange forums here proves how much ppl love em!
so whats the appeal, where's does the spyderco "love" come from?
 
First of all, most of the standard models, just simplly excel at cutting. Then there's the ergonomic part, which a lot of people(including me)find pretty awesome with Spydercos.

Then there's the participation of Sal Glesser, the owner in various boards. He accepts inputs from his customers resulting in designs that are customer driven.

And then there's the various sprint runs...
 
I'm in a similar boat. Held a couple but never used one. Almost bought a Cat but wasn't sure if the price was right considering the seller marks everything up way too high. It was 30 bones, starting to think I should've grabbed it.
 
1. Sal is amazing
2. Quality is outstanding (top notch materials for productions)
3. The sprint runs that allow you to get whichever steel or color you want
4. Ergos imo best out of all production brands
5. The designs theyre all unique and functional if you see a spyderco you know its a spyderco
 
1.) Quality and Value. I believe Spyderco to produce the absolute best bang for your buck. The fit and finish, especially of the pieces coming out of Golden and Taichung, is regularly better then any other full production knife company (in my opinion). Many of their offerings come with premium materials, and yet, the price is very reasonable. I regularly recommend the Sage 1 to people getting seriously into knives. S30V, carbon fiber, flawless construction, for about (or less than) $100.

2.) Design. Spyderco are the masters of producing knives that just feel right in the hand. They are generally known as the ergonomic knife company. When I got my first (a Sage 1), I think I audibly said "wow" to how it just fit into my grip so naturally. Also, Spyderco's designs are original. Though they do work with other knife designers on some pieces, their overall design aesthetic is completely their own and unmistakable. From time to time we hear about certain companies and their questionable ethics, and how they ripped off this or that design. I have never heard that from Spyderco, though they have been on the other end of that.

3.) Great Service. The customer service you can expect when you buy a Spyderco is superior to other full production companies in my opinion. They are extremely responsive and will work with you to correct any issue you may have.

4.) They're knife guys. They aren't a company that exists to sell you knives. They live knives. Sal Glesser is the most responsive owner out there. He regularly shows up on a number of different knife forums. I once saw in a thread (sorry can't find the source), where someone was complaining about an issue with their knife, and out of the blue Sal shows up and asks the guy to send him the knife so he can look at it. Furthermore, I love the Mule concept. Spyderco regularly brings in samples of many different types of steels available to evaluate them, and while they are at it, they produce Mules (blank fixed blades) for sale at a reasonable price so that we can all try them out too.

You know what, I feel like I'm gushing, just go buy one.
 
There are plenty of reasons why I am into Spydercos. I am sure that others will bring them up, but I will say that I really like how the company is very customer driven, they listen to what us knife nuts want and they produce. Spyderco is relatively small, a family-run business and Sal is very open on the forums. They have open minds and will experiment with exotic steels, new locks etc... Also I do appreciate how they honor innovators in the knife industry, an example of this is the Sage series, and take a look at their catalog they call the frame lock the Reeve integral lock. They go out of their way to do things right.

Oh, and they make great knives... And if you do get into Spydercos, be careful with those damn sprint runs, they can get addicting...

I'm sure someone will come in here and talk about why they DONT like Spydercos... Just get one and find out for yourself.
 
As mentioned above; handle one and find out for yourself.

You'll find there are plenty of good reasons.

Caly Super Blue for example - hardly gets any better than that, mmmmmmm.........
 
They make some amazing products, I rotate between my native 5 and other brand of knives. Even people who are not into knives when they look at the native 5 on first sight they know it's a knife of very high quality even compared to knives of other brands in the same price zone (all of which are in the 100~200$ zone so there's a level of standard to F&F and the mates used).
Now that I got a PM2, it knocks out all other folders that I EDC.
 
Spyderco works with great designers, and they excel at converting a custom into a production knife. They also innovate constantly, and "sprint runs" give them an opportunity to learn rapidly at a low cost while creating a product with highly sustainable value. I also appreciate their willingness, if not determination, to work with obscure makers and models.

What this all amounts to is a huge fan base, allowing people to buy and sell, share information, and get new people addicted. This plus limitations on production capacity keeps secondary market prices high and costs at a manageable level. They can sell a first run and determine by the subsequent market gap how much demand exists and how much they want to supply. In other words, if you buy one and don't like it, sell it and get your money back. Or you can trade it for something else, add it to a collection, or hold it for future profit. Spyderco has enough variations that people stay interested in their products and amass large collections, some of which contain nothing but variations of the same model. How many Paramilitary line-up photos have you seen, where every one of them looked different?

I personally got into Spyderco because I thought the opening hole was a clever idea. I still carry one, many years later, because I was able to pick a model that merged a personally appealing design (both aesthetically and utilitarian) with an excellent locking mechanism and innovative materials. It was designed by an individual in Poland who licensed it to an American firm, who then contracted its production to a Taiwanese manufacturer using American steel for the blade. The idea of what had to happen to get this Polish guy's custom design into my hands is pretty amazing.

Maybe a lot of this can be said for other knife brands, but Spyderco is up there with the best of them.
 
Egnar T Seinnhoj said:
Held a couple but never used one.
Click to expand...

Each model is so different, they must be held first to see if you'll even use them.

I used to love my Endura, but no longer do because of the long, narrow, thin handle. The Delica, however feels fine with it's short, narrow, thin handle.

The Native 5 is one of my favorite knives, it's a lockback with zero blade play in any direction, even when the blade is unlocked, even though the blade opens super smoothly. S35VN blade and full skeletonized steel liners for $130 is a great deal.
 
Good product, good steel, many different steels, full disclosure as to country of origin, good price.
 
Reasonable price, great ergonomics. Draw, thumb open the blade, and you're ready to go.

I've used Spyderco knives for 20+ years, and remain impressed with their high quality.
 
Their QC, design, aesthetics, ergonomics, materials and F&F are unparalleled. Buy one, you'll be amazed, the Spyderco Air is like the little brother of the Sebenza.
 
joeyza said:

...I have never had one, never handled one but am curious to know why they are one of the most popular brands out there.


Just lookin at the exchange forums here proves how much ppl love em!
so whats the appeal, where's does the spyderco "love" come from?
Click to expand...



As others have already indicated.

Spend some time using a few of their knives and you'll understand that the "love" comes from the fact that they are very functional cutting tools.

No Hype, No Gimmicks, just good knives.




Big Mike
 
In my case Spyderco is the perfect storm of innovation in Ergonomics, tailoring the steel to the job not having to make one size fit all. ( I'm a true steel junky) Spyderco has several knives I truly feel as if they were designed by me, for me.

They are cutting tools. Not pry bars or screwdrivers.

In no case have I felt like Spyderco grabbed the highest amount possible for a knife they could sell. That's one reasons flippers love them. They can grab the profit on the very desirable models that Spyderco didn't. Sal has stated that it's his philosophy to not gouge his customers. Usually those are merely pretty words. In Sal's/Spyderco's case there are no hollow words or catch phrases.

He very much means what he says, and says what he means. Hang out for a while and you will get it.

Sal is totally the opposite of hype. 440C is 440C. S30V is S30V. There are no made up wonder steels. Just the real names of the steels. Nothing more. No outlandish statements, boasts, bad mouthing others in the industry.

I can go on and on about Spyderco's innovations, firsts, and onlys but there are so many it sounds like what it isn't. Hype. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top