SPYDERCO!
Stephan said:
Here's what we'll judge by.
1) Quality of products (including design, materials and production).
2) Variety of products (including accessories and knife styles).
3) Business execution (meaning shipping dates, promotions, consumer options ect.).
4) Customer service.
I'd first like to say, within the past few years,
Kershaw has really amazed me, and is definitely a company worthy of 2nd place on my personal list of Knife Manufacturers.:thumbup:
As for my #1 choice in Knife Companies, Spyderco all the way!
1) Quality of products (including design(a), materials(b) and production(c)): You'd be really hard pressed to find a company with more emphasis on quality than Spyderco. Spyderco breaks (that's right, they have a knife-breaking machine) knives from each run to assure their high lock strength and security standards are consistantly met. Spyderco has one of the few CATRA machines around, and use it to further test their product. They utilize a Q-fog tester, to allow them to guage the corrosion-resistance of their products. Their warranty is exactly what they advertise it, "Fair, Honest, and Proper", and they back it up.
(a) Spyderco, alone, revitalized the custom collaboration trend that so many Knife Companies are following these days. Back in 1989, Spyderco was only the 2nd company to do a custom collaboration (Gerber had done some rather short-lived ones in the 70's & 80's), except Spyderco made it work long-term.
Spyderco and Bob Terzuola started a trend that hasn't cooled off to this day. Spyderco has some of the best designers in the industry working collaboratively with them, but as far as I'm concerned, they have the top two designers in the world working for them. Sal Glesser, Spyderco's Founder and President, and his son Eric, are in my opinion the best folding knife designers on the planet! With knife designs like the Military, the Para-Military, the Manix, the Dodo, the Stretch, and a host of others, lock designs like the compression lock and the ball-bearing lock, and a sharpening system design like the Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, I think most would agree that their designs are at the very least "top notch".
Just to add a final note to Spyderco's "designs", let's examine some of the design features of folding knives we often take for granted. 1)
The pocket clip- A Spyderco design! 2)
The blade-hole opener- A Spyderco design!
(b) Spyderco was
the first production company to offer G-10 and ATS-34 on a folding knife! Spyderco is in constant search of the best materials for every facet of their knives. How many other production companies currently offer an affordable ZDP-189 bladed knife? How many other companies offer a rust-proof folding knife? How many other companies offer at least 5 different locking mechanisms/systems on their folding knives? I rest my case.
(c) Spyderco has an excellent facility stateside, in Golden, Colorado, where they employ some of the latest, greatest technology available to test and build knives. Spyderco also contracts with some of the most respected and skilled production knifemakers in Japan to produce their knives. Having split production like this is indeed a benefit to the consumer, since the Japanese will not allow blade-steel like VG10 and ZDP-189 to be made outside their facilities. Not only do we get the best bladesteel and other refinements the Japanese have, we get S30V, and top shelf American products as well.
2) Variety of products (including accessories and knife styles):
Spyderco started their business in the late 70's, manufacturing what many consider to be the best sharpening system around. They then branched off into producing knives. As far as variety of knives go, I don't think you'll find a company with as diverse a variety of folding knives anywhere. Fixed blade designs have only recently started to emerge, but boy are they emerging! Hossom is in collaboration them for an awesome design, and just wait until the Schempp fixed blades come out.
3) Business execution (meaning shipping dates, promotions, consumer options ect.).
Spyderco's business execution is absolutely awesome. I won't waste your time by listing the reasons, but if you are curious, check out Spyderco's forum here, or on their site (Spyderco.com), and you'll see why. Sal Glesser is still one of the only company Presidents who very frequently hangs out on the forums and solicits input from his customers. If you don't believe me, check his BladeForums member profile.
4) Customer service:
Fantastic on my end, but again, I would highly recommend you take a look at their forum to see for yourselves.
Best wishes,
3G
