Give me some History on the Matriarch

Ren the devils trailboss

Ren the devils trailboss

Joined
Feb 27, 2001
Messages
12,169
Hello there
I have several Civilians. Recently while surfing Ebay I was able to aquire a Matriarch which I never new exsisted. For those of you who dont know the Martriarch it is the smaller version of the Civilian. I have never seen this knife in any catalog or knife shop in the USA. The seller on Ebay said that this knife was designed for the South African Police (after apartied I hope) what is the history behind this blade and is it commercially available in the USA??

thanks

Ren
 
Spyderco began selling these knives in South Africa and Israel in 1998, I believe. This knife was originally not meant to be sold in the US because Sal felt that its low price made it too available to bad elements. There was an original run of 500 or so that was made available to Blade Forum members and LEOs. Later, in response to increased demand, this knife was made available in the US to the general public but it is advertised, nor are pictures of it or the Civilian shown in Spyderco literature. The blade ia about 3.75" and it is ATS-55. The handles are FRN.
 
It was produced to provide women in South Africa with effective defense. There is currently a problem with violence in South Africa, especially for women.

sal
 
So will the Matriarch become a regular production item? I have sold several to officers here on the police force. I just got three in today. (Thanks John) I really like this knife. I carry mine left handed to use as a defense technique against a grab for my duty weapon.
what I am wondering is if it will be produced in more numbers . Well Sal what is the answer? Do i need to keep the gray one and the black one I have left in my collector drawer? Or can i hope that there will be more soon to share ? they are a great knife for their intended purpose .

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I used to be disgusted .Now I am just amused....I feel much better now that I have given up all hope

[This message has been edited by Royo (edited 04-24-2001).]
 
Hi Royo. Aaahhhhh...The Matriarch....Sal's headache #31.

Yes, we're making them.
They are in the dealer catalog, but not in the ELU catalog (PDR).
We will be making greater quantities than the Civilian but not huge amounts.

They are not guaranteed for general utility use.
In the US, they are promoted only to LEOs, but they are available, just harder to find.

I would hold onto the gray one. We only made 500 pcs for the Spyderco forum on Bladeforum. Have no plans to make any more.

sal
 
I was selling the Matriarchs to leo's only where I work (Topeka KS PD) I would only sell the ones with Black grips to my buddies. They would want the gray ones and I would say no. they asked why. i said because if I lose mine and later found someone with it I would know where it came from and promptly reclaim it . Anyway I have two gray ones . One for the Collector drwer and the other for duty .

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I used to be disgusted .Now I am just amused....I feel much better now that I have given up all hope
 
Well I have heard several different stories about the Matriarch. I heard the gray ones were to be sent to Isreal and that the black ones went to South Africa. Sal,how much of this is true and how much of this is Spyderco/Urban Legend?

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I used to be disgusted .Now I am just amused....I feel much better now that I have given up all hope
 
The gray ones were sold in USA only (ex ept for forumites overseas).

Black Matriarchs were shipped to South Africa, Israel and Germany. I believe that now we're shipping more countries.

sal
 
Can someone answer this question for me? I heard that the price of the Matriarch was going up considerably, because of production costs. Does anyone know the answer to that one? I think for the money the Matriarch is hands down the best value from Spyderco!!!

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"Love Dem Spydies"
EMAIL ME! ronybear1@aol.com
AKTI Member #A001251
 
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