Will Spyderco enter the "hard use" market? Thick liners & blade, compression lock.

Thank you, Sal.

I remember recommending it to a forum member here or in general for ranch use cutting bail and all. My recommendation was based on its cutting ability and strength with the caveat that for a folder with a 3.44" blade it's kind of on the heavy side at 5.5 ounces.

Another misperception seems to be that a thick blade is NOT a cutter. As though the thickness of the blade is throughout the blade length like a pry-bar. Some seem to think that the thicker blade overbuilt Spyderco folders with blade thicknesses of 0.157" or greater cannot cut. The examples I have are: Military, Chinook, Vallotton, Starmate, Tuff, LionSpy, Spyker, Southard, Yojimbo 2, Techno and Szabo.

Also, seems to some that the aforementioned knives do not represent a true Spyderco (with the exception of the Military which actually has a 0.157" thick blade just profiled differently) as they have thick blades and/or overbuilt.

Isn't it about giving the current customer base what they want and also expanding the base?
 
Sal's responses to our "concerns" and general questions are why I buy spyderco predominantly

It lets you know that the man in charge genuinely is in tune with the customer


I hope eric carries the same flame someday, he has already got the design part down it seems


This thread would have been better titled as, " Will Spyderco enter the Overbuilt(and visually more tacticool) Market"
 
tricker said:
This thread would have been better titled as, " Will Spyderco enter the Overbuilt(and visually more tacticool) Market"
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This is why I almost hate even asking questions like like this, you are bound to be made fun of because people think you want to be some kind of mall ninja or something. I can assure you, at my age I am way past caring what is tacticool. In fact, I have never been overly concerned about any appearance. I am more concerned if something meets my needs.

You are right though, it may have been better titled will Spyderco make an overbuilt folder with the compression lock.
 
The Compression lock is a relatively new invention and there will be many ways to refine, improve and evolve the concept. We are still a long way from what it will be in the future. But the direction that I'm going is to keep the lock part thick and the liners thin and skeletonized to hold the clip screws.

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
The Compression lock is a relatively new invention and there will be many ways to refine, improve and evolve the concept. We are still a long way from what it will be in the future. But the direction that I'm going is to keep the lock part thick and the liners thin and skeletonized to hold the clip screws.

sal
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I can't wait Sal.
I am very excited to see what you do with the Compression Lock over the years. I it is already a great lock and can't wait to see what else you do with it and what knives you incorporate it into.
 
Sal, I just got a Manix 2 XL. It is a great knife, that I am sure will hold up to extreme use. How does the ball bearing lock stack up against the compression lock, or even the lock back designs? I mean in terms of strength, and longevity. Curious to know you opinions on this. Thank you in advance Sir.
 
Just to ad that I really dont know what I did not cut with mine Spyderco Gayle Bradley(hard use not abuse)and that knife is absolutely perfect.Strong,reliable,good looking, and never stops cutting.One of the greatest knives ever.I really dont need anything stronger or tactical looking for my needs,GB is superior to all my other knives for almost any task.Great job Mr.Bradley and Mr.Glesser on giving us this great blade.:thumbup:
 
L2bravo said:
Sal, I just got a Manix 2 XL. It is a great knife, that I am sure will hold up to extreme use. How does the ball bearing lock stack up against the compression lock, or even the lock back designs? I mean in terms of strength, and longevity. Curious to know you opinions on this. Thank you in advance Sir.
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The Ball bearing lock, the Compression lock and the lock-back are locks that we can make as strong as we want to by use of materials and thicknesses. We generally run in our heavy duty range of 100-200 inch lbs of lock strength per inch of blade. In longevity, the same applies although the Compression lock and the Ball Bearing lock haven't been around long enough to know long term longevity.

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
The Ball bearing lock, the Compression lock and the lock-back are locks that we can make as strong as we want to by use of materials and thicknesses. We generally run in our heavy duty range of 100-200 inch lbs of lock strength per inch of blade. In longevity, the same applies although the Compression lock and the Ball Bearing lock haven't been around long enough to know long term longevity.

sal
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I think I am understanding what you are saying. So, to be more direct, how strong of a knife is the M2 XL? I want to say it is very strong but you would know better.
 
When I think Spyderco and hard use I think of the Vallotton. The spine of the Vallottons blade is 4 mm thick and stays thick the length of the blade until right before the tip. Looking at the vertical design of the blade you see that the Vallotton quickly tappers down from its 4mm spine to its cutting edge with a hollow grind, giving you a descent cutting edge although I found the original edge to be at too obtuse of an angle for task like scraping. This allows someone to use there knife for a bit of "prying" without really risking damaging the blades cutting edge, combined with the reinforced tip and you've got a nicely designed blade for a variety of heavy use. The lock up is extremely strong if applying pressure in the horizontal direction on the blade (pressure on the liner lock being vertical pressure), with vertical pressure appearing to be capable of withstanding hundreds of LBs. Now as a former Infantry soldier would I take the Vallotton to the field or on deployment with me? No sir, its just too difficult to disassemble; the Vallotton is what I'd call a gentleman's hard use folder.

All this being said I still find my self carrying my Spyderco Military allot although I'd like to carry my Manix 2 XL more I find that too much of it sticks out of my pocket, and on days when I know ill be doing something that requires a bit more my ZT 561. The Military offers more hard use capabilities then I think people give it credit for, if you do a google search for reviews on the knife your run into a ton of reviews that say something along the lines of "...the tip is very thin so this is not the kind of knife you wanna pry with...". I've found more often then not that the military has worked perfectly for instances when I need a knife to pry with, I accomplish this by not going about prying with reckless abandonment like a caveman or like so many mall ninjas seem to think every prying situation seem to call for. If you can slide what you need to pry down the length of the knife towards the handle where the knife is 4 mm thick and if what your prying doesn't force the front tip of your knife against anything then you've got a great knife for prying.

Hard use knives I think fall into what we used to call in the Army a "rope situation", as everyone knows you can never have enough rope, and when you don't pack it you need it the most. As Sal said, Spyderco try's to make an optimum knife for most situations and I believe that's what they do. In my day to day civilian life as a 25 year old male I really don't find myself needing a super rugged pry bar type knife, and the days I do I know enough ahead of time to pack one. Yes you can say "what about the days when you least suspect it!" We'll yes that day may come, and when it does ill be on my own genius to come up with a solution for the situation, but for 99% of the time ill be ready with what I have.
 
Sal Glesser said:
How strong where?

sal
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Sorry Sal, As far as the Manix 2 XL, how strong is the lock strength on this knife, when say compared to a Bradley? I am familiar with a Bradley, so I can relate in those terms. My lock bar only travels a little over half way forward when opened. Is this normal? Or is it so it has some wear room? I hope this makes sense. Thanks for your time.
 
I love the Manix 2 series, and the black LWM2 has become the knife I carry most often.

My last few months of my 2011-2012 deployment, I carried Manix 2 XL. I was working in a position overseeing damaged military (Demil A, no mutilation required) items being sold to local nationals. I used my Manix 2 XL to cut quite a few industrial, military-strength power cords off military generators. Rough work for any knife.

A picture of a yard I worked in can be seen in this article. The abuse I inflicted by cutting copper cables eventually put a small ding in the blade, but I never worried about lock strength or failure. :)

John
 
L2bravo said:
I think I am understanding what you are saying. So, to be more direct, how strong of a knife is the M2 XL? I want to say it is very strong but you would know better.
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Sal Glesser said:
The Ball bearing lock, the Compression lock and the lock-back are locks that we can make as strong as we want to by use of materials and thicknesses. We generally run in our heavy duty range of 100-200 inch lbs of lock strength per inch of blade. In longevity, the same applies although the Compression lock and the Ball Bearing lock haven't been around long enough to know long term longevity.

sal
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Sal answered that already.



Let's just assume it's 100 pounds per inch. Let's call the manix xl 4 inches. What does the math tell you?
 
If the Gayle Bradley or Manix series aren't cutting it in terms of a "hard use" folder then you may want to consider a fixed blade, broseph.

[video=youtube;UvHhv39AIU8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvHhv39AIU8[/video]
 
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