Just off the top of my head, the Native, Native Chief, Lil' Native, Shaman, Brouwer, Spydiechef, Efficient, Emphasis, and Insistent don't have humps. The Sages, Chaparrals, and several others have an intermediate ramp, that's less pronounced than the tall hump on Spyderco's better known models.
I suspect that it has to do with the ergos that are desired for the model, which is the impression I've gotten from hanging around over on the Spyderco forum. However, I'll ask over there specifically. Sal is usually a pretty active participant.
Yet, that's a model with a hump. Also, there's no context explaining if that break occurred because of the hole in the blade, or if there was a manufacturing defect. I can also search and find pictures of broken blades from Cold Steel and other companies. Pictures without any other context tell only a fragment of the story.
And they're in violation of US and international trademark laws of they're circular holes. Spyderco defends that trademark rather vigorously as well, which Kittery Trading Post and others have found out the hard way.
They introduced the Brad Southard collaboration model way back in late 2012, and discontinued it in late 2017. Why are you so shocked that they keep their trademarked opening hole on their flippers? What's so bad about having the option to open by flipper or blade hole, as I explained in my previous post?
Just to clarify, the zip tie mod (yes it even has a name) is used to replicate the opening function of the Emerson Wave feature, not as a thumb stud.
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