Spyderco Warning

If you're considering a Spyderco folder proceed with extreme caution. The following are the serious issues I've recently had.

Strike One: I bought a NIB Para Military 2 from them late last year and one of the screws had fallen out of the knife in transit. They wanted me to pay for shipping to them AND enclose a check for $6 for return shipping in case they determined it wasn't a warranty issue. I had to call them on the phone, leave a message with the receptionist, and wait for Jack Botbyl, a supervisor, to call me back. He did call me back the same day, and I gave him the same explanation I'd emailed to them, which "Mary" in customer support responded to and told there were no exceptions on shipping. At first he tried to jerk me around by telling me they had no control of the knife after they sent it to the retailer. I told him that the retailer, Knife Center of the Internet, had already offered me a refund (they couldn't replace it because Spyderco hasn't figured out how to ramp up production on a knife retailers sell out of within hours of offering for sale each small batch they get from Spyderco). I also told him that I didn'y think KCOI would be happy t have Spyderco accusing them of messing with product before sending it to customers. They did fix it free of charge, but with a turn around time of just over a month. That's totally unacceptable for a knife that price.

The PM2 noted above came back from Spyderco bone dry. I took it apart and dry film lubed everything with paraffin wax, and it was fine. While I was at I figured it would be a good time take down all my knives to check and lube the internals. My Spyderco Superleaf was perfect, and I noticed that the liners were highly polished just like on the PM2. However,

Strike Two: The Spyderco Chaparral that I've owned for a year and a half, and the Spyderco Cat I've had for 10 months were not so kind to me. There was corrosion on handle scale side of the liners on both knives. The scales on both knives were finished in a matte bead blast, which is a horrible choice of finish in terms of countering corrosion. The more expensive Chaparral had worse corrosion than the Cat, but that's probably because the Cat is about six months newer. Thankfully I could (and did) fix this myself by scrubbing the corrosion off, polishing the liners, and then coating them in a film of paraffin for good measure. I was only slightly annoyed by this on the Cat since that knife sells for $40 - $50 online (and I got mine on a weekly deal for $30). However, the Chaparral sells for over $100 even from online discount houses. Poorly finished liners with no corrosion inhibiting coating is once again unacceptable for knife that cost this much.

Strike Three: I traded fellow THR moderator John Shirley some things I no longer use for a current production Native 5 that he'd carried for a few days before going back to his preferred Manix 2 Lightweight. I've had that knife for a few weeks now. Earlier this week I noticed that clip was starting to wobble, so I tried to tighten it with my Benchmade Blue Box tool kit, which is the same tool kit I use on every other folding knife I own. No dice. All three clip screws are spinning now. I know John didn't do anything to it, so this one is going back to Spyderco. I'm paying the shipping to them since I'm not the original owner. We shall see how long this repair takes, and see if they charge me for return shipping. Regardless of shipping charges and repair turnaround time, this is (once again), absolutely, totally, unacceptable.

The trend I've noticed is that I've not had a single problem with any Spyderco that was made in Japan. The first two US Made and Taiwan made Spyderco folders I've owned have failed miserably. Spyderco would be wise to find out what G. Sakai (their contract manufacturer in Seki City, Japan) does and implement everything Sakai does Spyderco's contract plant in Taichung, Taiwain; and in their own plant in Golden, Colorado.

However, given the problems I've listed above I'm not buying another Spyderco product until after I have a serious conversation with Sal Glesser. He'll either respond to the email I'm going send him with the text of this thread copied into it, or he'll see me at Blade in Atlanta in June.

I'm not going to sign up at the Spyderco forum just to air my dirty laundry. However, I wanted our members here at THR to be aware that Spyderco is in a period of serious QA / QC problems at their USA and Taiwan plants.

It really pains me because their tall, full flat ground blades with the finger choil are my favorite designs from any manufacturer. However, the design doesn't matter if they don't execute it. It's extremely frustrating for me because I want the new 2nd gen G10 handle Manix 2 they just released with the FFG blade. However, it's made in their Golden, CO plant and I'm not risking $100+ on one.

Benchmade is making another run of the Axis Stryker and Mini-Stryker this year. An original Mini Stryker liner lock was my first higher end knife back when I was a teenager. I know I'll be buying either the full size or the mini when they're available.

Thanks 9mm. I still have plenty of other knives with working pocket clips, including a $6 Chinese made lock back folding box cutter / utility knife from Harbor Freight. Yep, Harbor Freight sells a $6 Chinese made pot metal handle utility knife and they can still get the pocket clip screwed on properly. Yet, the company that popularized the pocket clip on folding knives can't seem to properly screw one onto a $100+ knife with steel lined G10 handles.

I'd love to know how a Spyderco Military is steps ahead of Benchmade and ZT. What BM and ZT are you comparing it to?

Okay, you're comparing a current production Spyderco to a couple of Benchmades from the late 90s. Your ZT 0220 has curves that are hellacious to machine and finish. The Millie is pretty straight forward in comparison.

I'll give Spyderco credit that the G10 handles on my PM2 are nicer than the Noryl GTX plastic handles on my Benchmade RSK Mk1 Griptilian. However, the Griptilians have a larger stronger pivot than the PM2, and they have a much smoother lock. The RSK version of the Grip also has a stonewashed blade. Otherwise the details between the two are identical - other than the fact that neither Griptilian I own has ever had a pocket clip screw come loose, much less fall out in transit NIB! That's comparing two knives with tall, 3.5" long S30V blades with very similar street prices.

I've also NEVER had a problem with pocket clip screws on a any Benchmade. I thought it was over the top marketing a few years ago when I read a statement from Les DeAsis (owner and founder of Benchmade) about bringing their screw production in house because no supplier could meet their quality standards. Now I see how serious that is, and wish Spyderco was as stringent on their QA / QC standards.

And that is the root of your problem I'd wager.

The confluence of a lazy inspector and a lack of adherence to work instructions most likely

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That, or worn out taps, or bad batches of screws from a supplier because everything on the two US made knives noted was perfect or nearly perfect: Everything except for the clip. All of which are very cheap and very fixes that haven't been implemented. And therein lies the rub. A modern style folding knife is useless without a clip. The fact that I've had clip problems on knives from THE company that is responsible for the modern folding knife having a clip, and that is the owner of the registered trademark "Clipit" just makes me want to scream.

The problems with the Taiwanese products are the result of a poor choice of liner finish rather than a problem with manufacturing or QA / QC.

A little bit ago I fixed the Native 5 clip issue by swapping in the clip screws from a roughly ten year old Benchmade TSEK. The Benchmade screws were slightly (we're talking thousandths of an inch) longer than the Native 5 screws. I noted that the liners on both knives are the same thickness but that the G10 scales on the Native are slightly thicker. So, I figured I'd try the Native screws on the TSEK, and they're working quite well. I now have a Spyderco with a polished stainless clip secured by black coated Benchmade screws, and a Benchmade with a matte black clip secured by silver colored Spyderco screws.

Then, a few minutes ago I called Spyderco and somehow pushed the right random buttons and Eric Glesser himself answered the phone. We had a not quite lengthy talk. He listened to all the problems I'd laid out, made sure my phone number was correctly displayed on his caller ID, and took my email address. He has assured me that he will begin investigating the issues we discussed.

I also informed him of this thread, and told him I'd be happy let everyone here on THR know what steps he takes to solve these issues. He has assured me that he will email me in the coming weeks after he is able to investigate and he will let me know what actions are being taken to remedy these issues.

If nothing else I was able to talk to the owner's son and vent about my issues, but also be help him by providing a detailed analysis of the problems I've encountered. Things are looking up. I'm now cautiously optimistic. Stay tuned folks.