Who would have thought that it would still be
possible to innovate in an area as traditional as knife making? Yet to the
great surprise of the profession and its clientele the spider brand has done
just that. More revolution than evolution, let’s see how.
Sal Glesser sold grindstones out of the back of a
baker’s delivery truck. Sharpening no longer held any secrets for him and as he
made his way up and down the country, all kinds of knives passed through his
hands, eventually giving him the idea of making one himself from a completely
originally design. The year was 1981 and he called it the “Worker.” As he
obviously intended to make others he gave it the code “CO1.” This first model
was quite original in a number of ways.
Sal had noticed that not only was it easy to lose
a knife that you just slipped in your pocket, but also it was also difficult to
get hold of it. While working it was necessary to put down whatever you were
holding in order to have both hands free to open the blade. Last but not least,
it had to be robust in every area, considered as a tool in its own right.
The handle was produced in metal for robustness.
A metal clip was screwed to it so that it could be put somewhere accessible and
kept securely in place. That way the knife could be clipped to a pocket, for
example. As for opening the blade, a decent-sized hold was pierced at the point
where one would normally expect to find the thumbnail groove; the blade could
thus be opened by using the thumb of the hand holding the knife. In short,
everything could be done with one hand. A simple enough idea and obvious when
you think and it. Add to that excellent steel for the blades so as to obtain a
durable and high-quality cutting edge, and a new genre was born. But reception
of this first model was mixed: some considered it a work of genius and adapted
it straight away, while others rejected it for being too heavy and cold.
But the project for a “Clipit” series, carrying
the “Spyderco” brand, was still in it infancy, and the thunderbolt came the
following year with the “Mariner” model. The concept was rigorously identical,
with only the shape and size changing. The great innovation was to design a
blade without the traditional cutting edge, but completely saw-toothed. Blades
with saw-teeth had existed for a long time, first for hunting knives, then for
diving knives and finally survival knives. There already existed a multitude to
tooth types, from the vary fine to the very wide, on one row or in two
staggered rows, but the originality of Spyderco was to propose a quiet unusual
form: three small teeth alternating with wide, deep teeth, and a beveled edge
on one side. This was a major development, since this design of cutting edge
was incredibly effective. After having patented the clip and the principle of
the hole pierced in the blade, Spyderco naturally took out a patent for this
kind of teeth, which of course became a house specialty. This time it had
universal success; the Clipit became the essential knife and sold like hotcakes
all over the world.
Ever since, the range has developed considerably
and the catalog grows from year to year. An extremely wide variety is now on
offer, with lighter handles in micarta, Zytel, carbon fiber, fiberglass, G10,
Craton and ever titanium. The best steels are always selected for the blade,
enabling effective combinations, with the teeth on one side of the blade, for
example, or a traditional cutting edge for those who are not fans of novelty.
The spider has not finished weaving its web, with
the best craftsmen being asked to design special models, like Jess Horn, Frank
Centofante, Bob Terzuola, Dalton Holder, etc. Since Spyderco is always keen to
veer off the beaten track, it is never afraid to call on the services of
original blade smith, like Eduard Bradichansky, who wishes to bring into line
with modern taste the “shabaria” a strangely shaped dagger carried by the nomads
of the Jordon valley many centuries ago.
