quick note: I'd like to start this new series where I talk about different knife companies. I'll mostly talk about how I feel about them as a whole, their products, etc. As the title suggests, this first one will be about Spyderco.
Spyderco is in fact my favorite knife company. Of all the knives I've tried, the majority of them were Spydercos. Spyderco was the first knife brand I really heard about. I was watching a video on YouTube and stumbled on a Spyderco Delica video. I looked up the brand online, found out they sold something called the Ladybug, and eventually fell in love with all their knives. To this day, the Ladybug is by far the best knife I've ever tried.
Spyderco is very popular and that's for good reasons. They've got great quality products and customer service. I've never had to deal with their customer service personally, but I've heard nothing but positive things about it. Their Spyder hole is the best opening mechanism in my opinion. I almost feel like Spyderco is often overhyped though. They have such a large, dedicated following. I don't think there's a single other brand that's more well-known for their knives and company as a whole. Sure companies like Gerber, Kershaw, or Cold Steel are decently popular, but in my experience, those are all more of a hit-or-miss type companies. They either put out a fantastic product or one that's an absolute fail. I used to be really into all the new knives that Spyderco put out. That isn't really the case so much anymore.
I feel as if they're mostly focusing on the higher-end type blades or various sprint runs. Those are cool for some people, just not my cup of tea. It gets pretty boring to see the same old designs over and over and over again. They discontinued a lot of their unique designs, like the Balance or Junior. I'm sure they didn't sell very well for one thing. The second thing though is figuring out why. With crazy designs, people will either love them or hate them. Most of them aren't really suited for actual carry. They're mostly collector type pieces. There's also the problem of price. The weirder the designs, the more money they'll usually cost you, look at the Dodo for example. I think this is Spyderco's Achilles heel.
Their prices have gotten more and more out of reach in the past few years. The knife market in general is moving more towards the high end market. You can see this on the majority of the popular feeds on Instagram. I feel as if Spyderco is neglecting the budget blade fans. They've put out a few less expensive options, but nothing with even as close to an impact as the Delica for example. Obviously, it's not viable for every knife they make to be as successful, but none have gotten even close to its notoriety in my opinion. The increased prices are keeping me away from buying any of their newer blades. All of the Spydercos I have bought recently have all been ones released several years ago. The new ones don't really seem like a good value to me personally. I for one don't think the Manix 2 LW is worth the $70 to $80 it sells for.
The new knives they've been putting out don't really excite me anymore. Like I mentioned earlier, they all just blend together. There's no wow or unique factor. I respect that they're producing what the majority of people are looking for. I really wish they reverted back to the old Spyderco occasionally and brought out some cool designs for affordable prices. I think another company could easily step into that hole and bring themselves to a whole new level. I will continue to always love Spyderco, but I think they need to step up their game a lot. Thanks for looking!
No comments:
Post a Comment