Warranty Void Question: Why no Disassembly Allowed?

[tvenuto]

Our years of experience with this issue disagrees with your statement. We find that most are not. I also believe that most think they ar skillful enough but are not kowledgable enough to know when they screw up.

Indeed. See: Dunning-Kruger Effect.

[akaAK]

I have only ever had one warrenty issue and it was apparent once I recieved the knife and did the inital once over (ritual on recieving a knife and in this case may have saved me a finger). Have had spyderco's for the last twenty or so years and haven't ever found one to become defective over time (without my direct intervention). I have taken apart and put back together a number of spydies successfully and have still lost a washer. I would never consider sending it back to try to get it repaired as a warrenty issue.

[JNewell]

I'm also confident that, like the broken blade, Spyderco would resolve valid issues honorably, whether they called it a "replacement under warranty" or just a "good will replacement".

Yes to that. Spyderco has made it clear from time to time that the exclusion is not intended as a "gotcha" to avoid standing behind products when there is a manufacturing problem. I have never had this come up with Spyderco, but I have had this exact situation arise with another major knife company that has the same policy (twice). The knives were returned for warranty service after having been disassembled several times over the years, and in both cases that manufacturer fixed the problem, with no questions asked. I should also point out that if I had been more motivated, I could have ID'd the issues promptly and returned the knives earlier and avoided the over-debated "I took the knife apart and now have a warranty issue" syndrome, but that wasn't a problem for the other company. I am absolutely confident that Spyderco would do exactly the same under the circumstances. :spyder:

[Laethageal]

Is every body trying themselves at building their own computer skillful enough? I don't think so, and easy as it sound neither is EVERY one skillful enough to open a knife. Most are, but some are not.

Our years of experience with this issue disagrees with your statement. We find that most are not. I also believe that most think they ar skillful enough but are not kowledgable enough to know when they screw up.

sal

Well seriously I can't go against your saying. I don't own a knife company to see all kind of weird thing related to warranty and surely can't even imagine what you saw with the years.

I simply felt that someone skillful enough that didn't mess anything when opening the knife should keep it's warranty, but I think I see the implication and how things could quickly get complicated and degrade into " I did break it" fight

[sal]

I'm sure there are some that are good enough. Probably most custom knifemakers are good enough. But knife assembly is a skill like any other and one gets very good with time. The few that are good enough are not enough to create a policy. We always try to make a reasonable effort to accomodate our customers but in the end it is our call and not the customers.

Keep in mind that mechanical is different than electronic. a thou makes a didfference and one must be trained to recognize the difference.

sal

[Laethageal]

Yup I know the difference. I understand your point of view about few not being enough to create a policy.

I think I was wrong, thanks for opening my eyes :)

[hunterseeker5]

I might catch some fire for this, but here is my take on the situation:

First, spyderco's warranty does not say disassembly unconditionally voids the warranty, it actually says:

Spyderco’s warranty does not cover damage caused by abuse, misuse, loss, improper handling, alterations, accident, neglect, disassembly, or improper sharpening.

The legal interpretation of this is that disassembly does not void the warranty innately, it is only if your disassembly damages the knife that the warranty is voided.

Going beyond that, I would argue that there is a certain sampling bias in running a CS department regarding disassembly/reassembly competency. I'm always prepared to be wrong, but I personally don't find cutlery to be all that precise or difficult to work on, as compared to other common things people need to work on including firearms and vehicles. I'll also note that car companies don't void your warranty if the car is worked on by someone other than one of their dealers, and it'd be quite difficult/expensive to own a firearm if you needed to send it back to the factory for cleaning every time because you weren't allowed to take it apart to do so.

And my third and final point is that not all cleaning can/should be done with the knife assembled. I caught a great deal of fire in this thread here (http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtop ... =2&t=65537" target="_blank) for daring to follow Spyderco's cleaning instructions for the first time. I used soap and water, went above and beyond by blowing the knife out thoroughly removing the overwhelming majority of said water, and then put it in a warm dry place to finish drying out. The stop pin was, apparently, defective and rusted surprisingly badly. A few members of this forum criticized me in quite a few different ways for doing this, insisting I should have somehow dried it better, or should never have washed it in soap and water, or something else like that. The short answer though is that, while according to Spyderco's very nice CS rep the stop pin shouldn't have rusted under these circumstances (my interpertation), there is no escaping two things:
1) Had I disassembled the knife and cleaned it with CLP this wouldn't have happened (what I typically do to my knives on the rare occasions they require it)
2) More than a few forum members here who don't hesitate to endorse assembled soap and water cleaning, without reservation or caveat, were either critical of my soap and water cleaning or were oddly silent.


That said, I want to be clear that I have never had a warranty issue with Spyderco where I've been dissatisfied with the outcome. Spyderco has always gone above and beyond and treated me right. In my opinion, and it is just an opinion, I see their warranty policy as simply a liability limiter, because when I've needed something they've always made it right. I should also add that issues, again in my experience, are extremely few and far between; the only reason I have had multiple experiences with Spyderco W&R is because I like their cutlery too **** much and have bought too many of the things.


TL;DR
I think Spyderco's warranty is well written, and draws the line right where it should be.

[Bodog]

Sounds like an all around good post.

I might catch some fire for this, but here is my take on the situation:

First, spyderco's warranty does not say disassembly unconditionally voids the warranty, it actually says:

Spyderco’s warranty does not cover damage caused by abuse, misuse, loss, improper handling, alterations, accident, neglect, disassembly, or improper sharpening.

The legal interpretation of this is that disassembly does not void the warranty innately, it is only if your disassembly damages the knife that the warranty is voided.

Going beyond that, I would argue that there is a certain sampling bias in running a CS department regarding disassembly/reassembly competency. I'm always prepared to be wrong, but I personally don't find cutlery to be all that precise or difficult to work on, as compared to other common things people need to work on including firearms and vehicles. I'll also note that car companies don't void your warranty if the car is worked on by someone other than one of their dealers, and it'd be quite difficult/expensive to own a firearm if you needed to send it back to the factory for cleaning every time because you weren't allowed to take it apart to do so.

And my third and final point is that not all cleaning can/should be done with the knife assembled. I caught a great deal of fire in this thread here (http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtop ... =2&t=65537" target="_blank) for daring to follow Spyderco's cleaning instructions for the first time. I used soap and water, went above and beyond by blowing the knife out thoroughly removing the overwhelming majority of said water, and then put it in a warm dry place to finish drying out. The stop pin was, apparently, defective and rusted surprisingly badly. A few members of this forum criticized me in quite a few different ways for doing this, insisting I should have somehow dried it better, or should never have washed it in soap and water, or something else like that. The short answer though is that, while according to Spyderco's very nice CS rep the stop pin shouldn't have rusted under these circumstances (my interpertation), there is no escaping two things:
1) Had I disassembled the knife and cleaned it with CLP this wouldn't have happened (what I typically do to my knives on the rare occasions they require it)
2) More than a few forum members here who don't hesitate to endorse assembled soap and water cleaning, without reservation or caveat, were either critical of my soap and water cleaning or were oddly silent.


That said, I want to be clear that I have never had a warranty issue with Spyderco where I've been dissatisfied with the outcome. Spyderco has always gone above and beyond and treated me right. In my opinion, and it is just an opinion, I see their warranty policy as simply a liability limiter, because when I've needed something they've always made it right. I should also add that issues, again in my experience, are extremely few and far between; the only reason I have had multiple experiences with Spyderco W&R is because I like their cutlery too **** much and have bought too many of the things.


TL;DR
I think Spyderco's warranty is well written, and draws the line right where it should be.

[Evil D]

I might catch some fire for this, but here is my take on the situation:

First, spyderco's warranty does not say disassembly unconditionally voids the warranty, it actually says:

Spyderco’s warranty does not cover damage caused by abuse, misuse, loss, improper handling, alterations, accident, neglect, disassembly, or improper sharpening.

The legal interpretation of this is that disassembly does not void the warranty innately, it is only if your disassembly damages the knife that the warranty is voided.

Going beyond that, I would argue that there is a certain sampling bias in running a CS department regarding disassembly/reassembly competency. I'm always prepared to be wrong, but I personally don't find cutlery to be all that precise or difficult to work on, as compared to other common things people need to work on including firearms and vehicles. I'll also note that car companies don't void your warranty if the car is worked on by someone other than one of their dealers, and it'd be quite difficult/expensive to own a firearm if you needed to send it back to the factory for cleaning every time because you weren't allowed to take it apart to do so.

And my third and final point is that not all cleaning can/should be done with the knife assembled. I caught a great deal of fire in this thread here (http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtop ... =2&t=65537" target="_blank) for daring to follow Spyderco's cleaning instructions for the first time. I used soap and water, went above and beyond by blowing the knife out thoroughly removing the overwhelming majority of said water, and then put it in a warm dry place to finish drying out. The stop pin was, apparently, defective and rusted surprisingly badly. A few members of this forum criticized me in quite a few different ways for doing this, insisting I should have somehow dried it better, or should never have washed it in soap and water, or something else like that. The short answer though is that, while according to Spyderco's very nice CS rep the stop pin shouldn't have rusted under these circumstances (my interpertation), there is no escaping two things:
1) Had I disassembled the knife and cleaned it with CLP this wouldn't have happened (what I typically do to my knives on the rare occasions they require it)
2) More than a few forum members here who don't hesitate to endorse assembled soap and water cleaning, without reservation or caveat, were either critical of my soap and water cleaning or were oddly silent.


That said, I want to be clear that I have never had a warranty issue with Spyderco where I've been dissatisfied with the outcome. Spyderco has always gone above and beyond and treated me right. In my opinion, and it is just an opinion, I see their warranty policy as simply a liability limiter, because when I've needed something they've always made it right. I should also add that issues, again in my experience, are extremely few and far between; the only reason I have had multiple experiences with Spyderco W&R is because I like their cutlery too **** much and have bought too many of the things.


TL;DR
I think Spyderco's warranty is well written, and draws the line right where it should be.

All that aside, and no matter how much anyone agrees or disagrees or criticizes, there is and will always be the argument that there are pinned knives (Caly 3/3.5) that are out there in vast quantities, being used for all manner of things, that are never taken apart for cleaning and they're just fine. Heck, any of us who grew up with slipjoints probably spent most of their youth with knives that didn't even have pivot screws let alone screws anywhere else, and many of those knives weren't even stainless. Ask a Case enthusiast if he takes apart his Stockman, or ask a Buck guy if he takes apart his 110.

I think there is a much larger probability that the stop pin on your knife is/was more prone to rusting given any kind of moisture, than to say that taking it apart would have outright prevented this. Anything you could have done to prevent the rust with the knife apart could have been done with it together, considering the stop pin isn't exactly shrouded by anything at all. Heck, even my own Para 2 pin rusted and I don't believe that knife has ever been washed, so the only moisture is from my body and it still happened.

In the end, if Spyderco even said it shouldn't have rusted under those circumstances, there is likely an issue with the pin itself rather than how it was cleaned.

[JNewell]

The legal interpretation of this is that disassembly does not void the warranty innately, it is only if your disassembly damages the knife that the warranty is voided.

No, that is not the legal interpretation. Unless you wear a black robe at work and are addressed as "Your Honor," or at least have a law degree, it isn't even a legal interpretation. It's just your interpretation. Kristi and other Spyderco representatives have repeatedly posted here and elsewhere that disassembly does void the warranty. They have also posted that they take a practical approach to actually applying this policy that is consistent with the second half of your sentence. Here's the point: until someone sues Spyderco and wins, Spyderco gets to tell us what their warranty means.

[Cliff Stamp]

[...]
Kristi and other Spyderco representatives have repeatedly posted here and elsewhere that disassembly does void the warranty.

You don't need to be a Judge or have a law degree to give a legal interpretation, you just have to be not ignorant of the law, just like you don't need to "be a scientist" as in have some sort of degree to give a scientific interpretation, you just have to be not ignorant of science.

It also isn't the case that a legal interpretation is some of absolute, it can be challenged, even the ruling of judges because there are no absolutes there are simply interpretations. As well a lay individual can (and often does) represent themselves and provide legal arguments in court. Most small claims arguments are done by lay individuals who argue for the legal rights/claims.

Kristi, or even Sal by the way do not have the write to over rule casually the written warranty statement that comes with the knife and more so than when you buy a car from a dealer the owner of the dealership can casually rewrite the written warranty or any part of the contract nor do they even have the write to provide the interpretation without constraint. In general contract disputes in fact it is the opposite, the person who DIDN'T write the contract is given more weight as the onus is on the contract writer to establish a "meeting of the minds" so if there is any conflict then it will tend to go against the contract writer (unless they have much better lawyers).

If the warranty says that "damage resulting from X voids the warranty" then this doesn't mean doing X inherently voids the warranty, that isn't simply a legal interpretation it is a logical one. It is no different than if you said "burns which result from cooking should be treated by going to the hospital". A logic interpretation of this sentence is NOT that cooking results in people having to do to the hospital, it is that if cooking results in burns then the burns result in people going to a hospital.

[Blerv]

Pragmatically why would they deny disassembly if no damage was done? Just to piss off someone with a keyboard to save a product write-off?

They could probably make a case for negligence in any case. Nobody is going to hire an attorney for a $60 knife unless you can hire one from 1890 via DeLorean.

Fact is they frequently go ABOVE the call of duty. That and since the Internet focuses on the bad for every rant about bad customer service there are probably thousands of happy transactions. IE: probability is on your side for a good experience...unless you are a dice-roll champ or a bit nutty.

[Bodog]

A good equivalent is 18 USC 111. "Whoever—
(1) forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties..."

Now, you'd think that it means that you can't impede, intimidate, resist, or forcibly assualt a federal officer. Well, you'd be wrong. It means that you can't use force to impede, use force to resist, use force to intimidate, etc. It's all how it's worded. The wording of the warranty says that damage caused by disassembly voids any warranty claim brought because of that damage, not the disassembly itself voids the warranty. Just academics here guys. It's common sense that if you damage it they won't, and shouldn't, cover it. It's also well known that if there's damage caused by a faulty manufacturing process, regardless of disassembly, it'll be covered. But that's what the warranty says, and that's what spyderco is repeatedly known to do. So all of this is kind of pointless. Spyderco lives up to their warranty policy. Has there been a case where disassembly uncovered a fault caused by spyderco that spyderco didn't repair?

Read it this way: Spyderco’s warranty does not cover damage caused by abuse, misuse, loss, improper handling, alterations, accident, neglect, disassembly, or improper sharpening.

Now read it this way: Spyderco’s warranty does not cover damage caused by disassembly.

It doesn't expressly say: Spyderco's warranty will be null and void if a knife has been found to be disassembled or modified.

There's a big difference.

[senorsquare]

I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but if you mess up your knife by taking it apart then don't expect the manufacturer to fix it for free. I could probably make this more complicated, but I think that has been thoroughly covered here.

[JNewell]

I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but if you mess up your knife by taking it apart then don't expect the manufacturer to fix it for free. I could probably make this more complicated, but I think that has been thoroughly covered here.

Logical, concise, politely put, in plain English. It doesn't get better than that. :D :spyder:

[hunterseeker5]

All that aside, and no matter how much anyone agrees or disagrees or criticizes, there is and will always be the argument that there are pinned knives (Caly 3/3.5) that are out there in vast quantities, being used for all manner of things, that are never taken apart for cleaning and they're just fine. Heck, any of us who grew up with slipjoints probably spent most of their youth with knives that didn't even have pivot screws let alone screws anywhere else, and many of those knives weren't even stainless. Ask a Case enthusiast if he takes apart his Stockman, or ask a Buck guy if he takes apart his 110.

This is all true, but is a very regressive/conservative argument. It is true, people were "fine" back in the day with their carbon steel pinned knives, but then again you could also say people were fine with their 19th century healthcare as well. So yes, people did live their lives, have kids, and ultimately lead us to being here, but in my opinion that does nothing to discount the progress which has been made since. Those knives you reference also didn't have pocket clips, one hand opening (spyder holes), or a variety of other modern conveniences. I therefore make the argument that advancements, from manufacturing technology making screw-together construction cost effective to RF ablation becoming fairly common, shouldn't be discounted just because people used to live without them. :) We all love to reminisce about the past, and how the grass was greener, but really deep down we all know that the grass really is greener today and tomorrow than it was yesterday.

Pragmatically why would they deny disassembly if no damage was done? Just to piss off someone with a keyboard to save a product write-off?

They wouldn't, and as we've seen before they don't. As I said, I believe it is a liability limiter, and not an unreasonable one at that. It is very rare to find a company which explicitly warranties damage due to product disassembly. A number of members of spyderco though probably have dealt with some pretty insane situations regarding disassembled knives, and it is my guess they're just tired of it. I don't know what the numbers are, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they have a line item somewhere for how much they spend annually reassembling/fixing incompetently serviced cutlery; I've never seen them charge what fixing a knife would actually cost them before. So that is my guess as to why they would like to strongly discourage it, and I see that point. Some other companies have gone to unfortunate extremes to prevent these losses, and I'm thankful that Spyderco isn't one of them.

[The Deacon]

A good equivalent is 18 USC 111. "Whoever—
(1) forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties..."

Now, you'd think that it means that you can't impede, intimidate, resist, or forcibly assualt a federal officer. Well, you'd be wrong. It means that you can't use force to impede, use force to resist, use force to intimidate, etc. It's all how it's worded. The wording of the warranty says that damage caused by disassembly voids any warranty claim brought because of that damage, not the disassembly itself voids the warranty. Just academics here guys. It's common sense that if you damage it they won't, and shouldn't, cover it. It's also well known that if there's damage caused by a faulty manufacturing process, regardless of disassembly, it'll be covered. But that's what the warranty says, and that's what spyderco is repeatedly known to do. So all of this is kind of pointless. Spyderco lives up to their warranty policy. Has there been a case where disassembly uncovered a fault caused by spyderco that spyderco didn't repair?

Read it this way: Spyderco’s warranty does not cover damage caused by abuse, misuse, loss, improper handling, alterations, accident, neglect, disassembly, or improper sharpening.

Now read it this way: Spyderco’s warranty does not cover damage caused by disassembly.

It doesn't expressly say: Spyderco's warranty will be null and void if a knife has been found to be disassembled or modified.

There's a big difference.

Totally logical and well reasoned argument. I certainly can't find any fault with it. However, it fails to take into account the content of Kristi's initial post in this thread from a few years back, which I've quoted the pertinent portion of below, and the dozens of times that the accuracy of its message has be confirmed by her, Sal, and Michael Janich in the years since including Sal's reaffirmation of it in this very thread.

Hey ya'll. Reading through a few different threads this morning and a couple of things popped out at me that I think need to be clarified.

1st - Disassembling a Spyderco voids the warranty. Period. There was a question about this being a "myth". It is not a myth. It does not matter if you don't break anything when you do it. If we can tell that a knife has been disassembled (whether it's a FrankenSpyder or not) the warranty is technically void. We manufacture knives with all screw construction not because we want you to take them apart. We do so, so our Crew can take them apart for maintenance and repair. I'm sure there might be some other questions, but bottom line, if you take your knife apart, the warranty is void.

Every item that is sent in to W&R is evaluated individually and on a case by case basis. Every situation is different. We will always handle W&R issues in a fair and proper way. But it's important to understand the warranty as we state it, not as it's interpreted by others. There are a lot of great, knowledgeable, helpful people on our Forum. However, they cannot make a judgment on a Warranty issue. Only we can and we can only do that by having the knife in question in our hands.

[Laethageal]

Kristi, or even Sal by the way do not have the write to over rule casually the written warranty statement that comes with the knife and more so than when you buy a car from a dealer the owner of the dealership can casually rewrite the written warranty or any part of the contract nor do they even have the write to provide the interpretation without constraint. In general contract disputes in fact it is the opposite, the person who DIDN'T write the contract is given more weight as the onus is on the contract writer to establish a "meeting of the minds" so if there is any conflict then it will tend to go against the contract writer (unless they have much better lawyers).

If the warranty says that "damage resulting from X voids the warranty" then this doesn't mean doing X inherently voids the warranty, that isn't simply a legal interpretation it is a logical one. It is no different than if you said "burns which result from cooking should be treated by going to the hospital". A logic interpretation of this sentence is NOT that cooking results in people having to do to the hospital, it is that if cooking results in burns then the burns result in people going to a hospital.

Totally logical and well reasoned argument. I certainly can't find any fault with it. However, it fails to take into account the content of Kristi's initial post in this thread from a few years back, which I've quoted the pertinent portion of below, and the dozens of times that the accuracy of its message has be confirmed by her, Sal, and Michael Janich in the years since including Sal's reaffirmation of it in this very thread.

Hey ya'll. Reading through a few different threads this morning and a couple of things popped out at me that I think need to be clarified.

1st - Disassembling a Spyderco voids the warranty. Period. There was a question about this being a "myth". It is not a myth. It does not matter if you don't break anything when you do it. If we can tell that a knife has been disassembled (whether it's a FrankenSpyder or not) the warranty is technically void. We manufacture knives with all screw construction not because we want you to take them apart. We do so, so our Crew can take them apart for maintenance and repair. I'm sure there might be some other questions, but bottom line, if you take your knife apart, the warranty is void.

Every item that is sent in to W&R is evaluated individually and on a case by case basis. Every situation is different. We will always handle W&R issues in a fair and proper way. But it's important to understand the warranty as we state it, not as it's interpreted by others. There are a lot of great, knowledgeable, helpful people on our Forum. However, they cannot make a judgment on a Warranty issue. Only we can and we can only do that by having the knife in question in our hands.

Simply out of logic, how would a statement from spyderco on a forum overcome the warranty statement written on paper the average Joe get with the knife he buys? How is he supposed to know at all about the forum? I guess not even 1/5th of spyderco user ever came on this forum. People in here are really helpful, and I think none are here to make trouble. But sometimes people are not part of this small community and as such, the warranty paper we get should prime over the forum, unless the warranty paper get to state that more details about the warranty are to be found on the said forum.

Again, this is only speaking about how I see law interpretation and in no way bashing at Spyderco because we all know they have the best CS ever.

Sal made me understant my thinking about most people being able to open a knife without messing it was wrong, and I fully trust his experience. He will always go way further to help then he is needed to. But I can't see some statement on a forum remove some right that was granted by the official warranty paper.

Edit: Maybe it's simply not to give some more legal food to those who try to abuse the warranty. What if they said "yeah it doesnt void the warranty if you disassemble the knife". They would somehow become liable for any mistake a user make.

[Evil D]

All that aside, and no matter how much anyone agrees or disagrees or criticizes, there is and will always be the argument that there are pinned knives (Caly 3/3.5) that are out there in vast quantities, being used for all manner of things, that are never taken apart for cleaning and they're just fine. Heck, any of us who grew up with slipjoints probably spent most of their youth with knives that didn't even have pivot screws let alone screws anywhere else, and many of those knives weren't even stainless. Ask a Case enthusiast if he takes apart his Stockman, or ask a Buck guy if he takes apart his 110.

This is all true, but is a very regressive/conservative argument. It is true, people were "fine" back in the day with their carbon steel pinned knives, but then again you could also say people were fine with their 19th century healthcare as well. So yes, people did live their lives, have kids, and ultimately lead us to being here, but in my opinion that does nothing to discount the progress which has been made since. Those knives you reference also didn't have pocket clips, one hand opening (spyder holes), or a variety of other modern conveniences. I therefore make the argument that advancements, from manufacturing technology making screw-together construction cost effective to RF ablation becoming fairly common, shouldn't be discounted just because people used to live without them. :) We all love to reminisce about the past, and how the grass was greener, but really deep down we all know that the grass really is greener today and tomorrow than it was yesterday.

As far as progress goes, the introduction of screws was not intended to allow us to take the knives apart, but rather to make repairs easier for Spyderco. Sal himself has said this numerous times here. There are also several modern knives in the catalog that are stilled pinned, like the Caly/Caly3.5, Centofante 3/4, almost all the SS handled knives, the ClipiTools, the Manix 2 Lightweight..

Still, I do however agree and would prefer to be allowed to disassemble knives...so it's not as if I completely disagree with you, I'm just defending their policy because there's plenty of truth on both sides. I try to give people advice on this forum to the best of my ability and to keep them safe. I wouldn't feel right giving them the advice to take their knife apart, only for them to make a mistake and need Spyderco's help and to find that they've voided their warranty because of my advice, and I do believe a proper cleaning can be done without taking it apart in most cases, depending on how the knife is being used and depending on the knife in question. I think the most common exception is any knife used in food prep, specifically for those folks out there who clean deer/animals/fish/etc, and my argument here is along the lines of disinfectant and cleaning out all the fat/blood/etc so the knife isn't contaminated the next time you use it. It also just so happens that cleaning animals is one of the dirtiest jobs you can do with a knife.

[araneae]

If you don't like the policy, don't buy their knives. Sal runs a company that goes above and beyond for their customers repeatedly, regardless of their warranty statement.