Is the Urban back at 2.61 inch blade ?!

[elena86]

Just saw this in the 2024 Catalog. Is this correct ??? I really hope so !!! I was so dissapointed when they decided to shorten the Urban blade bellow 2.5 inch. This would be great news for me since the Urban is my all time fav pocket knife in the Spyderco line. I checked the official site and the specs are the same. Could anyone from the Spyderco crew confirm this ? Kristi ?

[Doc Dan]

I missed that, but I remember Sal saying that the Urban was meant to be 2.5" and the new Metropolitan was planned to be 2.61 or so.

[Notsurewhy]

The standards n690 version is listed at 2.61 on the website too. The recent Sprint in damasteel is listed at 2.44” so that seems to indicate they changed the length of the standard back to 2.61, but I certainly have no inside info. There's a possibility someone pulled an old spec sheet.

If you wanted a longer urban, isn't that basically what the ukpk is? Do you prefer the 3mm stock of the urban? or are there other subtleties that I'm missing? Could be a goldilocks thing I guess, where 2.4 is too short 2.9 is too long, but 2.61 is juuusst right .

I've never owned an urban, so forgive my ignorance on the subject.

[Flash]

The poorly received HH G10/S90v special was a short version, and is Marketed as a 2.44 inch blade. The base FRN/N690 version is 2.61 inch and the pinky red HH FRN/S30V special was 2.61 inch.

I don’t know about the damasteel version, it was far too rich for my blood - the white g10 and Damascus hurt my eyes almost as much as it would hurt my pocket.

[elena86]

The standards n690 version is listed at 2.61 on the website too. The recent Sprint in damasteel is listed at 2.44” so that seems to indicate they changed the length of the standard back to 2.61, but I certainly have no inside info. There's a possibility someone pulled an old spec sheet.

If you wanted a longer urban, isn't that basically what the ukpk is? Do you prefer the 3mm stock of the urban? or are there other subtleties that I'm missing? Could be a goldilocks thing I guess, where 2.4 is too short 2.9 is too long, but 2.61 is juuusst right .

I've never owned an urban, so forgive my ignorance on the subject.

I tell you what I prefer and why I prefer and love the Urban. Because it’s thinner behind the edge than most spydies. My K390 Urban, which is a jewel, is 0.016” sharpened at 15 degrees per side. My N690Co Urbans are more or less the same. Cutting performance is mostly offered by the edge geometry and thickness behind the edge is paramount IMO. I also like the fact that the Urban is more compact and the back spring being full lenght the opening-closing motion of the blade feels stiffer and more secure in the opening position. All in all the Urban is the best non-locking spydie pocket knife in my book.

[elena86]

I missed that, but I remember Sal saying that the Urban was meant to be 2.5" and the new Metropolitan was planned to be 2.61 or so.

The Met was planned to be 2.75” AFAIK. Maybe the Met project is droped and they realized that the initial 2.61” Urban was a better seller and a better looker with that blade lenght hence the upgraded blade steel from N690Co to M398. I really hope it’s not a data sheet mistake. If the specs were correct I am going to purchase at least 3 Urbans in this configuration. Fingers crossed ! I hope that someone from the Spyderco crew, maybe even Sal, will chime in and clarify this.

[Mushroom]

The Urban is a difficult one to track because of how many unannounced changes it has gone through but I’m guessing 2.61” is a mistake. Sal has stated that they shortened the blade on the Urban, which leads me to believe 2.5” is the correct blade length. (For what it’s worth, the Damasteel Urban is 2.5”)

The Metropolitan at 2.75” is still in the works, so the Urban at 2.5” makes more sense to me. It feels like a more justifiable difference compared to 2.75” and 2.61”, in my opinion.

[elena86]

The Urban is a difficult one to track because of how many unannounced changes it has gone through but I’m guessing 2.61” is a mistake. Sal has stated that they shortened the blade on the Urban, which leads me to believe 2.5” is the correct blade length. (For what it’s worth, the Damasteel Urban is 2.5”)

The Metropolitan at 2.75” is still in the works, so the Urban at 2.5” makes more sense to me. It feels like a more justifiable difference compared to 2.75” and 2.61”, in my opinion.

A mistake on both the official website and the Catalog ? Maybe … but I keep hoping … That aside, how do you know that the Met is “still in the works” ? Anyway, a 2.44” Urban in any steel is a no-go for me.

[Mushroom]

The Urban is a difficult one to track because of how many unannounced changes it has gone through but I’m guessing 2.61” is a mistake. Sal has stated that they shortened the blade on the Urban, which leads me to believe 2.5” is the correct blade length. (For what it’s worth, the Damasteel Urban is 2.5”)

The Metropolitan at 2.75” is still in the works, so the Urban at 2.5” makes more sense to me. It feels like a more justifiable difference compared to 2.75” and 2.61”, in my opinion.

A mistake on both the official site and the Catalog ? Maybe … but I keep hoping … That aside, how do you know that the Met is “still in the works” ?

Of course I don’t know anything that goes on behind the scenes at Spyderco but when Sal last spoke on the Metropolitan, he said they were waiting for a prototype from the maker. I understood that to mean a production prototype because they can make their own rapid prototype if they want to. He even mentioned shortening the Urban in that same post. - viewtopic.php?p=1687553#p1687553

Sal has stated more than once that the Urban is back to 2.5” and that they’re moving forward with the Metropolitan. The result will be a 2” Squeak, 2.5” Urban, 2.75” Metropolitan, and 3” UKPK. There might also be a 3.5” CPK (Canadian Pen Knife) eventually added to that list as well.

[sal]

Thanx Mushroom,

That is correct. I'm checking now. Once the Urban production is back to 2.5" blade length, then we can move forward on the "Metropolitan".

sal

[Roefisher]

Hopefully the full-sized Native will be on that slipjoint list later, too!

Mark

[elena86]

Thanx Mushroom,

That is correct. I'm checking now. Once the Urban production is back to 2.5" blade length, then we can move forward on the "Metropolitan".

sal

So, the specs are incorrect on both the official website and the catalog ?

[Notsurewhy]

The standards n690 version is listed at 2.61 on the website too. The recent Sprint in damasteel is listed at 2.44” so that seems to indicate they changed the length of the standard back to 2.61, but I certainly have no inside info. There's a possibility someone pulled an old spec sheet.

If you wanted a longer urban, isn't that basically what the ukpk is? Do you prefer the 3mm stock of the urban? or are there other subtleties that I'm missing? Could be a goldilocks thing I guess, where 2.4 is too short 2.9 is too long, but 2.61 is juuusst right .

I've never owned an urban, so forgive my ignorance on the subject.

I tell you what I prefer and why I prefer and love the Urban. Because it’s thinner behind the edge than most spydies. My K390 Urban, which is a jewel, is 0.016” sharpened at 15 degrees per side. My N690Co Urbans are more or less the same. Cutting performance is mostly offered by the edge geometry and thickness behind the edge is paramount IMO. I also like the fact that the Urban is more compact and the back spring being full lenght the opening-closing motion of the blade feels stiffer and more secure in the opening position. All in all the Urban is the best non-locking spydie pocket knife in my book.

Thanks for sharing, I wasn't aware or had forgotten about the differences. Now I'm interested in picking up an urban to compare to the ukpk. Even though in my new job I don't travel to areas that restrict locking knives, so I don't really need a slip joint anymore. I like cutting performance and being thin behind the edge is a huge part of that. Would also like to see what kind of difference a full backspring makes.

I wonder if they will keep the thin edge geometry with the metropolitan.

[aicolainen]

Thanx Mushroom,

That is correct. I'm checking now. Once the Urban production is back to 2.5" blade length, then we can move forward on the "Metropolitan".

sal

So, the specs are incorrect on both the official website and the catalog ?

The spec has been wrong all along, and I've pointed it out in several threads already. It's quite misleading.

[sal]

Hi Marius, Aicolainen,

I don't know for sure. We're checking that now, both to see what's on the shelf and what's in print/Digital. We explained it to our maker this past summer to make sure he understood the reasoning behind the length requirement.

sal

[elena86]

Hi Marius, Aicolainen,

I don't know for sure. We're checking that now, both to see what's on the shelf and what's in print/Digital. We explained it to our maker this past summer to make sure he understood the reasoning behind the length requirement.

sal

Hi Sal. Thank you for chiming in. It is important to check and see if the lenght is 2.61 in reality because some of us might prefer this lenght and I for one am commited to buy a few especially in M398 steel. Merry Christmas to you and Gail !

[elena86]

The standards n690 version is listed at 2.61 on the website too. The recent Sprint in damasteel is listed at 2.44” so that seems to indicate they changed the length of the standard back to 2.61, but I certainly have no inside info. There's a possibility someone pulled an old spec sheet.

If you wanted a longer urban, isn't that basically what the ukpk is? Do you prefer the 3mm stock of the urban? or are there other subtleties that I'm missing? Could be a goldilocks thing I guess, where 2.4 is too short 2.9 is too long, but 2.61 is juuusst right .

I've never owned an urban, so forgive my ignorance on the subject.

I tell you what I prefer and why I prefer and love the Urban. Because it’s thinner behind the edge than most spydies. My K390 Urban, which is a jewel, is 0.016” sharpened at 15 degrees per side. My N690Co Urbans are more or less the same. Cutting performance is mostly offered by the edge geometry and thickness behind the edge is paramount IMO. I also like the fact that the Urban is more compact and the back spring being full lenght the opening-closing motion of the blade feels stiffer and more secure in the opening position. All in all the Urban is the best non-locking spydie pocket knife in my book.

Thanks for sharing, I wasn't aware or had forgotten about the differences. Now I'm interested in picking up an urban to compare to the ukpk. Even though in my new job I don't travel to areas that restrict locking knives, so I don't really need a slip joint anymore. I like cutting performance and being thin behind the edge is a huge part of that. Would also like to see what kind of difference a full backspring makes.

I wonder if they will keep the thin edge geometry with the metropolitan.

I would be in heaven if they ground the Met as thin bte as the K390 Urban. I keep emphasizing the importance of thickness bte but Spyderco seems to be more concerned about the hypothetical complaints from those who abuse their blades. These are slipits after all and should be use accordingly.

[Wartstein]

....

I tell you what I prefer and why I prefer and love the Urban. Because it’s thinner behind the edge than most spydies.....

Interesting!

Me, when thinking about getting a small non locking folder (I would never get a larger one without a lock), it was always the UKPK - 10 % more edge than the Urban (even WHEN the latter actually has a 2.61 blade) and lighter (in FRN).
Plus thinner blade (2.5 UKPK vs 3.0 mm Urban) with presumably more tapering going on (cause the blade is also longer than on the Urban) - so I strongly assumed the UKPK would be the better slicer, and if I get a small non locking folder at all its role should be the one of a real slicing machine.

Now your observation makes the Urban a great slicer too by its thinness behind the edge.
Still: I think thinner blade stock (UKPK) is harder to create aftermarket by the end user than "just" thinning out a blade behind the edge diy - ?

[Michael Janich]

Hey, All:

I am responsible for maintaining the tech specs data for Spyderco. According to my master spreadsheet, I physically measured samples of the Urban Lightweight in March 2015. That's when the 2.61-inch blade length was established.

Once the specs for a product are established in the spreadsheet, I assume that they remain constant unless someone from our management or manufacturing teams informs me that we're making a change that would affect a product's specifications. Once such a change is made, I make the necessary updates.

In August 2021, the question of the blade length of the Heinie Haynes Urban Exclusive came up. I pulled multiple samples of it and the available samples we had of the standard Urban Lightweight and remeasured them. I confirmed that the original specs I defined for each were correct and accurate. Specifically, the samples of the Urban Lightweight that I found at that time still had 2.61-inch blades.

When I learned of this thread, I repeated that process and pulled three samples of fresh stock from SFO. I came up with an average blade length of 2.49. Until now, I was unaware that an in-line change had been made to this model. Now that I know it, I'll initiate action to update our marketing materials.

Stay safe,

Mike

[Hopsbreath]

Pick a model, any model; if the specs are off a tenth of an inch this is the crew to catch you.