Spyderco prices are pushing me right out of my hobby.

[FroOchie]

I really have no idea... I just thought if you used someone's name you paid to do it. Seems like these days you can't do or say anything without someone trying to bill you.

[Blerv]

At least they pay homage to the inventor.

In this day and age if someone can get away with it for free they will throw some candy sprinkles on it and call it their idea. Look at every waved knife on the market that doesn't mention Emerson.

"Oh...this one it totally different! It opens by a small teddy bear figurine that catches your pocket on the way out. We call it the Tactical Teddy."

[jzmtl]

I know some people will hate me for saying this, but the homage gotta stop at some point, either after a certain time or after it attains certain commonality. How many of you still attach Alexander Bell's name to your phone?

[spoonrobot]

That analogy doesn't hold up.

Few things are invented by one person and only able to be used in one basic configuration. Most knife locks fall into this category. The telephone does not, in modern use it is significantly different than the first iteration and newer patents have been granted as improvements and changes have occurred. Whereas a modern Walker liner lock is the same as first patented with only minor differences to materials and shape.

i.e. Walker lock holds open the knife blade with a "spring finger" and holds it closed with a ball detent. This is unchanged.

i.e. Telephone calls are no longer made with a liquid transmitter or with an electromagnetic system. The modern telephone is generally accepted as the product of many people with no specific credit given.


Sources:
Walker Patent:http://www.google.com/patents?id=hVk...page&q&f=false

Bell patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US174465

[Blerv]

So your advocating blatant IP theft? Ok, that extreme looks way better .

If a knife has a dozen parts I think you can credit the inventor. If the writing gets too tiring the maker could try...inventing something new.

[spoonrobot]

I hope not, there would be some lawyers that would be very unhappy with me if I were. My points were:

It's generally accepted that the sole inventor is credited with a unique device but often times when there are 2,3,4+ people that invent something together credit is withheld or referenced under a group in limited circumstances. Who invented the first camera phone? One guy. Who invented the first Iphone? A bunch of guys, credited as Apple or a specific division of Apple.

And,

One would be prudent in refraining from calling a modern telephone a "Bell Telephone" because the modern telephone is not a Bell design. But one should almost always reference a liner-lock as a Walker-lock since they are all essentially of his design (as credited by the US Patent Office).

Therefore,

I feel locks should still be credited to the designer, as should other unique features.

Of course, both of the above are very American-centric viewpoints and do not take into consideration social mores and patent issues in other countries.

[Blerv]

Oh I wasn't addressing your post Spoon.

[Arnis Student]

Hey guys! Just got bitten by the bug and I can really relate to the topic. I live in Manila, Philippines and as expensive the knives are for most of you, it is doubly expensive for me. A $31 dollar Tenacious when sold here by gun stores and importers become a $100 dollar knife. I was just lucky enough to have a relative visit from the states and had her buy me a Tenacious, a Tenacious Black and a Resilience. I thought as starters, the value folders would be a good stepping stone for me to learn about knife care and sharpening. I've been drooling for a Manix 2 and a Millie 2 but our local dealers are just asking for too much and ordering online can be a nightmare as our local couriers ask for additional $70-$80 dollars prolly due to tax.

Hehe. Its a bad time to be bitten by the bug but I've been dreaming of spyderco knives since I was in high school (I'm now 27) so I guess as the others said, I'll just save up and see if I can buy what I want sooner than later.

I'm doing all I can to be an owner of a Massad Ayoob or Szabo Folder in this lifetime hehehe.

Cheers from Manila!

[BAL]

Hey guys! Just got bitten by the bug and I can really relate to the topic. I live in Manila, Philippines and as expensive the knives are for most of you, it is doubly expensive for me. A $31 dollar Tenacious when sold here by gun stores and importers become a $100 dollar knife. I was just lucky enough to have a relative visit from the states and had her buy me a Tenacious, a Tenacious Black and a Resilience. I thought as starters, the value folders would be a good stepping stone for me to learn about knife care and sharpening. I've been drooling for a Manix 2 and a Millie 2 but our local dealers are just asking for too much and ordering online can be a nightmare as our local couriers ask for additional $70-$80 dollars prolly due to tax.

Hehe. Its a bad time to be bitten by the bug but I've been dreaming of spyderco knives since I was in high school (I'm now 27) so I guess as the others said, I'll just save up and see if I can buy what I want sooner than later.

I'm doing all I can to be an owner of a Massad Ayoob or Szabo Folder in this lifetime hehehe.

Cheers from Manila!

Not to derail the thread, but welcome and you have good tastes in knives. I have all of the ones
that you mentioned (except the Szabo, but hope to) and they are all great for different reasons.
Those are a great start to a lifetime collection. (The Massad Ayoob and Yojimbo 2 are as good as
it gets for self defense and I believe that the Szabo folder will fit into that group)

This thread is about pricing of Spyderco knives, so I'll relate. I feel for you guys overseas that
have to pay more for a knife than we in the states have to. That makes some of the higher priced
ones, really a burden to pick up.

[The Deacon]

This thread is about pricing of Spyderco knives, so I'll relate. I feel for you guys overseas that
have to pay more for a knife than we in the states have to. That makes some of the higher priced
ones, really a burden to pick up.

I agree. On the other hand, to be fair, that's not an issue confined to Spyderco's products. Some countries may favor "local" products, but I'm guessing that anywhere outside the USA knives by any US knife company would be subject to the same taxes, duties, shipping charges, and local markups.

[Wolverine666]

I agree that the prices of the Spydercos that really interest me are mostly pretty high. But I always get fantastic quality from Spyderco so as long as the prices don't skyrocket then I'm okay with it.

On a related note , a more prevalent reason as to what makes me look at other knife brands lately is the consistent lack of availability of certain Spydercos. And I'm not talking about Sprints. Just the normal production knives. Been waiting forever for a Yojimbo2 and DigiCamo PM2. It's frustrating to say the least. And no offense to Spyderco at all here. Just speaking my mind.

[tvenuto]

Ok so the Yo2 is a special case, it was delayed much longer than normal and we can all sympathize. I'd venture to guess that you could find a new digicam PM2 pretty easily, it just wouldn't be the lowest possible price.

You know the funny thing? If the price on these two were higher, the demand would go down and they wouldn't be hard to come by. You're damned if you do, or damned if you don't as a manufacturer. Higher prices have people complaining about the price, lower prices have people complaining about the demand, and on the same thread no less!

[Wolverine666]

Ok so the Yo2 is a special case, it was delayed much longer than normal and we can all sympathize. I'd venture to guess that you could find a new digicam PM2 pretty easily, it just wouldn't be the lowest possible price.

You know the funny thing? If the price on these two were higher, the demand would go down and they wouldn't be hard to come by. You're damned if you do, or damned if you don't as a manufacturer. Higher prices have people complaining about the price, lower prices have people complaining about the demand, and on the same thread no less!

Haha. You make a pretty good point. But it still doesn't ease my pain of being without these knives. All in good time I suppose.

Also , what was the special case concerning the Yojimbo2 ? I must have missed that.

[tvenuto]

I just meant that the Yo2 release went unusually poorly. Demand was far far higher than anticipated, and people have the right to feel disappointed when their pre-orders go unfilled for months and months, especially if they paid in full. Although I'm sure Spyderco doesn't dictate how their vendors handle pre-orders, so this is partially on the vendors.

[FroOchie]

I know some people will hate me for saying this, but the homage gotta stop at some point, either after a certain time or after it attains certain commonality. How many of you still attach Alexander Bell's name to your phone?

For people that like in the NY Metro Tristate like me and remember Bell Atlantic and the rest of the Baby Bell's... all the time.

[tvenuto]

I know some people will hate me for saying this, but the homage gotta stop at some point, either after a certain time or after it attains certain commonality. How many of you still attach Alexander Bell's name to your phone?

I'm not sure this example is the best one, since the phone has far surpassed the wildest dreams of Bell. If you went back in time and showed them your iPhone, you would be burned at the stake for witchcraft.

[RedRunner]

I agree that the prices of the Spydercos that really interest me are mostly pretty high. But I always get fantastic quality from Spyderco so as long as the prices don't skyrocket then I'm okay with it.

Agreed. I also think Spyderco is producing more "exotics" which means I'm buying more and noticing the affect on my pocketbook. Overall I don't feel the prices are out of line, but I am being a bit more selective - but still spending as much or even a little more trying to keep my collection up. Fun hobby! Thanks Spyderco for such a great product at a reasonable price.

[The Deacon]

Agreed. I also think Spyderco is producing more "exotics" which means I'm buying more and noticing the affect on my pocketbook. Overall I don't feel the prices are out of line, but I am being a bit more selective - but still spending as much or even a little more trying to keep my collection up. Fun hobby! Thanks Spyderco for such a great product at a reasonable price.

True, and not just exotics. I suspect there were more new models and variants of existing ones released last year than during the first ten years of Spyderco's existence. Not saying it's a bad thing, just that it does make keeping up with them impossible, for all but the wealthiest of us and even keeping up with "just" one of several models costly.

[thelock]

I own a Lum tanto grey sprint, when I tell people in my country that the same knife is going currently on ebay for 200$+, they ask me if I am crazy lol can't blame them, since they work 2 weeks for that kind of money...

[Jay_Ev]

I think that we are also overlooking the fact that the OP was commenting more on NEW models being released are getting higher and higher dollar values. Yes we know that the Byrd line, or the Tenacious line, or even the Delica/Endura are all relatively affordable. However, all the new models are all high cost items.

It's not just new models being released. It's happening to variants of existing models as well. Example? I just paid $190+ for a CF Dodo.
Not a complaint, because it was my choice to pay it. Just stating an observation.