Spyderco Forums

Has Spyderco ever considered or made a prototype of an OTF? I think a Spyderco OTF could be really cool, and it would give us some options for OTF's other than MT, or the few models that BM has.

I hope they never do.

thanks a lot.... thanks for your information... very much useful for me.... keep on posting...:-)

RayRay wrote:I hope they never do.

I agree with this post, I will provide my side

Number 1 is the main point, Colorado has a no auto law basically meaning that they can't be manufactured so it would have to be made somewhere in the US (to avoid international shipping ****) in an AutoFriendly state which will run a pretty penny.

Number 2, the OTF world is fairly corrupt these days in my opinion. I saw Custom Made Lone Wolf OTF(only 2 made) for the same price as the Infidel with less blade play, etc. People make the price on OTFS go too high many of the time. Only good OTFs I find for a good price is actually a mild knock off of the Dalton Cupid by Paragon Steel out of Asheville NC(120 for S30V OTF) OTFs seem to come with unreasonable prices and many people associate price with quality in the OTF world. If spyderco wanted to keep afloat in the OTF market they would need a high price, otherwise they would be assumed to be subpar(which we all know is not true) I think OTF is becoming a mainly pricey toy market these days. Not a fan of it considering many people can't carry them at all.
Spyderco doesn't need that to worry about, I prefer if they just keep their lines open to producing current designs and future designs.

I will say I would love a Dual Action knife (not an OTF) like Matt Diskin style that was used in Lone Wolf Knives (Prebenchmade buyout) made out of where their autoline comes from.

Chipped Karambit wrote:I agree with this post, I will provide my side

Number 1 is the main point, Colorado has a no auto law basically meaning that they can't be manufactured so it would have to be made somewhere in the US (to avoid international shipping ****) in an AutoFriendly state which will run a pretty penny.

Number 2, the OTF world is fairly corrupt these days in my opinion. I saw Custom Made Lone Wolf OTF(only 2 made) for the same price as the Infidel with less blade play, etc. People make the price on OTFS go too high many of the time. Only good OTFs I find for a good price is actually a mild knock off of the Dalton Cupid by Paragon Steel out of Asheville NC(120 for S30V OTF) OTFs seem to come with unreasonable prices and many people associate price with quality in the OTF world. If spyderco wanted to keep afloat in the OTF market they would need a high price, otherwise they would be assumed to be subpar(which we all know is not true) I think OTF is becoming a mainly pricey toy market these days. Not a fan of it considering many people can't carry them at all.
Spyderco doesn't need that to worry about, I prefer if they just keep their lines open to producing current designs and future designs.

I will say I would love a Dual Action knife (not an OTF) like Matt Diskin style that was used in Lone Wolf Knives (Prebenchmade buyout) made out of where their autoline comes from.

Regarding your first point. If what you say is true, how was Spyderco able to manufacture the BiFold, Embassy, and Citadels? How will they manufacture the upcoming Autonomy?

Personally, while I doubt it will happen for other reasons, I'd love to see a hand neutral Spyderco DA OTF auto.

The Deacon wrote:Regarding your first point. If what you say is true, how was Spyderco able to manufacture the BiFold, Embassy, and Citadels? How will they manufacture the upcoming Autonomy?

Personally, while I doubt it will happen for other reasons, I'd love to see a hand neutral Spyderco DA OTF auto.

From what I heard they were made by someone in NC. Not sure if this is true or not but ehh. I know they say Golden Colorado, But I figured they were assembled in a second location because well, http://knife-expert.com/co.txt Switchblades are a No Go in Colorado.

Switchblades are a no go by federal law. Knife companies can produce them but they are supposed to be sold to military LEOs and emergency response personnel. Not sure why it would have to be priced high people know spyderco is quality and if they don't I doubt pricing a product higher would help. Spyderco tries to keep their prices reasonable especially for these kinds of knives. I would like to see spydercos twist on an otf though. I think it's very unlikely but I hope I'm wrong.

It's a restricted knife which means it can be made and sold by authorized channels. It's also against federal law to carry (wear) a 3.5" folder out of the SFO but Spyderco makes and sells these.

The world of auto knives in general is only slightly less asinine than balisongs. If I was legally able to own one as a service individual I would...they seem pretty cool. Necessary though? Hardly.

I would love to see one made but I would also hate to see spyderco get in any type of trouble at the same time.

also if you get current CPR training wouldn't that entitle you to be in the "emergency response personnel group"?

I am a Vol Fire Fighter and first responder so the legalities really don't matter to me that much. And my school of thought is the old switch blade laws are kinda dumb and out dated so as long as you carry one and use common sense I don't think you could get in trouble. Its not like Police and deputies have special auto knife detectors in their patrol cars!

Spyderco wouldn't get in any trouble its legal to make.

VashHash wrote:Spyderco wouldn't get in any trouble its legal to make.

Except they operate out of CO which is antiauto unless they changed anytime recently.

I would leave that to the specialist in that matter and have Spyderco focus on awesome folders like the Southard :)

I don't completely understand the legal vs non-legal thing.

Honda sells an entire line of illegal to ride on the road dirt bikes.
Lima Army Tank builds the M1A1 Abram in Ohio which is illegal everywhere.
You can buy liquor in the grocery store which children can enter, they cannot buy without a license.
Half the knife stores in the malls sell butterfly knives (which you can buy but not carry? :confused :)
These same stores also sell fixed blades which are illegal in many states. Especially ones like push daggers.

Technically Spyderco could build ballistic knives if the US Army wanted them to if strictly as a contract with them. They would likely be directly sold from Spyderco to the military but still outlawed to all civilians (even firefighters who would use them to break windows during rescues :p ).

If I had the means to use while on government property, or buy with a specific license, I would likely own a restricted item. Because it's awesome :) . It's just not necessary or something I would care to push.

My Honda ATV isn't illegal, it's perfectly legal... it's insured, registered and everything. I'm just not allowed to ride it 99% of my state. lol With Gibson guitar not being able to use certain woods to make their instruments I wouldn't be surprised if Sypderco is under some bs scruitiny from the Government's limitless branches and agencies. Then they'd probably be buried in red tape when it comes to manufacturing certain tools like a ballistic knife. The fact that it fires the blade probably gets at least the ATF involved and working with those guys is apparently a nightmare.

I admit that those are are pretty silly examples. Still, products that are inherently illegal for civilians to possess or use in most situations aren't illegal to be produced by a normal company for people of a VERY specific audience. As you said it just requires a ton of paperwork and usually a heightened degree of security.

A Spyderco Military may be legal to carry in many places of Texas but if a teacher has one on public school property they would likely be in huge trouble. Similarly folks here may have concealed weapon permits but I don't know of any bar that allows handguns.

If Spyderco made an OTF, I would buy it sight-unseen.

Chipped Karambit wrote:Except they operate out of CO which is antiauto unless they changed anytime recently.

They already make autos out of golden

VashHash wrote:They already make autos out of golden

No they dont. rumor has it that asheville steel (paragon) makes the Spydie autos.

Chipped Karambit wrote: Number 2, the OTF world is fairly corrupt these days in my opinion. I saw Custom Made Lone Wolf OTF(only 2 made) for the same price as the Infidel with less blade play, etc. People make the price on OTFS go too high many of the time. .

The price of OTF knives has nothing to do with quality but one of profit. This can actually be applied to autos in general. Any time a company decides to manufacture and market a product they play a numbers game. And to make it worth their while they MUST make a profit. And by a certain margin for the company to consider the venture a success. There is only 2 ways to do this. By 1. selling high volume. A company can sell a product with a lower profit margin if they estimate that they will sell a ton of them. But anytime you have a product with a limited market like an auto knife you know your only going to be able to sell so many a year because your fanbase is limited by law. So while an OTF may not be any more expensive materials and machining wise than a manual folder of similar construction it will need to be more expensive so that at the end of the day both products have a comparable return on the investment. A folder selling 3000 units a year can be sold at a low markup where as an OTF might move 300 units that year if they are lucky. If you look at any product that has a limited market with low production numbers you will usually find a higher price tag. Especially if it is made by a company that is more used to dealing with higher production numbers. Another thing that makes autos more expensive is you cant import a single part. Spyderco knows this all too well. Everything must be USA produced and sourced which also drives the prices up. And the last thing that effects OTF prices is tolerances which in a way I guess could be viewed as quality. In many knife designs there is a slight margin for error. OTF designs are much less forgiving. And a thousandth of an inch can mean the difference between a useful reliable tool and a glorified baby rattle.

If spyderco can make an OTF similar to Microtechs HALO, then we'll talk.

For the record, the Embassy auto is 100% made in Golden. The Autonomy will be the same way. The Citadel was manufactured in NC, with some final details and QC done here in Golden.

Before joining Spyderco, I worked for a company that produced the Harkins Triton OTF. I also got to do a LOT of repair work on those knives. By design, OTFs are very finnicky and do not tolerate dirt well. As a novelty, I love them. As a tool, I avoid them.

My favorite OTF is the original German Paratrooper gravity knife and its post-war knockoffs. It was big and heavy, but it was solidly built and designed to be field stripped and cleaned without tools. Legally, it falls in the same category as an auto, so it's still a very limited market.

Stay safe,

Mike