Salt 2 Wharncliffe: gone for good or CQI incoming?

[spydergoat]

Can anyone from Spyderco or who is otherwise informed comment on whether the Salt wharnie is gone for good?

Some in the DC'd thread were guessing that they will transition to a magnacut Seki salt line. Is there any evidence or confirmation? If this happens, I'm still wondering if the wharnies sold enough to even come back.

It's still available at a good price currently and whether or not it will come back affects whether I need to buy backups. IMO this knife is the best lightweight EDC. If it is not selling then lots of people are missing out.

[Manixguy@1994]

All comments should be considered speculation and basically that’s why we are here . How fast the Salt line will grow into Magnacut steel is what everyone would like to know and patience is all we should cling to . I’m sure there is a game plan ,we have the Native and more will come which model or models is entirely up to the company . As far as the Wharnie , I honestly can’t say if the blade has a future or if sales were poor and would not be proper to say one way or another . Personally I would love a Salt Endela Wharnie or the upcoming Manix Salt , but if it doesn’t happen not the end of the world . MG2

[w3tnz]

The seki salt line has just transitioned to H2, I wouldn’t expect a change to magnacut, I would say that will be used on usa salt models.

Seems like the salt 2 wc is just getting the chop from the lineup.

[James Y]

If the Salt 2 LC200N wharncliffe version were to resurrect to Magnacut, that would be great.

I believe only the H1 Seki Salt line transitioned to H2.

Have all the LC200N Seki Salts been discontinued?

Jim

[w3tnz]

No there are still green LC200N models, also.

I just can’t see why they would use magnacut on the seki salts when they’ve just invested in development and manufacture of H2 in Japan.

[Mushroom]

CQI doesn't require discontinuing the model. My guess is that it’s gone for good.

[Zipper]

I’m going to start a rumor ….. it’s going because of the incoming Native 5 Salt Wharncliffe in MagnaCut ……

To the OP. I agree it is a cracker lightweight EDC. My only negative is I am not a fan of the delica handle shape. Even with that issue (bit small for me), the blade shape is a stand out in day to day use.

[skeeg11]

I don't think it's just the salt wharnies that are taking a hit. Seems a lot of wharnies are going bye bye throughout the product line.....even the new serrated Byrd wharnies which is a real shame.

[Wartstein]

I don't think it's just the salt wharnies that are taking a hit. Seems a lot of wharnies are going bye bye throughout the product line.....even the new serrated Byrd wharnies which is a real shame.

I was just about about typing an reply along that lines, you beat me to it.

Yes, looking at the list it seems they are generally moving away from the wharnie blade shape.
And thinking of what Sal and Eric said about how (positively) they feel about wharncliffes and took some pride in the way Spyderco executed those, the reason most likely has to be poor sales, and nothing performance related.

So, sadly, I am of the opinion too that the Salt 2 wharnie will not be replaced by another version with another steel (MC)

[jwbnyc]

We still have the Dragonfy K390 Wharncliffe, unless I am mistaken.

[cabfrank]

I don't know at all, but my opinion aligns with skeeg's. Based on the disco models I've seen, it looks like Wharncliffes are endangered. They are so useful and practical, it would be an absolute shame. I know knives have to sell to stick around though.

[aicolainen]

I have a NIB RJ and a NIB Salt 2 SE warnie that I picked up on a rare European sale a while ago, just to get a feel of them IRL and most likely flip them afterwards. Well, for the RJ anyways. I knew how the salt would feel, I just bought it to give myself some more time to figure out if I really needed a SE wharncliffe.
As I explained in the disco’d thread I’ve been keeping an eye out for a slightly larger alternative to my DF2 k390 wharnie, for those odd days when I believe the DF2 might not suffice. The k390 delica wharnie came closest in the current lineup, but it’s not exactly what I’m looking for so I was holding out for new or re-released (e.g. Centofante 3) wharncliffe designs to come out before I made a decision.
As it stands the Delica wharnie train seem to have left the station (at least the reasonably priced Euro-train) and I don’t feel very confident we’ll see much in way of new/re-released wharnies in the near future.
In light of this new reality I think it’s wise to keep the RJ and Salt 2 wharnie around a bit longer just to have fallback options if nothing new arises in a reasonable timeframe. And I suspect it wont.

[Traditional.Sharpening]

I don't think it's just the salt wharnies that are taking a hit. Seems a lot of wharnies are going bye bye throughout the product line.....even the new serrated Byrd wharnies which is a real shame.

I was just about about typing an reply along that lines, you beat me to it.

Yes, looking at the list it seems they are generally moving away from the wharnie blade shape.
And thinking of what Sal and Eric said about how (positively) they feel about wharncliffes and took some pride in the way Spyderco executed those, the reason most likely has to be poor sales, and nothing performance related.

So, sadly, I am of the opinion too that the Salt 2 wharnie will not be replaced by another version with another steel (MC)

It's just not a traditional blade shape and it just doesn't surprise me a bit that they have not been able to sustain sales. Those who are fans of that blade shape likely bought them for a time and now that they have them the market for them has dried up. It's really unfortunate as I'm a big wharnecliffe fan and the many benefits really are nice.

[Brock O Lee]

CQI doesn't require discontinuing the model. My guess is that it’s gone for good.

I suspect you may be correct... Stock up while they're around...

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

I absolutely love my Salt 2 wharnies and was really looking forward to seeing a RJ Salt…that blade shape is so useful, perfect for fishing and gardening or anywhere pinpoint accuracy is needed, not to mention SD and the ergos are stellar…maybe the LJ will eventually be offered in a salt model…But think about a LJ PE Salt and a RJ SE Salt for an incredible combo!!!

[aicolainen]

I absolutely love my Salt 2 wharnies and was really looking forward to seeing a RJ Salt…that blade shape is so useful, perfect for fishing

8< ----

I've no doubt come to love this blade shape, and while I intend to give the Swick 6 a go in the outdoors when it eventually comes around, I struggle to see how a wharnie can be perfect for fishing. I have no doubt you feel this way, I just struggle to see how that is. As said, I'll try the Swick 6 when I can find one. Initially for ice fishing where I think the finger hole could prove very useful... and we'll see where it goes from there. I've never tried a wharnie in this application, so not speaking from experience, it's just that I intuitively prefer to have a bit of belly whenever I work with fish, other animals or food in general really.

[Manixguy@1994]

I don't know at all, but my opinion aligns with skeeg's. Based on the disco models I've seen, it looks like Wharncliffes are endangered. They are so useful and practical, it would be an absolute shame. I know knives have to sell to stick around though.

This is just another thought , could there possibly be a redesign of the Wharnie blade with less hump ? Just thinking out loud . MG2

[cabfrank]

That would be great.

[aicolainen]

CQI doesn't require discontinuing the model. My guess is that it’s gone for good.

I suspect you may be correct... Stock up while they're around...

In the case of the disco'd wharncliffes and k390 models I also think this is the correct analysis. Not quite sure what to make of the discontinued Byrds yet.

That said, I think the CQI term is somewhat misused among Spyderco enthusiast. It's no doubt something Spyderco does well, but it's not exclusive to Spyderco and most important, not every change made through a products life cycle is strictly speaking a result of a quality improvement principles.

A move to a new steel could simply be a business management decision related to accessibility (H1 -> H2), cost cutting or marketability (Magnacut?).

Most businesses need to implement some form of CQI in their quality management system to survive and make a profit in todays business landscape. Most CQI improvements are subtle and go unnoticed by the customer because they are minor tweaks to materials and processes to reduce warranty claims and failed QC, which of course are beneficial to both customer and production company as it typically increases customer satisfaction and profit margins.

When a company introduces a change that affects form or function, this is typically not a result of CQI but rather business management and R&D development plans. Of course CQI is usually closely integrated with R&D so the different paths to a product change aren't clear cut. Sometimes there's a bit of both and then it's basically a business decision whether you push it out silently as a CQI or if you think the change is marketable and don't want the change to go under peoples radar - a product name revision could be called for. And sometimes it's definitively a deliberate R&D process to make a new product based on an existing product, and you have to revise the product name as not to mislead customers that has taken a liking to the old iteration or some that definitively don't want the old one (e.g. MM1 to MM2).

As for Magnacut in Seki models, they could decide to release it in a new handle color to co-exist with H2 and LC200N. Maybe it replaces LC200N in only select models or they want to make the transition gradually - either way a Magnacut salt could warrant a new SKU. We simply don't know.

[spydergoat]

Thanks for helpful responses, now I am also skeptical that this blade shape will come back and I'm buying a backup-- especially at $92. https://www.knifecenter.com/item/SP88FP ... rn-handles