Spyderco Southard

[MacLaren]

Well fellas, I should have that Black Southard by this Thursday, if not sooner.
I've been on the lookout for the Stonewashed version

[zhyla]

I never bought the Southard when they were all the rage. But I did score a Positron when they discontinued them. Very cool if flawed knife. It’s a weirdly stout blade in a gents knife package — an office shiv if you will.

[MacLaren]

I never bought the Southard when they were all the rage. But I did score a Positron when they discontinued them. Very cool if flawed knife. It’s a weirdly stout blade in a gents knife package — an office shiv if you will.

Yeah, I had a Positron for a while. Just like you say it is

[cjk]

could you elaborate on the materials used on those? they're gorgeous!

[RadioactiveSpyder]

could you elaborate on the materials used on those? they're gorgeous!

Sure! They’re all approaching a decade old now (hard to believe) and all three scales were made by Steve Ketchen who was probably the most phenomenal custom scale maker in the US - until he flaked out and made off with a few dozen knives he was supposed to be working on (very long story, police were involved - some of the older forumites might remember). The lightest one on the left is a material called “crazy” Ctek made by Travis Zumwalt (he makes some amazing stuff, I recommend folks check out his IG) with a white G10 liner. The middle one is desert ironwood and the black one is small cell (1/8” I think) standard black Ctek. They all also have matching overtravel stops on the back/lock side in the same materials plus deep carry clips made by Steve Rice (STR) who was amazing in his own right (STR also made awesome deep carry Military clips before he retired). The black clip coincidentally was cerakoted by Casey Lynch soon after he started offering his own cerakote clips, way before LynchNW even existed — all this seems like ancient history now!



I also had Steve make these Chaparral scales using the same black Ctek for the bolster (I designed the handle), and Sal took quite a shine to it when I showed it to him at an OKCA show in 2016, telling me about his interests in beekeeping (is there anything Sal isn’t into?!). He later commented here on the forum that they looked into running a Ctek Chap but the material was too expensive. So they made it in Raffir Noble instead… That’s what I love about Spyderco and this forum, the direct connection and seeing the effects our discussions, shows, and meets have on what eventually comes to market. Cheers, Radioactive

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Family pic of the Brothers Southard:

[sal]

Lovely pieces .

sal

[cjk]

could you elaborate on the materials used on those? they're gorgeous!

Sure! They’re all approaching a decade old now (hard to believe) and all three scales were made by Steve Ketchen who was probably the most phenomenal custom scale maker in the US - until he flaked out and made off with a few dozen knives he was supposed to be working on (very long story, police were involved - some of the older forumites might remember). The lightest one on the left is a material called “crazy” Ctek made by Travis Zumwalt (he makes some amazing stuff, I recommend folks check out his IG) with a white G10 liner. The middle one is desert ironwood and the black one is small cell (1/8” I think) standard black Ctek. They all also have matching overtravel stops on the back/lock side in the same materials plus deep carry clips made by Steve Rice (STR) who was amazing in his own right (STR also made awesome deep carry Military clips before he retired). The black clip coincidentally was cerakoted by Casey Lynch soon after he started offering his own cerakote clips, way before LynchNW even existed — all this seems like ancient history now!
….

Thanks Paul!

[MacLaren]

Goodness, I remember when that went down with Ketchen. And he wasn't the only scale maker to flake out. Remember Shepard Scales?
At any rate, those Southards you have are just incredible.
My Black Southard was supposed to have been here today Friday.......it was in Charlotte yesterday but, somehow this morning it winds up in South Carolina so FedEx says there's a delay and the new delivery date is now tomorrow.
We shall see......

[soulspy]

This thread is making me want to get out my Southard with the STR clip. Steve was really great guy, one of those people who was just interested in others and available for any kind of conversation. He threw in a little Ti prybar when I got my Southard clip just because he wanted to give me one.

[MacLaren]

This thread is making me want to get out my Southard with the STR clip. Steve was really great guy, one of those people who was just interested in others and available for any kind of conversation. He threw in a little Ti prybar when I got my Southard clip just because he wanted to give me one.

Have you spoken with him since all that went down?
It was shocking to be sure.
Btw, break that Southard out! Would love to see some pics of it.

[RamZar]

Goodness, I remember when that went down with Ketchen. And he wasn't the only scale maker to flake out. Remember Shepard Scales?

The Lightning Strike Carbon Fiber (LSCF) scale and overtravel stop for my Southard was made by Shepard (Shepard Custom Concealment). It was a real pain dealing with him with prepayment and constant delays. It was $115 back on August 7, 2014 with an estimate of 7-11 days for delivery. I had to keep pushing him and finally received it on September 12, 2014! For a while I thought I had lost the money!

I did get a Positron back in October 2015 for $153.95 and it's nice with solid CF and S30V.

In September 2015 I got a very nice and unique Southard Performance Series Tolk Flipper with Monkey Edge FRAG Pattern Bronze for a whopping $575.00! It's all titanium with XHP blade.

I'll do a family picture of both of my Spyderco Southards, Positron and Tolk once I find the Black Southard and Tolk. I find old emails much quicker than physical items!

[MacLaren]

Goodness, I remember when that went down with Ketchen. And he wasn't the only scale maker to flake out. Remember Shepard Scales?

The Lightning Strike Carbon Fiber (LSCF) scale and overtravel stop for my Southard was made by Shepard (Shepard Custom Concealment). It was a real pain dealing with him with prepayment and constant delays. It was $115 back on August 7, 2014 with an estimate of 7-11 days for delivery. I had to keep pushing him and finally received it on September 12, 2014! For a while I thought I had lost the money!

I did get a Positron back in October 2015 for $153.95 and it's nice with solid CF and S30V.

In September 2015 I got a very nice and unique Southard Performance Series Tolk Flipper with Monkey Edge FRAG Pattern Bronze for a whopping $575.00! It's all titanium with XHP blade.

I'll do a family picture of both of my Spyderco Southards, Positron and Tolk once I find the Black Southard and Tolk. I find old emails much quicker than physical items!

Wow. You were lucky!
And, those pics sound awesome!!
Btw, he did a couple for me for my Domino.
I've actually still got the green CF Scale.

[MacLaren]

So, today's the day! Says "Out For Delivery"
But......it's started snowing pretty hard.....whatcha wanna bet I don't get it today
Knowin my luck, they'll get scared and go back to the office
That would be my luck!

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

Family pic of the Brothers Southard:

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

So, today's the day! Says "Out For Delivery"
But......it's started snowing pretty hard.....whatcha wanna bet I don't get it today
Knowin my luck, they'll get scared and go back to the office
That would be my luck!

[MacLaren]

Welp fellas, FedEx finally came thru.
This Southard is in excellent shape! She is not LNIB.
But, she is in dynamite condition!
More to come!

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

Welp fellas, FedEx finally came thru.
This Southard is in excellent shape! She is not LNIB.
But, she is in dynamite condition!
More to come!

I’m gonna need some feedback on that knife Mac

[MacLaren]

Welp fellas, FedEx finally came thru.
This Southard is in excellent shape! She is not LNIB.
But, she is in dynamite condition!
More to come!

I’m gonna need some feedback on that knife Mac

Hang on my friend

[MacLaren]

She is a fantastic example. I had forgotten how small they are. Or at least I remember them being bigger. Oh well, here's some more pics