Spyderco: the company history

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Overview

Spyderco Inc. is a company specialized in designing and producing high-performance knives and sharpeners. The company was founded in 1978 by Sal Glesser and his wife Gail. Sal and Gail started with the production of sharpening stones and then went on to make knives in 1981 with the C01 Worker being the first model.

History

Spyderco's history began in 1976 in Redding, California, when Sal invented the Portable Hand. This was a tool designed to hold small objects securely in place, which frees up a hand and aids in intricate tasks. The Portable Hand was a practical solution for people working on electronical components and many other uses, both in industry and at home. At the same time, Sal had an avid interest in high performance sports cars. He noticed that many car manufacturers in the 1970s used the term 'spider/spyder' or 'spydercars' to name their high-end sports cars. The Portable Hand's spider-like looks and the naming of high performance sports-cars, inspired Sal to name his company Spyderco.

During the five years that the Portable Hand was manufactured, Sal invented the Tri-angle Sharpmaker and the first ClipIt knife, the C01 Worker. In little more than 20 years, Spyderco has revolutionized the knife industry and has been a thriving company that recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.

So how did Sal and his crew do it? It all boils down to knowing what the end user really wants. Sal, his wife Gail and the Spyderco team attended fairs and shows all over the US talking to people and finding out what they needed in a knife. Demonstrating and selling the Sharpmaker must have won over huge numbers of knife owners who would come up to the booth with a blunt knife and walk away with a scary sharp blade.

Their early success at these venues funded their research and development. When Sal was unable to find a manufacturer in the US that could meet his quality requirements, Al Mar introduced him to some of his business contacts in Japan, who they were able to convince that the ClipIt was worthy of their involvement. Sal adopted Al Mar’s front lock design for his Clipit and in turn Al used the Spyderco serrations and clothing clip on his knives. The principle of sharing knowledge is still used by Spyderco today. The clip was an idea Sal had when he found how useful a brass frog key holder was. The frogs front legs and feet held onto the top of your pocket with the frogs head peeping out. The keys were always readily available, not lost among the rest of your pockets contents. Sal started working on the knife clip.

Larger premises were needed to house the factory and the mail-order business and eventually in 1998 Spyderco moved to its current location on the outskirts of Golden, Colorado. High performance was, and still is, the trade mark of a Spyderco knife. As one Spyderco brochure puts it “Our success rests on the simple theory that consumers will always gravitate towards the better performing product. Since 1981, Spyderco has been developing pocket cutlery with original features that have become industry standards worldwide, and each represents the performance, simplicity and longevity that you can expect from each knife in the Spyderco Clipit line.”

The Clipit featured the patented hole in the blade for single hand opening; a razor sharp edge; a clip for use on the belt, waistband, boot or even bra and a locking blade.& nbsp; What a combination! Spyderco wanted to make the ultimate “using” knife. To provide every day carry knives to people whose jobs or circumstances required a no-nonsense highly effective cutting tool. They certainly succeeded!

More information

For those further interested in Spyderco inc. and Spyderco knives, we suggest the book: "The Spyderco story:the new shape of sharp" by Kenneth T. Delavigne.

Hardcover: 312 pages

Publisher: Paladin Press (January 1, 2000)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1581600607

ISBN-13: 978-1581600605

Link to this book on Amazon.com here

Links

Spyderco has a notable presence on the internet:

- Spyderco website

- Spyderco Facebook

- Spyderco Instagram

- Spyderco Pinterest

- Spyderco Tumblr

- Spyderco Twitter

- Spyderco YouTube

- Spyderco discussion forum

- Spyderco discussion forum at Bladeforums.com

- Spyderco discussion forum at UsualSuspect.net

- Spyderco discussion forum at AustralianBladeForums.com

- BaliYo by Spyderco website, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube

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C01 Worker

Al Mar

ClipIt

Sal Glesser

Gail Glesser