Spyderco Knives

Spyderco Knives is a company that hardly needs an introduction in the knife world. Known for providing the industry with numerous innovative features and relentlessly refining their designs, Spyderco has been manufacturing knives and tools out of their headquarters in Golden, Colorado for over 30 years. I have extensive experience with Spyderco knives and have reviewed some of their very best knives on this website.

Spyderco Knife Reviews:

Here is a collection of all our Spyderco knife reviews to date. Enjoy!

Brief Spyderco Company History

Spyderco Knives was founded in 1976 by Sal and Gail Glesser. When Sal and Gail first started, they were selling their Spyderco Sharpmaker. It was their first and only product, and they drove around in a bus selling the sharpener at fairs and trade shows.

It wasn’t until 1981 that the Glesser decided to create their base of operations in Golden, Colorado. It was there they launched their first folding knife: a knife you could open with one hand and featuring a pocket clip, and the option of serrations. The rest, as they say, was history.

Spyderco Knives went on to become a major player in the knife industry, pioneering many innovations that lead to widespread recognition and commercial success. These days Spyderco is considered a leader in the realm of high performance pocket knives. Everything from their budget offerings to flagship models have been meticulously engineered and improved on over the decades. Here is a link to their corporate website to learn more about the company.

Best Spyderco Knives

Here is a list of the best and most popular Spyderco knives. I’ve reviewed dozens of their models, but here is a list of their best knives.

Paramilitary 2 – You don’t need to spend much time researching pocket knives to come across the Paramilitary 2. Dubbed the best edc knife by countless publications, and widely recognized as such, the Para 2 is a legend in stainless steel and G10. The combination of a generous handle, classic Spyderco lines, beefy construction, and a compression lock all meld together to create a workhorse. In response to the knife’s success, Spyderco has released the Para 2 in a near endless variety of colors and blade steels.

Sage Series – This series is a personal favorite of mine. Spyderco paid homage to pioneers in the knife industry with the Sage series. Each knife in the series recognizes a different person. The Sage 1 recognizes Michael Walker for inventing the liner lock and the Sage 2 recognizes Chris Reeve for the frame lock. The list goes on and I believe Spyderco is up to 5 knives now. What I like about the Sage series is the nice EDC friendly size and top notch materials and fit and finish. They all make for near perfect EDC knives in my book. Well worth checking out.

Delica – The Delica is a benchmark knife. Designed for the masses, it’s relatively inexpensive, lightweight, and practical. It’s a Japanese made Spyderco with VG-10 blade steel, a FRN handle with stainless steel liners, a robust lockback, and a 4 way positionable pocket clip. It’s slim and easy to carry, making it an easy daily carry. If you get into collecting knives you will need to check a Delica out at some point.

Endura – The Endura is the big brother of the Delica. It’s long and slender shape makes it an idea “tactical knife” or larger EDC. Once again it’s slim and lightweight, with everything you love about the Delica but in a bigger package.

Dragonfly II – The Dragonfly II is another personal favorite. It’s a little knife, but you can get pretty much any suburban EDC job done with it. Perfect for opening packages, going through mail, cutting fruit, and even some light woodworking. It’s small, but thanks to the ingenious curved handle you can easily get a full 4 finger grip on it. Although it may seem expensive for a small knife, it’s one you won’t regret purchasing.

Chaparral – The Chaparral is another classic Spyderco knife. I see it as something of a bridge between the Dragonfly II and the Sage series. It’s small, but not too small. I’d say it’s a perfect dress knife. Featuring stellar ergonomics, a razor sharp blade, it’s a beautifully made knife that flys under the radar.

Tenacious – The Tenacious is one of Spyderco’s first budget knives. It packs a lot of the features you will find on their pricier blades into a sub $40 package, including a fully flat ground blade, G-10 handle scales, skeletonized full steel liners, and a 4 way pocket clip. They do this by manufacturing the knife in China. The Tenacious is a tough beater knife that can also serve as an excellent larger EDC.

Spyderco Signature Design Influences

I have picked out a few themes in Spyderco Knives. Here are a few core components that make a Spyderco, a Spyderco:

The Round Hole – The first thing you will notice about a Spyderco is the trademarked Round Hole. This hole is sometimes referred to as a “Spyderhole” and it is used to easily open up the blade of a folding knife with one hand. The Round Hole is easy to use with gloves and can offer more to grab on to than your typical thumb stud or thumb disk.

Pocket Clips – Although these days we take pocket clips for granted, Spyderco was the first company to equip a folding knife with a pocket clip. This revolutionized the way people carried and used knives and transformed the industry. Pretty cool.

Bi-Directional Texturing – Spyderco is known for their unique bi-directional texture pattern on their FRN handled knives. Most notably you find this on the Delica, Endura, and the Dragonfly II. This slip-resistant texturing offers traction in the hand.

Spyderedge – This is a proprietary serration pattern consisting of one large serration alternating with two small serrations.

Spyderco Knives – Final Thoughts

I can’t think of a company that has created a more loyal fan base than Spyderco Knives. After spending some time getting involved in the knife community, it’s easy to see why.

First of all, Spyderco innovates. They are credited with the thumb hole of “Spyderhole” which is the deployment hole found in every one of their designs. They also were the first to use a pocket clip, and have come up with numerous other features; many of which have become patented.

Second, Spyderco listens. They spend a lot of time interacting with their most loyal fans and customers, and continually refine their designs. Some of their knives, like the Endura, have been in production for over 20 years. The knife has seen many improvements over the years, and history suggests that the Endura will continue to get better as Spyderco continues to listen and make improvements.

Spyderco also appeals to collectors and hardcore enthusiasts by offering limited edition batches of their knives, called “Sprint Runs.” These runs may feature a special kind of blade steel, or a different color handle – or they may be totally new and limited production designs. These sprint runs add a lot of fun to collecting Spyderco knives and a little exclusivity to the world of production knives.

Finally, Spyderco collaborates. Actually, this is something many production knife companies do, but Spyderco really has a way of collaborating with designers to produce unique pieces that still fit within the Spyderco “look.” To the uninitiated, Spyderco Knives will be known for making those “funny looking knives with the hole in the blade.” To a trained eye, Spyderco has created a product that almost transcends knifemaking.