My visit to Spyderco HQ

[magic man]

I am happy to unveil Spyderco's newest mini folder, the Fire Ant! Pictured next to my Para-Military 2, is this little .5" blade monster. These will retail at $247.79. You may think that is a *little* high. BUT, this steel is heat treated with pure unicorn tears and makes your Busse look like a butter knife in comparison!

The best part is.........it also doubles as a lapel pin! The designers at Spyderco are geniuses!

Ok, now onto the real story.

Welcome to Spyderco.

The Spyderco Factory Outlet is right inside the doors.

The staff was extremely knowledgeable and were more than happy to pull just about every knife out of the case to fondle.

They offer free on the spot sharpening for any Spyderco knife. My Delica is now hair splitting sharp!

Now for the good part.

Gail Glesser happened to be in the showroom. My dad and I were able to talk with with her for about half an hour, mostly about 9/11, the WTC commemorative knife, and her visits to Ground Zero after the attack. Her respect and gratefulness for our military, fire, police, EMS, etc. is amazing.
It came up in conversation that my dad is a police officer. As soon as she heard that, she told us to wait there, she had a gift for us. She ran off to an office and returned with 2 cut outs from the WTC commemorative knife inlays. These were pieces of a WTC Tower 1 girder. Each piece had 3 inlays cut from it. With only 2819 knives being made that means there are only about 940 of these cut outs.

Spyderco World Trade Center

Oh, and how could I go to Spyderco HQ and not buy something?

I ended up with:
Spyderco Para-Military 2
Spyder Flash drive
Lapel pins
Stickers
Product and steel guides

It was truly a pleasure to meet and talk to Gail. I can't thank her enough for her gift. This visit just confirms why Spyderco is my favorite knife company out there

 

[Bradsknives]

Awesome!

Thanks for the field trip report.

 

[esrice]

So cool!

 

[Ryninger]

Sounds like a heck of a trip! Do they offer tours of the manufacturing floor?

 

[Sylvain]

Do you get to visit the actual factory when you go there or is that a secret part not shown to the public?
Maybe that's a part that you visited but where pictures are not allowed like in many factories.
I hope to go there some day, I need to bring lots of Spyderco knives to have them sharpened for free to make it worth the trip.

 

[magic man]

Sounds like a heck of a trip! Do they offer tours of the manufacturing floor?

Do you get to visit the actual factory when you go there or is that a secret part not shown to the public?
Maybe that's a part that you visited but where pictures are not allowed like in many factories.
I hope to go there some day, I need to bring lots of Spyderco knives to have them sharpened for free to make it worth the trip.

They don't do tours. I'd tried asking Gail, but no such luck.

 

[grunt soldier]

very cool. thanks for sharing.

 

[Knife Lady]

Wow what a great experience. Very cool. Lucky you... Thanks for sharing and enjoy your new knives.

 

[Mackey]

Most Excellent!

 

[DaKruiser]

Very cool M&M, sure sounds like a great day to me!

 

[shooter521]

Neat, thanks for sharing! Luvs me some Spydies!

 

[danielocean03]

Very cool!

 

[shootamc58]

that was an awesome story and great gesture by spyder co

 

[rhino]

You'd need a really small thumb to open that li'l folder.

 

[redhead]

thats awesome, great knives.

 

[Dybber]

I've always loved Spyderco but hearing that makes me love them even more!

 

[williamnewman1]

awesome , thanks for the tour , loved the pics

 

[bdybdall]

I've owned 6 Enduras and have carried one for 17 years. I've retired one, given away two (an Indian in Costa Rica and my son's best friend, a marine, before his 1st deployment to Afghanistan), and lost three. They stay in my pocket when I wear jeans but not when I wear cargo pants or shorts. I think the seatbelt gremlin gets them. When I went to get another, my local shop didn't have any in stock. I walked out of there with a spring assist SOG. It's not quite as handy as an Endura but the pocket clip is more secure. I do love that assisted opening also.