'police' history? [Archive]

midget

08-16-2002, 12:00 AM

I gave in about an hour ago and picked up that g10 police at my local store. Phew... This is one heck of a blade!!!

Anyone know any history about the Police model? Like, when i was discontinued or what blade steels it came in? I know Spyderco has started moving over to VG10 a bit more, did the Police ever come in anything else? Just wondering, I have a VG10 SE, and was just trying to gauge how old it is. Unfortunately, i didn't get a box <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>.

midget

08-16-2002, 12:09 PM

the spyderco book is next on my list, i think.

kraziekurtis

08-16-2002, 12:45 PM

In the past, the Police has come in blade steels of ATS-55, ATS-34, and Gin-1 (I think).
The G-10 Police was just recently discontinued this year.

All this history I know...
It started of with the PIG (Pride, Integrity, Guts) model but that was discontinued because of people starting to call the police officers "pigs". Then all I know is that it went through some renovations and has been offered in titanium, stainless steel, and G-10 scales. Now a carbon fiber Police is in the works.The Police is also the "oldest" knife produced by Spyderco in the sense that it has been in production the longest.

I think what I just typed is correct (<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>), I may have left out some stuff though <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>.

Edited by - kraziekurtis on 8/16/2002 12:49:52 PM

midget

08-16-2002, 02:09 PM

eh?!?! they come in ats-34, ats-55, and gin-1???? mine is marked vg-10...

I'll maybe get some pics in some time.

midget

08-16-2002, 02:10 PM

funny thing, all the pics I see of police models, have "police" engraved on the blade, near the hole. but mine doesn't.

kraziekurtis

08-16-2002, 02:23 PM

Well they are now offered in VG-10 <img src="tongue.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

You have a "sterile" Police if it has no markings on the blade.

One question, you said it was G-10, but it has a VG-10 blade???

<img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

midget

08-16-2002, 02:41 PM

yup yup. g10, vg10.

sterile police? good or bad?

kraziekurtis

08-16-2002, 02:50 PM

I dunno about the sterile being bad, it may make it rare.

But the fact that it is G-10 handles and VG-10 blade is odd enough....

midget

08-16-2002, 03:34 PM

hmmmm........... now you have me feeling very uneasy, KK...

I'm going to go search around some more about this knife. it may not be a police after all... cause when i look in Clay Kesling's thread, it is starting to look a whole lot like a calypso...

kraziekurtis

08-16-2002, 03:41 PM

Hmmm, it may be the full size Calypso. Is the handle material like..a smooth wood type? Do you have any other G-10 knives you could compare the handle too?

midget

08-16-2002, 03:43 PM

wow, my mistake, i think. seems like this knife is actually a calypso..?

which makes the scales not g10, but actually micarta.

well, that was quite a mixup. i just kind of assumed police, since i didn't get a box and the salesman only knew about auto's.

so.. what is the difference between a police, and a calypso?

midget

08-16-2002, 03:45 PM

From just looking at it, it seems like g10 scales. I have two g-10 models I base it off of, a BM r&r, and a buck-strider. however, neither of those scales are smooth like this one.

and I have no idea what micarta is like.

kraziekurtis

08-16-2002, 03:46 PM

Another determinant would be the clip..

Is the clip at the very "end" of the handle, or about half an inch away from it?

The clip on my C54P is at the very "end" so that would determine that it was a Calypso. And the clip on my CO7S is about a half inch away from the "end" of the handle.

midget

08-16-2002, 03:49 PM

clip is tip down, just about to the end of the handle. has a gold spydie emblem on it.

kraziekurtis

08-16-2002, 03:55 PM

Gold bug, yep that's the full sized Calypso!

It's nice knife, but I am tempted to try trade it for a Police, I sure looooove the Police model. The semi-rarity of the PE model of it makes me wary of trading it though.

Micarta, my first thought of it when seeing it in pictures was that it would be.. kinda rubbery and slippery. When I got it, it felt more like a very smooth piece of wood <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

midget

08-16-2002, 04:01 PM

well then. Thanks for setting me straight. it's quite a blade, whatever it is. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

kraziekurtis

08-16-2002, 04:07 PM

No problem <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

<img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

dialex

08-17-2002, 06:56 PM

How can you make confusion between a Calypso and a Police?

midget

08-19-2002, 02:09 AM

uh... sorry?

Rex G

08-19-2002, 07:39 AM

Police were called "pigs" long before Spyderco existed; at least since the 70's. If I recall correctly, only a small number of the early Police models had the "Pride Integrity Guts" printing. Mine did not, and I bought one of the first ones on the market.

Jeff/1911

08-19-2002, 08:06 AM

Here are pictures of each. Image 2 is G-10 Police, Image 1 is large Calypso.

Jeff/1911.

Edited by - jeff/1911 on 8/19/2002 8:09:14 AM

Windwalker

08-19-2002, 08:39 AM

hummmmm, that's odd. The blade in image 2 doesn't look at all like the police I just got out to look at! :-) This one is not flat ground, is G-2, and has tuffram alum scales... It looks to have a longer shape than image 2 or 1, but that may be because of the grind. It has "POLICE" on the blade, and Seki-City. Interesting!
Windwalker

Edited by - Windwalker on 8/19/2002 8:43:15 AM