Help ID old Police

[jhillas]

Greetings,



I have an older Police knife with "Seki-Japan" on one side, and "Spyderco" on the other. The blade is engraved with black letters: "Police Model"



Any idea about how old this is, and what kind of blade steel it likely has??



Thanks

ps- tried to post images, but they were too big.

[jhillas]

Got it, here is my first attempt at posting a picture.

[Blades]

I bet it is G1 or G2(actually I think they are close to the same steel).
I have a "Combat Knives" magazine from I think 1989, and it has an ad from the Cutlery Shoppe that shows your Police. The is also an article about Spyderco's and it shows it again in the article. I can't tell if the "Police Model" is engraved or not, but it looks close to your picture. Hope this helps.


Blades



Edited by - Blades on 9/24/2002 5:28:03 PM

[jhillas]

Hey Thanks!

[Sword and Shield]

Well, this has to be one of the earliest Polices out there, due to the font of the "Police" and the lack of steel markings.

It has to be Gin-1, which is one and the same as G-2. It is a good, hard-use steel, and will do about anything you want. Nice knife! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Never underestimate the impossible.

[Wrightknife]

You didn't show the handle but I'm assuming that it doesn't have beveled edges. If that's true, you have, I believe, a third generation Police Model.

The first ones were the PIG models. The acronym stood for Pride, Integrity, Guts. It didn't go over too well in the LEO community so Spyderco dropped it pretty quick. I don't know how many were made but the number must be pretty small because they are pretty rare and bring premium prices.

After the PIG's there were a few with no markings on the blades while Spyderco worked up the new markings...POLICE MODEL. This was somewhere around the mid to late 1980's but I don't know the exact dates.

The next change was to bevel the edges of the handle and then shorten the name to POLICE.

The steel is G2 which was renamed to GIN1 in the mid-1990's. (I don't know why.)

DW

[Blades]

Wrightknife,
Welcome to the Spydie forum!!! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>


Blades

[Wrightknife]

Thanks.

DW

[jhillas]

Hello and Welcome Wrightknife!

Great knowledge! I'll have to look tonight at the edges to se if they're beveled. I would asume your are right that they are probably not. I'll let you know if they are.

Thanks,
CB

[Sword and Shield]

Howdy Wrightknife! Welcome to <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>Land! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Good catch on the Police's history, I'd forgotten about the PIGs. They're rare enough that they're easy to forget...but not get! <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Never underestimate the impossible.

[Alick W]

Wrightknife, thanks for the summary, this pic is my first ever Spydie - bought new at the end of the 80's. The blade's marked as G2 stainless and &quot;Seki City Japan&quot; on the reverse but is one of those you describe which is not engraved with the &quot;Police&quot; name. I'd always wondered about their origins because I prefer the look of the unengraved blade. Cheers.