Spyderco
Origins

Spyderco was founded in 1976 by Sal and Gail Glesser. They converted an old bread delivery truck into a motorhome, towed a Volkswagen Bug behind it, and traveled the country, selling their wares as “pitchmen” at fairs and trade shows. In addition to their first patented product, the “Portable Hand” (a device with multiple clamps used primarily for assembling electronic circuit boards), they sold various brands of knife sharpeners, knives, and other items.

In 1978, the Glessers settled in Golden, Colorado, and focused on manufacturing and selling Spyderco’s first knife-related product—the Tri-Angle Sharpmaker®. A greatly improved expression of the V-style “Crock Stick” sharpener, its triangular ceramic abrasive rods made it the first consumer sharpener capable of easily honing the edges of serrated blades.

In 1981, Spyderco introduced our first knife, the C01 Worker, and literally revolutionized the form and function of the modern folding knife. The Worker pioneered the concepts of a round hole in the blade (now a Spyderco trademark) for easy, one-handed manual opening and a clip on the handle for convenient carry at the top of the pocket. A year later, it became the first folding knife to add the option of a serrated edge for aggressive cutting performance. Collectively, these features set the standard for the modern folding knife that continues to endure to this day.

Since making our first knife, Spyderco has steadily grown to become one of the undisputed leaders in the cutlery industry. In addition to a worldwide distribution network and manufacturing resources in the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, Italy, and China, our innovations have also earned us an impressive portfolio of patents, trademarks, and industry awards. Among those, company co-founder Sal Glesser was inducted into Blade Magazine’s Cutlery Hall of Fame®—an extremely prestigious achievement reserved for only the most influential figures in the knife community.

Over the years, Spyderco’s product line has also expanded significantly. Our groundbreaking original line of folding knives evolved to include many other revolutionary designs, including the first lightweight, clip-carried knives with injection-molded handles. Later we expanded even further to offer a broad range of fixed blades, world-class kitchen knives, and other styles of sharpeners. Along the way, we became the first company to collaborate with renowned custom knifemakers and other subject matter experts to incorporate custom-quality designs and features into premium factory-made products.

Spyderco is also an established industry leader in the use of state-of-the-art blade steels and other materials. We were the first manufacturer to use powder-metallurgy blade steel in our knives in the mid 1990’s. Since then, we have forged strong relationships with the world’s leading steel foundries and incorporated scores of exotic, high-performance blade steels into our products. Our award-winning Salt® Series has been setting the standard in ultra-corrosion-resistant knives for almost 20 years. We have even partnered with America’s leading steelmakers in the creation of new steels, including Carpenter® Technologies CTS® BD1 and our very own proprietary steel, Crucible® Industries’ CPM® SPY27®.

Throughout this journey, we have worked tirelessly to earn the trust and loyalty of countless thousands of dedicated knife users around the world—an audience to whom we will always be extremely grateful.