Spyderco Voted Best Overall New for 2018 Lineup

Presented by: Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpeners


We are pleased to announce that Spyderco has secured the KnifeNews Readers’ Choice Award for Best Overall New for 2018 Lineup. It has been a great year for the industry. Spyderco’s impressive list of offerings met stiff competition from Benchmade, CRKT, and WE Knife Co., but still managed to come out on top.

Open up one of Spyderco’s novel-sized Product Guides for the first time, and it’ll probably take your eyes a week to uncross. The unbridled creativity on display, spread across more than 100 pages, contains enough experimentation, refinement, and variety to impress even old graybeards who still have their original stainless steel Delicas from back in the day. When we spoke to Eric Glesser in 2017 he promised impressive stuff for the 2018 catalog; according to our readers, the company delivered – and then some.

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In the 2018 Guide, Spyderco kept the number releases in the lower double digits, showcasing an admirable balance between focus and range. They upped their fixed blade game in a big bad way with knives like appleseed-grind Zoomer and the Respect, a formidable Bowie from the man Sal Glesser himself. There was no shortage of folders either, with new Salt models, full-size Clipitool knives, and, at long last, the debut of the Rhino.  A smattering of Sprint Runs rounded out this initial salvo, most notably a series of classic designs benefiting from new V-Toku2 blade steel.

The 2018 Guide was just the beginning. At SHOT Spyderco debuted a whopping 6 new models, with the Compression Lock Smock stealing the show. Then back-to-back reveals at the Amsterdam Meet and in the Mid-Year Product Guide had everyone’s heads spinning. A sustained run of impressive collaborations with makers as diverse as Alistair Phillips, Nati Amor, and Jonathan McNees catered to wildly different tastes.

In short, Spyderco was firing on all cylinders, all year. Although they have plenty of diehard fans who are willing to try just about anything, Spyderco did not rest on its illustrious laurels; it’s hard to imagine a knife user who wasn’t excited about at least one model that Spyderco revealed in 2018. While we are still waiting on a few of these knives to hit dealers’ shelves – an issue the company recently acknowledged when it revealed its new marketing strategy – the many releases that have come out set a very high standard for next year’s crop.

This announcement concludes the first ever KnifeNews Readers’ Choice Awards. We’d like to extend congratulations to all nominees and winners; also, an enormous thank you to our generous and thoroughly excellent sponsors Work Sharp, and to all of you, our readers! It was exciting to see the knives that you think deserved recognition in a year full of astounding products. Please check back Monday, December 10, for a final recap of all the awards.


AWARDS SCHEDULE

Monday, November 26: Best New Tactical Fixed Blade 2018 (WINNER: ZU Bladeworx Shrapnel)

Tuesday, November 27: Best New Fixed Blade for EDC 2018 (WINNER: TOPS Little Bugger)

Wednesday, November 28: Best New Outdoors Fixed Blade 2018 (WINNER: Benchmade 200 Puukko)

Thursday, November 29: Best Knife Upgrade 2018 (WINNER: Ontario RAT 2 in D2)

Friday, November 30: Best New Slipjoint/Non-Locking Knife 2018 (WINNER: Isham Bladeworks Blackstar)

Monday, December 3: Best New High-End Knife 2018 (MSRP of $300 or more) (WINNER: Zero Tolerance 0470)

Tuesday, December 4: Best New Value Folder 2018 (MSRP of $100 or less) (WINNER: CIVIVI Baklash)

Wednesday, December 5: Best New Manual Folder 2018 (WINNER: Spyderco Chaparral FRN)

Thursday, December 6: Most Innovative New Knife 2018 (WINNER: WE Knife Co. Double Helix)

Friday, December 7: Best Overall New for 2018 Lineup (WINNER: Spyderco)