Spyderco’s story begins not with knives, but with innovation. Founded in 1976 by Sal and Gail Glesser, Spyderco was initially a company focused on inventing tools designed to make life easier. One of their earliest successes was the “Portable Hand,” a spider-shaped, multi-legged apparatus designed to assist jewelers and hobbyists by holding small parts in place for hands-free work. While this invention would later inspire the company’s spider-themed logo, the name Spyderco had a different origin. Sal Glesser, a fan of high-performance sports cars, had noticed that many of them, like the Porsche Spyder, carried the term “Spyder” in their names. To him, that word evoked precision, speed, and elite performance. Wanting his company to reflect those same qualities in the realm of cutting tools, he combined “Spyder” with “co” for company, giving birth to Spyderco, a name meant to signal high-performance tools engineered for excellence.

It wasn’t until 1981 that Spyderco would leave its first major imprint on the knife industry with the release of the C01 Worker. This knife introduced a revolutionary trio of features: a pocket clip, a thumb hole, and one-handed opening. While commonplace today, these elements were virtually unheard of at the time. Traditional folding knives usually required two hands to open and had no convenient way to carry them other than loosely in the pocket. The Worker’s integrated clip kept the knife secure yet accessible, while the round hole in the blade, now famously known as the “Spyderhole”, allowed for effortless, ambidextrous one-handed opening. The fully serrated blade, optimized for cutting fibrous material, also introduced a more aggressive cutting option for professionals and first responders. The C01 Worker may not have looked like anything else on the market, but it functioned better than almost everything else, and it set a new standard for modern pocketknives.

- Spyderco was founded in 1976 by Sal and Gail Glesser (pictured above)

- Spyderco's first product, the Portable Hand, would later inspire the now iconic Spyderco logo

- In 1981, Spyderco released its first knife, the C01 Worker (pictured above)

In the 1980s and 1990s, Spyderco began to redefine what a production knife could be. Sal Glesser had a deep passion for metallurgy, and his company was often the first to bring new, high-performance steels to the consumer market. Steels like ATS-34, VG-10, CPM-S30V, CPM-S90V, Maxamet, and later the proprietary CPM SPY27 made their production debuts through Spyderco knives. Sal believed in building tools that pushed the edge, literally and figuratively. Spyderco also pioneered collaborations with custom knife makers, working closely with legends like Bob Terzuola, Wayne Goddard, and Michael Walker to bring high-end custom designs to a broader audience. The C15 Terzuola model marked Spyderco’s first Clipit knife with a linerlock, an important milestone that helped bridge the gap between tactical custom knives and high-performance factory production.

- The Spyderco C15 Terzuola (pictured above) was Spyderco's first Clipit knife to feature a linerlock

The 2000s saw the rise of what many now consider the golden age of Spyderco’s catalog. Models like the Para Military, Para Military 2, Native, and Manix became hallmarks of everyday carry. Lightweight models such as the Delica and Endura opened the door for people to carry high-performance knives without the bulk. Spyderco introduced fiberglass-reinforced nylon (FRN) handles with bi-directional texturing to improve grip, and was one of the first companies to give serious attention to left-handed users and ambidextrous controls.

Production expanded globally, but with strict quality oversight. Spyderco’s Golden, Colorado factory, often stamped on blades as “Golden, Colorado U.S.A. Earth”, remains the hub of many of their flagship models. But Spyderco also built strong manufacturing partnerships in Seki, Japan; Taichung, Taiwan; Maniago, Italy; and select Chinese factories, each specializing in different classes of knives. Japanese-made models brought exceptional edge performance through VG-10 and ZDP-189 steels, while the Taichung factory became renowned for producing some of Spyderco’s most complex and high-end knives with immaculate fit and finish.

- The 2000s saw the release of many popular Spyderco models including the Para Military (pictured above)

- Spyderco Knives are manufactured in Golden, Colorado; Seki, Japan; Taichung, Taiwan; Maniago, Italy; and select Chinese factories