Massad Ayoob Cruwear Sprint Run seconds
Massad Ayoob Cruwear Sprint Run seconds
SKU:XXC60GSGY
Couldn't load pickup availability
This is the 2022 edition of the Massad Ayoob collaboration model, which has achieved such a cult following over the years that there was enough demand to revive the model for two separate sprint runs after its original discontinuation in 2002.
Aside from the general scuffs and scratches, most these units were "2nd'd" for the serration pattern. For this model, they tried a new serration pattern but near the tip it ended up not looking the way they wanted, so a very large portion of the finished batch ended up getting held back and sold as seconds. This particular 2022 Sprint Run was overall quite an ordeal for Spyderco to produce and as a result they might not make this model ever again. Here's the story as told by Sal on Spyderco Forums:
We began working with this maker in 1988. At the time, they were considered by most experts, even in Japan to be THE premier quality knife maker in the world. It is/was a small family business consisting of the "Old Man", who was the driving force. He had more than 80 patents on his designs and they produced a small number pieces.
The "Old Man's" wife handled the office. There were two sons. One handled sales (#2 son) and one handled the factory with his father (#1 son). His wife also helped with the office.
Then one day, with no warning, the Father had a stroke and was no longer able to work. The Father's wife had to stop working to take care of the Father. Now the sons are running the company with the Patriarch and the Patriarch's Wife no longer involved. Very challenging, even devastating. They had one major lower quality customer (A Hardware chain) that carried the company. A few special customers like Spyderco and their normal consumer direct line.
Then "The Rains came". In one year, the Father passed away. The Mother passed away. #1 son had a stroke, and #1's son's wife passed away. Now the Grandson is running the factory and he really wasn't ready. Then the main Hardware chain found a less expensive supplier. The family was devastated.
We brought the Grandson to our factory in Golden to try to get him better trained and brought into the 21st Century manufacturing. Ir has been a long road and they are beginning to get back on track which pleases us and we're helping.
All of the people that headed up and made the original model 11 years ago are no longer alive, and this project was a major mountain to climb just to be able to make them. We're very proud of their achievement in this Sprint, while not perfect, is a major milestone in their rebirth. Those of you that are disappointed, you have my apologies, and if you are not pleased to accept the "funky tooth", you should return the piece and let someone else have it. We will not likely make this model again as we encourage and help the family restore their skill.
If you're interested in learning more, check out the Spydiewiki page about it. Here's some design insight from Massad Ayoob himself that I found on the spydiewiki page (originally from Bladeforums):
The rationale was to get the blade directly in line with the radius bone of the forearm when the average human wrist was in the "locked" position, which puts the middle knuckle of the hand directly in line with the axis of the forearm.
This is what gives the C60 its superior stabbing accuracy that posters in this thread have mentioned, and it also gives tremendously more penetration, because it aligns the skeleto-muscular support structure of the arm with the point (number one), and therefore with anyone who knows how to put his weight behind a punch, gets the entire body's force going directly behind the point (number two).
As other posters have also noted, the handle-to-blade angle puts much more force behind a slash as well as a stab. Instead of the blade "skimming" over the target as it hits hard resistance such as bone, the 90 degree angle of the blade when held in reverse grip (and KEPT there by a handle shape that allows the thumb to lock it at that angle) the C60 is more likely to shear directly through whatever resistance it encounters. Because of the design features, something very similar happens with a slash from the conventional saber or pekal grasp.
As to the tip-down carry: I'm one of those early Spyderco fans whom Sal calls "Clipiteers," [:-)] who started their Spyderco experience with the original Police model, learned to open it with a pinch-snap, and discovered we could win bets beating guys with bali-songs and even "automatic knives" in opening speed. The pinch snap uses the gross motor movement of the closed hand instead of the more fine-motor skill of using the thumb to open the blade via the original design intent of the "Spyder-hole."
As has also been noted (you guys n' gals are sharp, no pun intended) the C60 had ambi holes drilled so the clip could be moved for southpaws. I did not consider tip-up carry in the design parameters, and would have to go back and play with the concept a lot more to see how well it would work in that fashion. I realize that a lot of folks are as habituated to tip-up carry as I am to tip-down.
While it is unconventionally shaped with the negative blade angle and features serrations, I still highly recommend it as a "surprisingly great" EDC choice. With a Sharpmaker, sharpening serrations really is not a challenge anymore. Give it a try, I bet you'll be impressed with the craftsmanship, materials, and performance of this unique, long gone limited edition model.
This product is a "factory second." If you are unfamiliar, please read the disclosures below.
About Factory Seconds
About Factory Seconds
The long-running and popular Spyderco Factory Seconds program offers fully functional, premium knives that exhibit minor cosmetic variations or non-critical deviations from "first quality" units at a substantial discount. These knives deliver the same reliable high performance and functionality as their primary production counterparts, but are specially marked with a notch near the hole on the right side (clip side) of the blade to denote that they were sold as factory seconds and thus ineligible for warranty services. They also do not come with any packaging or documentation. See pictures below for notch examples.
Please note that all sales are final for factory seconds - we cannot accept returns.
The comparison prices for these factory seconds are also showing the comparable MAP (US retail price) rather than the Spyderco MSRP to give you a more accurate sense of the savings as compared to buying new. However, several of these items have been discontinued, so buying new may not even be an option. Many of these items are priced below what wholesale cost would be for a "first quality" version and we hope it provides a compelling value for you.
Based on our inspections, our factory seconds may have none or multiple of the imperfections of varying severity as listed below, organized by frequency. However, this is not an exhaustive list and we may not have noticed all possible imperfections.
MOST COMMON: You will probably see one or more of these:
- Minor, faint scratches & scuffs on blade
- Scale scuffs
- "Streaky" stonewash (Namely 15V and Maxamet)
- "sticker shadow" - faint stain of the ID sticker that Spyderco put on the knife. We have done our best to clean each blade, but unfortunately were unable to remove it in some cases.
UNCOMMON: Most knives don't have these issues but many do:
- Lock stick (barely noticeable to significant, but nothing unreasonably crunchy)
- Detent is slightly too strong/too weak
- Minor blade play (all that we inspected were within our approximation of "first" condition range)
- Asymmetrical bevels
- Blade finish color is out of range (notably FDE PVD coated blades i.e., Avocados)
- Action is too tight / too loose
- Patina / minor corrosion spots
- Minor edge damage
- Scale color is out of range (most notably Blurple from S110V G10 variants)
RARE: Only a few have these
- Uneven bevels
- Inconsistent grind thickness
- Engraving errors
- Slightly chipped tip
- Blade has the wrong finish altogether (e.g. intended to be stonewashed but is satin)
- Scale texture is incorrect
- Blade warping (namely on some Maxamet)
- Spine and/or hole is not chamfered (enough?) and feel somewhat "sharp" (but not enough to cut you) - easy fix with a sharpmaker rod/small file.
- Lanyard tube rattle (extremely rare)
- Spine of the blade is chipped slightly
- No notch to denote it's a factory second (extremely rare)
Unfortunately, we cannot make any guarantees to honor any special requests about the unit you will be getting. However, on many of these knives, the reasoning behind why it was marked as a "second" is nearly imperceptible, especially when compared to normal factory "first" units. There have even been multiple cases where we've asked a QA person from Spyderco what problem something had and they couldn't tell from a close inspection.
ALL SALES FINAL - unfortunately we are unable to accept returns on factory seconds, but we believe the exceptional discounts can help make up for the tradeoffs.
Some examples:
Important Warranty Information
Important Warranty Information
Please note, factory second units are not eligible for Spyderco's limited lifetime warranty and feature a distinctive notch on the spine near the hole to indicate this. See the dropdown above for more information.
Rest assured, the precision craftsmanship, quality materials, and user serviceability inherent to every Spyderco product largely eliminates the need for any warranty services, even for factory seconds.
We are also unable to accept returns on factory second products and thus all sales are final. Thank you for your understanding :)
Note that the two sample units photographed may not be representative of the unit you will receive. For more detail, click on our photography methodology description below.
Photography Methodology
Photography Methodology
For the purposes of photographs, if we had more than two or more units of any particular SKU, we randomly picked two to photograph. For some we quickly wiped the blade with a pass of isopropyl alcohol, but not all - some photos may still show some loose white fibers rubbed off from the first pass of cleaning all blades.
From there, we took a shot of both knives open on the bottom of the lightbox (apologies for the bad light settings), then took subsequent pictures to highlight visual blemishes that we noticed, if any. If there weren't any noticeable blemishes, we just took pictures of the whole blade. At times, it was a struggle to squint to find imperfections.
Since the range of what qualifies a knife as a "second" is so broad, we cannot guarantee that the photos are representative of the exact unit that you will get. However, we sincerely hope and believe that you will ultimately be confident in your purchase.
