Spyderco Police Carbon Fiber

[Ed. note – This is part two in a four part police training series on duty knives. Make sure you read Randall’s other articles in the series on his general thoughts about police knives, neck knives and the KA-BAR TDI.]

Let’s talk about folding knives.

I must admit to an infatuation with balisong, or butterfly, knives. For me it is part heritage and part love of toys. I had a three-inch Benchmade Bali-Song that rode in the top right pocket of my BDU shirt when I was in K9.

I could take the balisong out with either hand, but it was secure in the buttoned pocket. I could open the blade with one hand. The knife had the advantage of three pins securing the blade to the handles, which made it superior in strength to a single pivot pin folding knife.

The all-stainless steel balisong was a little heavy for shirt pocket carry, but it did give me many hours of playtime while giving the dog a break during the night shift.

Sal Glesser of Spyderco, Inc. invented their trademarked round opening hole and the knife mounted clothing clip, which were introduced in the Clipit line of knives in 1981. As the Clipits caught on, these industry revolutionizing innovations would later change how most cops wore a knife.

In 1984, Spyderco introduced the Police Model. It had the round opening hole, clothing clip, and stainless steel construction. The blade was 4 1/8”. At 5.5 ozs, the knife was a bit heavy, but its long slim handle made it carry easily in the pocket. The clip point blade, at over 4 inches, was seen by knife combatives instructors to be of the length that can reach vital organs when used to pierce the torso.

Early versions of the Police Model were referred to as P.I.G.s, for “Pride Integrity Guts, ” which was stamped into the blades. This knife is still popular and is in current production. Over the years, variations have been made with handles in aluminum, titanium, G-10, and carbon fiber. They have been made with plain, serrated, or part serrated blades of varying stainless steels.