 In nature, a harrier is a bird of prey that hunts by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds. To military historians, a Harrier was one of a family of revolutionary jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) operations. To knife enthusiasts, however, the Harrier is an even more rare and elusive species. It was the very first member of Spyderco’s byrd® line of value-priced folding knives.
Introduced in 2004, the byrd Harrier was designed as an everyday-carry folding knife that boasted all the defining features of a Spyderco CLIPIT® in a much more affordable format. It featured an upswept blade ground from AUS-6 stainless steel, Micarta scales, bolsters, and a right-side, tip-down pocket clip. Spyderco’s first attempt to have a knife manufactured in China, the Harrier unfortunately suffered from inconsistent quality and many did not meet our demanding standards. While some did pass our quality control inspection and were released into the market, the vast majority of them were actually destroyed. The few still out there in private collections are now coveted collector’s items.
Although we were understandably disappointed with our first effort to create a byrd knife, we persevered. Fifteen years later, the byrd line now thrives alongside its Spyderco brethren and continues to earn loyal followers worldwide. To celebrate that success and our own tenacity, we thought the time was right to resurrect the Harrier concept with an all-new, much more worthy knife. Meet the Harrier 2. |
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