Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Shabaria (C59)

This is one of those Spyderco knives that has a lot of history behind it.

Designed by Eduard Bradichanski (who also designed the Spydercard) this knife was one of the earlier Ethnic blades released by Spyderco. Sal Glesser, the Big Chief at Spyderco, described the designer as having a "good eye and magic hands." Tragically, Mr. Bradichanski was killed by a terrorist attack in the West Bank a mere two weeks (around August of 1999) before his designs were to be released. He was identified by the prototypes of the Shabria and Spydercard that were in his possession, the fire that consumed his body and automobile did not damage the knives. The basic idea possessed by the Spydercard lives on in the modern Flatbyrd, a model introduced under Spyderco's spin-off Chinese line; Byrd Knives. It bears the Bradichanski maker's mark and is well worth tracking down if you missed the orignal Spyderco design.

The Shabaria was available in Plain or Combo edge patterns and went through at least one refinement wherein the pinned/closed back model was upgraded to phillips-head fasteners and an open back design.

Production life was 2000-2002 with a MSRP at release of $150.95.After discontinuation the model could be had for around $40-50, a few years later the aftermarket price hovers between $100-$200+ and even higher for a new Plain Edge model.

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