This Great-Looking, Multi-Deploying New Spyderco EDC Knife Marks a Notable First for the Brand

Since the introduction of its first folding knife in 1981, Golden, Colorado-based Spyderco has produced a steady stream of interesting and innovative EDC folders, flippers and fixed blades.

Heck, even that debutante, the C01 Worker, packed a couple of firsts — the trademark round hole for swift, one-handed deployment and a right-side pocket clip.

Spyderco

However, more than four decades later, one of the knives in the brand’s recent New Product Reveal 19 is unlike any they have ever made before. 

Designed by Eric Glesser, son of Spyderco founder Sal Glesser, the appropriately named ButtonUp boasts a mechanism the brand has (surprisingly) never used before.

Lock talk

So, what’s different here? The brand calls the ButtonUp “Spyderco’s first-ever manual-opening button-lock folder.” 

That immediately raised some eyebrows around the GP offices, as early this year, our own Sean Tirman wrote about the Sage 6 Button Lock. 

“The ButtonUp is a true button lock or ‘plunge lock’ … the button itself creates the locking action.”

— Michael Janich, Spyderco Special Projects Coordinator

In search of answers, I reached out to the brand itself. Special Projects Coordinator Michael Janich got back to me promptly and comprehensively broke things down.

For the true knife knerds out there (we love ya!), here’s an excerpt of his nuanced response.

“The Sage 6 is properly classified as a ‘Button-Release Compression Lock.’ The actual lock mechanism is, for all practical purposes, a ‘left-handed’ Compression Lock, since the release movement of the lock bar, when viewed from above, would be from left to right. The button simply facilitates that movement, instead of direct finger pressure on the lock bar. The actual mechanical locking action of the Sage 6, however, is still accomplished by the Compression Lock. The button does not contact the blade directly, so it does not provide any locking function.

Spyderco

“The ButtonUp, however, is a true button lock or ‘plunge lock.’ In this lock, the button is driven upward (or, as viewed from the spine of the knife, from right to left) by a coil spring nested in its base. When the blade is opened, the shoulder of the button wedges into a scallop machined in the blade tang. In this way, the button itself creates the locking action. In the closed position, the corner of the button shoulder indexes a chamfered recess in the blade tang to create a detent that keeps it safely closed when carried in the pocket.”

Alright, consider our eyebrows officially lowered.

Finer points

Beyond its pioneering nature for the brand, however, the ButtonUp has much to offer. 

The business end is a 3.27-inch modified clip point blade made of 8Cr13MoV, a Chinese stainless steel offering good hardness and wear resistance and moderate corrosion resistance. 

What it lacks in edge retention, this material more than makes up for in affordability, a big reason this knife barely hits three figures in price.  

Spyderco

Thanks to ball bearing pivot washers, the deploying action promises to be super smooth and fidget-friendly, whether you opt to use the classic round hole or press the button and give it a flick. 

As anyone who has used a button-lock knife before knows, one-handed retraction of the blade, meanwhile, is easier than ever with a reverse of that motion.

The handle scales here are smooth carbon fiber/G10-laminate, complete with stainless steel microliners around the pivot and lock.

These materials are equally tough and light, part of why the knife weighs just 2.1 ounces.

Spyderco

Lastly, the ButtonUp boasts a reversible tip-up pocket clip that anchors to a second set of microliners at the back end of the handle, straddling a lined tube for attaching fobs and lanyards. 

In other words, there are multiple ways to keep track of the best Ben Franklin you might spend this year.

Availability and pricing

The Spyderco ButtonUp will ultimately come in four varieties. The base model will carry either a plain edge or a combination edge for $100.

A variant with a black oxide-coated blade (as shown on much of this page) and either a plain edge or a combination edge will cost $105.

Spyderco has not revealed a release date yet, but it is expected within the next few months, and you can sign up now to be notified the moment it drops.

Spyderco

Spyderco ButtonUp

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