Finally Got a Spyderco Smock: The r/knives NKD Post Every Collector Relates To
Every knife collector has one: the knife they have wanted for years and somehow never bought. Sometimes it is a budget consideration, sometimes it is availability, and sometimes it is the quiet knowledge that once you own it, the chase is over. For one r/knives member this week, the wait ended — a New Knife Day post announced that they had finally gotten a Spyderco Smock after years of wanting one, and the community's response showed exactly why that particular knife inspires that kind of patience.
The Smock has a special place in Spyderco's lineup. Designed by Kevin Smock, it is one of the most distinctive folders the company has ever produced — a hollow-ground drop point with a button-compression lock hybrid that collectors still debate, a flipper tab that was ahead of its time, and G-10 scales with carbon fiber inlay options that give it a look unlike anything else in the catalog. It was discontinued and re-released over the years, which turned it into a perpetual grail for anyone who missed the window.
The "finally" in the title is the emotional core of the post, and it resonated. Delayed grail acquisitions are a shared experience in the community — the knife that sat in a wishlist for years, watched as prices fluctuated, compared endlessly with alternatives, and eventually pulled the trigger on. The comments section of a post like this is full of fellow travelers recounting their own versions of the same story: the years of deliberation, the moment of decision, the relief of the box arriving.
There is also a practical lesson buried in the thread. The Smock's re-releases have shown that Spyderco listens when a design develops a cult following — and that patience can pay off for buyers who refuse to pay scalper prices. For anyone with a grail of their own, the thread is a reminder that the right move is usually to wait for the re-release rather than overpay on the secondary market.
The verdict: the Smock NKD post is the hobby in miniature — years of wanting, a moment of joy, and a community that gets it. If you have a grail, this thread is your sign.