Backspacers

For those of you following on Instagram this will be a repeat, I realized quickly the Lander series were missing a key element, at least in MY opinion. Yes I know not everyone likes a hole in the side of their knife and not everyone likes a lanyard hanging from it and yes, there are even fewer people who want a large weird looking bead attached to that lanyard.

If you are like myself then welcome to the niche. I can say that at first I wasn't a fan. I didn't see the value add and found it rather annoying. Having machines that can easily make beads meant it was a no brainer add on for our product offering AND they are fun to design as it's 90% aesthetics. Sure you can get into the versions that can hold things inside or be used as a tactical advantage but I like that they add more body to my knife, easy to grab without looking, and yep they do look cool or at least become a conversation piece. But I'm not here to sell you on the idea of carrying lanyard beads. I only wanted to point out that the Lander series from Knafs don't have lanyard holes as part of the design. 

My approach was to just wrap a cord around the back post and hope for the best. This has a few problems with the main one being that the cord will get cut and fray since it can come in contact with the blade. 

Here we are. The Backspacer! Providing a few upgrades all at once, these small pieces add that much needed lanyard hold, make the knife a bit longer, add grip with jimping, and some customizable cool factor.  

I've made some in the usual flavors like titanium, ultem and brass. I've tried a few in micarta/G10 and they seem to hold up but I question the durability due to the thin wall thickness of the lanyard hole. But I haven't broken one yet. I guess it proves just how tough G10 is. 

I started with the Lander 1 and found that it's an almost perfect fit with the Lander 3. ALMOST! There was an interference issue with the blade. It seems the blade fits a little closer to the rear posts and with the clutch lock design it allows a little extra movement in the pocket allowing it to contact the version 1 of the backspacer. So I quickly redesigned it and checked fitment with both land 1 and 3 and boom! We have a winner. This makes me happy in a few ways. I don't need to create more tooling to hold a third backspacer or create a separate cut file for the G-code and I don't need to stock and inventory another sku. Bonus, if you buy one you can swap it between either knife and not have to buy 2.

Making one for the Lander 2 was easy at this point having practice on the other 2. I just had to make a longer version to fit the posts appropriately. That being said, the Lander 2 only fits the Lander 2. 

These are all available in the store right now! If you want a different color of anodized titanium just send me a message and I'll work the magic. If you are wanting a specific material please let me know but I may not be able to make one right away. 

Do you have a knife you want some custom parts for? If so just ask. I may say no but that's the worst I can say. 

Have fun out there friends and carry strong. 

Dustin