When Michael Janich designed his first knife
for Spyderco nearly 20 years ago, most personal-defense knives had
traditional martial blade profiles, like spear points, Americanized
tantos, and variations on the Bowie theme. Janich's design—the
first-generation Ronin fixed blade—challenged that convention and
literally pioneered the concept of the "tactical Wharncliffe." Today,
Wharnie-style tactical knives are everywhere, but the roots of that
trend can be traced directly back to Janich's early designs—and
Spyderco's willingness to take a chance on them.
The latest
addition to this family is an all-black version of Janich's current
Wharncliffe folder design, the Yojimbo 2. But to fully appreciate that
knife, it helps to know a bit of the history behind its evolution.
The
original Ronin (literally "wave man" in Japanese, a term for a
masterless Samurai) actually began as a collaboration with custom
knifemaker Mike Snody. Janich had written an article on Snody's knives
that became the tipping point for him to become a full-time maker. As a
gesture of thanks, Snody invited Janich to design "the ultimate neck
knife," which he would make as a custom blade. Although Janich had
designed other knives previously, including the Tempest folder for the
Masters of Defense knife company, he was determined to approach the
design process from a fresh, empirical perspective.
He had
already begun incorporating a demonstration called "Pork Man" into his
knife self-defense courses to illustrate the cutting capability of small
knives. Pork Man—a hefty pork roast tied around a wooden dowel and
wrapped with multiple layers of plastic—not only demonstrated the
cutting power of typical carry knives, but it also quantified the
significant performance differences between different blade shapes.
To
determine which blade styles cut with the greatest effect, Janich
invested a small fortune in pork roasts, crafted an army of Pork Men,
and started cutting. To his surprise, of all the knives in his
collection, the ones that cut best were a pair of Frank
Centofante-designed "gentlemen's" folders from Spyderco with classic
Wharncliffe-style blades (the C25 and C50).
As Janich dug deeper,
he realized the secret of the Wharncliffe blades was their perfectly
straight edges cut with full power all the way to the point. Conversely,
the cutting power of blades with upward curving edges and lots of
"belly" diminishes near the point. The Wharncliffe’s needle-like point
also penetrates almost effortlessly during thrusts. Despite their
elegant demeanor, Wharncliffes are tactical cutting and thrusting
machines.
Armed with this knowledge, the Ronin design Janich
presented to Snody was pure Wharncliffe. Initially, Snody was not
thrilled with it and began to backpedal on his offer. When he finally
made one and cut with it, however, he was blown away. Ultimately, he not
only made a number of custom Ronins but shifted the course of his own
knife designs to focus heavily on Wharncliffe blades.
Around this
same time (1999), Spyderco founder Sal Glesser invited Janich to take
over as the instructor of the "Martial Blade Craft" program. Sal was
fresh from attending James Keating’s "Riddle of Steel" training camp and
wanted Spyderco to host a series of knife self-defense courses at our
headquarters in Golden. As the program gained steam, Sal also thought it
would be good for Janich to design a signature Spyderco knife that
reflected his system of knife tactics. Janich showed Sal the Ronin,
explained the logic behind it, and hammered the point home with the help
of Pork Man. Sal liked what he saw and the Spyderco Ronin was born.
At
that time, Spyderco's fixed blade market was still limited, so Sal also
asked Janich to design a folder as well. Janich had already been
working on a rough prototype of a folding tactical Wharncliffe, so he
quickly adapted the design to incorporate Spyderco’s Trademark Round
Hole and delivered a set of drawings and his own handmade plastic
concept model of the design. Although Sal liked the design, development
of it happened slowly, so Janich decided to "tip the scales" a bit. He
went back to Mike Snody and commissioned a special one-off of his
design, which he had named the Yojimbo (Japanese for "bodyguard"). Snody
gratefully made the knife, posted photos of it on the internet, and
mentioned that Spyderco might be working on a production version of it.
The
Spyderco Yojimbo followed shortly thereafter, in 2003. Manufactured in
Spyderco's Golden, CO factory, it featured a full-flat-ground CPM S30V
Wharncliffe blade, nested stainless steel liners, blue or black textured
G10 scales, and an early version of the Compression Lock mechanism. Its
three-inch blade was purposely shorter than its tapered handle because
Janich had originally designed it to be legal to carry on airplanes,
even during heightened security alerts. After 9/11, that design feature
was moot but still made the knife legal to carry almost everywhere.
While
many dismissed it as a "box cutter on steroids," the Yojimbo gained
more market traction than the Ronin. However, when Janich accepted a job
managing another knife company in 2004, both he and Spyderco decided to
remain friends, but discontinue the design.
Janich continued his
Wharncliffe campaign with several other designs until 2009 when he
joined Spyderco as a full-time employee. Although his duties focus
primarily on technical writing and product education, he soon joined
Spyderco's R&D team, as well. He was also invited to create another
signature design that reflected his philosophy on personal-defense
knives. Taking full advantage of the lessons he had learned since the
first Yojimbo, he designed the Yojimbo 2, which was released in late
2011.
The Yojimbo 2's more refined design—backed by Janich's
relentless promotion of the Wharncliffe as a tactical blade profile—have
helped it earn a solid place in Spyderco’s product line. Since it was
purpose-designed as a self-defense knife, the live-blade version was
joined by a dedicated trainer model in 2017. In an interesting example
of "reverse evolution"—and with the help of custom knifemaker Mickey
Yurco—the Yojimbo 2 also inspired a near-identical fixed-blade
counterpart, the Ronin 2.
Based on its enduring popularity and
repeated requests from Spyderco forumites, we are proud to announce the
latest addition to the Spyderco/Janich Wharncliffe family: the all-black
Yojimbo 2. Like the satin-bladed version, it features a hollow-ground
CPM S30V blade, Compression Lock, peel-ply-textured G-10 scales, and a
four-position hourglass pocket clip. However, all parts of the
knife—including its nested stainless steel liners and Compression
Lock—are cloaked in non-reflective black coatings. The blade features a
Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating, and all other parts also have durable
black coatings appropriate to their base materials. In addition to
satisfying Yojimbo 2 fans who have been clamoring for an all-black
version, this knife is historically significant as it is the first
Compression Lock model to feature black-coated liners.
Although
tactically themed Wharncliffes are commonplace these days, the evolution
of this breed all started with the efforts of Michael Janich, Spyderco,
and the spirit of collaboration and innovation that they have shared
for more than 20 years.
Specifications
- Blade Length: 3.20"
- Closed Length: 4.49"
- Overall Length: 7.69"
- Cutting Edge: 3.00"
- Blade Thickness: 0.145"
- Blade Material: CPM-S30V Stainless Steel
- Blade Style: Wharncliffe
- Blade Grind: Hollow
- Blade Finish: Black DLC
- Blade Edge: Plain
- Handle Material: G10
- Handle Colors: Black
- Locking Mechanism: Compression Lock
- Pocket Clip: Tip-Up/Down, Right/Left Carry
- Model Number: C85GPBBK2
- Model Name: Yojimbo 2
- Weight: 4.1 oz.
- Designer: Michael Janich
- Made in the USA
