Classic Spyderco Spotlight: C71 Salsa

I felt like clipping on a pair of vintage spydies today, and my eyes fell on these Salsas. This was one of Spyderco’s first forays into having knives produced in Taiwan. IIRC, this design came shortly after the Li’l Temperance folding knife. And, to me, the Salsa always seemed like a slightly smaller and even more PC version of the Li’l Temp.

The Li’l Temperance and Salsa are both so-called li’l big knives featuring a full grip and a wide flat ground blade with a compression lock. The Li’l Temp’s production quality and overall fit and finish is definitely better than the Salsa though. But the Salsa’s colors and rounded tips make them especially suitable for educating non-knife people to the benefits of carrying a pocket knife. I never like the original pepper designs on the aluminum Salsas, so I was really happy to score these two knives. I just wish the cranberry Salsa featured a left-handed clip mounting option.