Byrd Rescues

[thurin]

How would you compare the Byrd Rescues (Meadowlark and Cara Cara) to the Spyderco Rescues (79mm, 93mm and new Rescue 3). They look to be comparable except for the steel. Are there other differences I'm missing?

[Commendatore]

I have a Byrd Rescue 2 (Cara Cara sized) and some Spyderco Rescue blades (Jumpmaster, Rescue Jr, UKPK Rescue, Saver Salt, Assist, D`Allara Recue) and I noticed the serrations on the Byrd are not as pointy/deep cut as the ones on the :spyder: s. The FRN handle structure is very good, the jimping along the lock bar guarantees a secure grip.
Maybe mine has a weak lock spring (no safety issue at all!) so I can open it using the blade`s weight with ease, don`t even touch the blade.
I do a lot of harder cutting tasks with it, don`t mind scratches on it, it excels at wood cutting altering between push cuts and saw-like ones and it sharpens up with ease. The small, probably 3mm straight part at the tip makes sharpening easier than the scallop on Rescue Jr/Saver Salt.

So I hope to have mentioned some details you`re interested in although someone else has to compare equal length blades.

[thurin]

Thanks Commendatore. I'm looking for something to put in the cars and thinking the Byrd Rescue Cara Cara 2 will fit the bill.

[Pete1977]

I have carried and used a byrd rescue 2 daily for about 2 years. Sal sent me a Cara Cara Rescue to test the serration pattern. I used that knife for about 18 months until I lost it overboard while lobstering. He sent the Rescue 2 as a replacement. The blade is slightly longer than the Spyderco Rescue and the Atlantic Salt and I think the Mariner Salt. The serrations on the Byrd are less toothy and less prone to snag in fibrous material. I like that the serrations on the Byrd don't go all the way to the tip like on the Spyderco Rescue or the Atlantic Salt. I like that it gives a "point" for precise cutting jobs or scraping.

FWIW the serrations on the original Cara Cara Rescue were the most useful that Spyderco has ever put out. The serrations on my Rescue 2 are "pointier" where on the original were flatter and shallower. For the price, you can't go wrong with the Byrd Rescue knives. They hold their edge for a decent amount of time and are easy to resharpen on the sharpmaker or even with a sharpening rod or the corner of a sharpening stone in the field.

[thurin]

Thanks Pete for the info. I found your review of the original Cara Cara Rescue. It's good to see the knife in action.

[Pete1977]

no problem. I worked the heck out of that original Cara Cara Rescue. One day I put it on top of one of my lobster traps, reminded myself to grab it before I set the string of traps back, and naturally forgot until I was hosing down the boat. These knives are workhorses....the price point and the china stamp fool a lot of people I think. I used to hate the byrd opening hole, but for opening a knife with gloves on it is great. The replacement I have occasionally disengages the lock if I am holding it a certain way with gloves on....the boye dent in the lock bar release isn't very deep. I could use a dremel to fix it but I'm lazy....Those first generation Cara Cara rescues were superior to the Rescue 2 IMO....better serrations, better clip (short squared clip vs. longer paddle style) etc...but aside from the locking issue, and a crack in the blade which is still present, this knife has taken some punishment. It's filthy, smells like diesel, scratched, rusted, and generally ugly but I can't retire it until it fails catastrophically, I decide to finally send it back to Sal (he asked to see it a year ago :eek :) or I lose it.

[Pete1977]

One thing I have noticed re: steel is that for what I use a knife for, edge retention isn't paramount. I have dulled VG-10, S30V and H-1 in the same amount of time cutting dirty rope, rubber hose, etc...I would rather be able to resharpen the knife on a corner of a whetstone, a file, or whatever I have at hand in the field, then have to worry about resharpening it with diamond stones on a sharpening jig to get it useable again....I am very anti-super steel.... I like tougher steels that are easy to resharpen, less prone to chip, and can be touched up repeatedly during work, instead of high wear high hardness steels that need to be reprofiled after a day of abuse, chip when cutting things that aren't supposed to be cut with a knife, or break when doing non-knife duties like prying etc...

and I prefer a serrated edge to a plain edge....a well done serrated edge can do anything a plain edge can do, especially those serrations on the original Cara Cara rescue. I could push cut newspaper with it, whittle shingles into points, saw, chop, scrape and cut with those serrations with no problem.

[sal]

Thanx Pete. Love the real world use.

Hi Thurin,

All of the Rescues mentioned were in-house designs, which means that Eric and I designed them. Both the Spyderco's and the byrd's. Ergos will be similar. The serrations were designed to be the same, but in grinding serrations, thre is always wear on the formed wheel and constant redressing is needed to keep the shape and depth of the serration within tolerance. Actually no two serrations are ever exactly the same.

Once they are sharpened a few times on the Triangle, the will perform more consistently to each other as the "toothiness" responds well to our sharpener.

There is a difference in the steel. The VG-10 used in the Spyderco's will have greater edge retention than the 8Cr by 35-45%. The VG-10 wil also be better in corrosion resistance by 20-25%. The quality of the FRN is better in the Spyderco's, though not a visible issue and the actual mfg of the Spyderco's will be a higher quality, especially given the more obstinate nature of the materials

In addition, there is an advantage to the Chinese/Dollar exchange rate over the Yen/Dollar.

Hope that helps.

sal

[thurin]

Thanks Pete for the further info and Sal for the insight! Much appreciated! I'll probably pick up a few of the Byrd Rescues for in the cars' and trucks' consoles for seat belt cutting (hopefully never necessary) or other emergency uses. Since they won't get used that often, the lower retention shouldn't be an issue and the price is right. And I'll get a Spyderco spyderedge of some type to add to the camp kit for dealing with rope and such.

[Pete1977]

Thanx Pete. Love the real world use.

Thank YOU Sal. I appreciate the opportunity to test out Spyderco's knives. I have been a lifelong user and usually can't get used to a knife without an opening hole and serrations :D

Anytime you want me to send that Rescue 2 back so you guys can check it out I can. It has held up under some surprising things. I've pried with it to open paint cans, taken it diving to cut rope out of boat propellers, dropped it, thrown it and may have cleaned it 3 or 4 times since you sent it...

the U shaped fracture in the blade is still there but hasn't really affected the performance, and I never got around to grinding the Boye detent a little deeper but the lock is still secure except in certain cases with gloves on.

The Byrd knives are great value for the money and they can take some abuse. I don't notice any difference in fit and finish between Byrds and the inexpensive Spyderco flagship knives like the Delica, Endura, Rescue, and Salts.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Thank you Sal and Pete for the helpful reviews!