Spyderco Forums

There are still a few of these out there, but all above $60. For those of you who own and USE them, are they worth it over the g10?

The slimness, weight and solid backspacer appeal to me but only if there is an actual improvement over the g10.

All of my frn Byrds have very recently developed vertical play when locked, one pretty bad. I am hoping that the titanium handles might be different.

Thanks

I too would like to know more about the titanium models. It seems this part of the forum isn't very active.

I think they are quite nice, but I designed them so I'm biased. The are certainly worth the cost, in my opinion, and if sales aren't there, they'll be disco'd and gone forever.

sal

I purchased a Byrd Cara Cara 2 Ti recently, and I have to say I've got mixed feelings about the production quality. In particular, the titanium scales on my copy were bowed up in the center about 0.020" per side, leading to a 'pinched blade' that was very difficult to open (not something that can be fixed by adjusting the pivot).

Rather than contacting Spyderco directly, and having been in steel fabrication for more than 20 years, I took it on myself to disassemble the knife and straighten the scales. While I was able to straighten the scales to within 0.002" per side, I did find during disassembly that one of the screws through the backspacer had been cross-threaded into the post and had to be drilled out. Based on the interior condition of the knife, I believe that the knife left the factory this way.

Scales flattened and stoned smooth, I oiled and re-assembled the knife. Opening and closing the knife is now similar in feel to a Delica straight out of the box.

All of this said I think that the overall value of the knife is about what one would expect given the blade shape and features.

Finally, I intend to reach out to Spyderco privately with photos and receipt to see if they can help me find a replacement post and screw. I'm not sure if that's possible with the Byrd line, and I've heard wonderful things about Spyderco's customer service.

Hi JoWa,

Welcome to our forum. Sounds like you know what you are doing. I don't know what we can do about the screw, but it's worth a try to contact Customer Service.

sal

I have mixed feelings about David Mary knife maker on blade forum and his use of the Byrd

“” I figure (on the advice of bikerector bikerector who suggested it) that the Ti Byrds are a great choice since their blades come in one steel only, the budget level 8Cr13MoV, making this a great value proposition. I will be acquiring one of each to reverse engineer ASAP. I think these knives would be extra awesome with different blades shapes available and materials such as AEB-L, LC200N, and MagnaCut. Prototypes will be AEB-L to start. Could be a while but, it's a plan for sure.””

“” Was just thinking, if anyone is not opposed to temporarily loaning one or both of these knives to me for this R&D project, then I will consider you paid up for one of the first working AEB-L prototypes of each knife you send me (I'll still ask for return shipping). You will be able to specify the Rockwell hardness you want for them as well. Expect the timeframe before returning the knife and new blade(s) to be upwards of 4-6 months. I'll be ordering my own as soon as funds permit anyway, but this would expedite the R&D timetable for this project, and get you a free replacement for your 8Cr13 blade. I'll go with whoever chimes in here first.””

Maybe it’s kosher? For this idea??

I bought the titanium Meadowlark specifically to blade swap with the Hawkbill. IMO, it was worth it :)

I don't have a Byrd with G10, but the titanium makes the handle super thin compared the already thin FRN handle.

Don't expect the titanium Byrds to be on par with the any of the fluted titanium Golden models, you'll probably be disappointed, I think they're a great value. For roughly the price of a Seki made model with FRN, you can get the Byrd equivalent in titanium. It makes sense to me.

The Byrd Tis do look pretty interesting, but I couldn't bring myself to buy one due to the steel. Blade wise it does seem like the Byrd's have fallen behind most of the other popular Chinese knives on the market, where 9cr18mov, D2, AR-RPM9, etc are the standard offerings.

Well, those are the standard markings, anyway. Sal found out a long time ago that the Chinese will stamp lies on their blades to sell more of them. There are no "truth in labelling" laws over there. I have yet to see any of those claims verified by independent testing in a US lab.

yablanowitz wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:34 pm

Well, those are the standard markings, anyway. Sal found out a long time ago that the Chinese will stamp lies on their blades to sell more of them. There are no "truth in labelling" laws over there. I have yet to see any of those claims verified by independent testing in a US lab.

While there are some bad companies in China making copies, counterfeits, and blades with fraudulent steel stamps; there are also reputable companies making excellent knives. Several of those companies have had their steel stamps confirmed by XRF. Lots of us have carried, used, and sharpened knives from companies like WE/Civivi, Kizer, Bestech, etc. Those companies have earned their reputations.

The issue is that these companies have radically advanced the budget market. They are using D2, 9Cr18Mov, Sandvik Steels, etc. at prices competitive with or better than the Spyderco/Byrd knives in 8Cr13Mov. Even without the best heat treatments, those steels can cut circles around 8Cr13Mov. It's not just Spyderco but also Kershaw, CRKT, and others who are seeing their Chinese-made knives fall behind.

Luckily, Spyderco is taking action. Sal has confirmed that better steel choices are being explored. I think that's a wonderful thing. Some of the 8Cr13Mov knives have been a bad deal for years now. Seeing 8Cr13Mov on a new design instantly stops me from caring and I know I'm not alone in that. Upgrading the budget line to more capable steels like 9Cr18Mov or 14C28N will make Spyderco more competitive and give Spyderco fans better performance.

The question is what would be the best flagship blade steel for the Byrd line up. There are other issues to consider other than edge retention. One issue being cost effectiveness of switching to a better steel without losing a profit or substantially increasing the costs of the Byrd line up from a business sense of view. I would not want to be the guy choosing what flagship steel should be going on the Byrd line of knives. Especially with all the competition. Some with a bigger capital income and more resources.

I own all three. The Cara Cara, Meadowlark, and the Robin. I don't carry/ use them often. I've had no issues with performance. I mainly got them so I could do some creative anodizing to them. However, the scales are thin. I would've liked to seen them a bit thicker.