Cat

[Markana]

I'd like to see this knife become more available.I think it's a cut above the Dragonfly.For me the Dfly has to muchcirve in the handle.Cramps my fingets.

[Thunderpants]

I think it's a less than stellar offering from Spyderco. Mine is as off centre as it could possibly be and I find black G10 utterly boring. I never use mine.

[Doc Dan]

I love, I mean love, my Cat. I have had it for a number of years and it is one of my favorite pocket knives. I have the older model in 440C with jimping. It is really a nicely made knife. I cannot say what the newer ones are like, but Spyderco really hit a home run with the one I have. I am an enthusiastic supporter of the Cat. I wish they would bring this knife to Golden and use BD1N steel in it.

The funny thing is, that I bought this knife as a cheap travel knife. The idea was I would have a decent knife but if it were lost or taken I would not be out a lot of money. It turned out better finished than another popular Spyderco at that time that cost 3 times as much.

The Cat is where its at.

[Sildani]

Love my Cat. Blade is dead center when open and it handles all I throw at it. Got it from Amazon for $42 as well. Nothing not to like.

[Mushroom]

I also love the Cat model! I had the 440C model without jimping, and it was easily my most carried knife at the time. I owned it while I lived in the city, which has a 2.5" blade limit, and it was a great knife for me. I ended up losing it a couple years back now, but still intend on replacing it!
When I first purchased the Cat, I was choosing between that or the Dragonfly and at the time preferred g10, which is why I chose the Cat.

I wish they would bring this knife to Golden and use BD1N steel in it.

The Cat is where its at.

Your wish may have partly come true!
Recently heard a rumor on here that the Cat was switching from BD1 to BD1N, but it's still being made in Taiwan. After checking Spydercos Catalog listing for the Cat, it is confirmed!

:spyder:

[TomAiello]

I like the cat, but I prefer backlocks to liner locks, so I'll probably stick with the Dragonfly. The BD1N upgrade is great news for the Cat lovers amongst us, though. :)

[araneae]

I like the Cat, much prefer the jimped model and don't know why they ever dropped it. That said, I like the D'fly a lot more.

[awa54]

More of a D'fly fan here, my Cat had crummy action and soggy lock-up until I fit some brass washers in place of the polymer ones. It's still not a fave even after that (very effective) modification. I'm waiting for the Para 3 LW to give me the perfect combination of compactness and utility :D

[steelcity16]

I like the Cat, much prefer the jimped model and don't know why they ever dropped it. That said, I like the D'fly a lot more.

I always wonder about things like that? Why drop the jimping? Why no jimping on the Lil Native? I love the jimping on the Native, Chap LW, and Dragonfly. Small knives without jimping seem incomplete to me. If the Cat had jimping I'd buy a BD1 version in a heartbeat. Maybe they will bring it back for the BD1N version? One can hope.

[Doc Dan]

I like the Cat, much prefer the jimped model and don't know why they ever dropped it. That said, I like the D'fly a lot more.

I always wonder about things like that? Why drop the jimping? Why no jimping on the Lil Native? I love the jimping on the Native, Chap LW, and Dragonfly. Small knives without jimping seem incomplete to me. If the Cat had jimping I'd buy a BD1 version in a heartbeat. Maybe they will bring it back for the BD1N version? One can hope.

Sal said they had problems with that particular factory not being able to consistently turn out jimping up to Spyderco standards. Therefore, they just stopped the jimping. My thinking is, if the factory cannot meet the specs, move the knife to another factory and let the first factory make another knife.

[David R]

Spyderco site shows it with BD1N steel, so I assume this is how they're being made now. Guessing there is still BD1 at some retailers.

Haven't tried one but I like the looks of it. I have a goal to try all the small Spydies and keep the ones I like the best. Cat, Chicago, and Lil' Native are all on the wish list. DF in ZDP will be hard to beat.

[rabbitanarchy14]

i loved my cat in bd1 but sold it and waiting for the new bd1n steel to hit bladehq or somewhere else i buy good knives. if anyone heres about where i can get the bd1n version plz plz let me know. love the cat. i am buy a dragonfly soon but i still think the CAT is what the dragonfly should have been.

[araneae]

i loved my cat in bd1 but sold it and waiting for the new bd1n steel to hit bladehq or somewhere else i buy good knives. if anyone heres about where i can get the bd1n version plz plz let me know. love the cat. i am buy a dragonfly soon but i still think the CAT is what the dragonfly should have been.

The Cat and D'fly are 2 very different models. IMO, the D'fly is everything it should be and the Cat is a totally different, but also pretty good design. Apples and Oranges.

[steelcity16]

More of a D'fly fan here, my Cat had crummy action and soggy lock-up until I fit some brass washers in place of the polymer ones. It's still not a fave even after that (very effective) modification. I'm waiting for the Para 3 LW to give me the perfect combination of compactness and utility :D

Have you tried the Native LW, linerless G10 Native, or Chap LW? Those are the 3 I rotate and I feel like they give me the perfect combination of compactness and utility.

[awa54]

I have the N5 LW and four Chaparral variants, but the standard Para 3 finds its way in to my pocket more often than the others. I definitely want a linerless Native G10, but the right combination of scale color and steel hasn't popped up yet.

[rabbitanarchy14]

i loved my cat in bd1 but sold it and waiting for the new bd1n steel to hit bladehq or somewhere else i buy good knives. if anyone heres about where i can get the bd1n version plz plz let me know. love the cat. i am buy a dragonfly soon but i still think the CAT is what the dragonfly should have been.

The Cat and D'fly are 2 very different models. IMO, the D'fly is everything it should be and the Cat is a totally different, but also pretty good design. Apples and Oranges.

ok sorry i guess i just meant i would be happy for a frn cat, like the dragonfly has frn and g10 and sprint steels and colors. would be a great idea for sal if he wanted to make it cheaper and appeal to more ppl. i guess i just really like that blade size with the finger choils 2.25 - 3

[Markana]

I agree with rabbitanarcy 14.I would be nice to see different models.

[youmakemehole]

I think it's a less than stellar offering from Spyderco. Mine is as off centre as it could possibly be and I find black G10 utterly boring. I never use mine.

Mine was off center for the longest time too, and perhaps you may improve your situation if you did what I did which was loosen all the screws, then tighten them starting with the 2 non pivot screws. While you tighten them you may want to squeeze the handles in a way so that it forces the blade to go in the opposite direction of where it was skewed. Tighten them as tight as you can while squeezing the handles, and then tighten the pivot, the blade will still be off center before working on the pivot, but as you tighten it you may see the blade start to center itself. At the perfect tightness, the blade should swing freely enough to Spydie flick while being centered with no play whatsoever. One thing I appreciate about Spyderco is that the precision of their knife parts are always very on point. I don't think I've ever had a Spyderco especially one out of Golden or Taiwan that was uncentered due to the fit of the knife itself but rather more likely it was because whomever/whatever put it together did not do so perfectly. I've always been able to fix blade centering without doing anything absurd, typically it just involves loosening and then tightening everything again.

I do appreciate using a knife without jimping every so often, I might even say If I had to only pick one, I'd go with no jimping. It just feels so nice and smooth and jimping often feels completely unnecessary because most of my tasks do not involve wetness or require a super secure grip. It'd be cool to maybe have an option fo whether or not you want jimping on a popular model, just like you can with DLC. Or maybe even tastefully remove jimping from certain sprints where the steel choice and overall character of the knife would fit well without it. Maybe for instance the V-TOKU Delica. In addition to changing up the feel of the knife, it would probably cut costs as well and allow cheaper prices or more features to be added for the same price. Don't get me wrong, I love jimping, I would never want any of my PM2's to be without it, but I can really appreciate the lack of jimping as well.

[araneae]

Or maybe even tastefully remove jimping from certain sprints where the steel choice and overall character of the knife would fit well without it. Maybe for instance the V-TOKU Delica. In addition to changing up the feel of the knife, it would probably cut costs as well and allow cheaper prices or more features to be added for the same price. Don't get me wrong, I love jimping, I would never want any of my PM2's to be without it, but I can really appreciate the lack of jimping as well.

Why would steel choice have any impact on whether jimping is suitable for a knife? Jimping improves grip and safety during use and I can't think of a time I'd want less or either; totally unrelated to steel best I can tell.

[youmakemehole]

Or maybe even tastefully remove jimping from certain sprints where the steel choice and overall character of the knife would fit well without it. Maybe for instance the V-TOKU Delica. In addition to changing up the feel of the knife, it would probably cut costs as well and allow cheaper prices or more features to be added for the same price. Don't get me wrong, I love jimping, I would never want any of my PM2's to be without it, but I can really appreciate the lack of jimping as well.

Why would steel choice have any impact on whether jimping is suitable for a knife? Jimping improves grip and safety during use and I can't think of a time I'd want less or either; totally unrelated to steel best I can tell.

Well not just steel choice, but the steel as welll as the design itself, culminating into a certain set of uses a knife would be more suitable for. Some knives are going to be used more for more gentle tasks, indoors, such as the Kapara, or Ikuchi, whereas some would be more suitable for hard, outdoor use and exposure to a variety of stressors, examples here would maybe be the Shaman and the Manix. I dont mean this in the sense that those knives can be used for only those things, but rather people who are accomplish those tasks would probably buy a knife that seems more suited for the respective use case. Then what I was saying earlier was that I kinda do enjoy having no jimping on the knives that I use much of the time aside from the most hardcore situations.