The Caly3 is the knife that brought me back to Spyderco. I was looking to replace a Leek because it kept opening in my pocket, even after torquing the safety down so tight it became a two handed knife. Me criteria were simple. It had to be the same size, good steel, as thin, and a back lock. I stumbled upon the Caly3 and took a gamble. Well, I was wowed! It is the same basic size as the Leek and very thin. You can see below it has the same thickness as a Dragonfly. It had great steel, had a strong backlock, and a stouter blade that still cut well. The huge pivot and thicker stock let me know this was no sissy knife.
Classy lines.
Only slightly longer than a Chaparral.
Looks good with accessories.
Slightly shorter than a Delica and thinner.
As thin as a Dragonfly.
I carried it for years but now it is sadly no longer in production. I am hoping for a new version. This is one of the best knives Spyderco ever produced, I believe.
I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof! (John Adams regarding the White House)
Follow the Christ, the King,
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King--
Else, wherefore born?" (Tennyson)
That's super cool to see / hear, thank you! I'm not a fan of pinned knives & as a rule I've completely steered clear of them, but I have a Caly3 w/a SE FFG VG-10 blade OTW to me right now. I just looked at every possible characteristic (which you cover beautifully above) I could from a half dozen photos and decided it was worth the plunge... Can't wait! (actually right now USPS is sorta mandating that I wait)
Never had a Caly 3 myself, but it has a lot to like!
And I think people who miss a choil on the Delica (though I personally do not) could love the Caly 3: Backlock, as you said even a bit shorter (by 5mm) and thinner than the Delica, choil, and still a bit more cutting edge.
What I don´t like: Deep carry clip. But on such a short folder I could live with it or replace it with a NON deep carry wire clip (like the Manix has).
The "problem" of the Caly 3 for me is: The Caly 3.5!
THIS thing has the exact closed length as a Delica (according to the specs of the CF version) - 4.25", but packs the cutting edge of a PM2 in there - about 3.1".
I am not THAT much into perfect closed length / edge ratio as I was, but when I can have it I´ll take a longer edge and think it makes a folder more versatile. And so the 3.5, closed really not much longer than the 3, but offering clearly more edge (again, roughly like PM2 vs Delica!) "beats" the 3 for me. Can´t wait for the LW version of the 3.5, but hope of course a LW 3 will follow!! :)
Top three going by pocket-time (update March 24):
- EDC: Endura thin red line ffg combo edge (VG10); Wayne Goddard PE (4V), Endela SE (VG10)
-Mountains/outdoors: Pac.Salt 1 SE (H1), Salt 2 SE (LC200N), and also Wayne Goddard PE (4V)
PS: Since you mentioned the DFly:
Never noticed that the Caly actually has a pretty "dfly-ish" looking thumb ramp. Not quite there yet, but closer than most other Spydies.
Just an observation, not saying this is either good or bad.
Top three going by pocket-time (update March 24):
- EDC: Endura thin red line ffg combo edge (VG10); Wayne Goddard PE (4V), Endela SE (VG10)
-Mountains/outdoors: Pac.Salt 1 SE (H1), Salt 2 SE (LC200N), and also Wayne Goddard PE (4V)
I agree! My Caly 3 SE has long been a summertime BBQ & picnic favourite. It is so very capable but unthreatening. I do wonder how it will fare against the new UKPK Salt SE when that arrives, though.
Still patiently waiting for the next evolution of the Calypso family. I'll even take a G10 Urban (which is a chopped and channeled UK, which is a slip joint Caly3)
This is one of the few knives that I actually like the choil on. Genius design. The handle does not have any weird points or odd spots on it. It is super comfortable.
I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof! (John Adams regarding the White House)
Follow the Christ, the King,
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King--
Else, wherefore born?" (Tennyson)
The HAP40 Sprint was one of the most anticipated drops for me. The drop was delayed and when it finally happened I became anxious waiting for my pre-order to ship. So I ended up with two. I sold my back up in a minor purge awhile back and now I'm kind of regretting it. My user is starting to get a little beat up (the SS back spacer has some scars, etc) and it would be nice to have a fresh one to fall back on. A different version would be nice too
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
I love the caly 3 and 3.5. I have two of each. The pinned construction is no big deal to me because the pivot is not pinned and the blade is super easy to remove to clean the pivot. No washers to worry about and no fitting of a backlock spring between two handle halves under pressure like with the endura and delica.
I have the ZDP/CF version. It's an amazing knife, and one I'll never voluntarily get rid of. Super classy and non threatening, but still super ergonomic and high performance. I love it.
We will see more Calys, especially in K390 someday. I hope the lightweight version brings it back to the popularity it deserves. Hands down my favorite model.
I really like the aesthetics and ergonomics of the Caly 3, but of the 3 that I have owned, they have all had too much lock-rock.
Despite the flaw, I do miss my HAP40 version and still have the Superblue version.
I still hope that we get a HAP40 Caly 3.5 someday.
I think we've probably discussed this before but...I just checked my Caly 3 & 3.5 by pressing the edge in a block of wood. No real issues with either. I can feel a tiny bit of movement but it's not enough that I see the lock bars moving up and down. I have Seki lock backs that have more movement than either of my Calys. None of them or so bad that I detect the lock rock in use. I've never even felt movement when whittling wood. Non-issue for me
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
Alex, I'll take 'Which :spyder: is part of my top 5 of all times' for 800, please.
Caly 3 and Native 5 I won't be without.
No issues with this one; no blade play at all. I was hoping to have a 3.5 by now, but the two I handled had too much lock rock for my taste. Still looking, or I'll just wait for the new one.
