Delica 4 in 2024?

[Tristan_david2001]

I just want to be clear: love the delica, I bought one because I knew I really liked the design and it’s an excellent performer in its own right. Today I decided to take another close comparison to the in hand feel of my stainless steel combo edge delica, to my calypso jr lw, and g10 caly3. The delica is obviously different, but they really are similar… if you compare how the edges curve, the handle width/height and the overall arch of the knife design, Very similar knives in my opinon and that’s why I love them both.
their most noticeable difference in terms of in hand feel is the choil vs finger guard/ricasso.
I prefer that curved out spot for my index finger to get a comfortable pinch grip because It gets rid of the gap of edge you get with a normal saber grip on the delica. index choils are a function of grip stability, especially in precise cutting.
in a saber grip the choils lock my hand on the knife and feels like I have complete control of the blade right down to the bottom of the edge. With the delica, there’s a bit of loss in leverage in average cutting jobs when you’re in a Sabre grip on the finger guard. It’s not too significant but it’s a difference on the caly I really enjoy.
I must he a little biased also because I only have experience with a stainless handle delica, and the lack of choil to extra lock my grip in, combined with its slick and thin handle I feel slightly less stable or in tight control gripping it in comparison to the 3” calys. and like I said, i prefer not having the gap of edge in a ricasso design in the standard grip. But I might be able to appreciate the grip of the delica 4 even more if I experienced it in a thicker handle with more traction. My stainless one is great though too. And I think the delica blade is very attractive with a Sabre hollow grind btw. Just like the spyderco leaf is uniquely attractive with its FFG. Both are great. Thank you spyderco for your designs.

[Tristan_david2001]

....

While acknowledging the Delica's superstar status, I agree with TD; for me the "had fit" of the Caly is superb, and allows great control of the heel of the blade (which I use a lot) since I can get an index finger so close. .....

....You can choke up on the delica, but my finger isn’t comfortable there because of the protrusions of the finger guard and top of the ricasso in that tight of a space.....

I do not actually want to really discuss the "choking up on the ricasso" - thing, but just encourage folks who don´t do this:
Try completely unbiased and then make up your mind, some might be surprised and end up liking the Delica even more (this is NOT directed to you TristanDavid and Bolster, you obviously did try and for your own, valid reasons do not like it!!)

- Choking up in the Delica ricasso will never feel as comfortable as in a dedicated choil, this goes without saying!

- But: Imo in many tasks "maximum comfort" is not the most important thing - and when it comes to control some might find the "ricasso grip" very good (others won´t of course): The finger sits pretty "high", which eliminates any risk of having "to little meat" and a bit of a "floating" feel under the index finger - something that can happen in harder tasks with choils or generally handles that are thin / narrow where the index finger sits compared to the back of the handle

- Actually, the "point" of the ricasso does "lock" the finger in, by digging a bit into it - again, not the most comfortable thing, but in many tasks this does not matter to me.

- When it comes to safety: Choking up on the ricasso is perfectly safe in my extended experience. I do this all the time in "hard " tasks, with wet and cold hands... no problem. The hand is locked in anyway by the middle finger behind the guard.

- And: Try this rather not with the thumb on the ramp - but more forward on the spine of the blade or put on the flat of the blade.

- As said: The advantages of the Delica ricasso design compared to a "choil" design in the same small size:
1.) The grip area on the actual FRN handle behind choil or ricasso is longer
2.) The hand sits closer to the edge in the first place when not choking up

I must say I’m still a bit shocked you opt to choke up on the ricasso of the delica. If I choke up on top of the finger guard my index finger pushes into the edge of the knife, and I have a combo edge version. So that’s even extra not fun..but I think it works better if you lock your middle finger on the guard and lightly rest your index finger up and not against the knife, with your thumb on the spine like you suggested. That works better than the way I’ve been trying to choke up on it.

[rangefinder]

I have several Delica, but these days I mostly carry a Byrd Harrier2 to fill that size/role.

The Harrier handle is a tiny bit longer than a Delica (by about 1/16") but the blade and edge are much longer (by about 3/8"). So for very little increase in handle size, you get quite a bit more blade/edge. And a choil. And you can get it with a G10 handle.

The catch of course is you can't get a Harrier in all the alternative steels that the Delica has been offered with over the years. But if you just want a "user" knife, Spyderco's 8cr steel works quite well.

[ZrowsN1s]

I know there are other Spyderco LW's. But while we are singing the praises of the delica, when Im wearing sweat pants or work out clothes for hiking. The bigger heavier knives I like don't carry as well as the Delica, which disappears metaphorically when you clip it on.

[Bolster]

The Caly/calypso are designs are for the deep hard core knife aficionados. It is Unfortunate they don’t get much attention in comparison to all the other flagship in house models.

Yeah. You notice I do a fair amount of surveys here, and one thing that's become very apparent, is that it's "out of sight out of mind" for most people. You have your historians for sure, and the historians are vocal, but they don't represent the majority of folks on the forum. In the surveys I have noticed a huuuuuggge "in production" bias. People like what's in production; that's what they're familiar with, that's what people are talking about, that's what the aftermarketers are concentrating on, etc.

Take me for example. Since the Caly line has been out of production, I have assembled an embarrassingly large number of Manix knives. And I've come to like them more over time. It's a sort of "if you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with" sort of effect. Just wait; when the Caly gets back into production, it'll be hot again.

Regards the Delica, once again, I acknowledge its superstar status. It's a great knife. It doesn't work for me because (for some reason) I get an index finger hot spot on a knife with a gentle, large-radius curve like the Delica. I do much better with a small-radius, tight curve under the index finger. That's one reason the Manix feels so "right" in my hand. But I am aware there are legions of users who say the Delica feels great in their hands. Wish it did in mine; I like everything else about it.

[Wartstein]

I must say I’m still a bit shocked you opt to choke up on the ricasso of the delica. If I choke up on top of the finger guard my index finger pushes into the edge of the knife, and I have a combo edge version. So that’s even extra not fun..but I think it works better if you lock your middle finger on the guard and lightly rest your index finger up and not against the knife, with your thumb on the spine like you suggested. That works better than the way I’ve been trying to choke up on it.

May I ask (honest question!): What is it that actually "shocks" you?!

It is not as comfortable as choking up on a dedicated choil, but perfectly safe, even if part of the finger touches the actual edge and even in the hardest tasks (I do speak from a LOT of experience concerning that).

Actually one can choke up completely on a sharp edge and do cutting tasks - as long as the grip is firm and no back and forth movement occurs, nothing bad will happen (though this is definitely not really comfortable anymore).

[Tristan_david2001]

I must say I’m still a bit shocked you opt to choke up on the ricasso of the delica. If I choke up on top of the finger guard my index finger pushes into the edge of the knife, and I have a combo edge version. So that’s even extra not fun..but I think it works better if you lock your middle finger on the guard and lightly rest your index finger up and not against the knife, with your thumb on the spine like you suggested. That works better than the way I’ve been trying to choke up on it.

May I ask (honest question!): What is it that actually "shocks" you?!

It is not as comfortable as choking up on a dedicated choil, but perfectly safe, even if part of the finger touches the actual edge and even in the hardest tasks (I do speak from a LOT of experience concerning that).

Actually one can choke up completely on a sharp edge and do cutting tasks - as long as the grip is firm and no back and forth movement occurs, nothing bad will happen (though this is definitely not really comfortable anymore).

It doesn’t completely sound safe to me, my finger diggin in to the blade edge and even in the hardest of tasks! To each their own but I certainly find that a bit of a strange technique. But if it works for you all power to you

[p_atrick]

We need more photos.

[Skywalker]

I just want to be clear: love the delica, I bought one because I knew I really liked the design and it’s an excellent performer in its own right. Today I decided to take another close comparison to the in hand feel of my stainless steel combo edge delica, to my calypso jr lw, and g10 caly3. The delica is obviously different, but they really are similar… if you compare how the edges curve, the handle width/height and the overall arch of the knife design, Very similar knives in my opinon and that’s why I love them both.
...

The Caly/calypso are designs are for the deep hard core knife aficionados. It is Unfortunate they don’t get much attention in comparison to all the other flagship in house models.

Yeah. You notice I do a fair amount of surveys here, and one thing that's become very apparent, is that it's "out of sight out of mind" for most people. You have your historians for sure, and the historians are vocal, but they don't represent the majority of folks on the forum. In the surveys I have noticed a huuuuuggge "in production" bias. People like what's in production; that's what they're familiar with, that's what people are talking about, that's what the aftermarketers are concentrating on, etc.

Take me for example. Since the Caly line has been out of production, I have assembled an embarrassingly large number of Manix knives. And I've come to like them more over time. It's a sort of "if you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with" sort of effect. Just wait; when the Caly gets back into production, it'll be hot again.

...

The Caly comparisons are interesting to me - I have owned a Caly3 and Caly3.5 and I felt that they were less secure in hand than the Delica4/Endura4. My perception was that the Caly handle was just a little narrower, especially with the shallow radius choil right behind the edge, and it just didn't lock in as well as a Delica does to me. So now I've got 3 user Delicas in the rotation, 4 boxed as backups, and the Calys moved on to good homes.

(But I am looking forward to the Caly revival - I imagine I'll pick up whatever the base version is for the design variety in the collection.)

The Delica4 might not be my "walk away knife" but only because I couldn't pick between Delica/Endela/Endura.

Also, while searching for Caly/Delica comparison photos I came across this SpyderCollector blog post from 2010 with the release of the FFG FRN Delica 4 - "Flat grind turns Delica into a Calypso Jr"

[Skywalker]

We need more photos.

[Capt'n Boatsalot]

We need more photos.

On it!

[ladybug93]

[Manifestgtr]

Since it’s all but inevitable…
IMG_4341.jpeg

Is that a DIY Crucarta model?

That it is…scales were made by this dude in Russia. To be perfectly honest, I forget his name but he does really good work…great texture and tight tolerances.

Since it’s all but inevitable…
IMG_4341.jpeg

Nice stone. I've got one of those I use on some of my chef knives.

Absolutely, it’s a great finishing stone for vg10, lc200n…pretty much any easygoing steel you wanna put some shine on

[Manixguy@1994]

Nothing fancy.MG2

[kriezek]

This is a fast paced thread. 2 pages ago, someone said something about a 15V Delica. I'm just gonna put my 2 cents in that an AEB-L Delica would be awesome as a Sprint sporting some type of reddish FRN scales. For some reason, AEB-L just goes with red in my head. Don't know why.

[hobbyist]

Not the best photo, but this is my set minus my wharncliffe k390 in the garage. Here we have a k390 with a patina'd blade, an m390, two LC200Ns, two blacked out H1 salts (one serrated) that I frankensteined onto yellow scales, a wharncliff serated, a cruwear, and a wharncliff 20cv.

I find myself frequently trying to convince myself other knives are better because they're more interesting, flicky, etc. I get to a point where I think "I've done it, this is now my favorite knife." Then I handle a delica and instantly realize it's the best knife in my hand, perfect in the pocket, best length for my EDC, and just a great assortments of steel.

[kriezek]

Since photos were requested....

Includes Delica G-2, AUS-8 and Delica 4 VG-10, 20CV, ZDP-189, and S30V.
Does not include duplicates or the Delica ATS-55 which is packed away.

[rangefinder]

Quick phone pic scaled down in size to make it forum friendly:

[kriezek]

Quick phone pic scaled down in size to make it forum friendly:

delicas.jpg

Your clips are on the wrong end.

[DSH007]

Idk, all this talk of "walk away knives" sounds a bit far-fetched.. but, I will admit to seeing some appeal in the Delica platform..