So I'm just sitting there and...

[Clip]

...I'm talking knives with another guy at work who's about to buy his first Spyderco, thanks to me. He's looking at the Tenacious while I try and talk him into a Dragonfly2. He asks if the Calypso is discontinued and I tell him yes, but the Caly3 and Caly3.5 are the current models.

I was never a fan of the Caly3. Always thought it looked kind of ugly and disproportionate. Apologies to all Caly3 owners, but something about that knife just looked wrong.

I tell him about it today, go to pull up Spyderco's site with the information and BAM, hits me like lightning. I love the way this thing looks, and now I feel the need to GET ONE IMMEDIATELY. Every fiber of my being is screaming at me to pull the trigger and click the buy button. I guess I should've known it would happen sooner or later. Every Spyderco I look at and gag a little does a complete 180 and before long, it's the love of my life (example - Dodo. Thought it looked hideous but it grew on me fast).

Just thought you all should know. Hope I'm not the only one.

So now, appeal to my dark side and tell me how good your Caly3 is and how I should've bought two already.

[akaAK]

One of my most comfortable knives (Caly 3's only one G10 and one ZDP), ddep carry wire clip, excellent fit and finish. Very thin behind the edge.

You will be very happy when you get it.

[bh49]

It is good :) , actually Caly3 is amazing. I carried every day G10/VG10 variant for several years. I bought it on the first day, when they came out and carried until I received my Caly3.5. Little extra blade will never hurt, as long as it within legal limits.
So back to Caly3. This is workhorse, which looks like a beauty queen. Just read this.

You know how the car magazines sometimes run a car for 100K miles then evaluate it? Well here is a report after a year’s hard use on a Caly III. (I’m amazed I didn’t lose it during that time.) A year ago I started an extensive refurbish of a house (almost a rebuild). At the time my Caly III was my favorite knife, and I considered laying it aside and using something else for the hard work ahead. The back bevel was a thin 12 degrees per side, with the sharpmaker putting on the edge at 15 degrees. Thought that might be too delicate.

Plus, on this forum, I read any number of comments about the Caly III being a ‘gent’s knife,’ perhaps not up to hard work, with people occasionally expressing doubt of its strength. (Never read anybody reporting Caly IIIs were easy to break, but the innuendo was always there.) So I decided a ‘torture test’ would be fun, and this is the knife that rode in my pocket to work every day. (See how the pocket of one of my work pants is shredded by pulling it in and out so many times.)

The knife was used for all the things you’d encounter rebuilding a house, including opening bags of cement, cutting drywall, carving wood, cutting down cardboard, notching plastic, cutting templates, scraping paint, taking insulation off of wire, and when clean, cutting fruit for lunch. Sometimes I'd loan it to another worker and I don't even want to know what they did with it. Sometimes I would use the butt of it to hammer on stuff (when I was too lazy to get a hammer). I did not abuse the knife by prying with it. And, I did not use it for jobs where a disposable blade was clearly called for. So in summary it got hard use, but not abuse.

Here it is over a year later. Yesterday it was coverred in white drywall powder, and would not lock open because of the amount of drywall powder in my pockets getting into the locking mechanism. Plus, it was starting to take a long time to resharpen on the sharpmaker, so today I cleaned it up, oiled it with mineral oil, and finally reprofiled it back to 12 degrees…which took less time than writing this post. A couple of swipes with the fine sharpmaker stones, and we’re back to free cutting paper.

It still locks up with authority. The black in the spyder is worn away, there are scratches on the blade, and yesterday (before reprofiling) there were a few notches in the belly of the blade. The vertical blade play is around 1mm at the tip. There is wear under the G-10 under the clip.

My conclusion is, this is a hard working knife. Call it a “gent’s knife” if you will, but it just keeps on cutting in a harsh environment. I think this real-world test of endurance should help put to rest its undeserved reputation as a potentially fragile knife. It's more of a mini-mini-Manix, in my opinion.

Hard Use Caly III...still going strong:

[gbelleh]

I used to find about 90% of Spydercos totally hideous. But, one day it all turned around, and knives like the Phoenix, Rock Lobster, Dodo, Chokwe, Zulu, etc., became very attractive.

The Caly 3 is excellent. I carried a CF, ZDP Caly 3 for many months. It's still one of the smoothest Spydies I have, and still looks great.

[PARATOM]

im with you OP, except for the fact of initially thinking they/it looked ugly.

i have really been itching for one but i can decide on 3 or 3.5. I tend to like larger blades but i love the carbon look with the wire clip...

im in for this discussion

[pmek5]

I like the smooth carbon fiber. The action is also very smooth. For a lockback, I can even flick it open if I care to, which I normally don't.

[Koot]

Over the last 10 years or so I searched for "the one" knife, the last knife I would ever need to buy. Spent more than a few dollars with some reputable makers and was happy with my purchases. But none of them were "the one". Four years ago I ordered a Caly 3, I don't remember what led me to it but I could not resist. The Caly 3, in my mind, did it! It was the last knife I would need to buy. And that opinion didn't change, at least until a couple of months ago when I saw a write up about the Caly 3.5 Super Blue. My dealer still stocked one and I bit. Well, they both have top spot for me and oddly they are now both "The One".

Well done Spyderco!

[Lagrangian]

Sadly, I haven't had a chance to try the Caly-3.
I think it's more of a "Gentalman's Knife" that most other Spydercos.

[BadFish]

Caly 3.5 eats mountain lions. I'd say clay 3 could also

[GCG199]

I am quite pleased with my Caly 3.5 and am looking forward to the new version in carbon fiber handle scales and ZDP-189 blade.

[SolidState]

I was in the same boat about the looks, and then I held one and couldn't put it down. It lasted me about 6 months, and then my girlfriend actually traded in her delica for the caly 3 by taking my caly and leaving her delica on my dresser. It's a good thing I pre-ordered 2 of the damascus ones.

[xceptnl]

I am quite pleased with my Caly 3.5 and am looking forward to the new version in carbon fiber handle scales and ZDP-189 blade.

+1 to that thought. I spend my lunch break at work everyday browsing thru Wouter's Amsterdam thread drooling over the CF Caly 3.5

[ChapmanPreferred]

The Caly 3 ZDP is OUTSTANDING!!!!! You should own at least two of every variation... :)

[Rwb1500]

You bastards. Now I'm going to have to have one. I absolutely adore the UKPK, and have a very good relationship with my new Caly Jr too.

Looks like the 3.0 is coming to my house.

[Sonny]

I have a Caly3 serrated edge that I used for about 3 yrs. Yes, I love that wire clip. Much nicer than any of my other clip designs on Spydies or BenchMades.
But I carry Para2's these days, or a Millie. I want the longer blade. The Caly3 is no longer an active part of my EDC.
Sonny

[dman62]

Caly3 CF gets a lot of pocket time at work. It's discreet since it rides low and classy looking and doesn't freak out the sheeple. Oh and that zdp slices like a shark with a freekin laser beam on it's head.

[Clip]

Just put the order in this morning. I've got to learn to stay away from you guys.

[ViperGTS]

This thread is completely infectious! now I need to go buy one!

I should have never logged in today! Lol

[ViperGTS]

Okay before I place my order I have one question....is this ZDP similar to the one on the Delica or is this a laminate?

I'm kind of confused. I have the Delica with this steel and I agree it is quite amazing

[Clip]

It's a ZDP core with 420J2 outside. If you look on David/Evil D's thread, he's got a great picture that shows the laminate line:



Here's the link: http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... hoto-shoot