sal wrote:Good info. Thanx. What would be the preferred texture?
My leaning would still be for a lined model. While the wire clip doesn't need a liner, the pivots gain some for having them.....but that too is up for discussion. Skeletonized liners don't add much weight, but add rigidity, kinda like an internal skeleton.
I carry a 3.5 quite a bit. It's legal in my part of the world and large enough for food processing (fruit, etc). I also like FRN for it's toughness and lower final cost. Tooling is expensive so the investment must be considered as a long term model.
We felt that the Slipits that we're making in FRN would be around long term because of the trend in laws worldwide is to non-lockers. The UK, Squeak, Pingo models are legal in most places as EDC's.
The Caly 3/3.5 is more of an afi model and we'd have to determine if the market is large enough to support the tooling costs long term.
sal
I remember when the evolved Caly 3 design first hit shelves, it was said that if the demand was there, an FRN version could be in the works. I've been ready and willing to buy one since that first mention.
I understand that the Caly models are a bit more of an afi design, and that it would also fit into the same niche as the Delica (and Endura if you also moved the Caly 3.5 to FRN as well). My current EDC is a Delica 4 black FRN with flat ground blade. I absolutely love that knife; however, there are a few reasons that I would be interested in an FRN Caly 3. A couple of my reasons are reasons I'd like to see the Caly 3 get FRN, and a couple of them are attributes that the Caly 3 has that would make an FRN version a better knife than my Delica.
1. The bi-directional texturing on the newer FRN knives is, IMO, the best traction pattern ever put onto a knife handle. It provides grip at the right time but allows the hand to move over it with ease when necessary as well. One thing I've often found with other knives (especially G-10 handled knives) is that they either don't have enough traction, or if they have enough it's abrasive to the skin because it's so heavy. The FRN bi-directional texturing gives you a high traction knife that is easy on the hands when you're not looking to hold on tight.
2. I prefer FRN as a material for handles in my user knives. I own (and have used) plenty of knives with other handle materials, but they just don't work as well for me. I posted in a thread I started in the byrd forum that Spyderco and Kershaw/ZT are my go to companies for knife buying/collecting. I own quite a few knives from both, and the bottom line is that my Delica 4 is the knife in my pocket 99% of the time because it just flat out works better for me than any of my other blades. It is only on rare occasions that I carry something other than the D4.
3. I love the leaf blade shape. If I had one complaint about the D4 it would be that I prefer the full flat ground leaf blade. I have a full flat ground Delica, but it's just not quite the same for me. Performance wise, I'm not sure there would be a huge difference, but it's a preference.
4. Wire clip. Again, more a preference than a performance difference, but I'd like to have a wire clip in my EDC over the Delica 4 clip. Although the Delica 4 clip is near perfect, the wire clip would be just a hair better, IMO.
For these reasons, I think a FRN Caly 3 would be a winner.
"A flute with no holes is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a danish."
Quietly lurking the Spyderco forum since 2003...
