Caly 3.5 impressions

[Clip]

The Caly was inspired by the Calypso, just like the Calypso Jr. The 3 signifies a 3" blade and the 3.5, a 3.5" blade. Differs from the Manix and Manix2, Para, Para2, Native series.

[bh49]

I'm confused. Is this "3.5" knife that everyone is referring to called a Caly or a Calypso? At 1st, I thought people were using "Caly" for short, but now I'm not sure.

I beleive that the first knife from the family was Experimental micarta in 1996 or 1997(2 3/4" blade), which later became C52 Calypso Jr. black micarta. Calypso Jr was made with micarta and SS handle. Later there were three sprint runs of C52 Calypso Jr. with FRN scales: gray and black with VG10 blade, burgundy with ZDP laminate (first Spyderco ZDP). About at the same time, may be a year later in 1998 Spydeco produces C54 Calypso with 4" blade. I beleive that it was only one run of PE and SE. The next in 2005 was UKPK with 3" S30V FFG blade and black g10 scales and , non-locking. All these knives didn't have liners. As well as DKPK. Later UKPK changed color from black to Orange :p and FG :eek: and later G10 to FRN and S30V to G2. In 2006 Spyderco introduced Caly3 with 3" VG10 blade, black G10 and I fall in love. Later CF/ZDP189 variant. In 2009 original Caly3 was discontinued and shortly Caly3.5 produced.
So technically only Caly3 and Caly3.5 are Calys. The rest are Calypsos and UKPK. But if you look at Caly3 Damascus, you will find a lot of resemblance with Kopa. So Kopas probably also something like cousins. I beleive there were talk long time ago about Caly4, which supposed to have blade smaller than Caly3. But that was long time ago.

[this_is_nascar]

Thanks.

[Chevy]

Which exchange carries Caly 3.5's?

[dgebler]

Just a follow up...I cleaned and washed in hot soapy water and lubricated with mineral oil and still could feel some grittiness in the action. So after some debate (not much i admit) I decided to remove the pivot pin and blade to do a more thorough cleanup and see what was going on. After removing the blade, I could immediately tell what was causing the action to be so rough (I could barely open with one hand without fear of my thumb slipping under the pressure into the path of the blade); there were several thin metal shavings which appeared to be coming from the edges of the liners where this contacts the lock bar. A few slivers fell out when opened up, and the rest I removed with some extra fine sandpaper. I then carefully smoothed the edges of the lock bar where the contact was apparent (also a clear scratch line on the inside of the liners from the edge of the lock bar) and cleaned up any leftover shavings and sandpaper grit. And the great news...the knife is MUCH smoother, I can open this one handed easily (even flick if I wanted to although I prefer not to). While not quite as smooth as the Sage 1 (I know, I will try to stop mentioning this knife in every post) the knife seems to be breaking in well.

Now I can begin to appreciate the ergonomics, blade length, shape and grind, pocket size and all the other great qualities that many forumites so enjoy. I will live with this as my edc for a while and report back with my thoughts.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

I find Spydiewiki (http://www.spydiewiki.com) to be a great website for feeding my curiosity on the different models and their histories. Someone really should make a Spyderco pedigree to show how these knife families have evolved over time (Calypso to the Calys and UKPKs, the "Military" lines, the Manix/Native family, etc) – the Spyderco family tree.

Chevy, as for where to get Caly 3.5's, they are standard production items and can be found anywhere (Amazon, your favorite local/online knife dealer, and just about anybody who knows anything about great knives and sells them...). Is that what you meant by your question?

[vaisforlovers]

I'm confused. Is this "3.5" knife that everyone is referring to called a Caly or a Calypso? At 1st, I thought people were using "Caly" for short, but now I'm not sure.

I was confused too for a long time. Hope this helps:

Calypso Sprint
Caly 3.5 G10
Caly 3 CF ZDP
G10 UKPK

[Liquid Cobra]

I was confused too for a long time. Hope this helps:

Calypso Sprint
Caly 3.5 G10
Caly 3 CF ZDP
G10 UKPK

That's a good looking family right there.

[Liquid Cobra]

I find Spydiewiki (http://www.spydiewiki.com) to be a great website for feeding my curiosity on the different models and their histories. Someone really should make a Spyderco pedigree to show how these knife families have evolved over time (Calypso to the Calys and UKPKs, the "Military" lines, the Manix/Native family, etc) – the Spyderco family tree.

Chevy, as for where to get Caly 3.5's, they are standard production items and can be found anywhere (Amazon, your favorite local/online knife dealer, and just about anybody who knows anything about great knives and sells them...). Is that what you meant by your question?

Thanks for posting the end result. Many people forget to do this when they start a thread. I'm in the market for one of these and now I know what to look out for.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Thanks for posting the end result. Many people forget to do this when they start a thread. I'm in the market for one of these and now I know what to look out for.

Sure thing LC! Now you just have to decide whether to get a G10/VG-10 or a CF/ZDP-189 version... I like ZDP steel better, but not by a huge amount since VG-10 is easy to sharpen and gets scary sharp too (just dulls faster in my hands). I like the grippier feel of the G10 handle though and feel less guilty being rough with it, so that one is my standard EDC. The CF gets to go out on fancy dates though .

[Liquid Cobra]

Yeah I have yet to buy a cf knife. It looks so nice in photos but anytime I've had one in hand it has felt so slippery. I think you're right as well that it would be harder to be rough on it if it were cf. ZDP-189 blade with g10 and the choice would be easy. I really like the look of the laminate too.

[landromus]

I remember reading somewhere where; an owner was swapping blades from ZDP Calys to G10 Calys and vise-versa. He even swapped blades form Caly3s to Caly 3.5s.
So this evening I popped the pivot screw out of the 3.5 and took the blade out for a meticulous cleaning and a hairdryer Frog Lube treatment. Before treatment the blade deployed just fine with no signs of grit. Everything was pretty clean, but I found plenty of scratches on the blade near the pivot. I heated, applied lube, let cool and repeated a second series, and then wiped it all off.

Now to the fun part. Reassembly. It is simple. The pivot has a flat that needs to face up. But it took over a dozen attempts. It seemed I had ten thumbs and no fingers. A third hand would have helped considerably. The pivot finally pushed through the blade and into the other liner. Whew..... It was getting ridiculous.

The point is that if your Caly 3 or 3.5 is gritty, taking the blade out for cleaning is a straight forward affair. You need a 15 Torx, and a dose of patience.

[D1omedes]

The point is that if your Caly 3 or 3.5 is gritty, taking the blade out for cleaning is a straight forward affair. You need a 15 Torx, and a dose of patience.

Are you sure it's Torx and not Hex? :confused:

[dgebler]

Mine was a hex (metric size i think) for the pivot but torx for the clip. Not sure why with the level of refinement that the only two adjustable screws use different tools?

[Evil D]

Mine was a hex (metric size i think) for the pivot but torx for the clip. Not sure why with the level of refinement that the only two adjustable screws use different tools?

Not saying you're wrong, but I had a huge argument with myself about this once, and I had to use magnification to see that the pivot was indeed a torx. I had been using an allen key for a long time because I guess it looked too much like one and the key fit and worked fine.

[Janfrederik]

Not saying you're wrong, but I had a huge argument with myself about this once, and I had to use magnification to see that the pivot was indeed a torx. I had been using an allen key for a long time because I guess it looked too much like one and the key fit and worked fine.

Whatever works, huh?

[Evil D]

Whatever works, huh?

Well, I got curious so I dug out my Caly 3 and I'm still not sure what it is. The corners look as though they may have points like a torx, but it also looks really hexagonal like an allen key. A #10 torx does fit but it's sloppy, while a 2.5 allen key fits pretty snug so maybe it really is an allen key.

[Janfrederik]

Well, I got curious so I dug out my Caly 3 and I'm still not sure what it is. The corners look as though they may have points like a torx, but it also looks really hexagonal like an allen key. A #10 torx does fit but it's sloppy, while a 2.5 allen key fits pretty snug so maybe it really is an allen key.

Maybe they designed it to be multi use? That or your screws are somewhat stripped.

[dgebler]

I am looking at mine now under the desk lamp and the knife I just received is definitely an allen key. I can see small markings where I used a us allen in the metric sized bolt, but this particular knife is an allen bolt for the pivot only. I also inspected the pocket clip and this is indeed torx (with some strange machining marks on the bottom of one side). Not sure if this is the same for all versions, but this is one I just received Tuesday from New Graham Knives.

[Shakyamuni]

Really ironic. After about five years I stopped carry Calys. Native5 kicked them out of my pocket. But yesterday I realized how much do I miss them. Today Caly3.5 is in my FRP. Most likely will stay there for a little while. Probably will rotate with Persian. :)

Same here, except I stopped carrying my Caly 3.5 and have been carrying a Para 2. Now I've tried Para 2, Native 5, Southard, Domino, but today it's back to the Caly 3.5. It's truly remarkable how so much blade fits in that handle!