C11 FRN Delica Review
Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 9:16 am
C11 FRN Delica Review
I have to say that being new to knives I had no idea that the Delica had been around so long. I also just assumed that I didn’t need to have one because it was just a normal knife and there was nothing big about it. All of my assumptions were wrong. First of all, I think everyone should have a Delica. For me it’s the best knife I have ever had to date. I now have 5 Delica’s and I love them all.
I first got hooked on the Calypso Jr. and it’s flat grind. I figured that I didn’t want anything else but a flat grind knife. Again, I was wrong. The blade on the Delica out of the box was the sharpest I have ever encountered on a factory knife. The blade is a tad longer than the one on the Calypso Jr. I have Delica’s with serrated edge, combo edge, and plain edge. All of them are the best cutters I’ve ever had. Mind you, I use my knives to cut food, rope, boxes (large HP Server boxes), some plastic ties, and some wire (CAT5 network cable).
I did a search on the “Delica Review” and didn’t find anything so I wanted to throw something down on “paper” for others to view if they were considering a Delica purchase.
In the short time that I’ve been able to use all my Delica’s I have to say that the one with the VG-10 blade cuts the best and needs sharpened the least. I have Delica’s that use AUS-8, AUS-6, G2, and VG-10. I don’t have a Sharpmaker yet so I need to get one as I need to sharpen all of these knives pretty soon. Sharpening is something else that I want to learn but I will take my time on.
The Delica is tip-up carry and I’m used to tip-down carry for the other knives I have. I think clip-up is actually pretty nice. When I take the knife out of my pocket it’s already in the right position to open and cut. Most of the tip-down knives I’ve had have to be flipped around before they are properly placed in the hand to open and cut. Plus I like the fact that it’s tip-up carry but the blade is actually facing the rear of your pocket. This is great as this will be the least likely way for it to open up in your pocket on accident. I also like the barrel nut that the clip is put on with as opposed to the 3 screw method. It lets the clip sit a bit closer to the knife handle and it gives it a thinner profile in your pocket ( I carry my Delica unclipped and inside my pocket when at work in the office).
This would be one mean knife if made with G10 handles. I guess then you’d almost have to call it a C05 Standard.
Pros:
Cons:
Thanks for reading. I know it’s not the most technical review ever but it’s a real world opinion from someone who simply works in an office all day.
I'll post again in this thread after about a month of everyday use.
I also plan to put some pictures in later today.
Stuff added after the original review:
5/3/05 - 8:10pm EST:
I forgot to mention that this was a review for the fully serrated model that I have. I have PE, CE, and some other SE's but this was for a fully serrated model.
One other thing I noticed that I hadn't really before is that this knife chews up my pocket pretty hard (just from clipping it to my pocket and removing it from my pocket). Not sure if it's the volcano patern on the Delica or just because it's FRN. I'm used to carrying either stainless knives, or the Calypso Jr FRN with the fish scale patern on the handle. In fact it has chewed up the pocket of a pair of jeans I have so much that I'm considering taking the clip off of it all together.
Things that I cut:
-As you can see in the pics I cut up a few real world things. I cut up a piece of 3/8" hard plastic tube. This is not soft like water supply line its a bit harder as it's for an inline water filter (I used to do plumbing too). It took about 10 seconds to cut through this tubing.
-The piece of wood is a paint mixing stick that's about 1/8th inch thick. It took about 6 back and forth saw cuts to get about half way through as shown.
-Lastly I cut straight down through a plastic coffee can. The lip was pretty hard to get through but after that it just zipped right down to the bottom.
I can tell that the knife needs sharpened a bit but it didn't really dull it that much. I probably cut through the equivilent of about 10 feet of 1/4" cardboard today too. Before that this knife was brand new out of the box. :D
Cheers,
David
I have to say that being new to knives I had no idea that the Delica had been around so long. I also just assumed that I didn’t need to have one because it was just a normal knife and there was nothing big about it. All of my assumptions were wrong. First of all, I think everyone should have a Delica. For me it’s the best knife I have ever had to date. I now have 5 Delica’s and I love them all.
I first got hooked on the Calypso Jr. and it’s flat grind. I figured that I didn’t want anything else but a flat grind knife. Again, I was wrong. The blade on the Delica out of the box was the sharpest I have ever encountered on a factory knife. The blade is a tad longer than the one on the Calypso Jr. I have Delica’s with serrated edge, combo edge, and plain edge. All of them are the best cutters I’ve ever had. Mind you, I use my knives to cut food, rope, boxes (large HP Server boxes), some plastic ties, and some wire (CAT5 network cable).
I did a search on the “Delica Review” and didn’t find anything so I wanted to throw something down on “paper” for others to view if they were considering a Delica purchase.
In the short time that I’ve been able to use all my Delica’s I have to say that the one with the VG-10 blade cuts the best and needs sharpened the least. I have Delica’s that use AUS-8, AUS-6, G2, and VG-10. I don’t have a Sharpmaker yet so I need to get one as I need to sharpen all of these knives pretty soon. Sharpening is something else that I want to learn but I will take my time on.
The Delica is tip-up carry and I’m used to tip-down carry for the other knives I have. I think clip-up is actually pretty nice. When I take the knife out of my pocket it’s already in the right position to open and cut. Most of the tip-down knives I’ve had have to be flipped around before they are properly placed in the hand to open and cut. Plus I like the fact that it’s tip-up carry but the blade is actually facing the rear of your pocket. This is great as this will be the least likely way for it to open up in your pocket on accident. I also like the barrel nut that the clip is put on with as opposed to the 3 screw method. It lets the clip sit a bit closer to the knife handle and it gives it a thinner profile in your pocket ( I carry my Delica unclipped and inside my pocket when at work in the office).
This would be one mean knife if made with G10 handles. I guess then you’d almost have to call it a C05 Standard.
Pros:
- 3” blade legal almost everywhere
- Tip-up carry with blade facing rear of pocket
- Very lightweight in FRN model
- Right or left handed carry
- Great Every Day Carry with great price.
Cons:
- None that I can find
Thanks for reading. I know it’s not the most technical review ever but it’s a real world opinion from someone who simply works in an office all day.
I'll post again in this thread after about a month of everyday use.
I also plan to put some pictures in later today.
Stuff added after the original review:
5/3/05 - 8:10pm EST:
I forgot to mention that this was a review for the fully serrated model that I have. I have PE, CE, and some other SE's but this was for a fully serrated model.
One other thing I noticed that I hadn't really before is that this knife chews up my pocket pretty hard (just from clipping it to my pocket and removing it from my pocket). Not sure if it's the volcano patern on the Delica or just because it's FRN. I'm used to carrying either stainless knives, or the Calypso Jr FRN with the fish scale patern on the handle. In fact it has chewed up the pocket of a pair of jeans I have so much that I'm considering taking the clip off of it all together.
Things that I cut:
-As you can see in the pics I cut up a few real world things. I cut up a piece of 3/8" hard plastic tube. This is not soft like water supply line its a bit harder as it's for an inline water filter (I used to do plumbing too). It took about 10 seconds to cut through this tubing.
-The piece of wood is a paint mixing stick that's about 1/8th inch thick. It took about 6 back and forth saw cuts to get about half way through as shown.
-Lastly I cut straight down through a plastic coffee can. The lip was pretty hard to get through but after that it just zipped right down to the bottom.
I can tell that the knife needs sharpened a bit but it didn't really dull it that much. I probably cut through the equivilent of about 10 feet of 1/4" cardboard today too. Before that this knife was brand new out of the box. :D
Cheers,
David
