Spyderco Forums

I am curious, why the new design of the Byrd Cara Cara? The original had the Byrd holes in the handle scales along with the blade, the new one doesn't. Was this a cosmetic alteration or are there functional differences? Also, and it may just be my own eye, it seems the original Byrd scales were "sharper" somehow, and the new ones seem more rounded.

We're always improving and evolving our designs. byrds are no exception.

sal

Thank you, sal. If I may ask, from what you recall, when you originally began to develop the concept of the Spyderco knife with the opening hole in the blade, was this an almost instant revelation-type of idea, like some inventors and engineers have, ie, a "eureka moment", or, was it a development over time, such as weeks and months and years?

It was a slow development. I knew how to open almost any knife with one hand, but it was a learned skill that took some time and a few cuts. I wanted to create a way that anyone could open a knife with one hand without the long learning curve. I started out by adding parts to the blade, stud, disk, etc, then I started to remove from the blade, rough up the surface, dent, hole.

sal

Hi Aamir,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

The Cara Cara is the perfect size. Mid sized knives are my favorite and having recently become a birder or bird watcher the Byrd knives just feel so appropriately named. I love my Spyderco knives(Byrds included) and are what I carry 90% of the time and use the Byrds at work and my more expensive Spyderco knives the rest of the time.

Hi Daven,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

I have been carrying a G10 Cara Cara 2 pretty much every time I leave the house for a couple of months, and I use it regularly in the kitchen if I'm cutting/eating steak. Great knife, and while I suspect I will rotate it out sometime soonish, the edgeholding has been pretty sound - it still shaves hair reasonably well and I haven't sharpened it for a long time.

The new maker and the minor refinements do create a nice piece.

sal

sal wrote:The new maker and the minor refinements do create a nice piece.

sal

Hi Sal,

Ordered from Amazon mid Dec. Would that be new maker's nice piece?

Edit to add:
It arrived. A nice package indeed. The spine is more straight than most of available picturea. Perhaps as result of CQI?
Lockup is tight, no up/down nor side play. Pivot isn't gritty at all, the edge is shaving sharp (yes, I tried shaving my chin) . Can't flick it yet, need to practice more. The pivot torx is same size as the rest, so I assume it's to make one tool fits all a la Sebenza (?).

Feedback: the clip screws were so tight, after heating the clip & screw on hair dryer until it's too hot to touch, I managed to unscrew 2. 1 of them rounded immediately. Of the 2 taken out, one has some whitish residue on it that made it very tough to unscrew (white loctite?) Perhaps the maker has to use less strong adhesive, as some might want to move the clip. Didn't try any of other screws as there was no immediate need.

I have to find a way to unscrew the last one, as I want to move it to lefty carry, perhaps converting it to flat driver, but I might end up destroying it altogether.

When I get a new spydie or byrd with a fairly tight detent, I either flick it open into reverse grip for a while, "spyderdrop" it (flick the knife open by pinching the hole and flick the handle out from the blade), or work to squeeze the lock action enough to lighten the detent. "spyderdrop" works well with models that are long and have liners or somewhat more mass than the straight lightweights.

Update: Charlynn sent me some screws & those work perfect, clip problem fixed. (Thanks!!!)

Other screws turned out to be ok. I was able to completely dismantle & clean up the internals. Now it"s smooth almost to Endura SB level.

Got my Cara Cara 2 today.. :D Super F&F.. Sharp.. I am the 2nd owner here but am quite happy!! Really like the handle texture!! John :cool:

Sal.. Is the Cara Cara going to get the BD steel?? John :)

Hi JMH,

Not at this time.

sal

Thanks Sal.. :D John :)

Does any of the Cara Cara ever be marked 2nd (factory second) by the notch on the spine? I just noticed my newer one has it. The placement & depth is very much like what Deacon (Paul) described on his page. Bought it new from Amazon.

Just finished sharpening & other than a bit of slope on the spine that makes it look more like Stretch' spine (very slight concave, putting a ruler on it shows 1/2 mm at the deepest part), it's perfect.