Caly 3.5 CF ZDP = Shipped!

[xceptnl]

I can't believe it's here this fast. I can't believe I missed this on my credit card statement. I can't believe I am going to have the Green Para 2 and this on my card from the same month. The wife is going to kill me. Oh well . .

They still have them in stock. I don't know how many they have, but for those of you looking to act quickly ...

[Donut]

Sweet, that should be a nice knife.

[RedRunner]

IS that a sprint?

[xceptnl]

IS that a sprint?

It is a sprint as far as I know. I only pre-ordered it in early March.

[jtoler_9]

I'll cast a vote for not a sprint. I think I remember it being a production model.

[Ferris Wheels]

I could be wrong but I believe the Caly 3.5 with carbon fiber and ZDP189 is now a catalogued item. You might be getting it confused with the sprint run Caly 3 in Damascus limited to 1000 piecies. Check out the mid-year catalogue supplement: http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/2012...alog-Final.pdf

[FroOchie]

I got the email this morning that my place has them... I'm itching here. I love my Caly 3, I think the slightly larger model is going to make me school boy happy.

[Ferris Wheels]

I got the email this morning that my place has them... I'm itching here. I love my Caly 3, I think the slightly larger model is going to make me school boy happy.

School boy happy because you lucked out and got the hot teacher this year is more like it!

[FroOchie]

School boy happy because you lucked out and got the hot teacher this year is more like it!

LOL, a little.

[xceptnl]

USPS says it will be arriving to my location tomorrow morning. Good thing, I have had a terrible weekend with automotive troubles. I will post pics tomorrow so sleep fast guys!

[xceptnl]

I thought the beautiful CF deserved a fitting background and in honor of Fernando Alonso and his European GP win yesterday I chose red. Hope you all enjoy.










Initial impressions are that it is one of the most elegant Spyderco knives in my collection. I like the smooth CF for it's intended purpose in my EDC. I can't wait to get some use out of it.

[Donut]

xceptnl, very nice pictures. Congrats on the knife.

If you hadn't seen, someone else on the internet has already started complaining about having a warped blade. When you get time could you either try to get pictures to show if your blade seems straight or just give us a verbal on it? You know, lie it on something flat and look at it or take a picture of the spine while the knife is closed?

If you don't have the time, no biggie.

Thanks!

[xceptnl]

xceptnl, very nice pictures. Congrats on the knife.

If you hadn't seen, someone else on the internet has already started complaining about having a warped blade. When you get time could you either try to get pictures to show if your blade seems straight or just give us a verbal on it? You know, lie it on something flat and look at it or take a picture of the spine while the knife is closed?

If you don't have the time, no biggie.

Thanks!

I inspected the knife very carefully both visually and physically before snapping those photos. I can verify that my specimen is 100% straight and centered between the liners. The Hamon line on the spine is also completely straight and centered with equal amounts of slab steel on each side. The gently curved Hamon on the side of the blade is the only organic line I can find and I really love it the way it is (pretty sure it is supposed to be that way). The only possible area where a person could confuse curved for "warped" would maybe be the gently curve from the choil to the tip along the blade's length. Again, this is probably supposed to be this way. I will compare against the SB Caly 3.5 when I get home. Thanks for asking and I will post more pics in the Gallery.

[GCG199]

Nice pictures — thank you for posting them!

[CrimsonTideShooter]

Very nice pics man! I love how slim the CF Caly 3.5 is (no clue if the G10 version is the same thickness?), it just seems to disappear in the pocket.

Also, it's one of the only folders that looks like the blade is longer than the handle. I know it isn't, but it just appears that way. I love the almost 1:1 blade to handle ratio. You get a LOT of cutting power in a small package!

[xceptnl]

Very nice pics man! I love how slim the CF Caly 3.5 is (no clue if the G10 version is the same thickness?)

Believe it or not, the CF version is actually thicker than the G-10, but I dare you to see it with the naked eye. The measurements were .362 vs .357 (.005 difference). I actually meant to weigh them today. I will post more info later. I'm going to have to get myself a VG-10 Caly 3.5 to complete the collection. I really love this size and shaped blade. I think this one is going to bump the beloved Delica from my pocket.

[BAL]

It is a sprint as far as I know. I only pre-ordered it in early March.

It is called a sprint, because that is what you will have to do when the wife sees the old credit card.

[Mr Blonde]

Nice knife, thanks for the pics! this Caly 3.5 should be a regular production knife though. It's listed as a regular production item in the mid-year supplement and the knife's tag at the Amsterdam Meet did not indicate it as a sprint run. It's younger brother, the Caly 3, will come out in a sprint run, Cf/bolsters and damascus blade.

[xceptnl]

...It's younger brother, the Caly 3, will come out in a sprint run, Cf/bolsters and damascus blade.

That's where my confusion occurred! Thanks for the correction.

[Cave Dave]

Received mine today and my first impressions are one of disappointment. The fit and finish doesn't seem up to par.

Functionally it is just fine, centered blade and good lockup and action.

The thing that irks me most is there is a gap between the liner and the scale on the open side, and on the spine side the scale/liner interface isn't as clean as I'm used to seeing. I even had to remove two little slivers of metal sticking from the liner. I think the gap might be caused by foreign matter between the scale and liner but since its pinned I'm not sure there is any way to remove it. There is enough of gap that I was able to push a piece of dental floss into the gap. I was able to remove more slivers of metal this way but no major foreign matter and the gap is still there.



Other notes:
The CF scale on this has more of a matte finish than my Caly 3 CF, and it seems to show scratches more. This knife has more scratches out of the box on the scale than my Caly 3 CF has after I've been carrying it for a year.

The wire clip didn't touch the scale, and doesn't seem to be as evenly bent as is typical for spyderco. I will have to rebend the clip if I want it to hold tighter.

The lamination line is twice as far up on one side as the other but I'm OK with that as I was expecting that as normal for the laminated blade.
Frontside:


Clipside: I flipped the picture to better compare the lamination line.



There was a burr on the edge running 90% of the length of the blade. Easy enough to remove but I have never seen this on a spydie out of the box. It can be seen in the above pic.

I think all the things I've described are within spec so I don't think I'll bother with a return. I like this design so much that next time I pass by Bluefield, VA in the fall I'll see if I can hand select another and just keep this as a user. This knife will still replace my G10 3.5 which actually has a functional issue in that you have to bottom out the lock bar far into the recess before it will release the blade which makes it not so convenient to use. Functionality trumps F&F every time.