A little Caly3 love

cgmblade

cgmblade

Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
1,358
With all the other great knives I've acquired over the past couple of months it's easy to overlook some old favorites.

The Caly3 was my first really nice knife. With its FFG and G10 scales the Caly3 comes across as very elegant, but make no mistake: when the cutting gets tough it'll hold its own w/ the best of them. I did a cutting/whittling test of a bunch of knives a few months ago and the Caly 3 was one of the best performers. It way outperformed the Delica 4, which I attribute primarily to the FFG.

I really like Spyderco's wire clips, and the Caly3 rides low in the pocket, which could be either good or bad depending on your preferences. The pivot screw is adjustable, but the scales are pinned on which some have criticized, but I have no problems with and think it was right choice in this case.

The handle is shorter than either the Sage or Delica 4 and the ergonomics are superior to even most other Spydies, but only if you use the choil. I find that gripping the knife further back on the handle is awkward and it's also rather awkward trying to get a good grip for pull cuts. But in the traditional grip where your index finger uses the choil it is one of the most comfortable knives I own.

I think the Caly 3 is a must have for any serious Spyderco enthusiast.

Caly3_a1.jpg


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Here's the Caly3 with the outstanding Sage 2.

Caly3_a8.jpg


Cheers :)
 
Best EDC ever? Sage I. Or Sage II. Or the Caly!

From my perspective the Sage I is the best EDC value, at a street price of $70-$79 right now it's cheaper than the Caly and slightly more than half price of the Sage II.

Also if you have bigger hands, the wider handle is a little better, and the Carbon fiber is very light and grippy.

Even though I'm a lefty, I don't mind the fact that it's built for a righty. I can open the knife left handed no problem, closing it is not an issue.

Also I like the open construction. Aesthetically more pleasing. But take your pick, both knives are so close in size, I think Spyderco just wanted to please fans of Walker Linerlocks and Back Locks.
 
Sweet blade - I think I like that one more than the CF ZDP laminate ;) NICE!
 
My CF ZDP Caly 3 is one of my favorite EDC's. I like the depth of the CF and how easy it is on my pockets. The choil is a clincher.
 
Amaranth said:
Best EDC ever? Sage I. Or Sage II. Or the Caly!

From my perspective the Sage I is the best EDC value, at a street price of $70-$79 right now it's cheaper than the Caly and slightly more than half price of the Sage II.

Also if you have bigger hands, the wider handle is a little better, and the Carbon fiber is very light and grippy.

Even though I'm a lefty, I don't mind the fact that it's built for a righty. I can open the knife left handed no problem, closing it is not an issue.

Also I like the open construction. Aesthetically more pleasing. But take your pick, both knives are so close in size, I think Spyderco just wanted to please fans of Walker Linerlocks and Back Locks.
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I agree completely. I have both the Caly 3 and the Sage I (need to get the Sage II!), and I prefer the Sage I because of its open construction, excellent CF and (IMO) more ergonomic handle. However, VG-10 takes such a sharp edge, it's unreal. Add that to FFG leaf blade, solid SS liners and G10 handle, and the Caly 3 is an absolute winner. A true classic, and what I believe should take the Delica's crown as best representing Spyderco's design style.
 
In my opinion the Caly 3 is the best edc ever, the walker liner lock is not as good as the back lock on the caly, no washers and pin construction make it better, again in my opinion.

I also have the sage 1 and love it i disslike the sage 2 beacuse i dont like metal handles or frame locks. I will probably buy more sage as they come out as i like flat grind leaf shap blades and again they are close to the best knife spyderco ever made the CALY 3.

I have not been carrying iether my caly or my sage though since i have reciverd my native 3s in both blade configurations , there nice knives and they were cheep.

After i buy my rock salt unless anoither sage configureation i like comes out i will have all the knives i need.

sixheads
 
IMHO G10/Vg10 Caly3 one of the best production EDCs ever. I carry C83 Persian/Caly3 combo for more than three years. Quite a few spydies were bought after that, but none of them was able to kick Caly3 out of my pocket. It is broke my heart when Spyderco discontinued them. So I bought backups. I have one CF/ZDP-189. It is in display case, I never loved it as much as I love my VG10/G10 Caly3.
 
Another fan here. I just got my first Caly3 (G10/VG10) a couple months ago when I heard they were being discontinued. I love it so much that I bought a 2nd one last weekend as a backup because the first, my user, is going to be getting a LOT of pocket time, along with my G10 Dragonfly and H1 Ladybug.
When I was at the store I held a Sage and have to say, it's just as comfortable as the Caly3 in my hands. I also held one of the Sprint run G10 Rookies which I may have to get also. The only thing I don't like about it is that I would have preferred a lower riding pocket clip like the Caly3.
 
Congrats on getting your Caly3. It's a great knife and I'm sure it'll serve you well for a long time.
 
Thanks cgm, I hope I do get a lot of use out of it for a long time. It fits so well in hand that I don't see why it won't. I don't want to have to bust out the back up unless absolutely necessary!

Cheers!
 
I babied it for a long time. I edc'd it for awhile, but shied away from dirty jobs. But you're right; it's a tough knife and deserves to be used.
 
I have more than one. In fact I have two types, the standard and the CF. The CF only gets carried on Sundays and such like. The standard gets carried every day... That's except lately. The Bradley gets equal pocket time. Boy do I love those knifes!
 
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Reeek said:
Sweet blade - I think I like that one more than the CF ZDP laminate ;) NICE!
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TBH, I prefer the G-10 model myself as well.

I don't think the dull finished CF looks all that nice, and the grippy G-10 makes for a much nicer scales IMO.

Great photos, cgmblade! :thumbup:
 
I like the caly 3 better than the sage. The sage has the cutout for access to the lock which just doesn't fit my hand. It feels weird. Hopefully future lock styles will get rid of that.

I like the CF on the caly. You can actually see the weave. All my other CF spydercos are textured and you can barely tell it is CF. Half the reason of having CF is for the look.
 
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