Byrd Bowie, not impressed

A

anomad

Joined
Nov 21, 2003
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247
I ordered one of the new Byrd Bowie for my better half, who liked the appearance based on the pictures seen on a couple online knife shops. I did a quick search here and saw it was a spyderco knock-off, good materials, and figured it would be along the same lines as offerings from CRKT in that price range. (26 bucks at quickknife.com)

Well, she wasn't impressed, neither am I. The knife is very thick, heavy and feels awkward in the hand. There is about 3 times too much handle/frame material as there needs to be for such a small thin blade. For the size and weight you could easily have a leatherman clipped to your pocket. A well equipped SAK in the same price range is smaller and infinitely more useful. If a single blade is all you require there are many offerings with better steel and a plastic frame that are cheaper. I admit plastic frames are ugly, but the size and weight of this thing ruin any chance of the micarta scales winning me over on looks.

This was a situation where buying on the net sucks. If I had seen and held this knife we would have never bought it. Better luck next time, Spyderco.
 
anomad said:
I ordered one of the new Byrd Bowie for my better half, who liked the appearance based on the pictures seen on a couple online knife shops. I did a quick search here and saw it was a spyderco knock-off, good materials, and figured it would be along the same lines as offerings from CRKT in that price range. (26 bucks at quickknife.com)

Well, she wasn't impressed, neither am I. The knife is very thick, heavy and feels awkward in the hand. There is about 3 times too much handle/frame material as there needs to be for such a small thin blade. For the size and weight you could easily have a leatherman clipped to your pocket. A well equipped SAK in the same price range is smaller and infinitely more useful. If a single blade is all you require there are many offerings with better steel and a plastic frame that are cheaper. I admit plastic frames are ugly, but the size and weight of this thing ruin any chance of the micarta scales winning me over on looks.

This was a situation where buying on the net sucks. If I had seen and held this knife we would have never bought it. Better luck next time, Spyderco.
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I think the Byrd line is a bad idea... Spyderco should just stick to making high quality knives exclusively... :(
-Kevin
 
I don't know. The Byrd line probably isn't me cup of tea, nor is going to be for most bonified knifeknuts. I think it is a good business decision by Spyderco to tap into that market. There is a demand for knives in that range and I think Spyderco can make a good go of it. This venture shouldn't hurt Spyderco's other production line.
 
I don't understand it either. Spyderco already makes great offerings in a very accessible price range. If they really wanted to break into the super low cost market, maybe if they made a Delica-like model with a 420 blade for instance? I don't know about you but I could find a use for something like that.
 
Morgoth412 said:
I think the Byrd line is a bad idea... Spyderco should just stick to making high quality knives exclusively... :(
-Kevin
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I totally agree.
 
Smoke said:
Anomad, is the Byrd tip up or down?
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I'm not exactly sure what you mean? Looks slightly up to me, the initial curve has quite a sharp radius.

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I think lower priced offerings are a great idea. But this number doesn't do it for me. Camillus, KABAR, CRKT, all have ~20 dollar knives that are great as "beaters".
 
So the problem seems to be the design (handles too heavey for the blade). But it IS possible to pull off a nice, inexpensive, made-in-China knife -- the frame lock Kershaw Vapor is the prime example. Note that the Vapor is an excellent Ken Onion design, but made with less expensive labor and materials (AUS6). In fact, if the Vapor had Ti scales and an S30V blade, we'd be tripping over each other to buy one for $100 or more.

If Spyderco is going to offer less expensive knives, it cannot afford to hold back on the design, IMO.
 
Tip Up, means when the knife is clipped to a pocket, the tip points up, a la Delica/Endura
Tip Down is the opposite- Military
 
There's a reason why this knife doesnt say spyderco on it. As Sal has said before, he doesnt expect us knifeknuts to like the knife. I see it as more of an experimental thing that will only get better.
 
I'd like to hear more about the knife. Okay, so the handle is too big and heavy for the blade. What else? How about fit and finish?
 
It looks about as hideous as some $5 flea-market blades I've seen.

That's to say that it doesn't look 100% practical to me, but it has some of the same aesthetics as low-end knives. Things that catch the eye and incourage a non-knut to buy. Also, with the bolster and wood-grain handle, it looks fairly decent on quick glance from a few feet away. Fit and finish probably isn't great, especially on the grinds, but that's not really a selling point of knives in this range. I have to admit, most of that is bias based on price.

Ideally, this would feel as good in the hand as other spyderco knives. At least have a bit of balance to it. However, if it brings more resources to Spyderco so that Sal, Eric, and crew can put out more and better high-end designs so be it. Even better if a $20 beater encourages someone to go out and find a quality, $50 or $100 knife. I wish this experiment good luck, and future improvements.

(Edit - the Harrier seems similar to the Persian - micarta handle with bolster, upswept blade. It would be interesting to throw one into the Persian passaround. Perhaps some design tweaks could be suggested as far as balance, weight, or other issues. It would be interesting to hear opinions on cost/value of the two knives.)
 
I think the "comet" hole really cheapens the look and makes it look like a flea market folder, If they are going to make these they would look much better with just a thumbstud IMO.
 
The comet shaped hole does look crummy. I am sure in time Sal will iron out the bugs and produce a nice knife.
 
Appreciate the input. We'll see where the concept goes. Future models will, no doubt, improve.

The original Clipit "Worker" (1981) needed much improvement.

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
The original Clipit "Worker" (1981) needed much improvement.
sal
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Yup. I picked up an old Hunter, from before the handle scales were beveled. The handle edges dug in and felt pretty horrible (fortunately, the overall design is solid, so overall ergos were pretty good).

Comet hole does appear to be more low-end. It's flair over function, derivative, and a bit cluttered. Looks like it would be cool to wave, though :D
 
Anomad, I mean what Garage Boy suggested.
Or perhaps this is clipless ala the Kiwi?
 
Keith Mayton said:
I'd like to hear more about the knife. Okay, so the handle is too big and heavy for the blade. What else? How about fit and finish?
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Its what you would expect for 25 bucks. The scales fit ok, there was a small fracture around one of the pins holding them on. The tolerances were functional. The pocket clip (tip up carry if I understand what the others were asking), is large and shiny, looks like spring steel.

It's probably safe to say that I have been spoiled by nice knives, no doubt many others here are too. I would encourage others to at least handle one before passing final judgement.
 
Thanks Anomad. I'm more curious about the Byrd than I'm interested in actually buying one. It seems to me that about $20 more gets you into the Delica/Endura range, and at this point I'm very happy to pay that and more (or much more -- it steadily goes up) to get a better knife. I suppose some consumers would never exceed $25 for a knife, and that's who the Byrd is aimed at.
 
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