Byrd Cara Cara 2 vs Navy k631

A

AttilaTheHun

Joined
Apr 10, 2011
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124
Today's contenders are:
- on the left, Byrd's Cara Cara 2 G10, costing $30, aka "poor-man's-Spyderco-Endura-4":
41dqZiemp6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[video=youtube;p3KOLmMgUQw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KOLmMgUQw[/video]
- on the right, Navy's K631, costing $20, aka "poor-man's-Spyderco-Police-Military-crossbreed":
6110984.jpg

[video=youtube;VqN73Q1gy1M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqN73Q1gy1M[/video]

Both are comparable in every aspect: size, weight, material, grind, geometry, which I won't repeat here.
Brand-wise unconfirmed rumors cue that they are both manufactured by Sanremu in China.

Which do you prefere and why?
 
Spyderco designs, tests, and manufactures their own knives.

Sanrenmu takes knife designs sourced to them by other companies, and puts their own name on them, then undercuts the price.

I prefer Spyderco.
 
Shorttime said:
Spyderco designs, tests, and manufactures their own knives.

Sanrenmu takes knife designs sourced to them by other companies, and puts their own name on them, then undercuts the price.

I prefer Spyderco.
Click to expand...

Spyderco's Byrd line is their made in china brand, which is outsourced to the major factories there, IE SRM, Enlan, Navy etc.

I had both, I find the grinds uneven in the Navy and the CC2's FFg is at such a shallow angle the secondary bevel becomes gigantic. Turned both into a full convex, made for great beaters and gave them to friends who needed a workin knife. The K631's lockbar wasn't level with the spine of the blade so it sank a little, locked up solid but wasn't the best F&F

There were two major tie breakers for me: The back spacer on the CC2 isn't polished to a high grit so it rusted a tad, ended up filling the cutouts with epoxy. The CC2 also has that comet tail which caught the meat of my thumb when opened and was not comfortable after opening and closing all day.
 
brets-ftw said:
I had both [...]

There were two major tie breakers for me: The back spacer on the CC2 isn't polished to a high grit so it rusted a tad, ended up filling the cutouts with epoxy. The CC2 also has that comet tail which caught the meat of my thumb when opened and was not comfortable after opening and closing all day.
Click to expand...

So... which one did you like best?
 
I guess I didn't clarify, I preferred the K631, it has a leaner grind, and while it wasn't even I made it so with a sixer of elbow grease and a file. Though it really is up to you and what you prefer and what will be a tie breaker for you.
 
I've gone through 3 k631. All have different F & F. The current one I carry has flaws: lockbar going into tang very shallow, though it has not failed spine test. I think it's about half of my previous two, comparing the amount of lockbar raised right before snapping into place. Also, the back of the handle is not perpendicular, so you cannot stand the knife down on table folded on it's back. It'll fall to one side. It's flushed nicely between G10 & liner, except that at an angle, although it doesn't affect hand grip. Blade grind is thinnest among all 3, making the tip very thin.

Something I found googling last time:translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_m&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://metalblade.eu/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D2%26t%3D337

I guess Cara2 is a safer bet .. But not having one, can't comment.
At 30$, I'd rather get a Tenacious.
 
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The K631 is only a crappy copy . I came from China and I know it.

I also own a Meadow Lark, though the finish is not as good as a Kabar Dozier, it worths it (Even it's produced by Navy).

You should know that the Chinese law has many limitance on blades ,so SRM quit the market of big folders in China. If not so, Navy wont get the market of China consedering its poor QC (of no-OEM products ) and high price.
 
Buy the one with a lifetime warranty from a legitimate company.
 
I have a Cara Cara 2, and it is a very solid knife. I EDCed one for about 6 months, used it quite a bit, and it never let me down. It developed a tiny, almost imperceptible amount of vertical blade play, but is still quite serviceable.
 
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