I've always liked hawkbill / sailor's knives, and I have one of the original Byrd stainless steel-handled Crossbills. When I heard there was a G-10 version coming out, I was a little more enthusiastic; as good as the stainless one was, it needed to be grippier and lighter in weight. This is the Byrd Crossbill in G-10, model BY07GS (meaning it's fully serrated). The G-10 Crossbill is also available with a plain edge, and both versions weigh in at 5.5 ounces. It sells for around $22 and is made in China. Here are the details...
As pictured, except this one has a fully serrated blade and a black pocket clip.
The Handle: The Crossbill is 4-3/4" closed and 3/8" thick (not counting the pocket clip). The liners are stainless steel, and they're drilled out to reduce weight. Unfortunately, they're not nested. The handle slabs are black G-10, and they're held on with stainless T-6 screws; three on the right handle slab and two (one goes into a bolt) on the left handle slab. The G-10 isn't very grippy at all, and it's disappointg to say that it's some of the smoothest G-10 I've ever held. I prefer G-10 to be aggressively textured so it won't slip, but that's not the case with the Crossbill.
There's also a lined lanyard hole, which helps out a lot if you attach a lanyard to it; the smoothness of the G-10 combined with the stiffness of the pocket clip make it a bit harder to pull out than I'd like.
Speaking of the pocket clip, it's blackened steel. It's held in place with three Phillips screws, and is adjustable for tip-up carry only, left or right handed. Inside a pocket, the knife protrudes by an inch. It's not deep carry at all, but retention is very tight. I had to take my clip off and bend it because it would pull my pants pocket inside out when deploying the knife.
The Crossbill locks open via lockback, which is positioned in the middle of the handle. Lock-up is solid, with no blade play in any direction. If it does develop, the blade pivot pin is adjustable with a T-8 bit. The locking bar has a David Boye detent, which is a small groove in the locking bar. To me, it makes finding the lock a bit easier. The back of the handle also has some nice scalloping.
Using the Crossbill is actually pretty comfortable, despite all of the things I said about the G-10. Finger grooves help keep it in your hand and there is no irritation.
The Blade: The Crossbill has a blade of 8Cr13MoV, which is similar to AUS-8. It's the same steel in your Spyderco Tenacious. The Crossbill's blade is 1/8" thick and 3-3/4" long with an edge of 3-1/8". It's serrated all the way to the last 1/2" of the tip. Being a serrated blade, it's sharpened on only one side (but is ground on both sides). The left side has byrd above 8Cr13MoV lasered on the tang, while the right side has China lasered on the tang and a restricted (circled "R") on the blade portion. The top of the blade has a swedge, and it's 2" long. The Crossbill came very sharp right out of the box, and opening is smooth even though there are no washers in it. The package says there's jimping on the blade spine and the choil, but mine has no jimping anywhere on it.
The opening hole, or comet, talon, whatever it is, is 1/2" by 1". It's big enough for even the largest of hands and lends itself well to the easy opening.
Overall, the Crossbill is like the rest of the Byrd line; it flies below the radar but is a great buy. I bought mine as a cheap man's G-10 Harpy, and it hasn't disappointed in its performance. It's a great utility knife and a great self-defense knife if necessary, but its uses as an EDC are rather limited. I'm still very glad I bought it, and I'd recommend it any day as a work tool or "just in case" knife.
As pictured, except this one has a fully serrated blade and a black pocket clip.
The Handle: The Crossbill is 4-3/4" closed and 3/8" thick (not counting the pocket clip). The liners are stainless steel, and they're drilled out to reduce weight. Unfortunately, they're not nested. The handle slabs are black G-10, and they're held on with stainless T-6 screws; three on the right handle slab and two (one goes into a bolt) on the left handle slab. The G-10 isn't very grippy at all, and it's disappointg to say that it's some of the smoothest G-10 I've ever held. I prefer G-10 to be aggressively textured so it won't slip, but that's not the case with the Crossbill.
There's also a lined lanyard hole, which helps out a lot if you attach a lanyard to it; the smoothness of the G-10 combined with the stiffness of the pocket clip make it a bit harder to pull out than I'd like.
Speaking of the pocket clip, it's blackened steel. It's held in place with three Phillips screws, and is adjustable for tip-up carry only, left or right handed. Inside a pocket, the knife protrudes by an inch. It's not deep carry at all, but retention is very tight. I had to take my clip off and bend it because it would pull my pants pocket inside out when deploying the knife.
The Crossbill locks open via lockback, which is positioned in the middle of the handle. Lock-up is solid, with no blade play in any direction. If it does develop, the blade pivot pin is adjustable with a T-8 bit. The locking bar has a David Boye detent, which is a small groove in the locking bar. To me, it makes finding the lock a bit easier. The back of the handle also has some nice scalloping.
Using the Crossbill is actually pretty comfortable, despite all of the things I said about the G-10. Finger grooves help keep it in your hand and there is no irritation.
The Blade: The Crossbill has a blade of 8Cr13MoV, which is similar to AUS-8. It's the same steel in your Spyderco Tenacious. The Crossbill's blade is 1/8" thick and 3-3/4" long with an edge of 3-1/8". It's serrated all the way to the last 1/2" of the tip. Being a serrated blade, it's sharpened on only one side (but is ground on both sides). The left side has byrd above 8Cr13MoV lasered on the tang, while the right side has China lasered on the tang and a restricted (circled "R") on the blade portion. The top of the blade has a swedge, and it's 2" long. The Crossbill came very sharp right out of the box, and opening is smooth even though there are no washers in it. The package says there's jimping on the blade spine and the choil, but mine has no jimping anywhere on it.
The opening hole, or comet, talon, whatever it is, is 1/2" by 1". It's big enough for even the largest of hands and lends itself well to the easy opening.
Overall, the Crossbill is like the rest of the Byrd line; it flies below the radar but is a great buy. I bought mine as a cheap man's G-10 Harpy, and it hasn't disappointed in its performance. It's a great utility knife and a great self-defense knife if necessary, but its uses as an EDC are rather limited. I'm still very glad I bought it, and I'd recommend it any day as a work tool or "just in case" knife.
