Byrd Knives

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They're being touted as having 440C steel, but do they? How good are these knives. They seem to run awful cheap, often below twenty bucks for a 4-inch blade. They seem to be a bit heavy, but built well.
 
Most are available in 440C or 8Cr13MoV, I believe. Some may be only 8Cr13MoV. I have never used 8Cr13MoV and do not know how it compares to 440C, but I am a fan of properly done 440C.
 
I have 6 Byrds and each one has perfect F&F. I have zero complaints. My new G-10 Cara rivals my Millie. The Cara came with an edge that would cut hair above the skin. Many of my Golden Spydies have some vertical play.
 
Just purchased a Raven, ordered a Crow and will be purchasing a Cara Cara G-10 or FRN soon. I'm pretty impressed with this line from Spyderco - super affordable and well built. :D
 
New G-10 Meadowlark arrived yesterday. It's a work of art: tight fit & finish, very grippy-but-non-rubbery handle, solid, smooth action, and hair-popping sharp out of the box. The G-10 handle is a little heavy (adds, what, 50% to the weight of the knife, or something?), and therefore very solid feeling, but I imagine the FRN version is quite light. Also, it has the combination of ridged choil and ridged thumb-ramp that makes it quite easy to "choke up" onto the blade for detailed cutting, much in the same way as a Spyderco Native, but with a better feel in the non-choked-up position than the Native (which I find basically ends up in choked-up position all the time.) Clip is extremely robust--it should hold on to a pocket, etc., much more tightly than most--but it might be a little hard on pocket fabric that's not denim-heavy. Overall excellent.
 
This line of knives kind of puts paid to the notion that china can't build good knives. They just build whatever the customer wants quality wise.

As far as the steel is concerned. Spyderco wanted 440C steel. When the knives came Sal had them tested and found out it wasn't 440C, but this other steel. He named it according to the elements present at the percentage noted. It makes it easy when the name tells you what's in the steel. 8Cr13MoV would be .80% carbon, 13% chrome, with other elements present Mo = molybendum, V= Vanadium. See, not a bad steel at all.

It may not be 440C but it seems to be a steel that satisfies customers, including knife knowledgeable, hard to please kinds.

The story above is one I heard here in a thread. I think Sal himself said it but I can't remember which thread it would be in. Joe L.
 
Thanx Mastiff.

The designation; 8Cr13MoV is the Chinese call out for the steel. It's similar to the European designations. We like to keep everything above board and transparent, "anti-hype" if you will.

Hi Confederate,

The "byrd" line is a low cost alternative to the Spyderco line, think Toyota / Scion.

They are made in Chinese factories with whom we work closely. Spyderco designs, engineers, tests, markets, distributes and warrantees the line. We are working with some very skillful makers. It is their passion to make very high quality knives.

They seem inexpensive, because the Chinese "Yuan" (dollar) is still very low. I imagine in time as the "Yuan" increases in strenth, the prices will go up.

They seem inexpensive to comptetitive Chinese made knives because....:confused:

The lightweight Cara Cara (4" blade), Meadowlark (3" blade") and Finch (2" blade) are now being delivered, with the Robin (2.5" blade) coming soon.

Two time winner of the Blade Magazine's "Best Buy" award, the byrd line is quite a bit of "Bang for the Buck".

Stainless, G-10, FRN with Titan coming, we plan to be competitive.

The byrds are coming :rolleyes: ;)

Thanx for your patience with my "commercial".

sal
 
Byrd knives are great. I have a pelican and it is very comparable to the Spyderco full stainless knives (I have Endura and Delica full stainless). The finishing was a bit rough in a couple of spots but this was easily fixed with few touches from a small diamond file and fine grit sandpaper. Overall fit and finish is unbelievable for a knife that only cost around $20. The only negative comment I have is that the "comet" thumb hole kind of ruins the lines of the knife. It's kind of a ginzo thumb hole, the tail of the "comet" sucks. But if Byrd used a round hole, Spyderco would lose a lot of sales of their main brand stainless models- the quality is that good, especially to your "average Joe" knife customer, who doesn't care that the blade steel isn't fancy.

I just ordered a G-10 Cara Cara, just to see how a less than $30 knife with G-10 scales stacks up to much pricier offerings from Benchmade, Spyderco, Emerson, Buck-Strider etc. (blade steel aside). If the quality is as good as the Pelican, this could very well be the best knife in the world for the casual knife buyer. I'll be buying a slew of them for Christmas presents if they are as good as I think they will be.
 
I have a G-10 Cara Cara, it is a great knife for the money. Grippy G-10, very solid lock and incredible fit and finish for a $22 knife. The blade doesn't hold an edge like my VG-10 folders, but it seems slightly better than my AUS-8 CRKT's at edge holding. It also is very easy to sharpen to a real nice edge, with less burring than my AUS-8 knives (though more burring than VG-10). I have to say I really don't see any other knives that offer nearly as much bang for the buck.
 
I was wondering if Spyderco had ever toyed with the idea of offering the Endura, Delica and Rescue with G10 scales. The material is obviously out there and relatively inexpensive to work if Byrd can do it for $28. I would pay a few bucks extra for G10 on a full-boat Spyderco with a lock back. (especially if they made sure to bevel the edges of the blade hole nicely!) If the price were kept under $80, I would buy at least one of each. Just in case anyone at Spyderco is listening (Sal? Hi! You are cool!) I like the G10 nice and thick so I can sculpt it myself.
 
Hi Moonwilson,

Thanx for the kind words and the support. Yes, we listen ;)

We generally do most things that our customers want. We do like to be relatively sure that there are enough customers "out there" to support the request.

We couldn't keep MSRP under $80 for Endel4 in G-10 and still maintain current quality standard.

Curent Endura4 and Delica4 models include:

Black handle plain, combination & serrated
trainers
Emerson wave models
Foliage green models, more than one edge variation (still being decided)
BRG ZDP-189 models, plain & serrated

more than 18 skus for two patterns.

Tough to add much more for a small company.

It is easier with the byrd models, because of supplier capacity, but we're slowing down on the new byrd models as well, while we see reaction to current line.

Cara Cara
Stainless
G-10
FRN
Meadowlark
Stainless
G-10
FRN
Robin
Stainless
G-10
FRN
Finch
Stainless
FRN
Flight
Pelican
Crossbill
Raven
black blade & non coated blade soon.
Crow
black blade & non coated blade soon.
Starling
8tool harp
Firebyrd

2 new knife models and 1 multitool on the way.

sal
 
Ooooo, what locks will the 2 new knives have, and is the multitool pliers based?

Right now I want a G10 Cara and an frn Robin.
 
I picked up a cara cara for me, and a meadowlark for my son. We both love them. I added a raven to an order later on, and the liner lock is just as well done as the lock back was on the cara cara/meadowlark. Sal did us all a huge favor with the introduction of a truly affordable, high quality line in a price range where you're more likely to find flea market trash and knock offs than knives that hang with others priced 4 and 5 times higher.

Link is to a review of the cara cara I wrote up right after I got it. It's been over a year, and it's still rock solid and scary sharp.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=355991&highlight=yahmanin+byrd
 
BYO7P Crossbill, great knife for the money, cuts like there is no tommorow. Heavy, maybe, but not heavier than some. Rides very nicely in the back pocket due to the slim design. If you handed it to me a Byrd cold, I'd think it was a high end blade. Sans the thumbhole design, it reads and rides Spyderco all the way.

Matador-
 
Got my new SS Meadowlark the other day. All I can say is wow. I'm not a brilliant knife sharpener, and the out-of-the-box sharpness on my 'lark really surprised me. The fit and finish is great, the lockup is really solid (what not a little when heavily yanking the blade side to side). The blade movements are smooth as air and it clicks open with a satisfying snap. Does there happen to be bronze bushings inside? At least it looks and feels so.

The only gripe is of the SS handle, my hands sweat quite a bit, and operating the knife becomes cumbersome. FRN or G-10 would probably remedy this but my retailer doesn't carry those models.


Any other opinions on the meadowlark?
 
Not too long ago I purchased the Meadowlark w/G10 scales. It is currently my favorite EDC. Nice size for the office and street, and came to me very sharp. I got the plain blade. Fits nice in the back pocket and opens easily with a reasurring CLICK of the backlock. SOLID lock. Love the G10. Awaiting a Meadowlark w/FRN scales and will look into purchasing a Cara Cara w/G10.

I really love the Crow and Raven models, as well. My only complaint, and it's slight, is that both of these didn't lock-up as easily as they should, right out of the box. Both liners had to be 'worked' out a few times with a few good 'flicks'. After that, though, they lock-up solid with ease. Also, it would be really cool to see these come in G10. :)
 
Just received a Meadowlark FRN in the mail late Friday - wife's gonna kill me. Heheh. Anyhoo, the FRN model is nice! Very much lighter than the G-10 model I have and just as solid in its build and lock-up. Again, super sharp blade OTB and the FRN scales have the option for four different ways of carry (where the G-10 model only offers R/L hand tip-up carry options). The FRN model also has a slightly thinner profile than the G-10 but still fits nicely in the hand.
 
Cliff Stamp reported in his review of the SS meadowlark that the handle liners beacame loose when chopping some branches. I'm afraid that my 'lark has done the same thing, except I haven't chopped anything with it. OTB it had nill blade play, but now it has created some side to side play to it, and slight up/down play. Is there any way I could remedy this and could I maybe make my own screw-down pivot like the G-10 model has for example?

Any help is appreciated
 
I have a g10 meadowlark on the way, and I was wondering if anyone has had sucess with waving one of these knives? Ive never done a wave job myself, but I figure It would be better to learn on a 20 dollar knife that I could cheaply replace should I muck things up. any information would be appreciated
 
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