Byrd Pelican

[Cliff Stamp]

After using three of the Byrd knives, they are definately solid performers for the price. The initial sharpness is a little lower on average compared to the Spyderco liner, but still high in general. Similar with regards to issues like finish and blade action. The Pelican in particular was fairly stiff NIB and was one of the few folders in a long time which had to be lubricated.

Solid cutting ability, nice ergonomics, some issues with stainless grips as expected. Nice versatility, slanted towards heavier cutting and more robust utility work due to the edge and tip profile. The rounded tip in particular could be attractive to some for safety reasons, and the straight edge is very easy to sharpen. This plus the low price tag makes it very much a nice starting knife.

I did a few searches and passarounds are sparce, possibly due to the forums concentration on more "high end" folders plus the cost of shipping vs the base cost of the knife. These likely want to be passed in groups and possible opened up to groups not exactly knife knuts, but still interested such as hikers / campers.

Ref :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/pelican.html

One thing which will take awhile to evalute is long term stability, how well does the construction hold up after 1-2 years of constant use.

-Cliff

 

[brownshoe]

I didn't think it was possible to make an uglier knife than a spyderco until I saw the pelikan...but then hey it's a spyderco. No matter how good it performs...don't buy no ugly knife.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Aesthetics are interesting, one person hates something another loves it. I don't find the Pelican ugly, though I don't find it striking either. What I find ugly is something like this :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48167&d=1130433626

but I am being influenced there by performance, too many speed hole aspects. Other people love those designs, and some of his are even more extreme.

I actually like the look of stainless grips more so than I rate them as users, FRN looks worse but I would pick that over most materials simply because the higher end ones don't really offer anything performance wise except in extremes.

-Cliff