Byrd plain edge Crossbill coming back?

[baffler]

Hi all,
I recently received from Spyderco the Byrd plain edge crossbill in G-10. As with all the Byrds I've seen, the quality is impressive in almost every way. My one complaint is that the blade curvature does not seem as "deep" or well executed as on a Harpy, but I guess that might be a limitation of the Chinese factory at this price point. On the website, it now says both plainedge crossbills are out of stock. My question is, are more likely to come down the pipe? Does Sypderco routinely renew runs of specific Byrd models, or is the Byrd plainedge (like the Harpy plain edges) unlikely to appear again?

Like many of you, I think the Spyderco "curved" blades are awesome, but they seem hard to come by. The Harpy in G-10 was my favorite carry folder, and I would love to see it come back. The Merlin, too, was an excellent lightweight urban carry piece, but everyone seems to have forgotten that one. I'm still waiting to hear something about the new Matriarch...

Thanks!

 

[yablanowitz]

As far as I know, the PE G-10 Crossbill is still in production, although it may be out of stock at the moment. The larger radius curve of the Crossbill and Superhawk seem to be a trend, and one that I personally don't care for. Sal said that their testing showed it worked better than the tighter curve, but I'm not sold. Luckily, we were able to convince him to keep the original shape on the Spyderhawk when he brought it back in H-1. If you want a larger hawkbill with a smaller radius curve, the Spyderhawk is available in PE as well as SE. The H-1 Tasman Salt is the successor to the Merlin.

 

[baffler]

Thank you for the quick reply! That is interesting about the "radius curve" issue - food for thought. I hadn't noticed how similar the Tasman Salt is to the Merlin, but the resemblance is clear. Are there any plans to produce the SpyderHawk in a more low-profile color?

 

[randomlooker]

The larger radius curve of the Crossbill and Superhawk seem to be a trend, and one that I personally don't care for. Sal said that their testing showed it worked better than the tighter curve, but I'm not sold. Luckily, we were able to convince him to keep the original shape on the Spyderhawk when he brought it back in H-1.

Hooray for that. The Spyderhawk is an incredibly useful knife when it comes to cutting stuff that's not under tension that tends to move about -- such as, say, removing a few blackberry vines that are starting to encroach on a trail without having to grab on to hold it steady. With a Crossbill/Superhawk style curve, it would be... not so good for that. The large-radius curve doesn't catch and hold anywhere nearly as well.

 

[yablanowitz]

Thank you for the quick reply! That is interesting about the "radius curve" issue - food for thought. I hadn't noticed how similar the Tasman Salt is to the Merlin, but the resemblance is clear. Are there any plans to produce the SpyderHawk in a more low-profile color?

Not that I know of, but it is possible if sales warrant it. Initially, the H-1 Spyderhawk was only going to be 600 pieces, but later it was changed to regular production. Not bad for a knife that was discontinued the first time. I really hope it is selling better this time around, since I was one of the people that talked Sal into bringing it back.

 

[RevDevil]

The largest auction site in the world has some Crossbills for sale.