Byrdwrench

Kohai999 said:
It's called a dialogue, boy-wonder.:mad:

That means discussion, that means good and bad mixed together. Without that, we are as bad as the Other Forums.

If you don't like it, we can move it to the Cove/Whine & Cheese.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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Was not meant to poo-poo anyone in particular Mr. Garsson.
 
Kohai999 said:
1. It is a MAJOR character flaw to have an option to buy US or buy foreign, and choose foreign.
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Mountainman38 said:
Why? You haven't presented any logic for this statement, so there's no reason I should believe you.
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Simple. Buying American products helps keep jobs in America.

If it cost the same or even a few more bucks to buy an American product of equal (or better) quality, so be it. Does that make me "utterly ridiculous"?
 
Bodieism said:
Simple. Buying American products helps keep jobs in America.
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Or other 'nice' countries like Switzerland (Vic and Wenger) or the UK and the rest of Europe. The country of origin is something I will always look at but I trust Spyderco and trust their Chinese factories must be of a good, honest standard.

Hi, Sal, How long have we got to wait for the Byrd wrench?
 
I just recieved my Byrdwrench from Knife Center. It's definitely not you're run of the mill Multi-tool. Since I've only had if for all of 25 minutes though, I can't really offer a review. Some observations though.....

The blade is pretty dull. It won't push cut a piece of paper for my printer and even had a bit of difficulty slicing it. I'll give it a few passes on the Sharpmaker later.

The blade is a bit bigger than I thought it was going to be. That's a nice surprise.

It feels good in my hand. A bit odd to use being that it's pretty different from your standard Leatherman type multi but that seems to just take a bit of getting used to. My thumb does seem to naturally rest a bit to close to the lock depress for my tastes though. I have to make sure I move it further forward. I really like the way the knife part of the tool feels in hand when the two parts are seperated so far.

The one thing that struck me the oddest though is the packaging. The Byrdwrench came in a plain white box with no wording on it whatsoever and there's no instructions with the tool. They're not needed but the lack of anything other than a white box with the tool inside in a plastic bag just seemed weird.

I'll post more once I've given the tool a good amount of use.
 
Hi STeven,

Sorry you don't like it. But we've agreed to disagree in the past. ;)

Right now we're trying to get the product to the market. While you may not like it, we do have many orders for them so somebody wants it. We try to serve our markets. Whether you like it, or even I like it has less clout. We try to make them with as high a quality and performance as we can provide.

We were not able to make them here successfully. We still have the tooling so perhaps in the future we'll try again.

The packaging isn't ready yet. Most dealers and distributors opted to wait for the packaging. Some felt it was more important to provide the piece, wthout the packaging.

Once production is underway, parts whould be available.

sal
 
As a quick update, I've been using my Byrdwrench for almost a week now and I've grown to really like it. When I'm using the blade, it feels like I'm using a pocket knife instead of the knife on a multi-tool. And I just really enjoy the feel of the tool in my hand. The pliers feel great in use. I don't know if I'd use it as a stand alone tool, (the lack of scissors is something I don't like and no Needle-Nose pliers hampers some use) but in concert with either another Leatherman-type Multi or a SAK, I think I'm about as covered as I can get.

I plan on ordering a second backup. I'm thinking though I'll wait for them to get out more so I can pickup a version with a serrated blade.
 
hardheart said:
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=SPBY15

by15.jpg


cool, is that a spring or something on the side?
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Just got one of these... three comments:

1. Needs a wirecutter.. somewhere anywhere. That's all that is really missing to make it a real contender.

2. Would be nice to have a thinner more needlenose type pliers, but we'll take what we can get.

3. What is the small lever for in the lower picture in the middle on the bottom. I'm not talking about the lockback lever, but the small lever that doesn't seem to do anything. What am I missing?:confused:

Anyway, the byrd seems built well and the knife is much better than most tools (save the newer LM charges).
Very unique and cool, especially since I never got hands on an older 'rench.
 
Open up the pliers all the way until the knife handle clicks in the locked position. That extends the screwdriver or wrench. The lever locks and unlocks the tool in this position.
 
I have had this Taiwan build of the
spyder.gif
rench since November, and have been EDCing since about the first of the year.

Some thoughts-
- there is a learning curve with this guy; something I hadn't experienced with other multi-tools, not impossible but evident
- I think I have used all the tools at least once, all work as advertised
- the over a $100 price point is a little tough to choke down, but it looks like the street price on the byrd is going to be about 35% less then that
- it is doing a good job of filling the gap left by a Gerber multi that I no longer carry

R7
dcp_4532a.jpg
 
I did a byrd wrench thread in another subforum. I thought it might be nice to add the "In Hand" pics to this thread:
I hadn't ever had the pleasure of the Spyderwrench. It always seems to bid up beyond the price I want to pay for a tool that was DC'd for quality of manufacturer issues.

Thankfully, Spyderco/Byrd didn't give up on the design. Although I'm not an engineer, I really appreciate fine design. Hopefully a few pics will help illustrate the kick butt tool known as the Byrd Wrench.

First, I had a feeling it was bulky, but it rides smaller than a Lil'Temperence in the pocket.


Next we see the pliers. Notice the pivot well is a figure eight shape...to allow two different widths of plier goodness:

Now to the knife. You can seperate the tool halves and just use the knife, or you can simply open the knife when it is together. Frankly a dedicated knife would be more comfortable for a long cutting session, but that is to be expected. I think I prefer to keep the whole thing together to cut. It is surprisingly comfortable...you really appreciate the rounded corners to prevent friction abrasions on the hands:



Next we have the crescent wrench. Notice how the file pin provides a stop to prevent wrench piece from coming all the way out. Caution without the pin the piece will come all the way. Take care if you are repairing a fishing reel in the middle of a lake, it would a shame to have a piece of tool make the dreaded "kerplunk" sound.

The file rod really is an important piece. It retains the screw bits, pin stops the crescent piece and provides a ball detent for keeping the wrench closed while in the pocket. :cool:
 
Someone mentioned they felt the blade was dull. My version felt about as sharp as other Byrd knives...not as sharp as a regular Spyderco knife, but sharper than the average multi-tool.
 
Well, it is April 1st, but I had to post this. Apparently with the ridiculous pajamas, the GI Joe set has a Spyder/Byrdwrench kinda accessory. Picture was double funny for me.:D
 
Lord help me, I think I'm going to end up with one of these too! The idea of a wrench is clever, since pressing my conventional multitools into wrench duty doesn't work out so well. The feature of separating it into two tools seems infinitely useful as well.
 
I fondled Spyderwrenches many times at knife stores over the years and I'm glad to see them back.

But I am sad to see them back exactly the same. The same things that kept me from buying one in the past will keep me from buying one now. Now that they've been revived how about a new model with different plier jaws and a bigger wrench?

The pliers could be more of a needle nose shape, or at least narrower and deeper, for my taste. But that's not the deal-breaker that the lack of a wire cutter is.

I work with bolts and nuts up to 3/4" in size. A 5/8" opening on the wrench just won't do what I need.

I would rather have a wood saw than the knife blade, but I'm probably the only person who would want that so...
 
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