Delica, Cara Cara, and Pika II

M

me2

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Oct 11, 2003
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I have all 3 and was looking for opinions on them. The Pika II I just got yesterday, and I'm not sure about it yet. All three have solid lock up, with no blade play in any of them. All 3 will shave above the skin with a proper sharpening, and the Benchmade Pika II would do it out of the box. The others may have as well, but I dont remember. Fit and finish on the Cara Cara and Pika II are about the same and what you'd expect of $25 knives. The Delica is better in the this area. The other 2 have small visible gaps where they bolt/screw together. No problems, but the fit is a little less on the cheaper knives. The Delica carries easier, and is smaller by about an inch, than the other 2. The Pika and Cara Cara weigh about the same, and the Pika is slightly (1/16") longer than the Cara Cara when closed. With only one day of carry for the Pika, it seems to carry the same as the Cara Cara. The 3 feel good in hand, but the edge here goes to the Delica. The Cara Cara feels good with the textured G-10, and the Pika feels good in a saber and choke up grip. The hump on the handle in front of the pinkie is noticable and tends to guide my hand to a saber grip rather than a hammer grip, though this has posed no problems in the limited use so far. One thing I like about the Pika is the more pointed blade shape. The long clip point is more akin to the earlier, pointier Delicas than the Delica 4, which is the one I have. I prefer a pointier blade for a folder, since I frequently use them for removing splinters. My old Schrade Peanut has been retired from that duty for a while, so whatever folder I have will get pressed into service. This weekend while the wife is out of town, I'll try some edge holding tests on all this cardboard we have from the holidays. I wonder about the clip on the Pika, since it has only 2 screws, and a slot in the center that seems like it would be weaker. However, I do like the low carry fold over design, where the bend in the clip catches the pocket, rather than the area just in front of the screws, as on the Delica and Cara Cara.
 
I have handled the Pika, own a Delica. Compared to my Byrd Wings, which is similar to the Cara Cara except wider, I will make some conclusions. The Delica is far and a way a better knife, but you pay for that quality. The steel has better edge retention. Even with the G10, I feel like you have better purchase on the Delica. My Delica 4 just feels like a better knife all around, not that either the Pika or the Byrd is low quality. I like the Pika II just fine, but prefer the 440C of the Pika 1, given the choice. 9CroMo is fine however, and has an edge on the 8CroMo of the Byrd Line. Since I often take my sub-25 dollar knives into situations where I feel a greater chance of losing my knife exists, they excell for that purpose for me. I would say that anyone who wants a good 20-25 dollar knife cannot go wrong with either the Pika or Byrd line, but for about 20-25 bucks more you could get a much better knife. Lets face it, the Red Class and Byrd series knives are their to hook people and reel them in;)
 
I used an original Pika (oval hole) when I was on a trip out in WA. Didn't want to lose my nice ones! It actually cut much better than expected, and is a better slicer than the delica (which I own in ZDP) thanks to its thinner stock and higher grind. I didn't like the knife when I got it, but after using it I learned to love it!
 
I'm pleasantly surprised to find someone gives the steel in the Pika II a higher rating than the Byrd line. The Pika still has the factory edge, minus some stropping on plain leather. I was shocked to find that my old Ares actually cut better than my old Delica 3. After looking at the blades carefully, it wasnt that surprising. Of course, there was the 100% increase in cost of the knife. The Pika has a higher grind than either the Byrd or the Delica. If I can find out bathroom scale, I may do some cardboard cutting and see how much effort it takes with each knife. I did that with my old collection, now all gone, and the Ares was ahead of all the others, including a BM 806, Delica, CRKT Kasper folder, and one other I'm forgetting. It may have even out cut my Schrade Peanut. I'll try and give a ranking tonight, and include my BM 805.
 
I also have the origional pika, but I have the mini version. I like it a lot, and the N690 steel performs really well considering how inexpensive the knife was. At first it felt too light, but I've really grown to appreciate the liner less construction. The 2nd version has liners, 4 way clip, and is made in china with chinese steel, which is too bad. I have nothing against chinese knives, I just liked the construction and steel of the tiawanese version better.
 
I have a Delica 4, a Mini-Pika II, and a Byrd Flight.

Obviously, at ~$48, the Delica is smoother functioning, with better fit and finish. It also has a VG10, which had better edge retention than either of the other blades when I did side by side manila rope cutting tests.

I got the stainless steel handled version of the Flight. Ran me $18 + shipping. I find the balance is a bit off on the steel handled version. The lockup was very good. I also found the finish to be less than the Pika II. The Flight handle had some sharp corners and edges. But the handle was still quite comfortable to the hand. I measured the blade hardness at 59HRC. I found it had edge retention equivalent to that of my Large Dozier in AUS8, which I also measured and found to be 59HRC. It should be noted that several folks have measured Byrd blades at 60 and 61 HRC, so my results might be different than someone else's with a different knife.

The Miini-Pika II ran ~$23 + shipping. Better fit and finish than the Byrd, though not as good as the Delica. Better edge retention as well (side by side comparison manila rope cutting), with hardness measured at 58HRC Love the blade shape. Of the three knives, I like the blade shape of the Pika II the best. I also like that when carried tip down, only the clip shows above the pocket. Very much stealth carry. But the clip is too soft. I have bent it several times.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=523331

I guess all in all I would say the performance and finish rank the knives in the same order as the price tags. Byrd<Pika II<Delica.

"All goods worth price charged", I guess.
 
Yea, the clip is now my biggest hang up. I can see it bending really easily.
 
SaMX said:
I also have the origional pika, but I have the mini version. I like it a lot, and the N690 steel performs really well considering how inexpensive the knife was.
Click to expand...

It's funny. I got one in blister packaging that said it was N690, but the blade was marked 440C. Either is fine to me though!
 
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