I'm pretty new to knives in general, these are just my latest acquisitions this week. Only light office duty. Sorry, but there's not going to be any organization, I don't have the time for that; just thought I'd share my impressions with the community.
Spyderco Meerkat - I wanted to try out a Cricket but I didn't want to pay the price, so I decided on something different. The Meerkat appears to be the Cricket blade on a surprisingly beefy frn type handle. It has full steel liners and feels really solid. Aside from the frn scales, it resembles a mini-mini-manix in its apparent "beefiness." I haven't cut much with it, but the recurved tip seems to make it a real package opener and it keeps the tip of the knife cutting when other knives would more likely slip off. Someone said that it was because it offered superior tip control, but I think the short length also plays a small role. There is very slight lateral blade play and the phantom lock turns me off. I think this one will stay at home - except that it has a deep carry wire pocket clip. Very nice touch. If only it were a lockback. I should also mention that the final finger groove is too big for my medium sized hands and it makes my pinky very uncomfortable if I grip hard. My hands are definitely on the small side of medium compared to your average caucasian. I think they're a middling medium for an asian. For reference, I can do a solid 9th on a keyboard at best. Slightly less, otherwise. For the rest of you, my hands are roughly 3.5" across at the knuckles.
The slight recurve makes it perform like the Cricket at a lower price. FRN scales and a lower price means you don't need to be scared of scratching it like you may be scared of scratching a stainless steel handle, like on the SS Cricket. Very solid handle, minimal flexing. (FYI, I consider all the non-metal scales I have handled to have some flex, e.g. Manix, mini-manix, yojimbo, dodo, maybe a few others.) The meerkat may have even stiffer scales than the mini-manix because it is shorter. I don't like the phantom lock at all. It hurts my pudgy fingers to operate it. The pain isn't the bad part. The bad part is that it's hard to tell when the lock is fully open. Because the action of the lock is very stiff and a bit rough, it's hard to tell when it's open enough to close the knife. The rough friction means it often sticks before it's fully open and this happens often because I really don't get a good grip on the lock. If your fingers are tired or fatigued, forget it. If they're wet, sweaty, or oily, forget it. On the upside, once the lock is open, you can flick the knife closed. But if your fingers are sweaty, watch out, the knife might fly out of your grasp, since you're holding it with only 3 fingertips. It's nice that spyderco included a left handed clip option, since I'm a lefty, but the phantom lock is impossible for me to operate with my left hand. It doesn't have the necessary cutouts for left hand operation in addition to simply being poorly engineered for left hand closing. Consider it a true right hand only knife. I have no trouble operating conventional liner locks or compression locks with my left hand. This one is impossible.
Pro: Slight recurve at the tip makes it a good package opener. Beefy handle. Deep carry clip.
Cons: Slight lateral blade play, I hate the phantom lock, right hand only.
The rest of these will be shorter. I have less to say about them
Calypso Jr. - I didn't notice at the store that the blade is off center. It also has the smallest bit of lateral blade play. That doesn't bother me as much as the blade being off center. This thing slices paper exceptionally well. Granted I've only sliced about 5 inches with it, but it bites into the edge of the paper and whisks right through. I compared it with my Centofante III and was quite impressed with how much more effortlessly it sliced. Now, the Centofante III needed a bit of touch up before it would push cut paper and I guess you can't discount my questionable skills using the fine rods of my sharpmaker, but there it is. Actually, I was surprised that the Centofante III needed honing. All I did was eat a steak using it...It certainly cut through that with ease.
In comparison to the Centofante III, the Calypso Jr. is considerably lighter and the finger cutout and integrated finger choil are very nice. The Centofante III doesn't have as positive a grip. I handled a Delica 3 (again) at the store and I still hated the feeling of it, but the Calypso Jr. drew me in. The finger contours are slightly large for my hand but they aren't aggressive like the Meerkat, so they pose no problem. There's no comparison between this knife and the Delica 3, IMO. The blade shape reminds me of a slimmer mini-manix. I don't know why I'm making so many comparisons to the mini-manix today, but there it is. I have nothing bad to say about this knife in my initial impressions except that the off center blade pisses me off. There's also a slight gap between the two handle slabs. I may have to exchange this knife.
Pros: Very sharp. Comfortable ergonomics. Light.
Cons: Off center blade on this particular knife with a slight gap between the handle slabs.
Waved Dragonfly - I bought this over on knifeforums, it's obviously not factory waved. Flat ground blade for a low price, especially if you got one from Steele Arms on closeout for $15 a pop. This is my favorite small knife to date. The choil gives it very comfortable full four fingered grip for my hands. The only thing I don't like about the knife is the integrated clip which feels very cheap. The stainless steel dragonfly is a much nicer package but I stopped carrying it when it started to get scratched up by my keys/flashlight.
The wave function is interesting. It is neither easier nor harder to operate than I expected, which I guess doesn't say much. The problems I have are that the wave either doesn't catch because I pull my knife out at too steep an angle or that the wave releases my pants before the knife locks. It's a relatively nice feature though. The only problem is that it ruins the aesthetics of most knives, imo.
Pros: best small knife I have handled, comfortable four fingered grip in a small package, wave feature is a plus (this was waved by someone, not factory)
Cons: Ugly clip.
CRKT Crawford Falcon Folder - Big knife, came shaving sharp, easily push cut paper. Lots of knife for the dollar, I think it was only about $23. The liner lock seems secure, especially with the LAWKS safety. The action is smooth, as is expected from a decent liner lock. My only problem with this knife is that the handle slabs are quite flexible at the center. This is partially due to the long handle, but mostly because the liners are soft.
Pros: Cheap, big, very sharp, makes a good beater you can abuse without guilt. Not too hard, though.
Cons: flexible handle slabs
The fallout of all of this? I want a mini-manix.
Quick question for anyone who happens to read this particular thread - the minigrip in 440c black coated tanto with a run of 250 knives isn't exactly rare, right? I see them all over the place but I don't see the "xxx/250" marking.
Spyderco Meerkat - I wanted to try out a Cricket but I didn't want to pay the price, so I decided on something different. The Meerkat appears to be the Cricket blade on a surprisingly beefy frn type handle. It has full steel liners and feels really solid. Aside from the frn scales, it resembles a mini-mini-manix in its apparent "beefiness." I haven't cut much with it, but the recurved tip seems to make it a real package opener and it keeps the tip of the knife cutting when other knives would more likely slip off. Someone said that it was because it offered superior tip control, but I think the short length also plays a small role. There is very slight lateral blade play and the phantom lock turns me off. I think this one will stay at home - except that it has a deep carry wire pocket clip. Very nice touch. If only it were a lockback. I should also mention that the final finger groove is too big for my medium sized hands and it makes my pinky very uncomfortable if I grip hard. My hands are definitely on the small side of medium compared to your average caucasian. I think they're a middling medium for an asian. For reference, I can do a solid 9th on a keyboard at best. Slightly less, otherwise. For the rest of you, my hands are roughly 3.5" across at the knuckles.
The slight recurve makes it perform like the Cricket at a lower price. FRN scales and a lower price means you don't need to be scared of scratching it like you may be scared of scratching a stainless steel handle, like on the SS Cricket. Very solid handle, minimal flexing. (FYI, I consider all the non-metal scales I have handled to have some flex, e.g. Manix, mini-manix, yojimbo, dodo, maybe a few others.) The meerkat may have even stiffer scales than the mini-manix because it is shorter. I don't like the phantom lock at all. It hurts my pudgy fingers to operate it. The pain isn't the bad part. The bad part is that it's hard to tell when the lock is fully open. Because the action of the lock is very stiff and a bit rough, it's hard to tell when it's open enough to close the knife. The rough friction means it often sticks before it's fully open and this happens often because I really don't get a good grip on the lock. If your fingers are tired or fatigued, forget it. If they're wet, sweaty, or oily, forget it. On the upside, once the lock is open, you can flick the knife closed. But if your fingers are sweaty, watch out, the knife might fly out of your grasp, since you're holding it with only 3 fingertips. It's nice that spyderco included a left handed clip option, since I'm a lefty, but the phantom lock is impossible for me to operate with my left hand. It doesn't have the necessary cutouts for left hand operation in addition to simply being poorly engineered for left hand closing. Consider it a true right hand only knife. I have no trouble operating conventional liner locks or compression locks with my left hand. This one is impossible.
Pro: Slight recurve at the tip makes it a good package opener. Beefy handle. Deep carry clip.
Cons: Slight lateral blade play, I hate the phantom lock, right hand only.
The rest of these will be shorter. I have less to say about them
Calypso Jr. - I didn't notice at the store that the blade is off center. It also has the smallest bit of lateral blade play. That doesn't bother me as much as the blade being off center. This thing slices paper exceptionally well. Granted I've only sliced about 5 inches with it, but it bites into the edge of the paper and whisks right through. I compared it with my Centofante III and was quite impressed with how much more effortlessly it sliced. Now, the Centofante III needed a bit of touch up before it would push cut paper and I guess you can't discount my questionable skills using the fine rods of my sharpmaker, but there it is. Actually, I was surprised that the Centofante III needed honing. All I did was eat a steak using it...It certainly cut through that with ease.
In comparison to the Centofante III, the Calypso Jr. is considerably lighter and the finger cutout and integrated finger choil are very nice. The Centofante III doesn't have as positive a grip. I handled a Delica 3 (again) at the store and I still hated the feeling of it, but the Calypso Jr. drew me in. The finger contours are slightly large for my hand but they aren't aggressive like the Meerkat, so they pose no problem. There's no comparison between this knife and the Delica 3, IMO. The blade shape reminds me of a slimmer mini-manix. I don't know why I'm making so many comparisons to the mini-manix today, but there it is. I have nothing bad to say about this knife in my initial impressions except that the off center blade pisses me off. There's also a slight gap between the two handle slabs. I may have to exchange this knife.
Pros: Very sharp. Comfortable ergonomics. Light.
Cons: Off center blade on this particular knife with a slight gap between the handle slabs.
Waved Dragonfly - I bought this over on knifeforums, it's obviously not factory waved. Flat ground blade for a low price, especially if you got one from Steele Arms on closeout for $15 a pop. This is my favorite small knife to date. The choil gives it very comfortable full four fingered grip for my hands. The only thing I don't like about the knife is the integrated clip which feels very cheap. The stainless steel dragonfly is a much nicer package but I stopped carrying it when it started to get scratched up by my keys/flashlight.
The wave function is interesting. It is neither easier nor harder to operate than I expected, which I guess doesn't say much. The problems I have are that the wave either doesn't catch because I pull my knife out at too steep an angle or that the wave releases my pants before the knife locks. It's a relatively nice feature though. The only problem is that it ruins the aesthetics of most knives, imo.
Pros: best small knife I have handled, comfortable four fingered grip in a small package, wave feature is a plus (this was waved by someone, not factory)
Cons: Ugly clip.
CRKT Crawford Falcon Folder - Big knife, came shaving sharp, easily push cut paper. Lots of knife for the dollar, I think it was only about $23. The liner lock seems secure, especially with the LAWKS safety. The action is smooth, as is expected from a decent liner lock. My only problem with this knife is that the handle slabs are quite flexible at the center. This is partially due to the long handle, but mostly because the liners are soft.
Pros: Cheap, big, very sharp, makes a good beater you can abuse without guilt. Not too hard, though.
Cons: flexible handle slabs
The fallout of all of this? I want a mini-manix.
Quick question for anyone who happens to read this particular thread - the minigrip in 440c black coated tanto with a run of 250 knives isn't exactly rare, right? I see them all over the place but I don't see the "xxx/250" marking.
