In praise of the Cat (S30V & CF variety)

ZDHart

ZDHart

Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
471
In 2010, Spyderco commissioned a run of these made in their Taiwan plant. They were nicely spec'd, but had some problems with production of some of the carbon fiber scales and had to scrap a portion of the run. Spyderco did sell the units which met their standards, practically at Spyderco's cost of production. I was fortunate to be able to snag a couple of them, from Knife Center, for $48.97 each before the short supply went out of stock.

Spyderco Cat - S30V steel, carbon fiber scales, liner lock, blade cutting edge of 2.25". I find these to be an ideal size, weight, performance knife for EDC. They fit the hand well, have jimping on the choil and spine - allowing very close-to-the-blade use. The knife opens easily, locks very securely, and is really a pleasure to use. Not fancy, not expensive, just a simple, wonderful quality knife.

Anyway... enough words... how about some pics!

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Clip allows deep pocket, tip-up carry... and is of my favorite style.
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More powerful than a locomotive, can slice through petrified wood like butter. ;)
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Right at home among many other sharp things!
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Build quality is excellent. Perfect blade centering, etc.

There you have it - the Spyderco Cat, Special Introductory Run model. :)
 
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The Cat is a little smaller for my tastes (I wear 2xl gloves) but I would have bought a few for $49 bucks.

That ivory micarta also looks great. I wish more folks did micarta. I'm too damn cheap, err, frugal to go into the aftermarket scale and pocket clip rabbit hole.
 
That Cat looks like a downsized version of my Sage. And I really like the Sage. Good pick up. And beautiful pictures.
 
I believe the Spyderco Chicago has a similar history to the Cat. I got one quite a while ago and carried it a little bit but eventually gave it to my mom once I started carrying larger blades. I’ll have to ask her if she still has it when I see her again.
 
ZDHart said:
Looks great, man! I didn't even know about that version.
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It's really just a regular 440C Cat with aftermarket scales added to it. I bought about a dozen small Spyderco knives and this Cat is my favorite of the bunch. This Cat, the Cold Steel Tuff Lit and my Olamic Busker are the three knives I pick from to carry in Chicago when I'm feeling like obeying their silly knife laws.
 
evilgreg said:
It's really just a regular 440C Cat with aftermarket scales added to it. I bought about a dozen small Spyderco knives and this Cat is my favorite of the bunch. This Cat, the Cold Steel Tuff Lit and my Olamic Busker are the three knives I pick from to carry in Chicago when I'm feeling like obeying their silly knife laws.
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Even absent of silly knife laws, I think the Cat makes a wonderful EDC knife. It's all the blade that many people would need during the course of their day.

What a great size - larger than a Dragonfly, smaller than a Delica.

I'm glad that Spyderco decided to release a permanent version of the Cat after the short-run introductory special version that I have.
 
ZDHart said:
Even absent of silly knife laws, I think the Cat makes a wonderful EDC knife. It's all the blade that many people would need during the course of their day.

What a great size - larger than a Dragonfly, smaller than a Delica.

I'm glad that Spyderco decided to release a permanent version of the Cat after the short-run introductory special version that I have.
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Agreed, the reason I prefer the Cat to the Dragonfly/Kopa/etc. models is that the bigger (not so much longer, just bigger) handle makes the knife more pleasing to use. I liked it so much better than the rest of them that I had those ivory paper micarta scales made for it, and they cost more than the knife itself did by a fair margin.
 
evilgreg said:
Agreed, the reason I prefer the Cat to the Dragonfly/Kopa/etc. models is that the bigger (not so much longer, just bigger) handle makes the knife more pleasing to use. I liked it so much better than the rest of them that I had those ivory paper micarta scales made for it, and they cost more than the knife itself did by a fair margin.
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Those scales are gorgeous. Nice photo also... on glass?

It looks like Spyderco deleted the jimping on the regular model? Still... a wonderful specification knife for EDC.

I'm guessing you requested no lanyard hole on the custom scales. Good call (if you wouldn't use a lanyard).
 
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