3guardsmen- I didn't say the Red class was necessarily a better value, just generally better knives. They are generally about $10-20 more than the Byrd counterparts.
The relative cost of a knife means little to me. It certainly doesn't determine which knives are "better," which is totally subjective anyway. I think the Kershaw Lahar is a "better" knife, for my purposes, than the Spyderco, G-10, Endura 4, and it can be purchased for half the price of the Spyderco. Heck, I have Opinels that do a "better" job of cutting than some of my Spydercos and Kershaws, and they (Opinels) can be purchased for under $10 each.
I'm pretty sure the Vex is G-10. It's some sort of plastic. And I also think that the Byrd lines are FRN, not G-10 (I could be wrong on both counts) Size wise, there is that Benchmade where the blade is longer than the handle, all the way down to the McHenry & Williams Benchmite. Blade shapes- the offer both spear, clip, and tanto point.
You're absolutely right about the Vex, it was I who was wrong! It is G-10 and I completely forgot about it. You're wrong about the Byrds though, as several of them are available in G-10 (as well as FRN and stainless steel). I also forgot about the BM LFK (the 5+" bladed folder) and the Benchmite II (which used to be a blue class knife). My bad on forgetting those ones.
As for holes, yes, they might be trying to entice Spyderco customers with the round hole. Howeve, they might not be. If you take a look at the Byrd and Bladetech holes, the curvature of the hole is closer to that of a circle than the ovoid Benchmade. It might actually be a performance thing, possibly giving the edge of your thumb more area to flick it out with. (As for Benchmade touting their thumb hole as superior- I don't think there is a single company that won't say its product is superior.)
A couple of clarifications. Spyderco uses the "comet" shaped hole on their Byrd line because it is a different line from their main line. BladeTech, as I stated earlier, uses their trademarked "V-hole."
Benchmade is currently using Spyderco's trademarked "round" hole, which, according to Benchmade and Spyderco, is being used under some sort of agreement, so Benchmade's current hole is no different, from what I can tell, from the one Spyderco invented, trademarked, and patented. Benchmade used to use their own "oval" hole, which they touted as superior to the round hole they had licensed from Spyderco previously.
You said, "I don't think there is a single company that won't say its product is superior." I would agree with that, however, I do not think there are many companies that would go back to using a product they've implied was inferior. Benchmade did that when they went back to using the round hole after claiming that their oval hole was superior. My question is why they would do that. I can only think of two possible answers, both of which I have already posted, and neither of which I think is good.
Of course, that might be wrong.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure the Pika is not designed to appeal to Benchmade AFCK fans, come to think of it.
Do you mean you think it
is designed to appeal to AFCK fans, because I never stated that I felt it was?
You're entitled to boycott whomever you please, and I won't try and stop you. Let's agree to disagree, and be glad we can do it in a civilized and polite way.
Absolutely, sir.
Regards,
3G
