Spyderco Cat?

F

frgtn340

Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
105
I am about to pull the trigger on this knife but I was wondering what everyone's take on this knife was. Is there any blade play? How are the ergos? Thanks guys!
 
The ergos are great. It's very comfortable to hold. I plan to EDC it for a while in place of the Sage 1.

The blade locks solidly and in fact, it has the tightest pivot of any Spyderco knives I've owned so far. No side to side movement at all. I'm probably going to loosen it up a bit so it's a bit easier to deploy. It needs a good cleaning to smooth things out though.

In my opinion, it's in between the Byrd knives and Tenacious in finish quality. But it's better put together than the Tenacious. I hope that makes sense. It's really well put together but the parts could have been finished a little better.

Everything on the knife has a matte finish and I prefer a polished look to my knives. So it's really my personal preference rather than a criticism.

Dan
 
dsmegst summed it up pretty well. I just got mine yesterday and it could have been finished a little better but for the blade steel and the price you really can't go wrong IMO. My only complaint is the machine marks on the tang. I don't know if they all have them but you can see a picture in the links above. Still a good knife though. I picked one up for a smaller alternative to my Sage.
 
Several of my customers have said the same thing, and also would have the polished look. they are very pleased and love the CF handle. as always more great quality from Spyderco.
C129CF_L.jpg
 
Very tempting for the price. I'm going to sit on it for a while and eventually get over the fact that it's made in Taiwan and has a liner lock.
 
Nice knife, fits my hand well for a smallish blade. The fit and finish on mine is really nice, especially considering the price point.
 
vanlink said:
Very tempting for the price. I'm going to sit on it for a while and eventually get over the fact that it's made in Taiwan and has a liner lock.
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I'm no fan of linerlocks either, but these have converted me: they're really easy to use. Try it out.

Both CAT and Chicago have quickly made it to the top of my EDC list.
 
THE PUNISHER said:
the taiwan kills it...........
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I will never understand that mentality. I guarantee you most of the parts of the computer you are reading this on were made in Taiwan. Taiwan is a democratic nation and staunch ally of the United States that spends every day under threat of military action by China. I would have a hard time thinking of a better country to send my money to, other than my own (and good luck finding a US-made Spyderco with S30V blade and CF scales for under $50). Moreover, many of the Taiwanese-made Spydies, including the Sage and the Gayle Bradley are at the absolute top end of quality.
 
TaTaToothy said:
I will never understand that mentality. I guarantee you most of the parts of the computer you are reading this on were made in Taiwan. Taiwan is a democratic nation and staunch ally of the United States that spends every day under threat of military action by China. I would have a hard time thinking of a better country to send my money to, other than my own (and good luck finding a US-made Spyderco with S30V blade and CF scales for under $50). Moreover, many of the Taiwanese-made Spydies, including the Sage and the Gayle Bradley are at the absolute top end of quality.
Click to expand...

You're perfectly right, but it's going to take a while before the bad rep Taiwan has about the stuff it produces is turned around. Japan also had a bad rep for producing junk but they've turned that around with a strong track record of producing quality products. Maybe Taiwan will get there one day, but right now, the stigma's sticking.
 
I received my Cat and Chicago today (as well as a blue Manix 2, which is an awesome knife but not the point of this post).

We are talking about a sub-$50 knife with an S30V blade and CF scales, so it's not reasonable to expect perfection in fit and finish. With that in mind, I think these are very nice little knives with a few minor issues. I will discuss them a bit, with the caveat that I am a Sage I owner and it's hard not to compare these knives to that awesome, awesome blade due to their similar construction and Taiwanese manufacture.

First, the good:

- The Cat has typical Spyderco ergonomics - it is easy to open with one hand, and fills the hand really well for such a small knife. The choil and spine are nicely jimped for a secure grip. Spyderco's ergonomics continue to make their small knives the most useful in the industry IMO.

- The S30V blade is quite sharp, if not the sharpest I've ever seen.

- The lockup is quite solid in all directions and the liner lock seems secure and sturdy.

- I love the Spydie wire bayonet clips, and this is no exception.

- The liners, at least on the non-lock side, are drilled out. The knives are not exceptionally light for their small size, but they're not bad either.

- Unlike some Cats/Chicagos I have seen pictures of online, all the bolts are tight with no stripping.

- Blade centering is perfect.

- I like the matte finish hardware and liners as a contrast to the nicely-polished ones on my Sage I.

The not so good:

- The Chicago is just an impractical size IMO. I know it was made to comply with stringent local laws on blade length, but if I'm going to carry such a small knife I might as well carry one that doesn't look threatening in any way, like my Kiwi. The Chicago's construction and design are likely to make it look scary to people who are paranoid about knives. On the flipside, I suppose one could use the Chicago in an emergency defensive role, something the Kiwi couldn't do nearly as well.

- The quality of construction and finish is poor for a non-Byrd Spyderco. In particular, there is some ugly gray residue inside the Spydie hole and on the machining on the sides of the blade that should presumably have been polished out, and the edges of the CF scales have small spots of delamination. I don't want to be unrealistic about finish on such a full-featured knife at this price point, but they did choose to call it a Spyderco and not a Byrd, so they chose to have it held up to that standard.

- The polished CF scales just seem way less practical than the grippier ones on the Sage.

On balance I like the Cat for the money and will keep it. I think the Chicago will probably be going back, though . . .
 
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