Time for new EDC....caly jr. or zdp delica 4???????

R

Robot Mania Fu

Joined
Jul 21, 2007
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Alright guys, my native has served me well...but its at the end of its road and its time to pick up a new EDC. I stopped carrying my police, because its honestly just too big for me. Now i deffinetly want to pick up something with ZDP-189 steel, but the thing is....are there any pros and cons to either the calypso jr. or the zdp delica 4 that would cause one to get one over the other? Money is not really an option, but i would like to keep it between these two knives.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Caly3 is very nice and can be had with ZDP blade, mine is the VG10 which
is no slouch, sharpens up quite nice and I prefer the feel of the G10 over
the carbon fiber...

Worth a though for sure,
G2
 
I have both, so here is my opinion.

The Calypso Jr. ZDP and Delica ZDP knives have significant differences. The Calypso Jr. has a shorter handle and no internal liners, so is lighter than the Delica. The blade of the Calypso Jr. is fully flat ground and tapered vs. the bayonet grind of the Delica. The Calypso is a better cutter/slicer, but the blade on the Delica is better for whittling, stabbing, and other endeavours where the edge may be laterally loaded.

My conclusion: Calypso Jr. is lighter and better cutter, but Delica is more suited to heavy duty and abusive use.
 
Gary W. Graley said:
Caly3 is very nice and can be had with ZDP blade, mine is the VG10 which
is no slouch, sharpens up quite nice and I prefer the feel of the G10 over
the carbon fiber...

Worth a though for sure,
G2
Click to expand...

Ive already looked at that knife, and i cant see myself paying that much more for the ZDP version when those other two are so much cheaper. I EDC an ss native so i know what the VG10 blade is like.

I guess what im asking is would the calypso jr. be that much better for slicing then the zdp delica....enough to compensate for it not being able to be used too hard??
 
I'd go with the Caly. I have an Endura ZDP and a Caly Jr. ZDP, and while they're both great, the Caly's thin edge and blade are where the ZDP really shines. It also is very light and makes for a nice EDC carry where a larger knife wouldn't be received so well.
 
A bit more information to process. The Caly Jr. has a laminated blade - a thin core of ZDP-189 sandwiched in 420J2. The outside layers are very stain resistent, but also very easily scratched. The Delica has a solid ZDP-189 blade, with a much higher hardness so it doesn't scratch easily. If you are one of theose people who freak out over having a few scratches in your blade, stick with the Delica. It will stay new-looking with much less care than the Caly Jr.

Although they are about the same size, the build and grind make them about as similar as a razor and an axe. The Caly Jr. is a pocket scalpel, and the Delica is a working knife, built to take a lot more hard use. Only you can decide which suits your needs.
 
Keep in mind that the Calypso Jr (assuming you're talking about the FRN handled model) is tip-down carry only. I have a burgandy ZDP CalyJr, but I rarely carry it because I hate tip down carry.

Even then, I'd rather use a Calypso Jr than a Delica myself. Even though the blade length and overall size are practically identical, the Caly fits in the hand much, much better due to the finger choil. In my hands, the Delica is just a bit too small, while the Caly Jr is perfect. The Calypso 3 fits me even better because the curves are more pronounced and feels more secure in the hand. A CF/ZDP Caly3 is a quite a bit larger chunk of change than the D4 or Caly Jr, so since you want to "try" a ZDP Spyderco, you might not want to dive in that deep. Sexy knife though, I love my CF/ZDP C3.
 
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