VG-10 in Calypso Jr. Lightweight

Sal:

I've read that this steel is used in very few production knives so far. I'm interested to know why it was chosen for the Calypso Lightweight, what its Rockwell hardness is in this model, how it compares to the heat treat and specs over at Fallkniven, and any other observations you'd like to share.

 
Sal Glesser

Sal Glesser

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Bill - Interesting question. Spyderco began using VG10 on the recomendation of one of our Makers in Seki. He said that they were using this steel for grafting tools and that it had nice qualities.

I obtained and tested the steel for a while and decided that it was worth the missionary work to be able to get better stuff and get it to the market first.

I gambled on the Moran as the first piece because Bill was famous for performance steel and I felt that Moran's name along with Spyderco's would get some attention to the steel.

The same maker recommended that Fallkniven test the Spyderco Moran before deciding on a steel for their Outdoor FB pieces. They chose VG10 based on the results of testing the Moran.

The steel is made by a small foundry in Japan. There are some heat treating tricks to really make it perform. We've taken it to Rc63 with few problems, but brought it back to Rc61 for a regular production reliable hardness. The Fallkniven pieces are made by the same maker that makes the Moran and the "Calypso" family. One of our two main makers in Seki. Very good quality in general.

I decided to try it in a folder with the large Calypso. Knife is very nice. Sales were not.

I felt that a lite weight Calypso Jr. with VG10 was the right combination. for "Hand #3". The Delica, Native and Calypso Jr. are the same size knife made for different sized hands.

To my knowledge, Spyderco and Fallkniven are the only companies with VG10 in production.

I understand that Beretta is planning a VG10 piece or two based on their magazine ads, but I haven't seen the knife.

Hope that helps.

sal
 
Hello, I've had a Cal. liteweight for a few weeks, now, and the VG-10 has been excellent...This little knife has been thru heck...it's cut food, wire, rope, scored sheetrock, removed a nasty splinter from my palm, and other assorted uses, and it's held up extremely well. I touched it up on my Edgepro Apex, and it gets really really sharp, and holds the edge well...especially with wire cutting/stripping, there was no chipping or edge rolling...

--dan
 
Sal,
The Delica, Native and Calypso Jr. are the same size knife made for different sized hands.
Click to expand...
Would you care to elaborate? Since I don't get the chance to handle many of the knives you produce (I've seen the Delica and Native in the stores here, but not the Calypso Jr.), I would be interested in knowing the hand size for which they were designed. For instance, the Native feels perfect in my hand as does the Viele, does that mean that I would find the Calypso Jr. too small?

Thanks for your time.




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Take care,
Clay

Don't worry that the world might end tomorrow....in Australia it's tomorrow already.

 
I think Clay brings up a good point. I also have the Native and it fits my hand just fine. I'm going to get the calypso jr. liteweight regardless, but this is kinda interesting...

Maybe this would be something to put on the spydie website - which knives are made for which size hands

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JP Bullivant

 
I have what many people call large hands, but I find a large array of handle sizes and shapes are comfortable in my grip. So I think the area we are getting into here can be highly subjective and we should tread carefully.
My reasoning is that when we categorize knives by handle size in this way, people will automatically begin to exclude possible knife purchases thinking, "well, that Native looks nice, but it was made for people with small to medium size hands and I have large hands so it won't be comfy for me".
In my case, this would be untrue, because the Native is quite comfortable in my grip. I'm afraid that folks would pass up great knives for them strictly on the premise that "it wasn't made for my hand size".
One should always shop by the way the kife feels in the hand and not by the "large handle for a large hand" method.
An example of this would be the Fallkniven WM. (Sorry Sal, it's just a great example).
Fallkniven states it was made for a woman's smaller hand. I have one and it works very well for me, thank you very much.
I went against what I read about the handle size and went strictly by how the knife worked in my hand. It is a very handy little blade and I am most happy with it.
BTW the Military is made for a larger hand and it fits me quite nicely. I'm extremely pleased with this knife also.
Let's not get caught up in "medium size knife handle for a medium size hand" trap. It doesn't always pan out that way.

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The individualist without strategy who takes opponents lightly will inevitably become the captive of others.


 
This handle size discussion is extremely interesting, but off topic. I was really hoping for a discussion here about VG-10.

 
Clay - Misque is pretty close. It is more of a subjective opinion as to what is comfortable in your hand. But we find that hand sizes are not just in length, but some are thicker or thinner, some have different joint to finger ratios, etc.

The Delica seems to fit most hands, but some with "bigger" hands wanted more mass and didn't want the larger Endura. The Native works well for them.

We cannot predict which "size" hand will like which of the 3 models, only that we provide 3 options.

Sorry Bill, If we want to continue the "hand" size subject, pleae start another thread.

Anything else you would like to know about VG10. Don't know it all, but; "Have knowledge, will share".

sal
 
Sorry Uncle. I've complained before when my threads have been hijacked and now I'm the one in the cockpit with the sawn-off shotgun
smile.gif
.

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Take care,
Clay

Don't worry that the world might end tomorrow....in Australia it's tomorrow already.

 
Clay - How did you manage to get it past the metal detector?
biggrin.gif




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Harvey Wareham

Live Long & Prosper, so you can buy more knives


 
I'd like to be able to tell you Harvey, but it'd be off topic
biggrin.gif
.

------------------
Take care,
Clay

Don't worry that the world might end tomorrow....in Australia it's tomorrow already.

 
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