I have had the pleasure of EDC'ing the Cara-Cara that Vivi has reground flat to the stone. Essentially he has put a zero-grind on the blade with a 20-30 degree inclusive micro bevel.
On receipt of the knife I was very impressed. Many posters have called his regrinds ugly and ghetto. The finish of the knife was very unpolished but the grind was excellent. It was even from ricasso to tip and the micro-bevel was excellent. Overall everything was even and symmetrical. Great job Vivi.
I basically compared the knife to a stock G-10 Cara-Cara.
Slicing and Kitchen Duty - I used both extensively in the Kitchen and Vivi's outperformed the stock knife hands down. When cutting tough root (i.e carrots, beets etc.) vegetables the saber grind of the CC dramatically increased the force needed to cut and resulted in cruder dices and more effort expended. When cutting up the turkey carcass for soup or deboning chicken I had significant rolling and edge denting from bone or surface contact with the stock Cara whereas I had none with Vivi's.
Cutting Performance - I cut a variety of materials with both knives
Sharpening - Vivi regrind is the winner here. Overall his edge was more durable and resharpening was a breeze. To resharpen it just required a few passes on a fine ceramic stone or croc-stick
Overall I was really impressed with Vivi's knife. I would reccomend this mod for anyone with a Cara-cara and some time. It may not be pretty but it works. I was also really impressed with the steel that Spyderco uses in this knife. I was always a little on the fence about the steel but this test removed most of them. I wonder how it would do if they increased the RC a bit?
Thanks Vivi for the use of your knife. I was a pleasure.
On receipt of the knife I was very impressed. Many posters have called his regrinds ugly and ghetto. The finish of the knife was very unpolished but the grind was excellent. It was even from ricasso to tip and the micro-bevel was excellent. Overall everything was even and symmetrical. Great job Vivi.
I basically compared the knife to a stock G-10 Cara-Cara.
Slicing and Kitchen Duty - I used both extensively in the Kitchen and Vivi's outperformed the stock knife hands down. When cutting tough root (i.e carrots, beets etc.) vegetables the saber grind of the CC dramatically increased the force needed to cut and resulted in cruder dices and more effort expended. When cutting up the turkey carcass for soup or deboning chicken I had significant rolling and edge denting from bone or surface contact with the stock Cara whereas I had none with Vivi's.
Cutting Performance - I cut a variety of materials with both knives
- Cardboard - Vivi. His knife cut more cardboard with less effort before needing sharpening. It was also less prone to rolling when hitting inclusions, glue and staples.
- Rope - Slight edge to Vivi on this one. I cut manilla, cotton and polypropylene rope on a bathroom scale (crude I know). The force needed to cut, measured by deflection of the scale, varied from 1/3 to 1/8 less for Vivi's knife. I do have to say the Stock Cara Cara was a little better with polypropylene ropes because the edge was a little more toothy.
- Plastic - Vivi wins hands down. The Vivi knife cut deeper when both were simply push cut into the edge of a 5 gallon bucket. Both were also used to slice 1/8 and 1/16 in weed eater cord. The effort for both was about the same but again the edge on Vivi's was more durable.
- Wood - This is where Vivi's regrind really showed. When cutting fuzzsticks and notches in both soft pine and locust, it was much easier to do with Vivi's then the stock Cara-Cara. I also did light point strength testing by doing mild stabs in both woods and prying. Both held up fine.
- Soft Metal - Again Vivi's was better in cutting soft aluminum cans and copper wire. The edge on his regrind was less prone to denting then the stock Cara-Cara
Sharpening - Vivi regrind is the winner here. Overall his edge was more durable and resharpening was a breeze. To resharpen it just required a few passes on a fine ceramic stone or croc-stick
Overall I was really impressed with Vivi's knife. I would reccomend this mod for anyone with a Cara-cara and some time. It may not be pretty but it works. I was also really impressed with the steel that Spyderco uses in this knife. I was always a little on the fence about the steel but this test removed most of them. I wonder how it would do if they increased the RC a bit?
Thanks Vivi for the use of your knife. I was a pleasure.
