yablanowitz
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
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The passaround Byrd Wings and ByrdRench have recently made their way into my hands. Having had a couple of days to examine and evaluate them, here are my thoughts on the two.
Each of these knives came to me with a sturdy nylon belt pouch, which is a good thing, for reasons I will get into in a moment. The pouches are well made, with stitched and riveted construction that should last for years. The snap closures seem quite secure.
First the Wings. The Byrd Wings carries on the concept of the double-ended lock blade, a la Dyad. I was rather surprised at the size of this knife when I received it. It is quite large, nearly as long as the C44 Dyad with both blades open, and slightly longer when closed. The real shock was the thickness. The Wings is nearly as thick without the pocket clip as the Dyad is with the clip. After carrying a Dyad for a couple of years, the Wings feels chunky by comparison. That is not entirely bad, as the Wings is much more comfortable in use than the older Dyad, but it comes at the expense of extra bulk in the pocket. While it is not much heavier, that extra eighth of an inch of thickness makes a noticable difference in the bulk. That's why I liked the idea of a pouch in spite of the clip.
Speaking of clips, the Wings has a four way pocket clip that is a cause for rejoicing. It came set for right-hand tip down plain edge, which is how I wish my single position Dyad was. It can also be set for RH PE tip up, RH SE TD or RH SE TU, as well as all four variations for left-hand carry. Yes, I know there are only four positions, since RH PE TD also works as LH SE TU, etc. The double-ended lockblade would need a four-way clip even if no one was left-handed, just to get the knife aligned with the tip of the blade you want pointing the way you want it. The Wings shows it can be done, and hopefully any future Dyads will follow that lead.
The knife is nicely finished, with G-10 scales that give good purchase without being too abrasive. The Comet holes are large and exposed well enough to be operable with either the right or left hand. One odd thing I noticed was that sometimes the tip of my little finger would slip through the Comet hole of the off-blade far enough to hold the other blade shut while I was trying to open it. The liner locks are fitted perfectly, engaging exactly the thickness of the locking leaf. The lock surface on the blade tang is arced like the Spyderco Military, with no creep when applying pressure to the blade spine. The Walker-style ball detents are quite secure, so unwanted openings should not be a problem.
Overall, the Wings is a great way to carry both a plain and a serrated blade in one package.
Each of these knives came to me with a sturdy nylon belt pouch, which is a good thing, for reasons I will get into in a moment. The pouches are well made, with stitched and riveted construction that should last for years. The snap closures seem quite secure.
First the Wings. The Byrd Wings carries on the concept of the double-ended lock blade, a la Dyad. I was rather surprised at the size of this knife when I received it. It is quite large, nearly as long as the C44 Dyad with both blades open, and slightly longer when closed. The real shock was the thickness. The Wings is nearly as thick without the pocket clip as the Dyad is with the clip. After carrying a Dyad for a couple of years, the Wings feels chunky by comparison. That is not entirely bad, as the Wings is much more comfortable in use than the older Dyad, but it comes at the expense of extra bulk in the pocket. While it is not much heavier, that extra eighth of an inch of thickness makes a noticable difference in the bulk. That's why I liked the idea of a pouch in spite of the clip.
Speaking of clips, the Wings has a four way pocket clip that is a cause for rejoicing. It came set for right-hand tip down plain edge, which is how I wish my single position Dyad was. It can also be set for RH PE tip up, RH SE TD or RH SE TU, as well as all four variations for left-hand carry. Yes, I know there are only four positions, since RH PE TD also works as LH SE TU, etc. The double-ended lockblade would need a four-way clip even if no one was left-handed, just to get the knife aligned with the tip of the blade you want pointing the way you want it. The Wings shows it can be done, and hopefully any future Dyads will follow that lead.
The knife is nicely finished, with G-10 scales that give good purchase without being too abrasive. The Comet holes are large and exposed well enough to be operable with either the right or left hand. One odd thing I noticed was that sometimes the tip of my little finger would slip through the Comet hole of the off-blade far enough to hold the other blade shut while I was trying to open it. The liner locks are fitted perfectly, engaging exactly the thickness of the locking leaf. The lock surface on the blade tang is arced like the Spyderco Military, with no creep when applying pressure to the blade spine. The Walker-style ball detents are quite secure, so unwanted openings should not be a problem.
Overall, the Wings is a great way to carry both a plain and a serrated blade in one package.
. I couldn't even feel it when I saw what was going on. It really wasn't a problem, just one of those odd little things that I thought I'd mention. 