The Spyderco Byrd Line

A Brief Review by Phil Elmore

Spyderco, the Colorado-based knife company that is arguably the originator (or one of them) of the modern-day tactical folder, had a problem. Chinese copies of the company's popular and innovative one-hand folders were flooding the market.  Many uneducated consumers, basing thier choices soley on price, were buying the copies instead of the real thing.  With little or no support for copyright and trademark law from the Chinese Communist government, Spyderco's Sal Glesser made an interesting decision:  If he couldn't compete with the Chinese copies on price, he'd damn well manufacture his own copies of his knife line in China, import them, and compete with himself -- while competing with the inferior-quality ripoffs.

A "Sheffield" rip-off of the Spyderco Delica.

Amazing, the strategy worked.

The Byrd line is now one of the most cost-effective knife brands on the market.  Most of the models are directly analogous to more expensive Spyderco siblings.  The difference in quality is perceptible, of course, but the value per dollar of the Byrd line is very high.  That's the strategy:  those who want to pay the higher price for the higher-quality Spyderco will do so, but those who can't or won't can still purchase a very good knife for their money and get a quality Spyderco-approved Chinese import.  Spyderco chose to preserve the brand integrity of their knives by creating the Byrd sub-brand (and giving the Byrd's arguably ugly comet-shaped holes, rather than the trademark round Spyderco hole), instead of simply making the shift to Chinese manufature.  That dedication to quality, and the first-class treatment of the company's customers by Sal Glesser and his employees, is one of the reasons Spyderco remains one of the United States' most respected cutlery brands.

In this brief review of the Byrd line, I've selected several of the earliest Byrd models.   These are the Cara Cara, the Meadowlark, the Crossbill, the Pelican, the Raven, and the Starling.  All but the Starling have stainless steel handles (the Raven's grip is aluminum).  Spyderco has since introduced other handle materials for these knives, including FRN (plastic) and G10.  In the photos that follow, the Crossbill bears some stair tape that I added for a sure grip, while all the others are as they appear out of the box.  Before we get into specific thoughts, however, let's run through the knives and their stats, as listed on the Spyderco website:

The Byrd Crossbill with grip tape added.

The Byrd Raven, the only linerlock among this sampling.

The Byrd Starling, the smallest of the Byrd line of knives.

I woudl consider the Cara Cara and Meadowlark the flagships of the Byrd line, because they are directly analogous to Spyderco's most recognizable folders: the Spyderco Endura and Delica. Fit and finish are quite good, particularly for Chinese manufacture, though in all cases the Byrd line feels less expensive than the Spyderco line (for obvious reasons).  The blades open smoothly, with a little bit of resistance as the rocker-bar locks sldie into place.  In all cases the locks of the Byrd line feature the Boye detent, which is an attempt to prevent the lock from being disengaged accidentally while holding the knife firmly.  There is absolutely no play in any of the locked open blades among my Byrds.  It is easier to eliminate blade play in a metal-frame knife than in a plastic- frame knife, of course.

Edges are nicely sharp from the factory, if not quite the "scary, freaky sharp" that characterizes a Spyderco factory edge.  The 8Cr13MoV steel holds an edge reasonably well.  (The earliest Cara Cara and Meadowlark models featured blades of 440C.)  Thoughtful, nicely cut thumb grooves grace the backs of the blade humps on the Cara Cara and Meadowlark, which is a feature I quite appreciate.

My Crossbill, sort of a poor man's Spyderco Civilian, Harpy, or Marlin, features no such grooves, so I applied the stair tape you seein these photos. The skeletonized pocket clip, like the more standard pocket clips on the other Byrd knives, has good tension and does not shift in place.  It is reversible for either tip-up or tip-down carry, right hand, as it is on the Cara Cara, Meadowlark, Pelican, and Raven.

The Pelican (now discontinued), is identical to the Crossbill except for its blade, which is a Wharncliffe pattern (it has no point).  I don't have a hard time seeing this knife as one of the less popular, given the sexiness of the Crossbill and the relatively clunky overall package the Pelican represents (I'd rather have a Spyderco Rescue if I'm going to sport that blade type).

The black-coated Raven is the "tactical" knife of the bunch, with a smooth liner lock that engages the blade tang fully and to the left (allowing for wear).  It has a nicely grooved choil and thumb grooves on the back of the blade hump, while the cross-cut aluminum handle provides decent traction. 

Finally, the diminutive Byrd Starling is the line's keychain blade offering.  It's a nice little blade that feels good in the hand despite it's size, and it provides a very keen cutting edge.  The most useful knife you have is the one that you can reach when you need it; this one will always be with you if it's on your keys or attached as a zipper-pull on a jacket.

I have a great deal of respect for Spyderco for choosing to launch the Byrd line in response to the Chinese copycat issue.  I believe the knife industry overall is better off for this approach, and I think the consumer now has access to a very affordable line of decent-quality knives whose purchase supports a valued American cutlery company.  Each Byrd knife represents very good cost-for-value, dollar for dollar, and that is what a budget-conscious knife-buying public needs. >>

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