A shot of the Cara Cara from the Spyderco website :
From the Byrd Cara Cara webpage :
Just as Spyderco is associated with a spider, Byrd knives resemble various species in the avian world. The Cara Cara is byrd line's newest offering, presenting a cost effective alternative to Spyderco's main CLIPIT-line of high-performance knives that stand independently on their own design, performance merits and high-level of manufacturing. Categorized as a mid-sized all steel folder, the BY03 brings together high-performance features with solid dollar value. The hollow-ground 440C or 8Cr13MoV blade comes plain edged (toothless) or in a combination plain edge/serrated edge. Shaped like a "comet" the hole in the blade symbolizes both quality and tight tolerances adhered to in manufacturing. Capping the blade's spine is a series of crosshatching, which grip the thumb for slip-free cutting. Available in a right-hand configuration, the clip on the handle positions the knife tip-up or tip-down, attaching inside a pant's pocket. When gripped, the ergonomic stainless steel handle becomes a precision cutting extension of the hand. Cut from the lock's release is a David Boye Dent, a safety feature that allows tightly gripping the handle without accidentally releasing the lock.
The Cara Cara weighs 5.6 oz with an overall length of 8 5/8", a closed length of 4 3/4" and a 3 7/8" long blade made from stock removal out of 1/8" 8Cr13MoV stailess steel sharpened to with a 3 7/32" long cutting edge with an opening hole diameter of 15/32". The hollow primary grind tapers to a fine chisel ground edge which is 0.023-0.025" thick and ground at 19-20 degrees included. The serrations are ground to 0.047" thick at the back of the scallops which are ground at 20-22 degrees included. This one has a combination plain/serrated edge, The handle is crafted from stainless steel. a shot alongside the Alantic and Pacific Salt and Meadowlark :
A few quick tests which allow a decent perspective of blade performance.
New in box, The Cara Cara readily shaves smoothly and push cuts newsprint with no draw but could not catch hair above the skin. This high sharpness was reflected when cutting light thread as the blade only required 110 +/- 15 grams to make a push cut.
The Cara Cara made push cuts through 3/8" hemp with 16 +/- 1 lbs for the plain edge section, and showed solid aggression on a slice, making a cut in 11 +/- 1 lbs, demonstrating a complete sharpness profile. The serrated section cut fluidly allowing a complete a draw cut of the hemp with only 8 +/- 1 lbs.
The point on the Cara Cara is 0.5" wide with a 0.675" taper at five degrees. On a phonebook it sinks 226 +/- 6 pages with a 50 lbs push, and 576 +/- 18 pages with a hard vertical stab. The hard stab penetration was significantly lower than optimal as it was difficult to prevent some measure of slipping and there were concerns about accidental lock release as the fingers crossed over the lock in an icepick grip and with a reverse grip the blade angle presentation was off for optimal penetration. The grip was also abrasive. With a rawhide glove the penetration was raised significantly to 648 (19) due to the massive amount of greater force being applied.
To put the above performance in perspective, here is the initial sharpness and cutting ability of the Cara Cara vs the Paramiliary :
| Model | sharpness | Manila hemp | Phonebook | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thread | push | slice | 50 lbs | stab | |
| grams | pounds | pages | |||
| Cara Cara | 110 (15) | 16 (1) | 11 (1) | 226 ( 6) | 576 (18) |
| Paramilitary | 73 ( 5) | 15.3 (5) | 9.5 (4) | 227 (10) | 689 (16) |
Even though the initial sharpness was lower on the Cara Cara, it held its own in regards to cutting ability due to the more acute edge angle. The point penetraion was similar except in regard to the heavy stab due to ergonomic and security issues as noted in the above. Similar work has been done with other folders which can be seen in the respective reviews. Of course there is more to the performance of a knife than the above table describes, those two knives differ significantly in terms of edge retention and durability, details follow in the rest of the review.
After the stock testing the blade was used in a variety of ways to get a feel for its scope of work, round out the stock testing profile and examine aspects of long term use.
The Cara Cara works well in the kitchen as a utility knife. The serrations are quite fluid and slice through crusty bread or dice up cherries :
and slice eggs, with the serrations doing well starting the cut :
A banana is also readily sliced :
In terms of raw cutting ability, while the Cara Cara can't match the performance of a pure kitchen knife like the japanese utility from Lee Valley, it is fairly close on small vegetables. While the Japanese knife cuts a large carrot in 3-4 lbs the Cara Cara takes 5-6 lbs. The only real problem is when cutting very thick vegetables like turnips, the Cara Cara doesn't have the length and a thiner blade would be more efficient. But it has no problems on smaller and softer vegetables like potatoes and onions.
The Cara Cara works well on meats and such, it easily steaks up some cod, with the serrated section enabling cuts through the back bone with far less force than trying to chisel cut with the plain edge which can also cause the flesh to get squashed :
The biggest issue with food preperation is that the stainless handle can get slippery when covered in grease or oils, though the ergonomic contours do help to increase security. The stainless grips are also easier to clean than checkered G10.
In terms of comparison to other folders, the Meadowlark makes a better paring knife, mainly as it is shorter and thus easier to manipulate cutting the eyes out of potatoes and coring apples, and the Paramilitary in general makes a better utility knife as the cutting profile is slightly more efficient and the straight spine makes a better cutting board scraper.
The Cara Cara worked well on grasses and other light vegetation, in particular the serrated section hooked and cut well on harder stalky shoots which had dryed out and hardened. The very large handle was also of use here as it gave the blade more range on a cut. The size also came in handy when debarking woods as it enables large sections of bark to be removed. However the serrations tend to get in the way and the chisel edge tends to want to bite into the wood more so than optimal. This can be addressed by giving the blade a light bevel on the opposite side :
Often though bark can just be peeled off with the hand, and this type is more suitable for tinder and less for building as it is dry and cracks easily. It usually won't light directly off a match unless the tree species has very thin bark like Birch, but it can be broken/crumbled to finer material. It works well in big pieces to shelter a fire from the snow/rain while the embers are building :
The Cara Cara also has solid wood cutting ability and will readily peel shavings even off of hardwood like birch :
There was an issue with chopping as while the blade had the heft to make a decent chopping tool for a folder, it didn't respond well to moderate impacts which caused problems with play and even lock engagement. These could be fixed with just a few impacts on the pivot area to tighten the slabs. Often though chopping isn't necessary as dried woods can be located, and these will actually crack easier than be chopped, cut or sawed :
This wood will burn very easily, unless it has recently rained or is really cold, just a few minutes making shavings and a match will be enough to get a fire burning. The chopping ability of the Cara Cara will come in handy when cutting green boughs :
which will burn hot and give off a lot of heat, but don't last very long. Even a full armfull will only burn for 10-15 minutes so they are best used for signal fires as they give off a lot of smoke :
Again though they burn fast, to last even 1-2 hours you need a pile of boughs several feet high, and they must be placed on a smaller fire periodically, if a pile of that size was directly lit it would again not even last a half hour before all that would be left are embers.
The Cara Cara readily handle light metals, even though the edge is fairly acute with the chisel grind, having no problems chewing up a pop can :
and while it powers into a large pop bottle, it can't quite make a cut through the bottom, even with 150 lbs applied, the cut only gets to within about a quarter of an inch from the center and it is difficult to keep the bottom stable to allow more force to be applied. For reference, the Dozier K2 can make the cut with less than half that force due a thinner primary grind.
In general, the overall utility of the Cara Cara is enhanced with the serration pattern, which while not as aggressive as on some of Spyderco's folders, still offers a signifiant enhancement over straight edges, even ones left with a coarse finish, on various materials which are hard to cut. There was a significant comparison of serrated edges of two types vs straight edges in the review of the D'Allara. Essentially the serrations are valuable when slicing various plastics, thick rubber and can work as pseudo-saws on some woods.
The only real limitation of the Cara Cara as a utility tool is the low resistance to lateral loads as the handle will separate readily before the blade even flexes significantly, this behavior is likely caused by the chopping which effected lock engagement..
The section of serrations gave the Cara Cara a large advantage in edge retention when cutting abrasive materials, specifically it did quite well cutting used carpet : ref. More information on the cutting ability and edge retention of serrations can be seen in the review of the SpyderEdge Delica.
The Cara Cara has a thin and acute edge which responds well to taking a razor edge. It is chisel ground on one side so just sharpen that fully and hit the back lightly to take off the burr. The serrations will need a small rod to get the scallops, or the corner of a stone, the Sharpmaker is of course ideal and easily hones the serrations alone with the plain edge.
The handle on the Cara Cara is identical in design to the grip on the Meadowlark just scaled up, it thus has the same general grip characteristics (ref), but is a bit more ergonomic in general as it has more room for the around the index finger notch. It works well in hammer, both low and high :
Note the amount of handle which remains in a high grip. It has no problem with reverse :
However icepick grips can be problematic as the index finger apex tends to run into the hand, though it isn't as sharp as the point on the Meadowlark :
The large handle is of benefit here as the grip can be shifted up from the first index cutout. There was also found to be a concern with accidental lock releases with icepick stabs as it was possible for the index or middle finger to depress the lock release mainly due to the length of the lock release bar.
With stainless steel grips in general there is little surface texture so it is can get slick in hand. The weight gives it a lot more heft than FRN or even G10 grips, This does give it more ability as an impact tool, chopping with a partial grip for example. The inside of the handle slabs were a little sharp which came up readily as an abrasive point for rear grip chopping.
New in box, the lock was stable under white knuckling, torques and various heavy grips, with the stability in the latter enhanced by the milled out section of the lock bar which aids in preventing accidental releases. Care needs to be taken with that aspect though as releases can happen if the fingers cover the lock in a heavy grip, this was mainly an issue with icepick grips. The security could be enhanced by reducing the length of the lock release
As noted in the above, with some snappy wrist chopping into a piece of spruce for trimming a stick for walking, the handle started to seperate and the lock failed to engage. The knife was easily fixed by simply using a smooth rock to lightly tap the pin area and tighten the assembly back together however this opened continued to happen with chopping or similar impacts with repeated use.
This behavior was investigated by gripping the blade with a pinch between the thumb and index finger and giving the blade wrist pops off a stump, This readily caused the handle to open up and the blade developed significant play. This behavior however wasn't seen with the Pelican which handled similar work with no effect on the lock.
The opening hole in the Cara Cara gave a solid target which was easily accessable even when wearing a heavy glove :
The knife was also easy to unlock wearing the same glove. The only issue is that when wearing a glove there is a tendancy to press sideways a little harder and if this is done against the far lower region of the "eye", the blade can bind a little.
In general doing some work comparing the Cara Cara to the Paramiliary opening and closing. The larger opening hole on the Paramilitary was easier to hit, however the compression lock was more difficult to unlock with the glove and near impossible with a heavy mitt.
The Cara Cara it was roughly checked for strength and flexiblity by some prying in woods. The point was inserted, 1/4",1/2",3/8" and 1" deep into a piece of pine and then pryed to the side to clear the wood, this was then repeated in the opposite direction in a piece of spruce.
With the 1/4" insertion, the Cara Cara went flat to the pine and spruce and the wood deflected and cracked almost to the point of breaking. At 1/2" into the woods, the Cara Cara broke free on both but ended up with a tip deflection of 1/4" in length and 1/32" to the side.
Increased to 3/8" deep into the wood, the Cara Cara went flat to the boards in both cases without clearing, the tip bend was now increased to 1/2" in depth and the deflection was 1/16" to the side :
With the penetration increased to a full inch, the Cara Cara's blade broke at the blade approached twenty degrees off of the wood. The tip cracked losing 1/2" in the wood and at the same time the handle opened around the pivot so a gap of about 1/6" could be seen, and the blade cracked right at the taper in the opening hole, but only on the bottom half, a shot right after the break was heard :
The blade was still in the wood, the tip crack was down further, it usually is that way with any break in wood. Nice flexibity shown and solid strength as the last flex required a shoulder press, up until that one it was just wrist strain.
UPDATE : it would have been informative to measure the forces applied, this was done spontaneously upon request.
The Cara Cara is a fairly large knife, Military size and a lot heavier due to the all stainless construction, 160 vs 122 g. The serrations and acute chisel ground edge on the long blade give the Cara Cara high cutting ability. The steel used gives solid performance for stainless, well above expected given the price of the Byrd line. There were some issues with the lock in impact work and accidental release in icepick grips and some ergonomic problems due to the lack of rounding of the inside of the handle slabs.
Comments can be emailed using cliffstamp[REMOVE]@cutleryscience.com or by posting in the following thread on Bladeforums :
More information can be obtained at the Spyderco website. The following thread may also be of interest :
| Last updated : | 1 : 2 : 2006 |
| Originally written: | 05 : 05 : 2005 |