I've got a nine year old nephew who is in need of a decent pocket knife. His father and both grandfathers have already given him knives, but they are of the cheap Pakistani type that most of us wouldn't give a second thought. I decided to go with a Sypderco Byrd Robin 2 with G10 Scales.
I carried a Meadowlark as a EDC for years and my wife still carries an all stainless Robin that I bought her when they first came out, so I had a good idea of what to expect. I chose the Robin because it would be small enough for a boy to carry and use, but also be big enough to be used for several years as he grows. It sports stainless liners with G10 scales and a screw together construction. The 8Cr13MoV blade is 2 1/2" long with a 1 7/8" cutting edge and a hole for opening. The pocket clip can be used on all four corners.
I ordered it from vendor on Amazon for $23.49 with free shipping. The knife arrived sharp. It went through newspaper like it wasn't even there. It wanted to shave hair, but just couldn't do it in one swipe. Certainly acceptable sharpness for a factory knife. The 8Cr13MoV steel won't hold it's edge like the more expensive steels, but it's also not has hard to sharpen.
How the knife fits in the hand is really nice. It has jimping on the spine and finger choil to improve grip. The G10 feels nice, sort of what I imagine my blue jeans would feel like if they were made of a tough plastic. The finger choil gives a good place for your index finger to rest meaning that your entire hand gets a grip. I wear large size gloves and you can even see the end of the handle sticking out past my pinky. On my preferred EDC, a Benchmade mini griptilian, my pinky doesn't have anything to grip.
The Robin feels heavier than the mini-griptilian, but my digital scale actually puts it lighter at 2.51 ounce---heavier than what Sypderco claims.
Here's a shot of the steel liners and the blade being mostly centered. There is no play in the blade and the fit and finish of the knife is very very good.
The nitpicks:
1) The blade is very slightly warped. Most people wouldn't notice, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist. The curve of the warp should not affect performance in any way and I have no problems ignoring it on a knife of this cost. All of the other Byrd knives that I have used are straight, so I'm assuming that this is just one that slipped by QC.
2) The screws for the pocket clip should be 1 mm or so longer. They don't go into the steel liners enough for my taste. They're probably fine, but I'd feel better with more steel to steel contact on the screw.
3) Not really a problem, but more a personal taste---make the pocket clip closer to the end. I don't use lanyard holes and the presence of one at the end of the handle moves the pocket clip down meaning the the knife will ride higher in the pocket. The cut out on the clip for the pivot pin also makes the knife ride higher. Eliminating these two things would drop the knife about 3/8 "
In summary, this is a good knife that is about as small as you can get and still get a good grip while keeping a nice length of cutting edge. The lower cost makes this a great bargain EDC. I look forward to passing it on to its new owner.
John
I carried a Meadowlark as a EDC for years and my wife still carries an all stainless Robin that I bought her when they first came out, so I had a good idea of what to expect. I chose the Robin because it would be small enough for a boy to carry and use, but also be big enough to be used for several years as he grows. It sports stainless liners with G10 scales and a screw together construction. The 8Cr13MoV blade is 2 1/2" long with a 1 7/8" cutting edge and a hole for opening. The pocket clip can be used on all four corners.
I ordered it from vendor on Amazon for $23.49 with free shipping. The knife arrived sharp. It went through newspaper like it wasn't even there. It wanted to shave hair, but just couldn't do it in one swipe. Certainly acceptable sharpness for a factory knife. The 8Cr13MoV steel won't hold it's edge like the more expensive steels, but it's also not has hard to sharpen.
How the knife fits in the hand is really nice. It has jimping on the spine and finger choil to improve grip. The G10 feels nice, sort of what I imagine my blue jeans would feel like if they were made of a tough plastic. The finger choil gives a good place for your index finger to rest meaning that your entire hand gets a grip. I wear large size gloves and you can even see the end of the handle sticking out past my pinky. On my preferred EDC, a Benchmade mini griptilian, my pinky doesn't have anything to grip.
The Robin feels heavier than the mini-griptilian, but my digital scale actually puts it lighter at 2.51 ounce---heavier than what Sypderco claims.
Here's a shot of the steel liners and the blade being mostly centered. There is no play in the blade and the fit and finish of the knife is very very good.
The nitpicks:
1) The blade is very slightly warped. Most people wouldn't notice, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist. The curve of the warp should not affect performance in any way and I have no problems ignoring it on a knife of this cost. All of the other Byrd knives that I have used are straight, so I'm assuming that this is just one that slipped by QC.
2) The screws for the pocket clip should be 1 mm or so longer. They don't go into the steel liners enough for my taste. They're probably fine, but I'd feel better with more steel to steel contact on the screw.
3) Not really a problem, but more a personal taste---make the pocket clip closer to the end. I don't use lanyard holes and the presence of one at the end of the handle moves the pocket clip down meaning the the knife will ride higher in the pocket. The cut out on the clip for the pivot pin also makes the knife ride higher. Eliminating these two things would drop the knife about 3/8 "
In summary, this is a good knife that is about as small as you can get and still get a good grip while keeping a nice length of cutting edge. The lower cost makes this a great bargain EDC. I look forward to passing it on to its new owner.
John
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