Anyone have any experience with this little guy? I just bought one today. I've been needing a small light knife because I mostly wear athletic shorts and having my big ole PM2 bouncing around in my pocket is pretty annoying. I typically carry my sage 2 or 1 but because the handles are slick I am afraid of losing them. I needed a knife that was light, G10, and deep carry. It was between the cat and dragonfly g10. I went with the cat because I prefer liner locks and it's cheaper. How is the 440c on these? Is it comparable or better than say 8cr in edge retention?
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Spyderco Cat
- Thread starter Elgreco
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2006
- Messages
- 958
It is actually on my list. I recently got a foliage green Urban penknife which is very similar in shape and size to a Cat. I like it a lot and think the Cat would be a good locking version.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2012
- Messages
- 2,620
The Cat is my "around the house in my fleece comfy pants" knife. It use is mainly for opening packages and other small cutting jobs. I prefer it, over my dragonflies, for this purpose because it fits my hand better without resorting to attaching a lanyard for extra grip and over my Squeak because of the larger blade. For a while, I was using my Urban (Wharncliffe) for this purpose .... but keep coming back to the Cat. The steel holds a good edge for me .... but I strop it lightly every night if I have used the blade at all on a given day. I think you will like it.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2011
- Messages
- 6,299
Here's my Cat next to my mouse (groan):
I really like this little guy. The 440C is great, sharpens easily, stays sharper longer than other value-line stainless knives, and has a pretty robust liner lock for its size. The G10 is grippy, ergos are typical spyderco functional, and the deep carry clip works great and is the small knife I carry whenever I'm in NYC.
I really like this little guy. The 440C is great, sharpens easily, stays sharper longer than other value-line stainless knives, and has a pretty robust liner lock for its size. The G10 is grippy, ergos are typical spyderco functional, and the deep carry clip works great and is the small knife I carry whenever I'm in NYC.
I've got a Spyderco Cat. It's a nice size and features what I feel to be an excellent blade profile for a smaller knife. Also the 440C while no high speed steel by any stretch has proven to be more than serviceable and can attain a scary level of sharpness as far as I'm concerned. It's a good knife for the money IMO and competes nicely with the Dragonfly.
The Cat is a great EDC.
There were issues producing the original CF-S30V version at the price Spydie wanted. Sal and company brought out a G10-440C version to keep the price reasonable.
The original is still my favorite, but hard to get today and commands a higher than new price.
The replacement is excellent at the price.
The size means you can carry it in most places. I find it more useful than the D'fly. If I needed something even lighter in weight, I'd go for the Salt I, another great EDC.
There were issues producing the original CF-S30V version at the price Spydie wanted. Sal and company brought out a G10-440C version to keep the price reasonable.
The original is still my favorite, but hard to get today and commands a higher than new price.
The replacement is excellent at the price.
The size means you can carry it in most places. I find it more useful than the D'fly. If I needed something even lighter in weight, I'd go for the Salt I, another great EDC.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2011
- Messages
- 962
I was hunting for a knife similar in design to the Persistence, but a little smaller and with a finger choil. The Cat fit the bill perfectly. Being a jimping junky I had to have the S30V model. I was perfectly satisfied with the 440C, but I want the jimping. This started a very difficult hunt. Here is what I found.
First the S30V models are terrible. I bought a factory second AND a QC model. For the most part the blades were okay on both. The etching was not perfect (compared to the 440C) and the spydie hole was a little crooked and unfinished. The carbon fiber on both S30V model sucked, the QC sucked a little less. I intended to use the G10 scales of the 440C with the S30V blade. After about $150 invested (Reselling the QC version) I had a great finished product.
I took the G10 scales and the lanyard hole pin/bushing (the S30V model doesn't have one and it looks terrible) and swapped in the S30V blade. Here are some pics of the etching on the blades. Notice the S30V model on the right is crooked.
Here is the notch that is put onto factory seconds. If this notch wasn't there, I would have kept the factory second blade.
Here is the damaged carbon fiber scale (around the sanded deployment area). To be clear I'm not a fan of carbon fiber anyway so I was glad to be rid of it.
This knife is great for casual EDC. Opening mail, opening packages, minor cutting. The G10 scales are pretty thin so if you need to make a harder cut (small branches, thick rope) where you have to bear down on the handle, it can be uncomfortable. A thicker, rounder scale would be ideal.
So I built a thicker/wider, rounder scale. Here it is pictured with my Persistence. Cocobolo wood.
Here it is with half G10 half cocobolo. Notice the thickness.
After it all, I still love this knife. Small simple EDC. The wire clip is perfect. The detent is strong so the knife flies open. The ergos are great (even better with the thick scales). This is my favorite Spyderco as noted with the level of effort in perfecting it.
First the S30V models are terrible. I bought a factory second AND a QC model. For the most part the blades were okay on both. The etching was not perfect (compared to the 440C) and the spydie hole was a little crooked and unfinished. The carbon fiber on both S30V model sucked, the QC sucked a little less. I intended to use the G10 scales of the 440C with the S30V blade. After about $150 invested (Reselling the QC version) I had a great finished product.
I took the G10 scales and the lanyard hole pin/bushing (the S30V model doesn't have one and it looks terrible) and swapped in the S30V blade. Here are some pics of the etching on the blades. Notice the S30V model on the right is crooked.
Here is the notch that is put onto factory seconds. If this notch wasn't there, I would have kept the factory second blade.
Here is the damaged carbon fiber scale (around the sanded deployment area). To be clear I'm not a fan of carbon fiber anyway so I was glad to be rid of it.
This knife is great for casual EDC. Opening mail, opening packages, minor cutting. The G10 scales are pretty thin so if you need to make a harder cut (small branches, thick rope) where you have to bear down on the handle, it can be uncomfortable. A thicker, rounder scale would be ideal.
So I built a thicker/wider, rounder scale. Here it is pictured with my Persistence. Cocobolo wood.
Here it is with half G10 half cocobolo. Notice the thickness.
After it all, I still love this knife. Small simple EDC. The wire clip is perfect. The detent is strong so the knife flies open. The ergos are great (even better with the thick scales). This is my favorite Spyderco as noted with the level of effort in perfecting it.
Willydigger, you are awesome! Those are great looking mods.
You got me to get out my Cat and compare it with the Persistence, one of my first Spydies and still one of my all-time favorites.
As much as I love the Cat, I'd love it even more if the blade shape were even more like the Persistence.
Thanks for sharing your work and photos.
You got me to get out my Cat and compare it with the Persistence, one of my first Spydies and still one of my all-time favorites.
As much as I love the Cat, I'd love it even more if the blade shape were even more like the Persistence.
Thanks for sharing your work and photos.
The_Iron_Joe
Knifemaker, Jeweller. Custom Books Open!
- Joined
- May 3, 2012
- Messages
- 1,091
Huh. Looks similar to the Persistence. If I didn't already own one, I'd probably buy the Cat as well.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2010
- Messages
- 116
I use my Cat as discrete EDC with the pocket clip removed. It is a lot of knife in a small package. The only complaint I had was the lack of jimping that made it feel a little slick in hand when cutting with the small blade. I fixed this by adding some jimping of my own and it's great now.
The cat is smaller and lighter. To me, it is more comfortable to hold because of the 50/50 choil.
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2004
- Messages
- 735
I'm looking to get the Cat, because I love a liner-lock, as what's on the Sage-1. If the Chaparral had a liner-lock, I'd be in heaven, but since that's not the case, I'm going to try the Cat.
