BY18 Catbyrd
The BY18 Catbyrd was a folding knife design that minimized the 'hump' in the blade, for the comet-shape hole.
Appearance in catalogs
The BY18 Catbyrd appeared in the following catalogs:
Designer
Sal Glesser
History, mentionings from the forums etc.
- Tenacious vs. Catbyrd, posted by forum member Y.T..
- Anybody have the Ti Catbyrd ?, posted by forum member The Mastiff.
Information from the Spyderco catalog on the web
BY18 Catbyrd
Here kitty. From first glance, the Catbyrd fits its name. It looks feline - sleek, clean-lined and sharp clawed. The blade is 8Cr13MoV stainless steel: a recent knife industry creation of high carbon stainless steel similar in performance to AUS-8. It contains molybdenum, vanadium and near 1% carbon for enhancement of the steel's durability and edge retention. Catbyrd's blade is flat-ground, sweeping slightly upward to a Clip-Point tip.
In keeping with the rest of the byrd Line, is the Comet Shaped blade hole for one hand opening and a pocket clip. The clip is positioned for right-handers and carries the knife in pocket with the tip facing upward. The handle is also stainless steel with the backside scale doubling as the liner in an Integral LinerLock. Custom knifemaker Chris Reeve invented this lock design that's brilliant in its simplicity. Using the back steel-side of the handle as the LinerLock's liner not only makes the lock have great strength but limits the number of parts (moving and stationary) needed to build the lock.
On the front of the handle are two pieces of grip tape. Each piece is shaped like the Comet Hole and they spoon each other Yin & Yang-style laying down a gritty sandpapery surface for better grip. An adjustable pivot and jimping (texturing) where blade and handle meet high are attention-to-performance extras normally found only on pricier folders. Right-hand, tip up pocket clip available in plain edge and combination edge pictured below.[1]
Variations
The BY18 Catbyrd is made in China and features a:
- Chris Reeve-style Integral Lock
- Comet-shaped opening hole in the blade
- finger choil
| SKU | Handle | Edge(s) | Steel | From/To | MSRP | Note | Number made | Grind | Clip | Clip positions | Collectors club |
| BY18 | Stainless Steel with black grip tape inserts | PE, CE | 8Cr13Mov | 2008 - 2009 | $49.95 (2009) | Full Flat grind | 3- screw old standard clip | RH, TU | Main | ||
| BY18TI | Ti with grey grip tape inserts | PE, CE | 9Cr18Mo | 2008 - 2009 | $199.95 (2010) | This was a sprint run | Full Flat grind | 3- screw old standard clip | RH, TU | Variant |
Most collectible variation
Questions regarding collecting the BY18
Some interesting questions we are looking for an answer to:
Questions with an answer:
Technical information
Measurements (mm and grams) of the BY18 Catbyrd:
| Variation | Length overall | Length closed | Length blade | Length edge | Blade thickness | Weight |
| BY18 | 203mm | 114mm | 90mm | 80mm | 3mm | 154g |
Measurements (inches and ounces) of the BY18 Catbyrd:
| Variation | Length overall | Length closed | Length blade | Length edge | Blade thickness | Weight |
| BY18 | 8" | 4.5" | 3.563" | 3.156" | 0.125" | 5.4oz |
References
- ↑ The BY18 Catbyrd in Spyderco's online catalog
