Chaparral vs Sage? Teach a rookie

Tigerfan

Tigerfan

Joined
Jan 9, 2016
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Ladies, Gentlemen, and others, ....
I was a BladeForum member several years ago. Then the Ex found a BF she liked better than me. Thru all the crap associated with the big D, I had to give up my interest in knives for a while.
When I got back into Bladeforums very recently, I realized that I could not remember my old username nor did I any longer have my old email addy so that I could send requests for username/password reminder. So, I started all over with this new name.
Just in recent months I have finally been able to catch up on the past 3-4 years and start my ‘accumulation’ (no, not a collector) once again.
I have bought knives from several manufacturers over the years. ( I am an old fart of >50 yr old).
But, I keep coming back to Spyderco.
I have many of the iconic Spyderco knives (Delica, Endura, Pacific Salt, PM2, Manix2, some Byrds, and more…) Not the limited editions or exclusives…. but mostly the basic models. I tried hard to dislike FRN, but I can’t do it. Best basic EDC knives in the real world have scales of FRN, and have the Spyderco name on them….IMHO. But I also love the better scale materials and have many examples (micarta, G10, CF, Titanium, wood, blah blah blah)
OK, maybe this is a waste of forum space. If so, pls take this as my re-introduction into knives and cut me some slack.
Looking to order one of these knives by end of weekend…
Chaparral CF or the Sage1 CF. Both are within a few $$ of each other.
Use is just simply EDC. Nothing fancy. Uber steel not required.
Question:
If you did not already have a Sage or Chaparral and planned to order one or the other within the next 24 hours, which would it be and why? I have already read all the reviews I could find here, youtube, and other sites. Just curious….for my personal learning.
I have interest in MANY more Spyderco’s and will most certainly be purchasing others, but I would like this post to be framed around JUST the Chaparral vs Sage (and their variants)

Challenge: you have a Chaparral and a Sage in your favorite internet retailer’s cart. You can only purchase one of them this weekend (but you can purchase the other at a later date if you wish). Which will it be and what led you to that decision?
 
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The Chaparral has a very thin blade making it a wicked slicer. XHP is great stuff. It's the only mid-lock (or is it back-lock) spyderco I can think of that is made in their Taiwan plant. Spyderco's best knives come from Taichung Taiwan in my opinion.

You said you already own a Sage... soooo.... get the Chaparral. I love mine, but I have the Ti version.
 
Moxy said:
The Chaparral has a very thin blade making it a wicked slicer. XHP is great stuff. It's the only mid-lock (or is it back-lock) spyderco I can think of that is made in their Taiwan plant. Spyderco's best knives come from Taichung Taiwan in my opinion.

You said you already own a Sage... soooo.... get the Chaparral. I love mine, but I have the Ti version.
Click to expand...


My Bad!! Bourbon and posting here for first time.... not good. Meant to say Manix2 instead of Sage. My Bad. I edited my first post. Edit: I do not currently own a Sage. So any sage would be a newbie to me..
 
Tough decision! I have both and really like both. I have my Sage 1 sitting next to me as I type this. There's something about the simplicity of the knife that I really like, along with the size. It's also a fun knife to play with (very flickable) The open back construction is very classy (IMO) and it makes cleaning the internals easy. However, as mentioned, the Sage 5 is due to come out soon and it's basically the same knife with a compression lock. If it were me I'd probably wait for the Sage 5 and get the Chap now. The Chaparral is a heck of a knife in it's own right. It's smaller than the Sages but it has a lot of blade for it's size. Very smooth action too plus it's easy to close with either hand. I also think the CTS-XHP steel is a little better than S30V but they're both good as far as I'm concerned. I'm not in a position where I'm cutting stuff all day and need super edge retention.

You can go wrong either way here. Both knives are very classy choices. If the Sage 5 wasn't coming out soon I think I'd go with the Sage 1 (or Sage 2) but knowing that it is, I'd probably have to go with the Chap first.

BTW, since the Sage 5 will be so close to the Sage 1, my guess is there's going to be some really good deals on Sage 1's in the Exchange in the near future. If I still wanted a Sage 1 that would be the time to buy one.

Sorry to hear about your divorce. I'm your age and went through the same crap a couple years ago. My (now ex) wife of 24 years apparently decided to start shopping for a new man behind my back and eventually found one. Nasty way to go about leaving someone. Oh well I'm much better off now without her. My new lady says it's definately her loss! Good luck in your future and have fun shopping for knives!
 
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The Sage is an excellent knife. I'd go with that.

The Chap is smaller, thinner, and with the mid lock, not quite as intuitive to operate, IMO.

And although the Sage 5 is coming out, the liner lock on the Sage is stout and capable. One of my favorites.

The Chap is more of a "gentleman's knife," if you will.
 
I have both. And they both get a lot of pocket time. But I must say my Sage 1 gets more use. It's a great knife. The chaparral is great too but I wouldn't use it harder like I do with the Sage 1.
The steel on the chaparral is a little better but S30V is no slouch.

If you've one choice only, get a Sage 1 IMO.

I'm really looking forward to the Sage 5 but still, I love the lock and smoothness of my Sage 1.

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk
 
I would go for the CF version of the Chaparral. Thinner blade makes it a super slicer. Being lighter, and thinner overall, makes it totally disappear in my pocket. Plus, I have a strong preference for midlocks.
 
Between those two, I'd go with the Chaparral. Super small but has great ergos and you don't give up that much in blade length over the much larger (in pocket) Sage.
 
Sage 1. More to hold on to and great fit and finish. Good all around user with nice midrange size.
 
Having owned a Sage 1, 2, & 3 and still owning a Chap...
I say, go with the Chap.

Not that I didn't Really like my Sage 1(or any of them, for that matter). The Sage series is pretty great! I can't wait for the Sage 5, I will own one!
I have a Manix 2 and didn't need another knife the similar size.
The Chaparral gives choices and ergo's are sweet!
 
I would (and did) buy the Chaparral. It is a near perfect pocket knife. I took the pocket clip off of mine and drop it in my pocket. It is slim, very slim, so it disappears. It is easy to operate with either hand (Sage 1 is not). The Sage is a bit large for a pocket knife, but it can be done.
 
Chaparral all the way. It's a flawless little pocket knife. Great build, disappears in pocket and will butcher an apple or a box like nobody's business.
 
Chaparral.
The Sage is an iconic series but it's a tweener blade. Too large to be a small knife and to too small to be a large knife. Tweeners are great for the guy who wants to have only one blade. Since you have the PM2, the Chaparral would be a great small office/dress knife.
 
I faced this same question a few years ago when I was first getting into Spydies. I was able to handle both and chose the Chaparral. Smaller, lighter, thinner blade. They all added up to it being just about ideal for an office edc for me. I still sort of want a Sage, probably would get a 3 since I'm a lefty, but I've held off because I don't know that I'd carry it enough over the PM2, Manix, etc... outside of work.
 
A few comparison pics...

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As I said previously, it would be a tough choice for me. One of the reasons I dislike threads like this is because there's no wrong choice and you get half the responses voting for the Sage and the other half voting for the Chap.
 
The sage1 would be the only folder I carried if it had an M4 (or equivalent) blade.
 
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