Originally posted by W.T. Beck
I'm looking at two Spyderco folders which would be primarily for tactical purposes and secondarily for utility. They are the Chinook II and the Persian.
From what I have read so far, both seem to be good choices for a tactical knife. I am wondering how either might perform in a utility role?
i think this is a question i can begin to tackle, since i've been studying these two bangers for a while..
grading these against each other for tactical & utility purposes takes a high degree of nit-picking, but here goes..
tactical use: the chinook gets the nod here. although both have a nice pronounced choil, and both have similar blade shape/dimension, the chinook's textured g10 scales will provide slightly better grip, whereas the persian's steel bolster could get slippery under sweaty or bloody conditions.
utility: this is REALLY nitpicking, but g10 isn't as pretty as micarta, but it's waaaay tougher. the stuff seems virtually indestructable. i've successfully used the g10 handle of a benchmade pardue for hammering steel components into place (don't ask). i've had some ease in reshaping/filing micarta, which is pretty durn tough to do by hand with g10. once again, the chinook ever so slightly gets the edge in the utility department as well. furthermore - and i may be wrong about this - but i think S30V steel has greater corrosion resistance than VG10.
other than the handles, the knives are pretty even. both sport high-end blade steels, and both have a very similar design format. one thing i don't like about the persian is that lefties are left out, when it comes to clip placement.
hope that helps, and hopefully someone who owns both of these knives will chime in with more dirt.
