Impala anyone?

[Slatts]

I was just comparing my Impala (w/o guthook) with one of my large Wegners and just can't get over the similarities. The are about the same length with G-10 scales and linerlocks. Overall though the Impala is more 'streamlined' and a much better handling knife in my hand. I can't wait to get to the field and dress some whitetails this fall/winter.

I hear almost nothing on the forums about the Impala. At their price point they are a fantastic value in my opinion. Another Spyderholic once told me that the Impala is like the Wegner but with the bugs worked out. The Impala's combination of VG-10 steel, G-10 scales, and its' unbeatable blade shape for work in the field make it a real winner in my book. :thumbup:

Who else out there has an Impala? Who has used it for cleaning game?

 

[zenheretic]

Who else out there has an Impala? Who has used it for cleaning game?

I have 5. Love it. Hardly any game here in southern Nevada so hadn't had a chance to use it for game cleaning. It is a very fine piece. :thumbup:

 

[zenheretic]

I would have much prefered a lockback or even better a compression lock on it...but you can't have everything.

 

[smcfalls13]

I would have much prefered a lockback or even better a compression lock on it...but you can't have everything.

And if it were either of those, I would own one. It's got my name on the side of it for crying out loud(well not my name per se, but you get the point )

It's an exceptionally well built knife though, I wonder why it didn't get much fanfare...

 

[zenheretic]

And if it were either of those, I would own one. It's got my name on the side of it for crying out loud(well not my name per se, but you get the point )

It's an exceptionally well built knife though, I wonder why it didn't get much fanfare...

I probably lack the proper perspective but per Ted's site it was released in 2002. Perhaps most folks were already starting to prefer tip up carry (this is RH tip down only). Also it is a liner lock...maybe that was also losing popularity at this point. Not to mention the economy was a bit shaky after 9/11 so maybe no one wanted to buy the knife. Of course Slatts already pointed out it looks a lot like the Wegners so maybe folks thought, "more of the same". All just speculation of course.

 

[JD Spydo]

Yeah I think the Impala is one of the most unjustly ignored Spyders ever. For crying out loud it has a VG-10 blade and a G-10 polymer handle and most knives that have those 2 amenities usually rank high and sell good. But when I had 4 of them at one time you couldn't hardly give one of the away.

Well that has improved a bit here of late. I think I even got one or 2 of them from you SLATTS . I have had about 8 of them all together that I have aquired in trades and so forth. I am down to 3 now and I will probably use all of them. But I agree with you assessment/comparison between the Impala and the Wegner. Now I like the Wegner; always have, but the Impala is just more versatile and overall it is a much better field/hunting knife IMO.

It's a great knife. Whether it will ever attain any significant collector status like a lot of Spyders have>> well only time will tell for sure. But I bet the price of them will be going up significantly now that they are discontinued. But I have to admit that I never gave the fixed blade Temperance a chance until they discontinued it. Some of us just catch on late I guess.