Just bought a Chinook 3

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Hello for a long time I was a proponent of fixed blades for EDC but there are some times when they are not an option. For a long time I used a Byrd Crossbill
but recently wanted something a bit more upscale. The Byrd is fine although I find the stainless handles get scratched and the clip is a bit loose.

I was hoping I could get some opinions on the Chinook as well as using it for MBC? Any photos would be cool as well because it won't be here to the end of the week?
 
Right now the Chinook III is my primary utility folder. It has more belly on the blade than just about any other knife I've seen.
The blade is nice and thick right up to the edge, definitely made to take some abuse. The blade is also canted forward (like the Military) making it feel much more natural during use. It's a great folder and I love the feeling of holding that big chunk of metal and G-10.
The best part is the handle design is one of the most secure I've seen on any knife ever, and it's still good in all four hand positions. Perfect for utility.

One note. I would be careful with the lock, I know these knives have some of the strongest locks out there, but at one point I could get mine to fail regularly with a medium spine whack. It first happened when I was practicing back cuts on a fence post, something the Chinook III was designed to do, when the lock failed. Luckily the finger choil is big enough that it just bounced off my index finger.
This was after I had done some pretty heavy spine whacking already, so I can't say if this would happen to the knife new. However I'm not the only one who has reported this behaviour. I don't worry about it normally, and as I've already experienced the choil is most likely to hit first if anything does happen. Still, remember that it is a "folding knife".
 
Spine wacks on hard materials are devistating to knives no mather if quality build. I would take it apart and get rid of the burrs happened by these wacks. Reassemble it and it would be fine with a spydie....
:(
 
Other than being able to disengage the lock with a light snappy whack, the biggest problem with doing spine whacks was lock wear. At one point the lockbar sank into the handle about half a millimeter. It still worked as a lock for the most part, but I didn’t like how it looked. So I fixed it.

What you see below is a small piece of hardened steel (I got it off a spare scraping tool) thinned down to about 0.08” at the thick end and 0.01” at the other end (the thin end facing down). This little bit fills in the lock and makes up for space lost during wear. As of this posting I did some more spine whacks (the first since I made the modification). It failed once on the first whack, and then no more.
I’m not sure exactly what this means, but it does seem to have fixed the problem. Plus it removed most of the vertical play that the knife had when new. It locks up tighter than ever.
Almost forgot, I glued the sliver of metal in with Gorilla Glue. It was my first time using the glue, but I had only heard good things about it. It seems to be holding up quite well so far.

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I ground out a Boye detent into the lock bar, I found that when gripping the knife in reverse grip with edge facing toward you (IIRC this is called the “ice pick grip”) it was a little too easy to make the lock start to disengage. Note to anyone thinking of doing this themselves, I ground mine down just about as far as possible. If I went any further it would be near impossible to unlock the knife.
Also. Spyderco really needs to smooth out the edges on that lock, my thumb got red sore from using it before I ground the edges off.


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"One note. I would be careful with the lock, I know these knives have some of the strongest locks out there, but at one point I could get mine to fail regularly with a medium spine whack. It first happened when I was practicing back cuts on a fence post, something the Chinook III was designed to do, when the lock failed."

I carrry a Chinook 3 in my inside vest pocket as a third level blade and I absolutely love it.

As for backcutting, I had an extreme issue with that when the old REKAT Sifu came out. You couldn't keep that blade open if it got the least amount of impact anywhere near the tip of the blade. The choil was in a different position and it cost me three bloody fingers.

So when I heard about the backcutting applications of the Chinook I had a little fear and trepidation. Being a Keating blade aficianado I researched what he had to say about the Chinook. His teaching was that the Chinook was NOT for full on back cuts even on soft human bodies. Rather, he recommended quick little hit and retract, hunt and peck, sniping shots at soft targets of opportunity like hands, arms and faces that would open up fleshy wounds.

Using the Chinook on fence posts was never recommended and would probably be considered abuse.;)
 
Thanks everybody you guys touched on a few of my major concerns. I had already considered putting a Boye detent just because I was so impressed by how it works on my Crossbill. Another reason I wanted the Chinook is I like the same style of MBC as MR. Keating and the Chinook seems to fit my style. I also like the solid feel that Spyderco knives have even the light weight ones.

Here is a photo of my incoming Chinook. It should be here tomorow hopefully. I bought the waved Emerson as well but it is the Chinook I am really excited about.
 
This is the first Spyderco I have bought in a long while (the one before this was the Para-Millie) and I was very pleased with it when it arrived. I got the Chinook II as I figured a hollow ground blade in S30V would be razor sharp and I wasn't wrong.

The handle design is superb and the S30V is excellent as usual. I love the big heavy feel of the knife and the fact that you can reposition the clip to your preference. Why they can't do this with all knives?

I think this is one of Spyderco's best knives. I have every confidence in the lock, but I really don't want to test it by smacking it against anything hard. I paid a lot of dough for it and I trust Spyderco not to release anything that might fail.
 
Well it and the Emerson showed up today and if I am totally honest I have to give Spyderco the edge on 2 very similar knives. The Commander(waved05) and the Chinook3 are both exactly the same size(Large) ,they both have very curved blades similar G10 handles(I like the Spydy pistol grip better)both made in the USA ,both are very well made of high end materials and both are designed by leaders in the fields of fighting folders.

The differences are less. The commander is a liner lock to the chinook3's back lock.
I prefer the back lock but not by much. S30V versus 154CM edge Spyderco.
Satin versus black blade again my person preference is for the Spydy but a year ago it was black blades.The Emerson has the wave which is nice but is available on some spydies without being a rip off ,classy.

For the chinook4 I would consider a wave and a detent. I would add one myself but I would want to take the knife right apart and also make the lock opening a bit wider so it works like one from the factory.
 
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