Spyderco Chaparral

[Cynic2701]

Introduction

Once more I had the opportunity to participate in a passaround; many thanks to j.h. for orchestrating the passaround and to Spyderco for donating knives for us to sample. If you haven’t joined a passaround, I’d highly recommend you give one a look. It’s really great to try out a knife without having to actually purchase it—the only thing you pay for is shipping to the next person in chain.

Here’s a link to the passaround thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1038105-Spyderco-Chaparral-Carbon-Fiber-C152CF

I first saw the Chaparral in a thread posted by The Deacon in early 2011, and I’ve been vacillating between getting one ever since. It appeared so similar in shape to the Sage series – which I’ve tried to like, but they just don’t fit my hand – that I’ve been hesitant to pick one up.

The measurements, from Spyderco’s website, are as follows:

Overall length: 6.375”(162 mm)
Close length: 3.625” (92 mm)
Blade length: 2.812” (71 mm)
Blade thickness: .078” (2mm)
Cutting edge: 2.281” (58 mm)
Weight: 2.5 oz (70 g)

One of the first things that you might note is significant about the Chaparral, apart from its small size, is how thin the blade is relative to most knives we see here on Bladeforums. More on this subject later.

 

[Cynic2701]

I quite like the texture of Spyderco’s twill carbon fiber scales. They provide more grip than the carbon fiber on the Caly3/3.5 and the glass fiber Nishijin scales on the R Nishijin.

I have medium sized hands, and as you can see you pretty much have to use the choil in order to comfortably hold the knife. The jimping works just fine, and there are no hot spots in the corners of the choil as I’ve found on other knives.

When closed, the knife is very small and is easily concealed in the palm of your hand.

The fit and finish of the knives coming out of the Taichung Taiwan factory are pretty good—especially so considering their typical price points in the mid $100-200 range. The Chaparral can be found in the range of $110-120. The scales and steel liners were well mated, though curiously the opening and closing of the knife was grittier and less smooth than what I am accustomed to on my Caly 3 and 3.5, and they have a washerless design. Perhaps the knife just needs to break in. To be honest, it’s nothing that I can really complain about. The blade was centered and well ground, and it tapped for ambidextrous left or right handed tip up carry.

The Chaparral has an internal stop pin that helps allay, and even eliminate, the tendency for lock back knives to have a small amount of vertical blade play. On the example that I had, there was no vertical blade play at all. Since the knife isn’t mine, I was hesitant to disassemble the knife and take pictures, but there are pictures of disassembled Chaparral’s that clearly show the internal stop pin. Sort of like knives that use the thumbstuds as a blade stop, the internal stop pin design does the exact same thing only inside of the scales and upside down.

 

[Cynic2701]

I sharpened the Chaparral after getting it, and immediately threw it into my pocket. Literally. Even though I’m left handed, I didn’t bother switching the pocket clip over from the right side—since the knife is so small, it carries quite well in the bottom of your pocket. The S30V blade held an edge as I am accustomed to S30V knives from Spyderco, or, more precisely, as I have become spoiled by. After my experience with my last passaround knife, the Spyderco Resilience and its 8Cr13MoV blade, I’ve come to appreciate a well heat treated S30V blade. Although cardboard can be quite variable, I like to at least cut up a good sized box and see how well a knife keeps an edge throughout. I cut up an 18” x 20” box from Amazon, and at the end of it, I could still uncomfortably shave some hair off my arm.

The amount of cardboard that the Chaparral’s edge had to cut was greater than what the Resilience had to cut, as the Resilience’s cutting edge is 4.25”, which is nearly double that of the Chaparral’s 2.281”. To put it another way, I had twice as much edge (with the Resilience) with which to cut the same sized cardboard box. The thinness of the blade helped it glide through the cardboard, and I would think that with a re-beveling down to a 20 degree inclusive bevel and a 30 degree inclusive microbevel, the Chaparral would be quite the pocket laser.

 

[Cynic2701]

For a variety of reasons, one of my requirements in a pocket knife is that it be reasonably capable of doing food prep.

While it did prove capable of slicing an onion, the short blade length meant I had to do a lot of fancy cutting to try and do a job that a larger blade could handle with one slice.

Similarly, with a tomato, the short blade length made it necessary to a lot of fancy cutting to get one slice of tomato. Although it is hard to tell from the picture, those slices have sort of a corkscrew shape as a result of the Chaparral’s blade being too short to cut well.

The bread proved too thick to slice without crushing it, but that was sort of to be expected.

In regular EDC use (e.g. opening letters, cutting paper or cardboard, etc.) the knife is just fine, and is of such a small size that it isn’t obtrusive and nor does it cause alarm in an office environment. To be perfectly honest, I envision that this knife would fit more of a “gentleman’s knife” role than as a capable multi-purpose EDC knife like a Para 2 or a Sebenza or even a Caly 3.5.

One thing that fit its small size was the box that the Chaparral came in. It is smaller than the Spyderco boxes that I usually see:

I also noticed that the Chaparral seems comically small in comparison to a Military.

 

[Cynic2701]

This brings me to my next point, a comparison to other knives in Spyderco’s own product lines. The CF/ZDP-189 Caly 3 is probably its most direct competitor: both are close in size, use similar materials, have the same locking mechanism, and have a wire pocket clip.

I typically carry a Caly 3 while at work (which is in an office) and I found that the Chaparral seemed to excel in much the same way as the Caly 3. Interestingly, after carrying the Chaparral for a week, I found that when I returned to the Caly 3 it seemed heavier, thicker, even tank-like, in comparison to the Chaparral. Although there is only half an ounce difference in weight, 0.344” difference in cutting edge length, and 0.047” (1 mm) difference in blade thickness, it is quite apparent when you have both knives next to each other. As an example, here are two pictures comparing the two from a different perspective:

Despite having the same thickness (minus the bulging pivot of the Caly 3), the Caly 3 somehow seems significantly beefier than the Chaparral.

Here it is in comparison to a few other knives I rotate through:

 

[Cynic2701]

Final Comments

Carrying the Chaparral for a week has convinced me that I really should pick one up. For all the reasons that I like carrying a Caly 3, the Chaparral seems to do a better job in a slimmer, lighter, and more unobtrusive way. I think that I will wait for the Chaparral 3, as I prefer its design over the Chaparral 1 and 2, and I prefer CTS-XHP over S30V. While the knife isn’t quite as capable as, say, a Caly 3.5, it does a perfectly fine job for the majority of EDC tasks that you are likely to come across.

I’ll leave you with some pictures of the Chaparral in its natural environment.

 

[J D Wijbenga]

Very informative review, Thanks!

 

[Deputy572]

Nice review. You've sold me a Chap3, whenever that might come out....

 

[Raymond3]

Very informative review, Thanks!

+1

I just got a Chaparral with CTS XHP steel for father's day, and I really enjoy it! Thanks for a great review. The knife is just as you report.

 

[GCG199]

Great review.

The Chaparral is one of my favorite smaller Spyderco models.