Syperco Chinook,Wegner,or Military???

H

Harv

Joined
Dec 11, 2000
Messages
22
I own several smaller Spyderco knifes. I want to buy a full size folder for a fishing/camping trip comming up. Any Suggestions?



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Measure twice, cut once
 
Well I can only comment on the Military. You can do a lot worse than the Military, it is a flat ground blade made from 440V steel. This knife is a slicer! Mine will take a wickly sharp edge and seen to hold it longer than my other knives. The larger than normal thumb hole is much nicer than Spyderco's normal hole, and the complete knife is much lighter than you expect for a knife with a four inch blade. I love mine! Of course this is only my opinion and your mileage may vary.
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A Pat on the Back is only a few inches from a Kick in the Butt.
 
I have the Chinook and I like it a lot, but it is quite heavy. For your needs the Tim Wenger might be the best. I personally hate how it looks, but it does look very functional. The drop point provides a good strong tip, and the knife was designed with skinning in mind.
 
All three are terrific knives and all three would do well for what you propose. Each was designed for a different primary purpose: the Chinook for defense, the Wegner for hunting, and the Military for survival. I'd say that for fishing and camping the Wegner and the Military come in pretty well tied.

Being a knife nut, I would suggest a slightly different approach; one involving more than one knife.
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Carry the Military and take along a Spyderco Wegner Mouse as your backup knife. The Mouse was designed for the same sort of duties as the Wegner, after all.

--Bob Q
 
Isn't that the otherway around? I mean the Chinook for defense and the Military for survival? Have you seen the size of the Chinook. It's a good self-defense knife, but I'd say the military is better isn't it? The Chinook is good for just about anything, except fileting a fish, maybe. It might even be good for skinning animals because of it's huge belly, but I don't hunt, so I don't know for sure.

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"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what's right" -Hari Seldon, Foundation, -Aasimov
 
Well, I have all mentioned knives. My impressions on Chinook I have shared pretty particularly. Military and Tim Wegner advantages and drawbacks we also discussed here numerous times, it's enough to use "Search" function.
So here is the short comparison only:
  • Weight issue. Chinook is the heaviest, Wegner next, Military is the lightest of theses knives.
  • Strength issue. No, I didn't break no one yet
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    But taking into consideration that they are made of more or less same materials it is easy to consider that Chinook is the strongest - massive, not too long blade with relatively narrow ground area, double steel liners, massive steel backspacer, very strong lock. Military stands on the opposite end of strength scale. Full flat grind creates high performance cutting edge but it is pretty gentle by its nature, the same with the tip. Single liner, practically no backspacer. Wegner stands in the middle, it has also single liner but it is supported with full-length steel backspacer. Drop point blade creates the tip stronger than Military one.
  • Carry options. Wegner is designed for tip-up carry what I consider not too adequate for liner locks. Military and Chinook are designed for tip-down carry. No one has clip movable onto opposite side though Chinook could and, I dare to say, should have this option.
  • Handling comfort. All are comfortable for hard use and controllable for precise cutting. Counting very slight differences I could assume Chinook as the best for heavy tasks, Military - for precise cutting and Wegner - as the best balanced between both and the most versatile. But this matter can vary from one person to another.
Conclusion: the ideal knife doesn't exist, as usually at least. All depends on knife's intended use and certain person's preferences and likings. I'm rather balanced and careful man with generally well controlled non-violent movements. I have no tendency to use my knives in non-characteristic for them role like prying, chopping etc. So my choice for outdoors use is Military due to its light weight, long blade, flat grind, tip-down carry, sufficient strength and sufficient handling comfort. Your choice can differ but hope I have managed to point some (not all!) essential differences to make it easier.
 
The Chinnok has a stronger lock. I would take a lock back over a liner lock any day. Just my $.02.

Paul
 
I find that the tip on the Military can be too delicate for utility work, without enough belly for skinning. The Chinook is a great knife, massive, but a bit blocky, and the large upsweep to the tip can be a bit wierd to work with.

I find the Wegner to be the best utility/hunter in the bunch mentioned, rock solid, hefty, and comfortable in the hand, with a blade style that is suitable for a wider range of tasks than the other two.

Also, although Spyderco is about as good as it gets at heat treating CPM440V, I find myself more confident in ATS-34 when I think in terms of "chip hazards" like rocks and bones. I don't see chipping as a regular occurrence, but I have seen it more often on 440V than ATS-34.

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"My knife is bigger than yours. You suck." - Lewis Black
 
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=1651093&p=47791490&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=1651093&p=47791492&Sequence=0&res=high" border="1"></a>Update:
Here they are at the same picture and you can compare their size. Please click image to see their natural size in separate window. I don't know why Wegner's blade reflects the light this strange way, really it has very fine satin finish.


[This message has been edited by Sergiusz Mitin (edited 05-03-2001).]
 
One pertinent question is, "What are you fishing for?" I wouldn't want to try cleaning small brook trout with any of the bigger knives. Then again, I wouldn't want to dress a large walleye with a tiny knife. And if you're filleting instead of dressing, you want a very thin blade.

So, I guess I'd carry two knives. A small thin blade and a big serrated honker for average camp chores. The Chinook looks like a great big honker. You probably already have a small blade for dressing average sized fish.
 
I own two Military blades one a Forum inlay.

I would go for the Military as the best all rounder and for survival and defense. I have no worries over the liner lock on it. As Sal has said many times a recesed liner lock is often stronger than a double lined blade liner. It is all about the area of contact between the liner and the scales. A few pins or the whole liner?

The issue over tip strength does interest me. As I intend to use my 'normal' plain edge 440V Mil as a real 'worker' I am interested to hear any stories over the Mil and how its tip holds up.

Thanks

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Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
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Certified steel snob!
 
Ok Shootist, Plain or Combo edge?

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Measure twice, cut once

[This message has been edited by Harv (edited 05-03-2001).]
 
Memnoch, I'd choose the Chinook as a either a back up or a utility piece to the Commander. Though the other pieces are excellent IMO.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Harv:
Ok Shootist, Plain or Combo edge?

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Click to expand...

I am partial to plain edge because I think it is more versatile and easier to sharpen. But I know people who like the serrations. There is nothing wrong with either. Its just personal preference.



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Dennis Bible

....Almost here, The Leading Edge....
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by The General:
The issue over tip strength does interest me. As I intend to use my 'normal' plain edge 440V Mil as a real 'worker' I am interested to hear any stories over the Mil and how its tip holds up.</font>
Click to expand...

Heh, heh, heh.... hiya General.
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I have a story to relate on tip strength of the Military, sorta. Especially regarding chipping.
Christmas one year, my wife made a gingerbread house. When it came time to break it up and eat, it had gotten pretty, well, SET. The icing was more like concrete. Anyway, a friend is trying to pry some of the gingerbread, not having much luck. Asks for a knife; I whip out the Mil and hand it over, adding to be very careful of the edge. He starts prying and pushing, and all of a sudden the bread lets go, and the tip comes stabbing straight down, into..... wait for it.... the glass plate. DOH!!!!! I figured the tip was a goner. Pretty much was, but on about a millimeter, and it was bent over, not broken or chipped. It did get squared off though when I sharpened it out, because I couldn't figure out anyway to straighten that little bit of the tip.

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The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog. - Ambrose Bierce
Most dog owners are at length able to teach themselves to obey their dog. - Robert Morley

iktomi
 
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