SaltyCaribbeanDfly wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 7:03 pm
The FRN is my favorite too and today I used it all day from cutting up some really thick cardboard to roots blocking my path for installing some plants to food prep at lunch… I definitely wasn’t easy on it and was actually seeing how far I could push the envelope and it passed with flying colors…it’s a lot tougher than you might think and it slices like a scalpel
Salty, thanks for trying the Chap in that capacity and for sharing you experience!!
THIS is exactly what I´d like more folks to do, just to end the myth "the Chap is
only a "light duty" knife".
Not saying that it is NOT a great option for "light duty" TOO, not even saying that Sal probably designed it just for that - a gents knife that most won´t use "hard".
But just like some drugs were originally designed to cure a particular disease, and later on people found that they ALSO work great for others not originally in mind, the Chap can fill both roles.
- Conerning
the way it is built I think no one can say the Chap FRN would be a "flimsy" light duty folder.
As I always say: The "all metal" aspect (liners, backspacer, lockbar) makes the knife feel surprisingly "heavy" (in a good way, like in "solid", "substantial") in hand
for its slim and small package
- The
lock up really is the opposite of "light duty". Just amazingly strong and without any whiggle due to the internal stop pin.
- That leaves
the blade: Yes, it has thin stock - but like in that other thread about HRC hardness:
Blade stock thickness/thinness obviously is not the ONLY factor that determines how much a blade can take in real life use... And the Chap has that rather robust tip (broad leaf shape) and, right BECAUSE the blade is so thin and slicey one often does not have to use as much force as with a thicker blade.
So: Anyone who likes: Take the "hardest" folder task you actually perform with your Spyderco folders, and then try if the Chap(-blade) can take that too or not. I bet you will be surprised how tough that little guy is...
Now: Of course the Chap as a "hard use" little folder still (only) fills a clearly defined niche: The niche of occasions where one wants a supertough little folder, but with a superslim carry and is still being very stable in hand in use (this is what I love in the Chap: Having a "nothing" in size with me, but for occasional or even a bit more extended cutting it just works. Or as a little "companoion - claw" for a larger fixed blade).
If one plans on using a small folder all day long for tough cutting and slim carry does not matter at all:
Sure a thicker, more hand filling handle will be more comfortable...
... This actually bring me to a new idea: A Chap-like folder, but with a thick, contoured Shaman handle would be interesting to try (so roughly something like a "folding Mora Eldris...
)