Which 2?

[thurin]

I'm a fairly new Spyderco fan. Bought a Tenacious to EDC as a trial to help me decide what size/weight I would be comfortable with before I spent more money on a nicer blade.

I think I've decided I'd like two separate knives for different purposes.

EDC: Something smaller and lighter than the Tenacious. I really like the knife, but I like carrying in pocket rather than clipped and it's getting a little crowded in the pocket. The knife is sharing space with the wallet and keychain which contains a Fenix E01 and Leatherman Micra.

Typical usage includes: Opening stuff, breaking down boxes, food prep

Knives I'm considering: Chaparral, Native5, Delica4 FFG, maybe even something as small as the Dragonfly2.

Am I missing anything obvious? I believe a new Chaparral is coming out. Is it worth waiting for?

Home/Camping: I'm only in the office about 50% of the time. The rest of the time I'm at home and while the above EDC knife could serve it's purpose there as well, since I don't have to carry it in pocket , I'd like something larger that could also be used for additional heavier duty purposes and also work as a camp knife.

Typical usage includes: above EDC stuff plus various household/yard work chores and camping chores (cutting branches, cord/rope, whittling smores sticks, skinning fish)

Knives I'm considering:
Para-Military 2, Military

I should probably be considering a fixed blade for this category but I haven't done much research into them yet.

Any ideas and opinions are welcome in helping me narrow this down.

thanks,
Nathan

[linuxology]

I would pick the chapparal or the delica 4 ffg for the EDC choice. THe new chapparal only has a new steel, so if you do not have a knife in s30v (which the old chapparal has) it may be a wise choice. Cts-xhp is a newer steel to my knowledge.

Home/Camping my choice would be the Military (due to a bigger size) This would spread the gap between the EDC and the Home/Camping. Also I would consider Enuff as it is a fixed blade for home/camping adding some additional diversity

[Pockets]

Welcome!
A dragonfly or a knife in the Salt series would be my recommendation for EDC.
An Enuff of some sort for the other.
Maybe try one with a serrated edge and one without?

[jackknifeh]

The Chaparral that has been around for a year or so has carbon fiber handle and S30V blade steel. VERY NICE KNIFE. I have one and love it. This knife will be coming out (or has) with CTS-XHP soon or next year. There is another Chaparral with titanium handle and XHP blade. I don't have this one. It's almost double the cost of the first Chaparral. May be a consideration but I'd pay the price if I decide I want to get one. Well, I already want one. I just need to commit. :) I am not sure I'd want the titanium handle but it is beautiful. The CF handle Chaparral is something I'd recommend to everybody. The other knives you listed are great as well. I recently got a Dragonfly2 and love that little guy. If you want a little smaller even the Manbugs are great. The G-10 handle manbug has liners and is a very sturdy little knife that will hold it's own with some larger knives. I think the biggest difference in a Manbug and the D'fly2 is how they feel in your hand. I'd have to say the D'fly is a little better in that area. I have the lightweight D'fly but I bet the G-10 d'fly is a tough little guy (liners also). I feel the steel liners make the knife stronger. Might be my imagination. It makes sense though but the FRN models are plenty strong also.

For a larger knive there are lots of choiced as well. Manix2, Gayle Bradley (now called the Bradley Folder) are two I love, especially the GB. Truely a knife to own IMO. Pair this with a CF Chaparral and you have a beautiful set of EDC knives. I like to carry two most of the time for different needs that I never expect. GB has carbon fiber handle scales also. The GB is a tank in the folder world and the M4 steel blade is GREAT IMO. I would also recommend the Sage4 as the larger knife but some consider it a large gent's knife. Not a hard claim to agree with as it is beautiful also. But I like mine more as a harder use folder.

Good luck with your search. Good luck also with the list of suggestions you get here. :D


Jack

[thurin]

Thanks for the input guys. Sounding like the Chaparral is a good choice for the EDC.

Question on the Home/Camp: What about a mule? I see the MT16 just came out. How would it compare to the Enuff? Where would I get scales and how much would they cost? I see Halpern Titanium has scales, but their site is down, so I can't check prices.

thanks,
Nathan

[kennethsime]

For in-pocket rather than clipped carry, I wouldn't go any larger than the Dragonfly 2 (and I carry this clipped). If you were to clip it, I would say Delica.

I'm a stickler for matching, so I might suggest an Endura if you pick either a D'fly or Delica. FFG, of course (and ZDP-189 if you have the extra).

Of course, the Chaparral and GB would make a lovely combo as well. I really would like to explore Spyderco's US and Taiwan knives more.

[BAL]

Or the Military / Para Military 2 combo. EDC the Para2.
Schempp Rock is a beast for a fixed camping type knife.
Yojimbo 2, you need a dedicated SD blade as well and
it is an awesome working knife.

[bh49]

For EDC I will recommend Native5. I started to carry this knife about two month ago and Native almost completely pushed out the rest of my EDCs out of use. I still carry my faithful Persian, Kopa and Moki Glory, but Native5 is the most used knife today. It is fairly small, but you feel heft when you hold it. Delica is absolutely no go for me- for good user I need knife with choil. I never owned Chaparral, but was able to handle it. I like the idea about 2mm thick blade, but the blade shape unfortunately is not my cup of tea.
Para or Military will be great around house.

[linuxology]

Thanks for the input guys. Sounding like the Chaparral is a good choice for the EDC.

Question on the Home/Camp: What about a mule? I see the MT16 just came out. How would it compare to the Enuff? Where would I get scales and how much would they cost? I see Halpern Titanium has scales, but their site is down, so I can't check prices.

thanks,
Nathan

The mule is a nice knife, but as you see there are no handles. The fit and finish would probably be nicer on the enuff than the mule. Halpern scales if I recall are ~40.

[Igi964]

What about the ultimate Gayle Bradley combo? Air and Bradley Folder. Air is very nice EDC knife. Same cutting edge as the Chaparral but 50% lighter and with one of the best steels - M4. Bradley Folder is allready a legend. For outdoor use I would also recomend something with serreted H1. Atlantic Salt, Pacific Salt or Jumpmaster. When You cut a lot of fibrous materials srerreted H1 is hard to beat.

[senorsquare]

For EDC you might also take a look at the Sage series. They're about the same size as the delica and native, carry well and feel great in the hand. The Sage 1 is a pretty constant part of my EDC rotation, love this knife. This one might crowd your pocket if you are not wearing it clipped.

The para 2 is my go to dirty work knife. You really can't go wrong with this one.

[jon1all]

Since your EDC will ride in your pocket unclipped & with a Leatherman and a Fenix I would recommend the Dragonfly2 FRN. That Micra will beat your knife scales up, and even though I am not a big fan of FRN (nothing wrong with it I just don't like how it feels--I have the G10 version) I would suggest it over the G10 version for your usage. The G10 version is about twice as expensive as the FRN (& the G10 is a much nicer/classier version of the knife), but no sense paying extra for a knife that is going to be banging around in your pocket with that Leatherman & Fenix getting all nicked up. And while I think the Chappy is a great knife (getting one myself for Christmas) again, would hate to see such a high end CF-scaled knife getting pocket punished by that Micra! :) . So my recommendation for your EDC is DF2 in FRN!

As for your house/yard/camp knife...your instinct for the Para2 is well founded...go with that...I can't recommend that knife enough! Love it!!! My fav!!!!

[thurin]

Since your EDC will ride in your pocket unclipped & with a Leatherman and a Fenix I would recommend the Dragonfly2 FRN. That Micra will beat your knife scales up, and even though I am not a big fan of FRN (nothing wrong with it I just don't like how it feels--I have the G10 version) I would suggest it over the G10 version for your usage. The G10 version is about twice as expensive as the FRN (& the G10 is a much nicer/classier version of the knife), but no sense paying extra for a knife that is going to be banging around in your pocket with that Leatherman & Fenix getting all nicked up. And while I think the Chappy is a great knife (getting one myself for Christmas) again, would hate to see such a high end CF-scaled knife getting pocket punished by that Micra! :) . So my recommendation for your EDC is DF2 in FRN!

Sounds like I need to rework my pocket management. I'm typically just wearing jeans and one pocket is taken up by an uncased iPhone. Some people think I'm crazy for not casing it, but I don't like adding any thickness or weight to it. I've carried it that way through every iPhone release except the first and haven't dropped or broken one yet (although I will probably do that today since I mentioned it).

So the other pocket carries everything else. I've been carrying the Micra on a keychain for about 15 years. Started carrying a keychain flashlight more recently.

Clipping the knife seems to restrict access to the pocket too much. Maybe if it's something smaller it won't bother me as much. Or maybe I'll try to back pocket clip or carry although I hate sitting on stuff.

Last thing I'd want is for a Chaparral or other nice EDC to get all banged up by clanking around in the pocket.

Anyone have other ideas to solve my dilemma?

thanks,
Nathan

[DeathBySnooSnoo]

What about the ultimate Gayle Bradley combo? Air and Bradley Folder. Air is very nice EDC knife. Same cutting edge as the Chaparral but 50% lighter and with one of the best steels - M4. Bradley Folder is allready a legend.

This

[Mr Blonde]

For in the pocket carry sans clip, I can't find a better spydie than either clipless Cricket or an older locking kiwi with pouch.For home/camping use I'd recommend the Military, I've been using mine for years for that purpose. The Paramilitary is a nicer knife (refined design, versatile clip options and lock), but in this role bladelength is no objection so I'd say go for the Military.

[Holland]

The chaparral is a really nice, as for the larger knives, i would get the para2... more versatile and is more people friendly if you choose to use it elsewhere. Also for camping i would check out a fb

[INFRNL]

You better do some serious homework. There are so many good choices out there. I agree with certain jeans, clipits can make it hard to access your pocket. I also like you, unprotected phone and lighter in pocket of its own. I do keys, knife, pen in the other.
Many people clip to the back pocket, but I can see theknife getting lost that way for me.

For bigger knives, I say: para2, stretch, manix2, gayle bradley, sage. I own all of these and they are great.
Medium has endless options: native5, Chaparral, caly3, etc. Chaparral is the thinnest, but all are great.
Small: dragonfly is a favorite, cat is nice.

Many of these smaller knives will fit in the coin pocket too. As mentioned, there as many good knives to choose from and recommendations listed in this thread.

Best of luck. I couldn't choose either, now I have a fair collection. I love all the ones I own.

[thurin]

Best of luck. I couldn't choose either, now I have a fair collection. I love all the ones I own.

I can tell it's becoming an obsession for me already and the collection will grow as funds allow.

I think I've decided that for the next purchases, a Chaparral and Para-Military 2 are on the top of the list. I was able to hold the Chaparral - really nice size and weight. I think it will be clip-able in most situations and not cause me too many issues.

The Bradley is really nice too. Maybe a little too nice for the types of chores I'd be wanting to use it for. It'd probably not get used as much as it should. Hence the decision to go the Para route. I think the Bradley will be next for the collection though.

The Dragonfly2 was just a little small. I'm a big guy with big hands, and while it would definitely solve the carry in pocket issue, it didn't really fit well in my hand.

Thanks to everyone for the input. When my wife starts complaining about the time and $ spent on my new obsession, I'll just blame you all.

thanks,
Nathan

[kbrouwer]

Welcome to the forum. I'd go with the Military series, the Paramilitary 2 for carry and Military for home and camping. However, Paras are VERY hard to find right now, they're just too popular, I don't have one but as soon as I see one come up, I'm jumping on it. When I get a Military (a few days after Christmas, probably titanium, I'd recommend G10 for you application though) I plan to carry it. If you can't find a Para, I'm pretty sure it's worth the wait. Get the Mil and carry it while you wait for the Paramil.