Chinook Confusion

[mikey177]

You're welcome, Bolster.

I recently got a Chinook 1 with the pinned construction, and it is definitely the beefiest Spyderco I have so far encountered. Of course, I've never seen or held a K2 or Tighe Stick.

Plus, the Chinook 1 comes in a steel that has 425 more V's than the hot new whizbang steel chinook_02.jpg

Ha ha ! The think what I like the most of the original opposed to my Chinook 2 is the lack of an exaggerated hump above the Spydie hole . The blade looks so much cleaner . Your picture is beautiful too . Dan

Thanks, Dan! The Chinook 1 indeed has a lot of metal in front of the Spydiehole, so I can see how the designer could liken it to a pickup truck.

[Cl1ff]

Thanks to this thread, I now have a C4, my first Chinook, coming to me, appropriately enough, from the Great White North’s Warriors & Wonders. FYI, now OOS…

Really stoked.

And I get a PowerLock to stand in for one I lost when I sold my Tatanka (I like big, just not that big).

I’m not exactly asking you to disassemble your knife, but the comparison of the Powerlocks between the Chinook 4 and Tatanka is one reason I want to see inside the Chinooks.

I was studying the lock and sketching some rough design. I noticed that my design with no choil was not working with the Tatanka’s Powerlock set up, the knife with those really nice pictures showing a piece with clear scales so you can see the lock.

The Chinook 4 has the interesting distinction of being a Powerlock with no choil (something I’ve always liked about the design), as well having “evolved” from a previous iterations that did have choils.

However, I couldn’t find any images of the internals of that knife, or any Chinook.

From what I can tell, the C4 eliminates the stop pin that takes up a lot of space and makes the choil necessary on the Tatanka. I have some ideas, however, I’m not really sure what’s going on and the easiest way to figure it out would be to just have a look at the inside of the knife.

I would buy one myself just to figure this out (and because I’ve always been attracted to the design) but that will have to wait. By then, it’d maybe be better to just wait and see what Sal has planned for the next version.

Or maybe a Sage with a Powerlock? Probably both. My recent interest in lock design has the Sage series looking more and more interesting, to me.

I think there’s also some potential for innovation in the way of lock manipulation for backlock style mechanisms like the Powerlock, at least in production/Spyderco knives, but that’s another topic.

Sorry for the long-winded comment.

[Enactive]

As I understand from Sal, the power lock is proprietary to the G. Sakai shop.

I was tempted many times to buy a C4, because of the lock. The overall design of the C4 wouldn't make it particularly useful in my applications, so I never did buy one.

[wrdwrght]

Thanks to this thread, I now have a C4, my first Chinook, coming to me, appropriately enough, from the Great White North’s Warriors & Wonders. FYI, now OOS…

Really stoked.

And I get a PowerLock to stand in for one I lost when I sold my Tatanka (I like big, just not that big).

I’m not exactly asking you to disassemble your knife, but the comparison of the Powerlocks between the Chinook 4 and Tatanka is one reason I want to see inside the Chinooks.

Just to be clear, I no longer have a Tatanka.

[Cl1ff]

Thanks to this thread, I now have a C4, my first Chinook, coming to me, appropriately enough, from the Great White North’s Warriors & Wonders. FYI, now OOS…

Really stoked.

And I get a PowerLock to stand in for one I lost when I sold my Tatanka (I like big, just not that big).

I’m not exactly asking you to disassemble your knife, but the comparison of the Powerlocks between the Chinook 4 and Tatanka is one reason I want to see inside the Chinooks.

Just to be clear, I no longer have a Tatanka.

Yeah, sorry. I was just rambling. There are already excellent references for the Tatanka. I'm interested in seeing the Chinooks disassembled, to clarify. I'm not really asking anyone to take apart their knife, unless they want to. My reply should probably have been a separate comment. When you mentioned the C4's powerlock standing in for the Tantanka, I thought about the differences I've noticed between them.

[Josh Crutchley]

Didn't even know the Chinook 4 had a power lock, thought it was only on the Tatanka. Learn something new everyday.

[Naperville]

We're working on a new Chinook.

sal

Can't wait to see it!

If it is anything like the photos that I've seen of previous models I like it already.

[Enactive]

It will be interesting to see if the C5 uses the power lock.

[mikey177]

It will be interesting to see if the C5 uses the power lock.

In last year's Chinook 5 thread, Sa was leaning toward the compression lock, but I don't know if that has changed.

So I'm getting mixed messages on what would be desired. We made the later Chinooks lighter due to the many complaints about the weight of the earlier models. Most of the "I love the older models" was based on their appearance and not their performance. I am working on a Chinook and I did speak with James about it, bu we didn't go into details. I had thought to use the Power lock, but have recently changed my thinking to a Compression Lock. I haven't spoken with James about it, Maybe we can get him to chime in here?

sal

[Enactive]

It will be interesting to see if the C5 uses the power lock.

In last year's Chinook 5 thread, Sa was leaning toward the compression lock, but I don't know if that has changed.

So I'm getting mixed messages on what would be desired. We made the later Chinooks lighter due to the many complaints about the weight of the earlier models. Most of the "I love the older models" was based on their appearance and not their performance. I am working on a Chinook and I did speak with James about it, bu we didn't go into details. I had thought to use the Power lock, but have recently changed my thinking to a Compression Lock. I haven't spoken with James about it, Maybe we can get him to chime in here?

sal

Thanks, Mikey.

[mikey177]

You're welcome.

[Cl1ff]

Oh, thanks for reminding me of that!
I might need to start looking for a Chinnok 4 before they’re too hard to find, if I want that Powerlock.
A Chinook with a Compression Lock is interesting in its own way, though!

[aicolainen]

The Chinook 4 was on a pretty aggressive sale on Lamnia last year, but it was still not nothing. Considered it briefly, just for the lock, but it was deemed to be a dust collector.
I like some of the odd balls, especially those that have features you don't find everywhere, even if they don't have a ton of practical use. The Chinook 4 was a little to much money and absolutely zero identifiable use.
Seeing this discussion now, makes me wonder if I made the right choice. I think I did, but I'm incurably curious and it's always hard to let these interesting knives go.

[Bolster]

The Chinook 4 was a little too much money and absolutely zero identifiable use.
Seeing this discussion now, makes me wonder if I made the right choice. I think I did, but I'm incurably curious and it's always hard to let these interesting knives go.

If your use is like mine, then yes, a dust collector. My C3 makes it out of the box for a very rare SD carry. It's heaver than I like to carry, it screams evil intent if I'm searched, and I always have a problem using blades with large bellies and acute tips for practical purposes. I don't know Keating's raking, tip-twisting techniques, though I've read about them. I keep it for its looks...it's a bizarro vicious lookin' blade. Practical? For my use...not so much. It does help weight down my sock drawer, so there's that.

And yet...if the C5 has a more traditional bowie style blade like the C1...I'd be tempted again.

[aicolainen]

And yet...if the C5 has a more traditional bowie style blade like the C1...I'd be tempted again.

There is no cure for what we suffer from.
Oh, on that note, did I mention I just bought a fully murdered out Matriarch 2?

[JRinFL]

Lockwork pictures of my Chinook 4.

Closed:

Locked:

Partially unlocked:

[5-by-5]

We're working on a new Chinook.

sal

Hope you fix the tip-up only issue.

[Cl1ff]

Lockwork pictures of my Chinook 4.

Closed:
73AFB9F6-B263-4326-BA85-966993105A1D.jpeg

Locked:
E862B4C3-3929-4463-B385-8F661ECA1F01.jpeg

Partially unlocked:
C84C539E-3D6D-431A-9EC5-EA77D6513C09.jpeg

Thank you!
There are definitely some interesting modifications of the lock compared to the Tatanka’s.
There is no stop pin and the blade’s tang rests on the lock piece a bit differently. The washers are also smaller.

[Naperville]

I like the cut of the blade and the profile on the Chinook 1. Neat knife.

[Murindo]

This is a pic of Jim Keating's custom Chinook that came before the Chinook 1