"If you could only keep 5" Countdown

[Ric]

5: Tenacious lightweight
4: Para 3 S30V full width ramp
3: Chaparral FRN
2: Dragonfly Salt with VG10 mod
1: Para 3 lightweight Rex45

[Wartstein]

Great choice - if it only were bigger (for being the ONLY knife) - I so hope Sal will look into a Chap XL eventually...

Isn't the Chap XL = the Caly 3?

Not at all. The Caly 3 is cool, but a very different knife than what a Chap XL would be.

1.) The Chap has 2mm bladestock, the Caly 50 % more (3mm). Imho 2mm works better in almost any sensible knife task (and even more so in longer slicer blades than in the current short Chap size), and is still strong enough
2.) The Chap is very thin and slim in carry, due to its thin handle, but still offers great ergos and an extremly solid built. The Caly 3 has a "regular" handle thickness as far as I know (which is fine and has advantages of course, but not the slim carry of the Chap)
3.) The Chap imho offers the perfect compromise between "thumb ramp and no thumb ramp" = a very subtle one that one CAN use to push the finger against it, but that on the other hand does not get in the way if one does NOT want to use the ramp. The Caly on the other hand has a very pronounced ramp, a lot like a DFly
4.) The Chap offers the best backlock I have ever experienced: No blade play at all, rock solid (internal stop pin!) - I am sure the Caly backlock is not bad too, but I don´t think it will match the one of the Chap.

So, all in all: A Chaparral XL would be all about transferring the extremely well performing thin Chap blade and its slim carry into a larger size (PM2, Endela). Where it actually would make even more sense: Imho thin bladestock shows its superiority even better in longer blades!

[Lumpy]

So, all in all: A Chaparral XL would be all about transferring the extremely well performing thin Chap blade and its slim carry into a larger size (PM2, Endela). Where it actually would make even more sense: Imho thin bladestock shows its superiority even better in longer blades!

Feels like thin blades often get overlooked, people get very hung upon steel and such, which I understand (being a steel nerd is fun!) but geometry CUTS! And in the pocketknife world we don’t see a whole lot of it. You can see the difference in some of the Japanese kitchen knives; I have a Takamura santoku that’s 1.6mm at the spine, and the thing just flies through potatoes and such with zero resistance. A Chap XL would be an absolute laser beam!

[Wartstein]

So, all in all: A Chaparral XL would be all about transferring the extremely well performing thin Chap blade and its slim carry into a larger size (PM2, Endela). Where it actually would make even more sense: Imho thin bladestock shows its superiority even better in longer blades!

Feels like thin blades often get overlooked, people get very hung upon steel and such, which I understand (being a steel nerd is fun!) but geometry CUTS! And in the pocketknife world we don’t see a whole lot of it. You can see the difference in some of the Japanese kitchen knives; I have a Takamura santoku that’s 1.6mm at the spine, and the thing just flies through potatoes and such with zero resistance. A Chap XL would be an absolute laser beam!

100 % agreed!

With all due respect, but I too often don´t understand how people are looking into very details like which steel performs better in a coarse or fine edge, slight differences in edge angle or thickness behind the edge, but then do all of this in a small knife like the Para 3, which has almost twice the bladestock thickness of a Chap (85% thicker) - really not needed, even the much larger Endura has a lot less -.sure, tapering, tallness of the blade, the already mentioned factors thickness behind the edge, edge angle and so on come into play too, but a thick bladestock just can´t be a good foundation for a great performing knife when it comes to slicing

And the Chap blade is still really strong enough, especially in its tall leaf shape. Tested it, used it hard, never any problem (and for example Opinel blades are even a lot thinner and work well in most cutting tasks).

So it is one of the very few things I personally do not fully understand, that Spyderco as a performance oriented brand does not make at least one mid sized, 2mm bladestock knife (and a Chap XL would be a great option for that!) - it would really fill a niche, be something new for Spyderco and I am sure many who really use their knives would love such a superior performing model. Probably some crazy "you tube hard use testers" would find tasks where the blade would break, but in normal or even a bit harder use EDC tasks: I really doubt this could ever happen.

[Rp5]

Tough call between the Street Beat and Pac 2 SE, went with the Pacific because it carries a lot better in running shorts etc. and the SE is quite versatile.

There are a lot of knives I prefer to the Pacific Salt, but its the last one I'd part with.

Surprising. Between your posts on the Beat and your Manix XL testing I've seen, I never pegged you as a Pac Salt guy.

[ZrowsN1s]

5 knives:
Police4 K390
Hawkbill Dragonfly
Shaman 4V
Wharncliffe Delica Hap40
Chief S90V

4 knives:
Police4 K390
Hawkbill Dragonfly
Shaman 4V
Wharncliffe Delica Hap40

3 knives:
Police4 K390
Hawkbill Dragonfly
Shaman 4V

2 knives:
Police4 K390
Hawkbill Dragonfly

1 knife:
Police4 K390

[ykspydiefan]

Only keep 5!? Nice problem to have. I'll pick up one more and keep them all.

[Wartstein]

....

Surprising. Between your posts on the Beat and your Manix XL testing I've seen, I never pegged you as a Pac Salt guy.

This is amusing: I joined the forum about two years earlier than you, and I got to know Vivi as "the" Pac Salt SE-guy...:)

Actually, his posts and recommendatiions were the main reason I got one myself (and never regret it one bit. Great knife).

[Woodpuppy]

Tough call between the Street Beat and Pac 2 SE, went with the Pacific because it carries a lot better in running shorts etc. and the SE is quite versatile.

There are a lot of knives I prefer to the Pacific Salt, but its the last one I'd part with.

Surprising. Between your posts on the Beat and your Manix XL testing I've seen, I never pegged you as a Pac Salt guy.

Vivi’s a long time fan of the PacSalt!

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68426

[TkoK83Spy]

I don't like these kinds of threads, they stress me out! :p I've got models that I love for sentiment and class, and then I've got the models that I love to work with. It's too hard to pick only 5!!

[foofie]

This is a nice twist on a common thread idea.
I chose my top 5, but also worked "backwards" if I had one, then two, then three, etc.
I may have stretched the rules a bit - they are all modified :p :D

five:
Ikuchi
UKPK/s110v
Watu
Delica/hap40 wharncliffe
para 3 LW/rex45

four:
UKPK/s110v
Watu
Delica/hap40 wharncliffe
para 3 LW/rex45

three:
Watu
Delica/hap40 wharncliffe
para 3 LW/rex45

two:
Delica/hap40 wharncliffe
para 3 LW/rex45

one:
In prior threads, I said Para3 in s110v. Now a very close 2nd place.
I went with delica/k390. It does everything I need, and the thinner blade stock lets it sneak ahead of the para 3. I love the wharnie, but the regular delica blade would be more versatile if abandoned by all its friends.

Top 5:


And Number 1:

[Holland]

Awesome knives! I like how you made all of them your own

[Featherblade]

Only keep 5:
1. Watu
2. Para 3 Spy27
3. ParaMilitary 2
4. Salt 2 SE
5. Dragonfly 2 K390

Only keep 4:
1. Watu
2. Para 3 Spy27
3. ParaMilitary 2
4. Salt 2 SE

Only keep 3:
1. Watu
2. Para 3 Spy27
3. ParaMilitary 2

Only keep 2:
1. Watu
2. ParaMilitary 2

Only keep 1:
1. Watu

But on the horizon is ParaMilitary 2 (Cruwear + Micarta) and I have Police LW K390 in my wishlist (I'm waiting my European dealer) and the things would change.