The serrated Chaparral is pretty cool

[Wartstein]

I absolutely love my Chap SE LW. It’s pretty much ousted everything else from my pocket when I’m at home....

I can believe that...(though it does not really reflect in your signature yet.. : (just like my own is also not up to date anymore ))

...And I am STILL waiting on mine... hope it'll arrive tomorrow monday. Can't wait to try it out and put it to work!!

I’m excited for you Gernot - it is a fantastic knife, genuinely wonderful and cuts way beyond its size might suggest with the beautiful wavy Taichung SE.

As for the signature… give me 2 minutes

I am excited too! And still have to practice patience - actually this is the first time the Austrian post service let´s me down a bit when it comes to knife delivery, and is has to be RIGHT with this super-anticipated SE version of the Chap which I have advocated for quite some times here over the years...

/ Man, you´re quick - I almost feel some pressure to update my own signature too right now .. but still will wait for some more days in order to see how my pretty new Pac Salt SE ffg will rank (though I am sure: At least in the mountain-folder-realm it WILL be somewhere in the top three...)

[JoviAl]

I absolutely love my Chap SE LW. It’s pretty much ousted everything else from my pocket when I’m at home....

I can believe that...(though it does not really reflect in your signature yet.. : (just like my own is also not up to date anymore ))

...And I am STILL waiting on mine... hope it'll arrive tomorrow monday. Can't wait to try it out and put it to work!!

I’m excited for you Gernot - it is a fantastic knife, genuinely wonderful and cuts way beyond its size might suggest with the beautiful wavy Taichung SE.

As for the signature… give me 2 minutes

I am excited too! And still have to practice patience - actually this is the first time the Austrian post service let´s me down a bit when it comes to knife delivery, and is has to be RIGHT with this super-anticipated SE version of the Chap which I have advocated for quite some times here over the years...

/ Man, you´re quick - I almost feel some pressure to update my own signature too right now .. but still will wait for some more days in order to see how my pretty new Pac Salt SE ffg will rank (though I am sure: At least in the mountain-folder-realm it WILL be somewhere in the top three...)

Sounds like a good time to be you with all of your new knives in favourite permutations

the delivery arrives first thing tomorrow morning for you so your anticipation isn’t unnecessary prolonged any further.

[OV1kenobi]

I can hardly wait to get mine! It sounds like a wonderful little knife!

If mine ever arrives……

[Sharp24/7]

Got mine in about a week after Thanksgiving. Love it so far. The serration pattern is about perfect IMO; love that the teeth around rounded instead of pointed, and the space between, as well as the teeth, are shallow. They grab material aggressively, but doesn’t snag, allowing the blade to pass through almost as smoothly as a PE. And the Chaps thin stock aids all of this, along with the fact that the chisel ground edge is at good shallow angle. I touched up at 15 on the SM and going by the size that the micro bevel grew to after maybe sixty strokes, mainly with the fine stone but a little on the ultra fine as well, I’d say it’s sharpened at 12-12.5 degrees. But if you told me it was actually ten, I’d believe you, I just can’t swear to it. Purely from a cutting perspective, this might be my favorite knife. I’d love to see this serration pattern, with this geometry (not including blade stock thickness) standardized across all SE knives in the lineup, or even just made more widely available. It’s a real winner.

[zhyla]

I’d say it’s sharpened at 12-12.5 degrees. But if you told me it was actually ten, I’d believe you, I just can’t swear to it.

I’m pretty sure the bevel is at least 15 degrees. I don’t have one of those fancy edge angle measuring things but I MacGuvered something with a digital angle gauge to measure it. I think I was seeing 17 degrees.

[Wartstein]

I’m pretty sure the bevel is at least 15 degrees. I don’t have one of those fancy edge angle measuring things but I MacGuvered something with a digital angle gauge to measure it. I think I was seeing 17 degrees.

Don´t know if this is the case with the Chap SE, but I´ve read several times here that the angles of the Pac Salt SE can differ quite a bit from piece to piece. Some more like 20, some more like 15, and in between I guess.

[zhyla]

Don´t know if this is the case with the Chap SE, but I´ve read several times here that the angles of the Pac Salt SE can differ quite a bit from piece to piece. Some more like 20, some more like 15, and in between I guess.

That would be… strange. Bevel angles matter a lot.

[Wartstein]

Don´t know if this is the case with the Chap SE, but I´ve read several times here that the angles of the Pac Salt SE can differ quite a bit from piece to piece. Some more like 20, some more like 15, and in between I guess.

That would be… strange. Bevel angles matter a lot.

Yeah, it would be... it is really just what I read here.

I think, but don´t quote me on it, this was discussed concerning the (of course) H1 Pac Salt 1 SE.
There even where speculations if the black handled versions would come with a different angle than the yellow handled ones...

Perhaps I don´t recall this correctly though, @vivi might perhaps know more about this... ?

[vivi]

Don´t know if this is the case with the Chap SE, but I´ve read several times here that the angles of the Pac Salt SE can differ quite a bit from piece to piece. Some more like 20, some more like 15, and in between I guess.

That would be… strange. Bevel angles matter a lot.

Yeah, it would be... it is really just what I read here.

I think, but don´t quote me on it, this was discussed concerning the (of course) H1 Pac Salt 1 SE.
There even where speculations if the black handled versions would come with a different angle than the yellow handled ones...

Perhaps I don´t recall this correctly though, @vivi might perhaps know more about this... ?

I can confirm I bought brand new Pacific Salts ground at both approx 15 degrees and 20 degrees.

I am not sure why they were ground at different angles, but I've seen the same thing in PE Pacific Salts and other PE models from both Spyderco and other brands.

Unless you're using robots I'd expect some variation in factory edge angles.

[zhyla]

Unless you're using robots I'd expect some variation in factory edge angles.

They’ve got to have some kind of jig for grinding serrations. Or robots.

Not controlling the edge geometry is worse than having unreliable heat treatment.

[R100]

I’m pretty sure the bevel is at least 15 degrees. I don’t have one of those fancy edge angle measuring things but I MacGuvered something with a digital angle gauge to measure it. I think I was seeing 17 degrees.

Don´t know if this is the case with the Chap SE, but I´ve read several times here that the angles of the Pac Salt SE can differ quite a bit from piece to piece. Some more like 20, some more like 15, and in between I guess.

Pretty sure Sal and others have said in the past that the angle changes slightly as the wheel they are ground on wears. Like Vivi I have seen quite a bit of variation in angles on the same model.

Dan

[Wartstein]

I can confirm I bought brand new Pacific Salts ground at both approx 15 degrees and 20 degrees.

I am not sure why they were ground at different angles, but I've seen the same thing in PE Pacific Salts and other PE models from both Spyderco and other brands.

Unless you're using robots I'd expect some variation in factory edge angles.

Thanks for chiming in, Vivi!

I could recall that it was you who pointed out that variances first, I think in some Pac Salt 1 SE discussion.
I myself only had/have two H1 Pac Salt SE, both came pretty close to 20 degrees (will have a look how the situation is with my new ffg LC200N Pac Salt SE)

/ We´ll see if the Chap SE also shows that kind of "range" when it comes to edge angle.
I´ll report back as soon as I receive mine (though I can only roughly estimate, have no measuring device)

[cabfrank]

Because of the wearing of the wheel, I'd assume there is a greater angle difference in SE than PE. I could be wrong of course.

[Wartstein]

Ok, just unpacked mine, did some very few test cuts...
... And though my personal bar for this knife was set really high already and I expect a lot from SE generally... MAN, it still blew me away how this thing performs out of the box! Almost scary!

If I had not been an SE believer for quite some time now when it comes to EDC Spydies: This little guy would finally have made me a convert. Just great.

Thanks again to @benja-man who pointed me to the great deal (for European conditions) I got (viewtopic.php?p=1805738#p1805738)!

@JoviAl Totally understand why this it the knife you almost exclusively carry when at home!

@Evil D Should you ever be on the fence if to get one or not or come across a good deal: Don´t hesitate, I am 100% convinced you´d love this Chap for how it really makes SE shine...

Took a quick comparison pic with some others "teethed" Spydies I just had at hand (sorry, bad lighting and quality)

[JoviAl]

Ok, just unpacked mine, did some very few test cuts...
... And though my personal bar for this knife was set really high already and I expect a lot from SE generally... MAN, it still blew me away how this thing performs out of the box! Almost scary!

If I had not been an SE believer for quite some time now when it comes to EDC Spydies: This little guy would finally have made me a convert. Just great.

Thanks again to @benja-man who pointed me to the great deal (for European conditions) I got (viewtopic.php?p=1805738#p1805738)!

@JoviAl Totally understand why this it the knife you almost exclusively carry when at home!

@Evil D Should you ever be on the fence if to get one or not or come across a good deal: Don´t hesitate, I am 100% convinced you´d love this Chap for how it really makes SE shine...

Took a quick comparison pic with some others "teethed" Spydies I just had at hand (sorry, bad lighting and quality)

I’m glad it has finally arrived for you Gernot! I had a feeling you’d love it. It completely exceeded my expectations, especially with how rock solid its lock up is. I don’t really care if there’s a smidge of lock-rock, but my example has zero. That SE blade is quite glorious as well isn’t it!

A good time to be a Spyderco user

[Wartstein]

..

I’m glad it has finally arrived for you Gernot! I had a feeling you’d love it. It completely exceeded my expectations, especially with how rock solid its lock up is. I don’t really care if there’s a smidge of lock-rock, but my example has zero. That SE blade is quite glorious as well isn’t it!

A good time to be a Spyderco user

Yes, that 2mm blade and the particular way the serrations are done make for an even more amazing cutting power than I was expecting anyway already. And I was certainly expecting a lot and have been musing in several posts here how an SE Chap might perform.
Really something to experience imo, even if one generally happened to be not into SE.

The other great features of the Chap design, including the completely rock lock free supersolid backlock, are something I have always been appreciating in my PE version.

I gather from your signature that you also wish for an XL version of this knife, and I can´t stress enough how great it would be to see a Chap XL - even more so in SE.
I think LONGER blades and what one tends to cut with those actually profit MORE from thin bladestock than shorter ones, and a Chap XL would NOT be "yet another Spydie made larger (or smaller)", but to me would offer a whole, unique concept in a more versatile, bigger size.
And when I say "Chap XL" I always mean solely bigger in the length dimension (roughly Endela size would be good)
Everything else should stay the same and true to that unique Chap concept in my book, so the thin blade stock, blade and handle height, handle thinness (and by that the great carry), "heavy", bomb proof built with steel backspacer...(viewtopic.php?p=1377379#p1377379)

[zhyla]

I’ve been carrying mine for a week. I’m not sure it does anything my PE version can’t, but my goodness the knife is the sliciest thing I’ve ever used.

I can’t really imagine there being a better small knife than this. Spyderco may have peaked.

[Wartstein]

I’ve been carrying mine for a week. I’m not sure it does anything my PE version can’t, but my goodness the knife is the sliciest thing I’ve ever used.

I can’t really imagine there being a better small knife than this. Spyderco may have peaked.

Yes, exactly this.

I don´t really know how to say this, cause I am definitely not at all among the most experienced and knowledgeable folks here:

But I really think pretty much everone who loves Spydercos performance oriented approach and generally just cutting tools that WORK in what they were designed for should absolutely give the Chap SE a try and experience that extremely high performance.

Admittedly I haven´t cut a ton of stuff with mine yet, since I only got it yesterday: But I tested it on quite some materials and it is as great and more as you say.

[Wartstein]

Double post

[Wartstein]

Well, after further using and testing the Chap SE I am still extremely happy with its performance.

Also, just from a pure gut feeling, it holds an edge very well - scallops still cutting paper quite nicely, while with my usual VG10 and LC 200N SE Spydies this would most likely not be the case anymore after all I´ve been cutting so far.

Probably to be expected with CTS XHP..

Said/asked this in another thread, but it actually fits here better:

- Is this the first time XHP comes in SE?

I am pretty sure - the few other XHP Spydies that come to my mind (Hundred Pacer, Domino, a Manix, a Para 3 and a Shaman variant (there might be more!)) all where only available in PE...