Still The Best Pocketknife Ever

[akapennypincher]

Too small to be practical in my world, JMHO

[Doc Dan]

One of my favorite little big knives.

Are those titanium scales on that DF?

[James Y]

The Dragonfly's leaf-shaped blade has long reminded me of flint knives.

Jim

[cabfrank]

Jeb, I don't ever use lanyards, but I like yours, and certainly understand how well they work for you. They look good too.

[Actinolite]

My first Spyderco was a Dragonfly 2, and it remained my favorite 5th pocket knife for years. I've never handled a Chaparral, but I got my hands on a Lil' Native, and I really liked how it filled my hand. Once the pocket clip was removed, it made a near perfect 5th pocket knife, and eventually replaced the DF2.

Now it seems I should try a Chaparral. Maybe. Or maybe I have too many small Spyderco knives already.

[gooeytek]

One of my favorite little big knives.

Are those titanium scales on that DF?

Yup

[Aladinsane]

Or maybe I have too many small Spyderco knives already.

I don’t think you can use “too many” and “Spyderco” in the same sentence!!
The Chaparral is an excellent knife. I recently got a SE version and it is really competing with the Caly 3 as my favorite one!

[z1r]

I really like the Chaparral. It actually packs more in nearly the same size knife. However, the DF2 weighs a lot less. The Chap is a heavy weight by comparison. If the Chaparral would lose the liners it would be my favorite. As it is, the DF is king.

Kinda my thoughts as well. I do like the Chap, but, as you say, they are a good bit bulkier. I wish their "LW" version was linerless, then it truly would be LW and offer a lot more blade in a package not much larger or heavier than a DF2.

[Ryder]

The super light Dragonfly with such high performance is the darling of the ultralight backpacking community when one demands a real knife. Some take a razor blade that definitely isn’t a knife. Many take the rather wimpy SAK Classic, a knife or more so a tiny multi tool that Colin Fletcher adopted after he humped a full sized Marbles hunting knife over his Thousand Mile Summer. I prefer a real knife that does one thing, slice and dice, simply cut well. But while humping all the essential gear it’s good to have such a lightweight choice.

Got that Chaparral in my pocket again right now.

[zhyla]

I'm a fan but I think I've jumped over to the Chaparral bandwagon for knives of this size.

This a million times. Dragonflies are cute. Chaparrals are just a whole lot more usable.

Spyderco needs to do some handle color options. The variety of colors for the Dragonfly made them more fun I think. Plus back in the day they were so cheap.

[Doc Dan]

One of my favorite little big knives.

Are those titanium scales on that DF?

Yup

Where did you find them? Who made them?

[Wartstein]

...

Kinda my thoughts as well. I do like the Chap, but, as you say, they are a good bit bulkier. I wish their "LW" version was linerless, then it truly would be LW and offer a lot more blade in a package not much larger or heavier than a DF2.

Not sure the Chap is "bulkier" in every dimension (could be though, I don´t have a Dfly here for comparison!)

Probably the Chap is a thinner carry than the Dfly - ?

And while I would not be opposed at all to a linerless,superlight Chaparral version, it would be a different knife in the "bulk" regard, cause imo there is no way the handle could remain that thin without supporting liners (unless they went for stainless steel or the like as handle material).

So the superthin, but supersturdy aspect of the Chap would be lost then - but replaced with lower weight and more beef in the handle.
Compared to the Dfly, this would still be better in my book: Not much longer in carry, but a lot more cutting edge, thinner, slicier blade, longer and imo better shaped grip area, and the great Chap backlock

[TimButterfield]

Here are some comparison photos with my two. I took the clips off so they can line up better. The thickness is close. The DF saves a millimeter, but trades a little weight savings for the strength of steel liners.

[twinboysdad]

Taking away anything from the Chapparel LW would take way from the design. The fact that it feels like a custom and locks up like a vault would be lesser. Keep the liners and full backspring.

[riclaw]

One of my favorite little big knives.

Are those titanium scales on that DF?

Yup

Where did you find them? Who made them?

Flytanium. You can get them anodized any color under the sun with their Modifly options.
https://www.flytanium.com/collections/dragonfly

[riclaw]

I also want to keep the liners and backspring. If you want to change something, ask for the Chap in SE H2.

[Ryder]

Here are some comparison photos with my two. I took the clips off so they can line up better. The thickness is close. The DF saves a millimeter, but trades a little weight savings for the strength of steel liners.

Here are some comparison photos with my two. I took the clips off so they can line up better. The thickness is close. The DF saves a millimeter, but trades a little weight savings for the strength of steel liners.

I just put the calipers to mine and the Chaparral is definitely thinner than the Dragonfly by a little. They are close. Your Dragonfly looks a bit thinner than your Chaparral? That’s the opposite of what I’m seeing with the calipers.

But the Chaparral is almost twice the weight of the Dragonfly and all that weight like the nested liners and steel backspacer along with the washers make for so much smoother and precision build. The Dragonfly is still amazing and I did carry it exclusively for two years.

Thought the Chaparral is secure in my pocket the Dragonfly is in my rucksack so I can sling it on and disappear into the nearby wilderness canyons.

Edited to say I see the difference. Your Chaparral is CF and mine is FRN. The FRN model is definitely thinner.

[Actinolite]

I've just been looking at the specs for the upcoming Lil' Native LW. It will still have a shorter blade than the Chaparral, but the blade thickness is being reduced to .098, more like a DF2. But the weight will be only 1.5 ounces, closer to a DF2 than to a Chap LW. I think I'll wait on a Chaparral until I check out the Lil' Native LW.

[Tgmr05]

These are the two I have carried the most over the past 1-2 years. The k390 much more so.



For me, the dragonfly is the best pocket knife. I remove the clips on my pocket knives. Light and small, but oh so practical. Little big knife.

I am trying the Vivi brown edge of the sharpmaker rods method for PE H1, and used it last time with the k390. I am impressed, so far, even with the shorter dragonfly blade. Both will shave arm hair after sharpening. The last h1 sharpening took longer than the k390, but it was because a buddy used it to clean out debris between a jeep brake rotor and backing plate…. Part of me wonders if the k390 would have held up better or worse, but then h1 is pretty tough and easier to bring back from such a poor choice for a knife task.

[Reject]