Chapparal 3 - Blade Steel.

[Donut]

I don't know if it is too late, and the MSRP has been released so it might be. Possibly this could be a rolling conversion.

If the Chaparral 3 had a S90V or S110V blade, I think it would convert it from a crazy knife to a really nice/awesome knife that all sorts of knife lovers would love to have and consider buying.

It would stop me from saying "Why?" and convert me to saying "Wow."


Please give me some ideas and let me know what blade steel the Chaparral 3 would have to have for you to consider buying it. Let's say the street price will be $400 for the increased cost of the premium blade steel.

[Holland]

I would seriously consider buying it if it had s90v or better

[bh49]

$400 is out of my price range, so no steel will make me to buy Chap3, unless I hit a lotto or Bill Gates adopt me. (I was asking Ken to adopt me. for some reasons he wasn't enthusiastic about this idea :) )
Also one of my gents knives has AUS8 blade. I found it sufficient for this application.
Sorry.

[CarbonFiberNut]

Please give me some ideas and let me know what blade steel the Chaparral 3 would have to have for you to consider buying it. Let's say the street price will be $400 for the increased cost of the premium blade steel.

How about INFI?

As I'm not a steel geek, this wouldn't sway me, but I could definitely see this being a way to get some more positive traction for the knife at its high price.

I'm not sure how much it would fit the stated goal of using the chap line primarily to explore handle materials / textures, but if Spyderco decided to go down this route and swap out steels on some of the higher-end variants, I could see it sparking more interest in the series.

[gbelleh]

The Sebenza and Mnandi now use S35VN, and used to use S30V for a long time. These knives aren't really about the steel. I'd rather have S110V in something a little bigger like the Para 2 anyway.

As far as cost justification, better steel wouldn't change the fact that most of the money is going into the scales, and it would push the price even higher.

[bh49]

The Sebenza and Mnandi now use S35VN, and used to use S30V for a long time. These knives aren't really about the steel. I'd rather have S110V in something a little bigger like the Para 2 anyway.
As far as cost justification, better steel wouldn't change the fact that most of the money is going into the scales, and it would push the price even higher.

+1 you hit nail in the head

[Donut]

I was thinking with the way it is, I can say "I can buy another knife for that amount." If you give it a unique steel, you won't be able to say that you can just buy another knife like it.

[Popsickle]

if the price were the same and the steel was changed to s90v, I would buy it. this is purely about the price point. I have considered buying the chap 1 or 2 at their respective prices

[Pockets]

I'd rather see the Chap 1 in a variety of steels. Much cheaper.

[Popsickle]

I'd rather see the Chap 1 in a variety of steels. Much cheaper.

also a good point.

[ViperGTS]

The Chap is such a perfect design I do hope to see it in more steels. Although not the plans for this knife, maybe we'll see some sprints.

[wrdwrght]

I understood the Chap series aimed at exploring scales (like the Sage series does locks) and that the steel would always be XHP (except that XHP was not available for the Chap1's first run and S30V was used instead). Have I missed something?

[jackknifeh]

When I finally decided to get a good quality knife a few years ago I did not expect the prices I ended up facing. Just the shock value made it hard to buy a $100 knife. When I bought a $60 knife that was a big deal for me to be spending that much for a pocket knife. Of course it didn't take long for the prices to stop being a surprise but it did take me a while to be willing to pay for the $100+ knives. Now when I see a knife for $361.95 it's no biggie unless I really want it. But, if I really wanted it and could afford it it's a bought knife. The shock is no longer an issue.

I was looking at bento box once and saw a Kiwi with MOP inlays (and the backlock) for about $170. I seriously thought about buying it. Before I did though I looked at Spyderco's on-line catalog and I think the MSRP was less, even if it wasn't much less. Don't remember exactly That's when I realized that bento's prices are seriously high but they do have hard to get knives it seems. I never did get the Kiwi but I still wanted it and would have paid the price if I had the extra money at the moment.

What I'm trying to get at is when it comes to price there are two things to consider. Can I afford it? How much do I want it? Of course in a situation like this one we will need to get past the initial "shock". Once we are over that we can make better decisions about whether to buy a Chaparral 3 or not. When over the shock the normal things can play their part. One of which is it does look a lot like the 2. The pattern is obviously more complicated but that isn't worth much unless you understand the process. For the guy pulling a knife out of his pocket the manufacturing process or difficulty doesn't influence our "want" like it does the cost. The blade steel may influence some people's decision but for me it wouldn't. I'm happy enough with XHP or S30V for that matter that if they changed to to S90V, M4 or whatever it wouldn't influence my decision. After saying the blade steel wouldn't matter to me I feel myself about to drool thinking about it with M4. :D For me, right now I won't get one because I don't have the $361.95. My thoughts end there. If I did have it in my hand (with no other obligations) my thinking would pick up and I would need to decide if the difference in appearance between it and the Chaparral 2 would make me get one. I would be VERY tempted to get the Chaparral 3 and once it was in my hand I'd decide which one I like most and give the other to my son. I believe they are similar enough to be sure my son would be the proud owner of a Chaparral 2. :) Then again I'd had a Chaparral 1 for a long time and didn't get the Chaparral 2 because I had the CF model and knowing they were a production model I could wait. So there's really no telling what I would do if money weren't an issue. :)

I hope this made sense a little. Just my opinion about my thinking. Some people probably go through a different process when making a decision about any given knife.

[bh49]

I'd rather see the Chap 1 in a variety of steels. Much cheaper.

Or Native5 in variety of steels. Much less expensive as well. Not because I love it :) , but because 3 mm stock and a little thicker handle will be better for utility use. And let's leave Chap for variety of scales and some bolsters.

[Holland]

Or Native5 in variety of steels. Much less expensive as well. Not because I love it :) , but because 3 mm stock and a little thicker handle will be better for utility use. And let's leave Chap for variety of scales and some bolsters.

cant wait to try the native and think it will be a great base for sprints, but i would also love to see the chap series explore different steels so we can see how the steels do with such a thin blade! to bad it will most likely never happen haha

[wrdwrght]

Or Native5 in variety of steels. Much less expensive as well. Not because I love it :) , but because 3 mm stock and a little thicker handle will be better for utility use. And let's leave Chap for variety of scales and some bolsters.

+1, so long as the next production N5 remains S110V!

[GoodEyeSniper]

Shirogami White Steel

[Doc Dan]

At $400 I simply would not buy it. I have many other things I can do with that money. The Caly3 ZDP is about as pricey as I am willing to go, and only then because this is a special knife. I would like to see other blade steels in the Chaparral, as well has handle material, but not at that price.

[The Deacon]

The price of the Chaparral III already seems to be limiting interest in it. I suspect that using a steel that raised its price even higher would further reduce interest in it. Especially since it's a model most likely to appeal to collectors and to the type user whose appreciate high-end functional jewelry, but don't do a whole lot of cutting with their EDC knives.

[phillipsted]

Good point, Deacon.

My purely pragmatic issue with the titanium-scaled Chaps is that they are just too heavy and sharp-edged for me to use as a gentleman's knife. I prefer something a bit lighter to carry in pocket while in the office. When I'm in my jeans or shorts - I've got lots of other (usually bigger) knives I prefer to carry. They just don't fit my style of carry. Beautiful, but not very useful to me... I have no safe queens.

TedP