Speculation on the Chaparral 4?

[Doc Dan]

The next version is being prototyped now. We should see a sample soon. I think we have a handle material for the 5th version, but won't know for sure if it will work until we make one.

But, we're interested in suggestions that you have.

sal

Oookkaayy...now I have to wait. I was just fixing to pull the trigger on a CF. I want to see what you have come up with.

I like carbon fiber and it can be had in different textures and color patterns. I would still like to see a brown/black, dark red/black, green/black, or grey/black weave. I would prefer it a bit polished, not glassy, but a bit more than on the current one or the Caly3.

I might even go for a dark brown or dark green layered G10. I have some knives like this in shades of dark green layers and they look great.

[sal]

From what Eric said at Blade, paperstone sounded like it was difficult to work with. Care to comment Sal? I still think it is a nice handle material.

Hi Araneae,

We had quite a bit of fallout.

sal

[3rdGenRigger]

I'm very happy with my CF Chaparral...it gets more pocket time than any of my other knives. I use it hard too...the bare carbon fiber gives such an excellent texture for solid gripping at any angle. The spine jimping is also in exactly the most perfect place to open bottles of beer.

[CarbonFiberNut]

The spine jimping is also in exactly the most perfect place to open bottles of beer.

Well crap, guess I need a Chapparal now :D

[Clip]

Well crap, guess I need a Chapparal now :D

Good thing they make two Ti ones because I know you hate carbon fiber.

[VeloWeave]

My 2 cents on the Chaparral 5: Titanium bolsters with and exotic wood like Desert Ironwood or Snakewood, something with a little pattern in it. Another homerun in my opinion would be to do something similar to what Chris Reeves does with his Sebenzas. Maybe a tumbled titanium with two wood inlay on one side and some kind of inlay on the other side taking into consideration the wire pocket clip. Not sure how you'd work around the clip on such a small knife but I'm sure Eric or Sal could figure it out somehow.

Argyle weave carbon nano-tube kevlar laminate

Sounds like a bulletproof idea to me!

[Holland]

Since we had CF and Ti, and the plans for the C4 already are complete....how about we combine CF and Ti for the C5. It could be like a CF inlay with some meticulous Ti design....ok not too meticulous :D

Combination 1: - Ti handle with CF inlay and CTS-XHP
Combination 2: - Black Al/Ti handle with multiple small shiny blue (or each circle could be a different color) metallic circlular indents (think mini Skirmish) on a black blade
Combination 3: - Blue Aluminum handle with a "splashed" out design where the ripples originate from a central point on the handle.
Combination 4: - A very irregular ribbed pattern with a bronze colored anodizing...every handle can be different in the ribbing to save cost.

Or just mix and match the above four combinations to get the desired result =D

inlays sound like a brilliant idea! could borrow some ideas from Chris Reeve
Would also love to see a wood handle of some sort

[VeloWeave]

I would like to have one with titanium bolsters and maybe some natural (G11) in Jade Green kind of like Leaf Storm. Or vice-versa, titanium w/ G11 or even a Carbon bolster. I liked the recommendation somebody said for wood inlays like the Sebenza does. One thing, must keep it light though, for that is the essence of Chaparral to me. I love the ergos but alot of Spydies have great ergos, the lightweight gentlemanly look of Chaparral is it's big calling card.

[3rdGenRigger]

Can't use scales that are too thick either...it rides slimmer and less obtrusively than any of my knives.

[EdgeFUBAR]

I would like to see some multi-colored G-10 3D machined scales myself...... I'm another one that doesn't care for the ti handles.

[paladin]

I would like to see some multi-colored G-10 3D machined scales myself

Sounds like a no-brainer to me...G10 affords one of the best balances of utility, cost, versatility, and durability of any scale material out there. Techie factor is high with G10. In addition, the macro texturing option (ala Zulu & PPT) is ripe for marketability from my perspective...check out how many "knife pimpers" are thriving. A few of those guys are great artists, a few are hatchetman hack jobs, and the majority of the "pimps" are mediocre at best-- but all of them stay pretty busy. The Multicolor layered G10, as FUBAR noted, is a great idea which, AFAIK, has not ever been utilized by Spyderco. And FWIR, at the crux of the Chap's mission statement is the use of lots of different scale material...so is it G10's turn yet? And BTW, for those of you sports fans keeping score at home--yes I am trying for the acronym record for a single post...LOL!

[jackknifeh]

I agree about the Chaparral being a great design, size, etc. But I think it is designed to be closer to a gent's knife which would indicatge (to me) that the handle should be "classier" than FRN. FRN is a great handle material but not a good choice for a gent's knie IMO. BUT, if I'm wrong about Spyderco's direction for this knife an FRN handle on one of the best size EDC folders would be a great idea I think. If Spyderco is happy with the sales of the Chaparral 3 at it's price I hope they keep going in that direction. But if they feel the price kept sales down I would love to see a bolster/beautiful wood handle. Maybe even use pins UNDER the bolster or at least so you can't see them. If you can find a picture of Deacon's bolstered Stretch you'd get an idea of what I'm thinking. Of course I've been waiting for the bolstered Stretch to appear also. :)

My opinion of the Chaparral's so far are the CF is perfect. GREAT knife at a good price. The Chaparral 2 is also perfect. Based on my money it's about as high a price I'm willing to pay for a pocket knife. I have the Chaparral 2 but didn't actually "pay" for all of it. Therefore the Chaparral 3 is not going in my pocket but that's just a money thing. The knife is worth the money if you like/want the knife and have the money.

I like titanium as a handle material to use. But if a knife is beautiful and that is a very important thing to the user it scratches easy. That's one reason I stonewashed my Sage4 bolsters. Scratches aren't as obvious. I don't care much about scratches but some do. Keeping my Chaparral 2 almost scratch free is accomplished mainly by carrying it clipped instead of down in my pocket with change and whatever else gets into my pocket. So getting off titanium in the future would be a good thing IMO.

Bolsters. I've REALLY enjoyed putting different scales on my Sage4 and G-10 Manbug. Anything you put on those knives seems to look better when combined with a bolster. Even plain old black G-10. The black jumps out at you when paired with a silver bolster. I think I want some blue or red bone for my Manbug next. Anyway, I think a bolster would be nice on the Chaparral. Don't know what that would do to the price but the Sage4 price range sounds about ok. I'm not promising I'd buy anything but I think a bolstered Chaparral would look great.

Jack

[Syncharmony]

Anyway, I think a bolster would be nice on the Chaparral. Don't know what that would do to the price but the Sage4 price range sounds about ok. I'm not promising I'd buy anything but I think a bolstered Chaparral would look great.

Jack

I think a damacus bolster would look fantastic on a chaparral. Kind of like on this knife.

[rodloos]

I don't know how the price of fluted CF would compare to fluted Ti (and I haven't actually seen any fluted CF in person yet, anxious for the Native with it), but it sounds like it could be a nice candidate for a Chaparral. It will be interesting to see the Chaparral 3 in person and compare it to the 2. I do really like the elegance of the 2 (and never carry it in the same pocket with keys etc that could scratch it :) ).

I also *LOVE* the "lightning-strike" CF on the original Szabo, and sure hope Spyderco uses it again on another model.

[3rdGenRigger]

I'd love to see the carbon fiber style from the original Szabo (except light green instead of yellow), and a ZDP-189 blade.

[Clip]

I think the knife deserves a man made handle, something high tech as the last three have set a similar standard. Maybe a honeycombed CF or sintered alumina. Besides the obvious PITA it'd be to process that, it would make for one cool knife.

[3rdGenRigger]

A different carbon fiber weave would be cool. I also think a "stepped" carbon fiber handle could be cool, and exceptionally grippy. Something cool with aluminum would also be cool. How about carbo-tanium (Titanium woven into the carbon fiber matrix) like the chassis of the Pagani Huayra? Might be expensive, but would be the lightest and strongest knife handle ever (Or almost, as something more robust that I've never heard of probably already exists).

[eric m.]

You're right bh49, the chap 3 is way, way too expensive for all but an elitist! I have the chap1&2 and almost fell off my chair when I saw the price of the chap3! :eek:

[this_is_nascar]

Rather than start another thread, I figured I would add to this one. I'm really liking what I'm seeing as it relates to the Chaparral. I am confused with the various models that are currently available. Can someone summarize the models for me and indicate if each is still in or out of production? Thanks.

[Holland]

there all in production still. the chaparral one was originally produced in s30v, and later moved to XHP which is the steel that will be used all the model for now on. the second chaparral was a Ti version with a stealth like pattern. The third is a stepped Ti model that hasnt been released yet. here is a couple photos of my chaparrals:









and i got one modded :D







and the third chaparral can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM_RRLVG7YA