Last week I received my latest Spydie: The Chicago G-10.
The Chicago is a knife which in my opinion don't get the attention it deserves. After having unboxed it my first impression was: "Wow! It's built like a tank!" Many people compare it with the Squeak, but I was immediately reminded of the feel when handling a Native 5 G-10: A moderate sized package which combines high quality materials with a very robust construction.
The F&F is made very well. Both the G-10 edges as the liners are well rounded, much better than the edges of a Terzuola Slipit I handled some years ago.The same is done to the spine edges. Also the Spyderhole is not too sharp. The G-10 surface is not too rough as to damage the pocket seam.The grind from tip to ricasso is perfectly symmetrical.
Now how does is work?
When being at work or on the way in the city, I personally have no need for a blade to peel apples, slice tomatoes or any other food prep. The short but very stout blade with its flat grind is ideal for opening plastic packages, cutting a rope or similar tasks. It is a little bit more "stretched" than the Squeak's blade, which I like asthaetically more. In spite of my hand size (9+) the handling functions very well: Opening is no problem (perhaps due to the slightly enlarged hole...), only the one-handed closing is a little bit "tricky" for me. But I get trained more and more... I personally don't miss the jimping: I see no absolute need for it on 3 mm thick blade and for me the plain thumb ramp looks better. The choice of CTS-BD1 steel is OK: It has good all-around properties and is easy to sharpen especially in the field, perhaps a reason for the German company "Pohl Force" to choose this steel for their duty knives.
There are only 2 complaints... :eek:
The blade of my exemplar is a little bit off-centered, a point which is often mentioned. It is only a "very little" bit and perhaps in future I will try to install phosphor bronze washers to solve the problem, but in the moment it is no bigger problem for me.
And the other complaint...???
The clip! :mad:
I'm a fan of the Spyderco wire clips. I have 2 UKPKs and 3 Dragonflies in my collection, all equipped with the factory wire clip. The design of the clip allowing deep-carry mount is a huge advantage. But especially the extreme deep-carry design on the Chicago leaving only the "tip" of the butt outside is an improvement (comparable to the UKPK): When clipped to a dress pants pocket the Dragonfly tends to "turn" around its longitudinal axis, perhaps to a kind of "torque moment" created by the considerable more amount of handle being outside of the pocket. On the Chicago I didn't notice this effect.
But the clip itself...???
When having unboxed the Chicago I admired its solid feel and good handling, but then I got terrified... After a closer inspection of the clip I noticed that it, while having good tension, wiggled from left to right! I checked the clip screw but it was tight. Then I unscrewed the clip and tried to increase the tension. OK, it increased but the clip was still wiggling... It's too fragile!
Now what to do? :confused: Send back the knife to the supplier for payment refund and forget the Chicago? No!!
After a few minutes of intensive thinking I found the solution: :rolleyes:
The mounting part of the wire clip is the same on the UKPKs as well on the Dragonflies and the Chicago (I assume on many other models also...). So I took my Dragonfly ZDP (which is retired in the moment due to spinning pivot), unmounted the clip (Dragonfly clips are very stable) and screwed it on the Chicago...
Perfect!!! :cool: Good tension and absolute no side to side play! And additionally in my opinion it suits the Chicago's design and lines much better than the original clip.
Now I have to order 3 spare clips: 1 for the Dragonfly ZDP and 2 for my UKPKs...
In summary:
For me the Chicago is a kind of a "backup knife": Sufficient for almost all EDC tasks and always available for quick use when a larger blade is not at hand or not suitable due to "sensitive social environment"...
:spyder: I like it!! :)
). I personally don't care about this...: I'm 60 years old and normally not in the situation of being controlled by LEOs, but in critical situations I would alway take the Squeak with me, especially due to the fact that I'm also a firearms owner and want not to lose my licenses... :eek: