Spyderco Forums

I swung by the SFO this morning and, after handling the Cru-Wear Stretch2 XL (amazing by the way), spied a CF Chaparral that I had to have. Didn't notice til I got home that it had an S30V blade. I thought they were all CTS-HXP. My others are.

Isn’t there a way to get the date of production a number on the box? Curious it is new or old stock.

Wasn't the Chaparral originally released in S30V? In that case, you may have a collectable there. They have been CTS-XHP for several years or more.

IIRC the S30v model had fewer scale screws and slightly different construction.

A friend has one in S30V. I don't know how rare they are now, but definitely more than the XHP versions

Construction appears identical.

The earlier version had fewer screws holding the scales to the liners. The pivot screws were the same

Talkin' Story,

On the Chaparral, the plan was to showcase different handles with a gent's Back-lock. I designed the model to be a smaller Sage. The first model designed was the Titanium "Stealth", which Peter and I worked on for a long time to get the multi-level planes right. (.007 difference in the depth of the planes) It is still my favorite. It was taking a longer time than planned to get it right, so we decided to put the Carbon version ahead of it so we could get the model into production.

When the Carbon version was ready, Carpenter's XHP wasn't yet ready for production. (FYI, we helped Carpenter refine their XHP ), which the Chaparral was to showcase. The XHP was taking longer to get into production than we had hoped, so we made the first model in S30V. Following models were XHP.

We had requests to make an FRN version of the Chaparral so the model could get different steels and colors. that's why we have the FRN version, which is a popular EDC.

sal

The Chaparral is one of the two greatest locking EDC pocket knives ever (the other is the Dragonfly).

Agree, sharp looking knife. The gray FRN is a surprisingly nice aesthetic.

Hope an SE version is coming…

zhyla wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 12, 2023 1:14 am

Agree, sharp looking knife. The gray FRN is a surprisingly nice aesthetic.

Hope an SE version is coming…

This so very much.
And there is hope, since Sal some time ago said he'd be testing one...

Waiting for a Salt version!

sn0wman72 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 11, 2023 9:52 pm

The earlier version had fewer screws holding the scales to the liners. The pivot screws were the same

The two CF models are identical except for blade steel. The FRN model does have additional scale screws.



Thanks for the info Sal. This is why I love stopping by the SFO, you just never know what may appear. The Chaparral is the knife I grab when I can only carry one. As much as I love my Dragonflies, the Chap offers a bigger blade in a package not substantially larger. I consider my CF versions to be my Gentleman's knives.

z1r wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 12, 2023 9:26 am

sn0wman72 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 11, 2023 9:52 pm

The earlier version had fewer screws holding the scales to the liners. The pivot screws were the same

The two CF models are identical except for blade steel. The FRN model does have additional scale screws.

https://i.imgur.com/xonIs8G.jpg

Thanks for the info Sal. This is why I love stopping by the SFO, you just never know what may appear. The Chaparral is the knife I grab when I can only carry one. As much as I love my Dragonflies, the Chap offers a bigger blade in a package not substantially larger. I consider my CF versions to be my Gentleman's knives.

The body screws are hidden on the early model Chaparrals (Including some XHP). All Chaparral models have exposed body screws now though.