Gentlemen's choice - urban k390 or chaparral light weight?

[MichaelScott]

I have to ask, what are some objective comparisons between the edge sharpness and durability of these two steels. Something other than personal opinion would be very helpful.

[dreadpirate]

Honestly, get both. I have both and it's just nice to be able to change it up.

[TomAiello]

The K390 really does hold it's edge _much_ longer than the XHP.

Don't get me wrong--I really like XHP, and I appreciate it's corrosion resistance in a travel knife, but I've gotten to the point where I'll trade out stainless for tool steels to gain the edge holding.

[ugaarguy]

I don’t know if I would call either one of those choices Gent-y. Spyderco should make true small dress knife done tastefully. Is it possible? Crazier things have happened.

Have you seen the stepped titanium Chaparrals? Have you seen the Lil' Lum sprint run with blue Nishijin glass fiber scales? Of course the problem with the stepped Ti Chaps at $370 is that you're within $55 of several unique graphic Small Sebenzas.

[blujaydad]

I like the Chaparral but I love the Urban k390, I think its one of Spyderco's best!

[Doc Dan]

I have both (Urban LW K390 is still available at Sooner State and some others). I love both and I have a lot of trouble making up my mind. If the ULW is to be shortened to 2.5" then I will say the Chaparral for up coming models. However, for this current batch the ULW is 2.6" and it is close to the CLW. I like the steel better in the ULW and the feel of the knife but the blade is not stainless. The scales are smooth and nice in the hand, but can be a bit slippery when wet. The choil with jimping helps with this, as does the thumb ramp with jimping. The knife has no lock and is fast to deploy and undeploy.

I like the steel of the CLW in the sense that I get good performance and it is highly corrosion resistant. I also like the very thin blade. It is a better slicer than the ULW (the ULW is very good!). This knife does not have a thumb ramp and has cleaner lines. The spine and choil are jimped. The scales are not smooth and inviting, but scaly feeling, but they simply do not slip in the hand. The CLW is very thin in the pocket. The CLW has a good, ambidextrous, closed bias back lock that is fast and easy to open and close.

I take the clips off of my knives like this and drop them in my pocket so my take on these two knives is as pocket knives and not something clipped to my jeans. I go back and forth on these two and I still do not know which I like best. I currently lean, though not strongly, in favor of the CLW but only because of the blade design (though that ULW is so nice in hand).

[Termite Toothpick]

I like the Chaparral for many reasons, but the thinness of this one is the best.
The FRN Chaparral doesn't lose any cred in my opinion. It's sensible and gentlemanly!

[RickC27]

All this love for the Chap is making me extremely impatient to get mine in my hands! Currently out for delivery via text from USPS. As Doc Dan mentioned, I'm debating on removing the clip from mine as well. Dan - When you do that, did it change the ergo's much and way you hold the knife when deploying the blade?

[RickC27]

Now after having mine for a couple hours and using it at work for simple tasks of opening packages, cutting some cardboard and cutting up a chicken breast for lunch...this thing is awesome! Showed up in a tiny Spyderco box and I was immediately thinking, this thing is going to be tiny. Already had my Sage 5 on me today and in comparison the Sage 5 looked like a beast compared to the Chap. But after getting it in hand, the Chap feels amazing. Unique frn pattern in quite grippy. I wear a Medium-Large size glove depending on the mfg and when I choked up using the finger choil, there was still room to spare on the handle behind my pinky. Finger choil is great, the backlock isn't nearly as stiff or hurt the thumb like I've seen people complain about in reviews. It is so slim and literally disappears in your pocket. No problem carrying anything else in the same pocket, my phone which is in an otterbox doesn't get hung up on it at all. Thus far, I am extremely impressed with this little knife. It's not as fun to play with as the compression lock on the Sage 5, but I honestly think that this Chap may become more of an edc for me than my Sage 5, when it comes to being at work.

[OuchPaperCut]

Thanks for everyone's input - I have gone ahead and purchased the K390.

Cheers,

M

[Doc Dan]

All this love for the Chap is making me extremely impatient to get mine in my hands! Currently out for delivery via text from USPS. As Doc Dan mentioned, I'm debating on removing the clip from mine as well. Dan - When you do that, did it change the ergo's much and way you hold the knife when deploying the blade?

I like it better without the clip. No hotspots and the knife is so slim it disappears in the pocket.

[Doc Dan]

Thanks for everyone's input - I have gone ahead and purchased the K390.

Cheers,

M

You will not be disappointed. I have mine with me now. I love this little knife. I cannot wait for more Sprint runs of this knife.

[SF Native]

Thanks for everyone's input - I have gone ahead and purchased the K390.

Cheers,

M

Good choice. Be sure to let us know what you think when you get it.

[OuchPaperCut]

Well I received the knife and I really like it. In comparison to the dragonfly that I already have it is noticably larger in both blade length and inspite of roughly the same length handle it fits and fills my hand better. Just as a reference this is the largest knife I have so the "noticably larger" part is probably just me.

The knife isn't without problems. When I open it to the first stop, it grates and is starting to show some scuff marks on the bar of the blade in a semi-circular pattern. I contacted the seller and he said all the ones he tried in store had the same issue. So quality isn't as high as I was expecting or hoping for.

Cheers,

M

[Forest Green]

Well I received the knife and I really like it. In comparison to the dragonfly that I already have it is noticably larger in both blade length and inspite of roughly the same length handle it fits and fills my hand better. Just as a reference this is the largest knife I have so the "noticably larger" part is probably just me.

The knife isn't without problems. When I open it to the first stop, it grates and is starting to show some scuff marks on the bar of the blade in a semi-circular pattern. I contacted the seller and he said all the ones he tried in store had the same issue. So quality isn't as high as I was expecting or hoping for.

Cheers,

M

I too was disappointed by the quality, my blade was the dullest ever received from Spyderco, would not cut hair, also the very front to tip of blade was very difficult to get sharp, eventually got things working great, now can whittle hair, I really love this knife. The ergo's are perfect, the wider FRN is very comfy.

[OuchPaperCut]

Hey Forest Green,

Is yours smooth to open it does it rub/grate? And if it does rub which part of the opening does it rub during? Mine is distinctly on the first 90 degrees from the closed position.

I notice that in the inside of the FRN near the choil that it looks to have been filed down on either side. Does yours have some form of relief applied to the inside as well?

Cheers,

M

[Doc Dan]

If it is gritty, it is probably debri. Simply flush out the knife with WD-40 really well, re-lube (I use Vaseline).

[OuchPaperCut]

So WD-40 doesn't affect FRN?

Cheers,

M

[Forest Green]

Hey Forest Green,

Is yours smooth to open it does it rub/grate? And if it does rub which part of the opening does it rub during? Mine is distinctly on the first 90 degrees from the closed position.

I notice that in the inside of the FRN near the choil that it looks to have been filed down on either side. Does yours have some form of relief applied to the inside as well?

Cheers,

M

mine does not rub, very clean walk/talk, but I did notice some FRN file marks on the inside before the choil.