Spyderco Chaparral Folding Knife, CTS XHP, FRN Grey, C152GY
[C152PGY]

I believe this is the smallest, most inexpensive knife made in Spyderco’s flagship Taichung Taiwan factory. This knife is excellent. Why? The blade is *very* thin coming in at just 0.08”. It is basically the same design (though a little smaller) than the Sage blade. The Sage blade thickness is 0.118” So the Chapparal is *really* thin and it has a fully flat grind. It will almost certainly be the most slicey knife you own. CTS-XHP steel is good. It offers great hardness, high corrosion resistance, and holds an edge well. It is an all around good steel – it does well it everything, but is not exceptional in any area. A lot of people say it is like D2 on steroids, but I think of more in line with S 30vn steel. It is good steel. This is not a hard use blade though – it is thin. It does everything Spyderco wanted this knife to do, but no more. The FRN handle is really nice. It is really thin. What is interesting though is there is hardly any flex in the scale at all. The back lock hardware running along the spine really gives it a firm feel. The scale has the typical modified volcano pattern which gives it an interesting texture. It slides easily in one direction, but not in the other direction. It has a grippy texture keeping it secure in the pocket. It is also really light. It weighs just 2 oz. It has great detail like chamfering on the scale. It is super comfortable in the hand with a number of grip options. When this hits your hand and you use it the first time, you know you’re using a special tool. It has great action. What I really like is this is a really great value in my view. It does everything it is designed to do and does it really well. But it is so simple and simple looking it may take you a little while to appreciate all the thought, detail, and craftmanship that went into this design. Get one. As long as you have a need for this type of knife and you are not asking it to do something it wasn’t designed to do, you will come to love it.