Spyderco Chaparral Grey FRN Folding Knife 18

This is a great small knife. The fit and finish is perfection, and better than most Spydercos because it is made in the Taichung factory Taiwan. Makes a great fifth pocket knife. Not a hint of blade play and the lock is rock solid. Some people complain that the back lock hurts their thumb but I can’t say I notice it. The blade is XHP and it seems to stay sharp a bit longer than Spy27 and S30v, and it easy to sharpen.

A neat, robust little folder, with its nested steel liners, blade stabilizer pin and phosphor bronze washers. Only problem is the harshness of the lock bar, which really does dig into the thumb. This can be eased considerably: 1. Tape the blade edge for safety. 2. Remove the clip side scale and liner (T6 and T8 screws). The clip side screws are the ones that turn. The front side screws are D-shaped and mate with D holes in the liner so won't turn (except the clip screw). 3. Take out the lock bar and soften the sharp edges in the thumb-press area with medium and fine wet & dry. (Tape the rest of the bar for protection from scratching). 4. Advance the spring about 1.5 mm within its groove, to the point were the spring's forward elbow nestles at the foot of the small ramp on the lock bar's underside. (Increases the spring's bending length, improves leverage.) Reassemble the knife. (The liner is a snug fit - use gentle persuasion.) 5. With the blade half open and lock bar pressed down as far as it will go, carefully insert a 2 mm flat blade screwdriver between the blade tang and lock bar tongue. Gently lever the lock bar upwards until you feel the spring's elastic limit and then a touch further, to put a small set on the spring. Do this in minimal increments until you get the spring tension you want. Takes very little to produce a noticeable improvement. Overdo it and you may damage the knife permanently. Heinnie Haynes were very helpful and responsive over the phone (amid COVID-19 lockdown) and the package did arrive next day (using next day delivery).

This knife is small and practical as it fits and stays very discreetly in my pocket. The deep carry pocket clip is a great one and the ergonomics on this knife are amazing. Easy one hand opening and closing. You can close it one handed and not risk of cutting yourself. One of my go to knife when I need something small light and reliable. Sometimes I forget it's on me. The only negative thing I could say about it is that the part that we need to press to fold the blade is a little uncomfortable for the thumb and thus this is not the knife I choose to play around with fl**king it open and closing it all day long when working on my desk, I use other ones for that. Anyway, it's a great piece and I am very happy to have it and use it. Delivery and service are always excellent. Thank you HH

Lovely thin slicing blade with great ergonomics in a pretty compact package. I have xl hands and the delica 4 can feel awkward at times. This feels great because of the finger choil. The thin back lock release can be painful on your thumb pad if being used constantly, but I'll be using this at work so only occasional use and I can't see this causing a problem. At 47grams this is a nice light knife. The FRN scales are very grippy and except for the clip sitting quite proud the quality and detailing on the Chaparral FRN is spot on. Heinnie Haynes delivery was again excellent