When it comes to EDC (everyday carry), small folding knives are my favorite…
As long as they’re designed well, they just disappear in your pocket and that makes them such a joy to carry around…
Spyderco is one of my favorite knife manufacturers when it comes to producing small EDC knives, and right now, two of their most popular designs are…
| Image | Products |
 | Spyderco Chaparral (Check Price And Review On Amazon!) |
 | Spyderco Dragonfly (Check Price And Review On Amazon!) |
So in this Spyderco Chaparral Vs Dragonfly comparison, we’re going to examine the similarities and differences between these two knives in the following six categories…
- Blade Steel And Materials
- Blade Shape And Handle Design
- Locking Mechanism
- Size And Dimensions
- Pocket Clip And Carry Position
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll tell you if I prefer the elegant Chaparral or the utilitarian Dragonfly, and you should have all the information you need to determine which knife will work best for you…
Let’s start with the blade steel and materials…
Blade Steel And Materials…
Spyderco Chaparral
Spyderco likes to call the Chaparral a gentleman’s folding knife. Part of the reason for that is the elegant look it has, but another reason for it is the high-quality materials included in the design…
For example the blade steel featured in the Chaparral is CTS XHP. CTS XHP is considered a premium blade steel…
It does a great job at resisting rust, but it also maintains an edge extremely well. In addition to that, it’s not too tedious or difficult to sharpen too, which is sometimes the case with premium blade steels…
I really like the CTS XHP steel used on the Chaparral, and I think Spyderco made a great decision to include it on this knife…
Now the most common version of the Chaparral has a combination carbon fiber and G-10 handle. This is my favorite version of the Chaparral because the G-10 makes the handle very sturdy and strong…
…but at the same time, the carbon fiber helps keep the handle lightweight, which makes it more comfortable to carry around in your pocket.
The other versions of the Chaparral include the Chaparral FRN which features a fiberglass reinforced nylon handle which is extremely lightweight…
And there is also a version with a Raffir Noble handle, and a version with an all G-10 handle called the Sun and Moon Chaparral…
In the end though my favorite is the carbon fiber and G-10 version because it’s strong, it’s lightweight, and it feels really comfortable in your hand.
Spyderco Dragonfly 2
The Spyderco Dragonfly is actually a smaller version of the very popular Spyderco Delica, and because of that, it’s very similar to the Delica especially in terms of the materials that are used…
Now the blade steel on the Dragonfly is VG-10. VG-10 is considered a high end blade steel, and I like it because it resists corrosion well and also holds an edge pretty well too…
It first originated in Japan as a steel for the knives of Japanese chefs, but it didn’t take long for knife manufacturers to see its potential in folding knives…
Spyderco is one of those manufacturers, and they feature VG-10 in a number of their most popular knife designs…
Now, even though VG-10 is a good blade steel, the CTS XHP blade steel used on the Chaparral is superior. The reason why is simple… the CTS XHP will hold its edge for a longer period of time than VG-10.
That being said, VG-10 is still a very respectable knife steel in my opinion, and it’s also usually more affordable than CTS XHP…
The handle on the Dragonfly is made from fiberglass reinforced nylon or FRN (at least the most common version of the Dragonfly)…
FRN is a good handle material because it’s strong and at the same time it’s incredibly lightweight…
The fact that it’s so lightweight makes it a wonderful choice for a knife that’s intended for utility or EDC, and that’s certainly the case for the Dragonfly.
Blade Shape And Handle Design…
Spyderco Chaparral
Like I mentioned earlier, the Chaparral is considered a gentleman’s folding knife because of its sleek and elegant design…
It has a version of a drop point blade on it that has a leaf-like shape, and I personally find it to be pretty attractive…
The Chaparral’s blade also features a full flat grind which I like because it helps keep the blade strong and makes the knife a great cutter and slicer…
The only edge available right now on the Chaparral is a Plain Edge. For me, that’s not a problem because I always prefer to go with a plain edge on my folding knives because it makes them easier to sharpen…
But if you’re looking for a serrated blade, the Chaparral is probably not the best option for you. The Chaparral’s blade also has the traditional Spyderco deployment hole…
…which makes it easy to flip open your blade with one hand, and there is jimping on the spine of the blade and the finger choil, so you can really choke up and control the knife.
Now like I mentioned earlier, the Chaparral can be had in a number of different handle materials (again my favorite is the carbon fiber/G-10 version), but no matter which material you go with…
…the handle shape on the Chaparral is very comfortable and ergonomic. The knife feels really great in your hand, and you’re able to get a really good purchase when gripping the handle.
Spyderco Dragonfly
Like I mentioned earlier, the Dragonfly is basically a scaled down version of the Spyderco Delica, and it because of that it has a similar blade shape…
It’s a version of a drop point blade, just like the Chaparral, but it has a more angular and pointed look to it (again, similar to the Delica’s blade)…
It also has a flat grind, which makes it a great cutter and slicer, and it comes with either a Plain Edge, the Spyder Edge (Spyderco’s version of a serrated blade), or a Combination Edge (a half Plain Edge and half Spyder Edge blade)…
Like I said earlier, I prefer the Plain Edge version, just because it will end up being easier for you to sharpen, but I like that Spyderco gives you the SpyderEdge and CombinationEdge options with this design…
The Dragonfly also comes in a number of different blade shapes. The most common is the drop point blade, but you can also get the Dragonfly with an Emerson blade, a Hawkbill blade, or a Wharncliffe blade…
Like the Chaparral, the Dragonfly features the traditional Spyderco deployment hole which allows you to open the blade quickly and easily with one hand…
…and the jimping on the spine of the blade and the finger choil allows you to choke up on the knife for more control when you need it.
Now the handle on the Dragonfly is made from FRN, which is very comfortable in your hand, and the bi-directional texturing allows you to really lock onto the grip when you’re using the knife…
In addition to that, you can get the Dragonfly in a number of different handle colors, including: yellow, black, orage, green, gray, and others…
I’ve always liked when you can get a knife in a variety of different colors because it just allows you to pick something out that fits your particular needs and personality.
Locking Mechanism…
Both the Chaparral and the Dragonfly feature the Back Lock locking mechanism. This is a system that incorporates a rocker arm that pivots and engages with a notch in the tang of the blade…
It’s a very simple locking system, and it’s found on a huge number of folding knives. Part of the reason it’s such a widely used locking mechanism is because, even though it is a simple system, it’s fairly strong…
It locks the blade out very securely, and the Spyderco Back Locks, in particular, are incredibly smooth, so you really get a feeling of quality when you flip out the blade…
One small difference between the Back Locks on these two knives is that the Dragonfly’s Back Lock features a Boye Dent…
A Boye Dent is a small scalloped dent in the release bar, and its purpose is to help prevent the blade from unlocking accidently if the handle is gripped too tightly…
It’s basically an extra safety feature, and even though I don’t think it’s a must have feature, it is an extra detail that I like that’s included on the Dragonfly.
Size And Dimensions…
Spyderco Chaparral
As I’ve said before, the Chaparral is a fairly compact knife. It has a blade length that measures in at 2.80 inches long, and the handle measures in at 3.60 inches long…
That brings the overall length on the Chaparral to 6.40 inches long when the blade is fully locked out.
Spyderco Dragonfly
Like I said earlier, the Dragonfly is basically a scaled-down version of the Delica (and the largest knife in this particular Spyderco series is the Endura)…
The Dragonfly has a blade that measures in at 2.28 inches on most versions, and the handle measures in at 3.33 inches long…
That brings the overall length on the Dragonfly to 5.61 inches long (on most versions) when the blade is fully deployed…
That means that the Dragonfly is around 0.79 inches shorter than the Chaparral when both of their blades are fully locked out.
Pocket Clip And Carry Position…
Both the Chaparral and the Dragonfly have a wire clip that sets you up for tip up carry only. Personally I prefer tip down carry…
…but I don’t mind tip up carry if that’s all I can get and I like the overall knife design (and I like both the Chaparral and the Dragonfly).
Now Spyderco does give you a little bit of flexibility in terms of clip position on both knives because both allow you to swap the clip to either side of the knife…
This is a good feature to have because it allows you to optimize your clip for left handed or right handed carry…
Now as I said, both knives feature a wire clip, and it’s actually a deep carry clip… So both knives will nearly disappear in your pocket…
That makes both of them extremely discrete, and because they’re both very lightweight and slim designs, they’re both very comfortable and easy to carry around in your pocket all day.
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately in this category, I won’t be able to give you exact numbers because the prices of these knives often fluctuate…
In addition to that, the prices of these knives can change dramatically depending on which version you go with (especially with the Chaparral)…
All that being said though, the Dragonfly will be anywhere from 30 to 95 dollars less expensive than the Chaparral (again, a lot depends on the version of the Chaparral you intend to get)…
Part of the reason for this price difference is that the Chaparral uses CTS XHP blade steel which is superior to the VG-10 used on the Dragonfly (even though VG-10 is a respectably blade steel)…
So if you’re on a budget and you’re really trying to keep the price down, the Dragonfly is going to be the less expensive option for you by at least 30 bucks…
If you’re more interested in the Chaparral, but you want to keep the price down as low as possible, the Chaparral with an FRN handle is probably going to be the least expensive option for you.
Spyderco Chaparral Vs Dragonfly – Conclusions…
So to sum it all up, in the Blade Steel And Materials category, the Chaparral uses CTS XHP blade steel whereas the Dragonfly uses VG-10…
The CTS XHP blade steel on the Chaparral is superior to the VG-10 blade steel on the Dragonfly because it will hold its edge for a longer period of time…
In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category, both knives feature a version of a drop point blade with a full flat grind…
And both knives’ handles are ergonomic and comfortable in your hand…
In the Locking Mechanism category, both knives feature the Back Lock locking mechanism which is a great system because it’s simple, it’s strong, and it’s easy to use…
In the Size And Dimensions category, the Chaparral is around 0.79 inches longer than the Dragonfly when both of their blades are fully deployed…
In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, both the Chaparral and the Dragonfly have a pocket clip that sets you up for tip up carry and that is swappable to either side of the knife…
And last, in the Price Comparison, the Dragonfly will be anywhere for 30 to 95 dollars less expensive than the Chaparral…
So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Spyderco Chaparral…
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I prefer the Chaparral for a few reasons. First of all, I prefer the CTS XHP blade steel on the Chaparral over the VG-10 blade steel on the Dragonfly…
The CTS XHP is superior to the VG-10 because it will maintain its edge for a longer period of time, and that means you won’t have to sharpen your blade as much…
I also prefer the carbon fiber and G-10 handle on the Chaparral over the FRN handle on the Dragonfly. It just feels stronger and more substantial, and it’s extremely comfortable in your hand…
Last, I just like the way the Chaparral looks over the Dragonfly (even though I do like the Dragonfly as well). To me, it’s just a little more elegant and attractive… so I like it better.
Now if you don’t mind VG-10 steel (still a very respectable blade steel), you’re happy with the FRN handle, and you want to save a little bit of money…
Then feel free to go with the Dragonfly because it’s still a great EDC knife…
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Either way, I hope I was able to show you the major similarities and differences between these two awesome knives from Spyderco!