4 inch folder - 710 vs Milly

B

boris01

Joined
Aug 2, 2008
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I am interested in a folder with an approx 4 inch blade. I have found 2 that I like but cannot decide which one I should get. I would like to hear your opinion.

710 Pros
Axis lock
Steel liners in the handle
Blade shape
It a classic and I do not own a Benchmade yet

710 Cons
Small thumb stud

Milly Pros
Blade shape
Thumb hole (this is my favorite)
S30v blade

Milly Cons
Liner lock (my Lone Wolf Ranger liner lock fails the spine whack test 90% of the time)
No steel liners in the handle (seems weak)

Finally
Weight and price of both knives are about the same
 
Both are really good steel. The Axis lock would be the deciding factor for me. Liner locks are my least favorite type of lock.
 
boris01 said:
710 Cons
Small thumb stud
Click to expand...

Agreed, but it's not a big deal; most of the time, with the Axis lock, I don't even touch the thumb stud :D Besides, the action on the 710 is SMOOTH; just a gentle push on the thumb stud and "clack"!

boris01 said:
Milly Cons
Liner lock (my Lone Wolf Ranger liner lock fails the spine whack test 90% of the time)
No steel liners in the handle (seems weak)
Click to expand...

The liner lock on my CF Millie is VERY safe. I don't believe a lot in the "spine whack test", but I tried it on mine (pretty hard) and the blade stayed engaged.

...and there *is* steel liners in my CF Millie; is it the same in the S30V one?

boris01 said:
Finally
Weight and price of both knives are about the same
Click to expand...

Again, can't talk about the G10 Military (I own only the CF), but it is significantly lighter than my 710.

All being said, those are two of my prefered folders; you can't be wrong with either of them. Good luck!
 
You seem to think the millie is a weak knife, well its not.
The lock is very strong and locks up tight, doesn't the millie have inlayed liners?
Either way its very strong.
 
I do like the axis lock on the 710 but both are nice. If you really want to make the Millie awesome send it to STR for a framelock conversion. You might also want to look at the new Spyderco Police 3 with G10 handles. It is REAL nice and very light for its size. Good Luck!! Kevin :D
 
Both the G-10 and CF versions of the Military have steel partial liners nested on both sides (current production, the older models had a liner on one side only). The steel on the current production is S30V, which is good stuff, but my least favorite Millie steel (I carry the S90V/CF version). If the liner lock on a Military fails a "spine whack" test, it is because the knife is either defective or has suffered abuse. Defects are covered under warranty, abuse is not. The Military is the best engineered and executed liner lock I have ever seen. Even the oldest of the eight I have locks up strong and tight.

The 710 is a good knife, but frankly it didn't live up to its hype in my opinion. It was given its chance like so many others, and failed to earn a permanent spot in my pocket. The Military has been riding with me for a couple of years now.
 
I agree with a lot of what has been said here, but will throw in my 2 cents as well. I own a 710 and a paramillie, but not the full sized millie. Both are great knives. My only very minor gripe about the paramillie is that it has developed some light blade play which seems to come back after I tighten the screws. While I am not a fan of linerlocks and dont buy them anymore, I have not heard one bad thing about the linerlock on the military. But I will say that the winner in my opinion is the 710. The axis lock is great. Dont worry about the small thumb stud as it is very easy to flick open with a light push. D2 will require a little more maintenance unless you get the coated version. But I love my 710, I have not used the para since I bought the 710.
 
I got a 710 back in the day, used it for a while, but as my collection grew it was relegated to the knife box more often than not.

The Military? I have three variations of it, and can barely keep it out of my pocket long enough to form an opinion of other designs, and throw them in the knife box.
It's got a long blade, distal tapered from .156" stock (thick for a folder) down to a splinter picker point. The handle is also very long and extremely well designed, it makes most knives feel like they have chunks missing or that the people who designed them only had three fingers. The blade is angled forward enough that you don't have to bend your wrist nearly as much when cutting.
It is the design by which I judge all others.

Sigh... If only it had an Axis lock.
I'm not going to say that the liner lock on the Military is perfect (though it probably is the best one you can get). You should still check it every once in a while to make sure the liner doesn't move under pressure.
That said, checking the lock every once in a while (which you really should do with all locks anyway) is a small price to pay for using one of the most comfortable, and well designed knives out there.
 
I own both.

I have 3 710's with a 4th pre-ordered.

I have a CF S90V Millie

I don't have a negative opinion about either and I carry each and love having each in my pocket. So I'll make some objective comments:

CF S90V Millie (my only reference):
$170 - $200
Awesome steel
It may break in but right now the closure detent is stiff. It takes a good amount of thumb push to break the initial detent when opening. But I can flip it open in one motion with some wrist whip.
LIGHT WEIGHT but strong feeling for the weight.
The carbon fiber scales are very grippy. But they can flex with strong twisting force.
A great knife for gloves too
Not notably easy to one hand close but doable. Not very suited well to ambidexterity
Can't fully disassemble the scales apart without damage to the lanyard hole area. The lanyard tube is pressed in or glued or something
Takes a VERY sharp edge but I haven't abused it so I can't comment of the edge holding.
Tip down only and only right hand clip. This means the lanyard will be in your pocket if you like a lanyard
The blade jimping is the best I have ever used. Grips like a banchee.
This is a very good knife and carrys so light and apt

710:
$100 - $120
I have a D2, two 154CM's and an M4 on preorder
Tip up right hand only clip
Rock solid knife. No flex or blade play. Feels very strong in hand too. Nice heft
The G10 scales could be grippier IMHO
The jimping could be deeper and grippier too
I tang end of the edge has a deeper recurve and makes sharpening near the tang end a little harder. Same for stropping. The thumb stud prevents the proper angle for stropping at the very tang end of the blade. It's doable though. The blade geometry is a better overall EDC because it is slimmer. It is easy to open envelopes and such with the narrow blade profile.
All the steels I have now sharpen scary sharp. The D2 is one of my sharpest knives next to the Bob Lum Chinese folder.
SMOOTH action! The Axis kicks ass. The final detent is sweet. Not too stiff and smooth as hell. The thumb stud is very easy to open the knife with. A simple flick with the right adjustment lays it open as fast as any AO knife.
The 710 seems to be able to handle twisting force more than the CF Millie
EXTREMELY suited to one handed open/close and truly ambidextrous!
A super good EDC and timeless classic that gives nothing up to any new design knife whatsoever

I think they are two different animals but both stand apart. As I said, I can't rate the G10 Millie so the price differential in my knives is huge.

I truly can't pick one over the other because I can carry either anytime I want. And I do :D
 
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Its funny b/c im in the same boat as the TS...Im steering towards the Military probobly just b/c I'm a spyderco fan.
 
i see the sides lining up here. let me sign in on the BM side. the 710 is a big knife but it's so slim that it carries extremely well. slim but strong and i have never had any flex or play of any kind in my 710's. and.... axis. once you've used the axis, all other locks are rendered obsolete. IMHO.
 
I like the 710 a lot but the g10 handles feel like plastic and are slippery and the ridges on the top and bottom of the handles are slippery too. Spyderco does it right and the Military has awesome grippy g10 as well as good jimping. I've also gone through 2 BM710 knives that had a lot of blade play and when I tightened it the blade play came back after a couple of flicks. The third one I got is perfectly fine though. You can't go wrong with either knife though, I own both. Just throwing in a couple differences.

The axis lock is very good and I think everyone should own at least one knife with the axis lock but it isn't necessarily better than the linerlock on the Military.
 
If you can wait that long, there is a CPM M4 Benchmade 806 AFCK in the works.

I had a BG-42 CF Milie, but sold it because I would always choose to carry my S30V AFCK instead. I no longer buy liner locks.
That said, I prefer thumbstuds and generally carry a Ritter Grip or 710 rather than my AFCK.


806 Pros
Axis lock
Steel liners in the handle
Blade shape
It a classic and you do not own a Benchmade yet
Thumb hole (that is your favorite)
CPM M4 blade (even better than S30V?)

806 Cons
.. ummm
 
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bammann45 said:
My CF BG42 milli is by far my favorite pocket knife.
Click to expand...

Gotta go with Bammann45 here.

I find that the millie doesn't have any special traits (no axis lock, no fancy steel, no fancy handle, etc.), but it's one of my favorite EDC. I have a lot of Benchmades, customs in my EDC rotation, but my BG42 millie has the most usage-hours. Very light, you can hardly feel it in your pocket and the blade is large enough for regular cutting chores.

I just did the spine whack test just now, and contrary with come of my Benchmades (axis-lock), it passed with flying colors.
 
Stop whacking the spine and just use the thing... In all my years of carrying liner locks I have never had one 'fail' on me. If you're really worried about faulty locking folders, carry a fixed blade.

The Millie is a classic, hands down. But so is the 710.

Personally, I think S30V is a superior steel, so I would go Millie.

However, a lot comes down to ergonomics and how the knife feels in your hand. So try to handle both knives before making a final decision.
 
Assuming comparing both version with D2 steel...

Millie's unfortunately more expensive and it's a liner lock (albeit a good one). However it's got a good handle and good cutting blade profile.

710's got an Axis lock and thick liners. Mine looks/feel/cuts well.

Me I choose the 710 due to the price compared to the d2 mille.
 
I'd go with the 710 in 154cm or D-2! But, you wont be sorry either way you choose.,,,VWB.
 
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