8 Years of the Spyderco Military

[Sal Glesser]

Thanx much for the insightful historical review.

The Millie is still my daily carry on the mountain.

SOOOOoooooo.....

If you were going to "design" the perfect Military, what would you do?

Yeah, M2, I know. That we can do. What else?

sal

 

[Lycosa]

Do?? It's been done. Sal, just offer more colors to keep the knuts busy.

 

[batosai117]

Thanx much for the insightful historical review.

The Millie is still my daily carry on the mountain.

SOOOOoooooo.....

If you were going to "design" the perfect Military, what would you do?

Yeah, M2, I know. That we can do. What else?

sal

For us salt water lovers (gulf coast) I would want an identical military but with H-1 and an orange handle That would be perfect for filleting fish, cutting line, going shark fishing on the beach, etc.....

Any takers?

 

[Reeek]

Sal,

Figure out how to make it a frame lock for a sprint run. A Millie with two Ti scales . . . uncoated, stick with a good, tried and true steel. Maybe another S90V blade. I'd be fine with Ti scales and S30V however. There are a lot of world class knives out there in Ti/S30V. Your rendition would be right up there if it were a Military.

Rick

 

[Josh K]

Thanx much for the insightful historical review.

The Millie is still my daily carry on the mountain.

SOOOOoooooo.....

If you were going to "design" the perfect Military, what would you do?

Yeah, M2, I know. That we can do. What else?

sal

Find a way to flat grind H1 and do a salt run of the Military. Use some bright yellow scales.

Frame lock with a hinder stop.

Enlarge the finger choil a bit. It seems a bit small right now.

Bring back that tank tread style jimping on the top, keep the fine on the bottom and the liner.

Make one larger. Like a super military with a 5.5" blade. Put a BBL on it using nested liners.

Runs of M4/M2, maybe some 3V.

Bring back simple carbon steels. A run of 1095 with micarta handles. Contour them to the hand (like the D'Allara). These could be clipless with a small kydex sheath or something. Even wood scales, but that would be a bit pricey and complex I would guess.

Same handle, but do a modified sheepsfoot blade. (like the D'Allara, again. )


I'm sure you've thought of all of these and more, and that most aren't reasonable for one reason or another, but that's just what's bouncing around my head at the moment.

 

[Buzzbait]

SOOOOoooooo.....

If you were going to "design" the perfect Military, what would you do?

Yeah, M2, I know. That we can do. What else?

sal

That's a tough one. The knife is so perfect as it is. I'd have to draw on other knife designs, to find specific features that I prefer over those on the Millie.

The titanium frame lock with opposite side G-10 scale on my Srider SNG is definitely a biggie. Light but super-strong, and still very grippy. I don't know if it would be an actual improvement in strength over the Miltary's liner lock, but it would inspire more confidence. Then again, an integral compression lock would be even cooler. If one side of titanium is a no go, just a basic compression lock like on the Para would make me happy, to be honest.

I'd also dig a stronger pivot. I always find the pivots on big Spydies to be kind of tiny. I know that I've worn out a pivot on a Delica4 rather quickly, by placing an odd lateral load on the pivot. Read that as hard whittling motions. I've never done it to a Military, but I might be inspired to exert stronger lateral forces on the Military if it had an upgraded locking method.

I sometimes wonder if the finger choil on the Millie is little bit too small. But I'd be scared of messing up the overall ergonomics. They are soooooo good just as they are.

I am personally not a huge fan of the Military's lanyard tube. A lanyard hole on a tip-down folder doesn't make much sense to be. And I've had a Military lanyard tube fall out before, when doing light hammering with the butt of the handle. Not that I should be hammering with the butt of the handle, but the lanyard tube definitely proved to be a weak spot.

I personally have a preference for the wire pocket clip, but that's just me. There are probably just as many people who prefer the Millie's current clip.

To be truthful, none of these changes would be a huge deal to me. The Military is very impressive as it is. The knife is amazingly versatile. Far more so than other knives in its size range.

 

[Buzzbait]

Sal,

Figure out how to make it a frame lock for a sprint run. A Millie with two Ti scales . . . uncoated, stick with a good, tried and true steel. Maybe another S90V blade. I'd be fine with Ti scales and S30V however. There are a lot of world class knives out there in Ti/S30V. Your rendition would be right up there if it were a Military.

Rick

Titanium on both scales? That wouldn't be for me. I'm too hard on my Millie's for titanium scales. The first time I slid the Millie across the garage floor I'd have some nasty burr in the handle. At least one G-10 scale would would leave options. My only dual titanium scale knife is my BG-42 Sebenza. A very nice knife, but dual-titanium liners are far too slippery for serious outdoor use. That's kind of the opposite of what the Military is renowned for.

 

[Josh K]

Titanium on both scales? That wouldn't be for me. I'm too hard on my Millie's for titanium scales. The first time I slid the Millie across the garage floor I'd have some nasty burr in the handle. At least one G-10 scale would would leave options. My only dual titanium scale knife is my BG-42 Sebenza. A very nice knife, but dual-titanium liners are far too slippery for serious outdoor use. That's kind of the opposite of what the Military is renowned for.

Dual Ti slabs would be a bit slippery. Kinda like SS. Maybe if you textured them a bit? I know a lot of people have taken their SS Byrds and cut hash marks into them with good success.

I'd love to see a "gentleman" military. Kinda against the ideas of the initial design, but a simple carbon blade, with some wood slabs or even micarta, would be really nice.

Someone mentioned beefing up the pivot, and that's a good idea. Integral Compression lock is too. :thumbup:

 

[These_Nutz]

S30V isnt that brittle if HT is right its the toughest stainless there is.
Its tougher than D2 for example which is tool steel.

 

[Sal Glesser]

Hi Rick,

We're working on a Titan Miliary now. We have a concept model with dual ti scales. Maybe we'll need to make both options; Ti/Ti & Ti/G-10 (color on the G-10?).

H1 gets very challenging. Too many steel parts that would have to be converted to a non rusting materials.

Josh, we used a "Hinderer stop" on our ATR long before it was called a "Hinderer stop". We put it on the inside of the scale to stop over extending the integral compression lock.

We've gone to larger deeper finger choils on our more modern designs. I have considered that for the Military?

a 4 way clip would be a must on a new model. It would have to be a steel "hourglass" clip. The wire tip down is very challenging at this time. Long term tough use is harder than it looks.

If I had my "druthers", I'd have a Walker Linerlock version, a caged ball lock version and a compression lock version, but that's a lot of engineering, tooling and inventory for a model. We're doing that with the Sage and that's a tough project in itself.

sal

 

[Franco G]

Sal, it is difficult for me to imagine a better quality knife than my BG-42 CF Millie.

Improvements:

- essentially, only one thing: a lock. In spite of the fact that Millie's liner lock is a very good design, quality and F&F, I would prefer a compression lock. It would still be easy to clean in woods, and would bring much more strength and security. But, a compression lock should be durable - a blade play after some use is a big NO, NO.

- alternatively, an integral compression lock - if with a Titanium scale then only if you intend to heat treat a titanium at the edge which is in contact with a blade tang - like Titanium is HT in Sebenza. Otherwise, non-HT Titanium would wear fast.

- steels: Why not M2 (or CPM M4)? - S90V and BG-42 are velcome too. Since BG-42 is difficult to get I would suggest M2(M4) and S90V for a Millie and a new large Manix, respectively. I would avoid CF for both - both knives are for heavy duty - G10 is probably the best choice there.

- a larger deeper finger choil,

Franco

 

[Josh K]

Hi Rick,

We're working on a Titan Miliary now. We have a concept model with dual ti scales. Maybe we'll need to make both options; Ti/Ti & Ti/G-10 (color on the G-10?).

H1 gets very challenging. Too many steel parts that would have to be converted to a non rusting materials.

Josh, we used a "Hinderer stop" on our ATR long before it was called a "Hinderer stop". We put it on the inside of the scale to stop over extending the integral compression lock.

We've gone to larger deeper finger choils on our more modern designs. I have considered that for the Military?

a 4 way clip would be a must on a new model. It would have to be a steel "hourglass" clip. The wire tip down is very challenging at this time. Long term tough use is harder than it looks.

If I had my "druthers", I'd have a Walker Linerlock version, a caged ball lock version and a compression lock version, but that's a lot of engineering, tooling and inventory for a model. We're doing that with the Sage and that's a tough project in itself.

sal

I'm sorry, but I love the current clip. It's curved and deep. Sets it just right in my pocket.

4-way would make a lot of people happy though.

I really like the choil on the Caly3 and UKPK. It just feels a bit small on my military.

On a side note, it really makes me proud to own when I see a company taking such pains to satisfy their end users. Makes me wish more companies were like Spyderco, and no, not just knife ones.

 

[Buzzbait]

We're working on a Titan Miliary now. We have a concept model with dual ti scales. Maybe we'll need to make both options; Ti/Ti & Ti/G-10 (color on the G-10?).

Interesting. Is the dual TI slippery like other Ti folders? I used my Sebenza a few times for cleaning fish, but the Ti got very slippery very quickly with wet hands. I'm sure the fish slime didn't help.

I much prefer one G-10 scale. It works extraordinarily well. As for color, it doesn't matter much to me. I like black, foliage green, orange and even yellow.

Josh, we used a "Hinderer stop" on our ATR long before it was called a "Hinderer stop". We put it on the inside of the scale to stop over extending the integral compression lock.

Hehehehe.... You learn something new every day.

We've gone to larger deeper finger choils on our more modern designs. I have considered that for the Military?

It seems like everybody agrees that the Military finger choil is a tad small. It didn't used to feel that way, but newer folder designs with larger finger choils seems to make the issue kind of stand out.

a 4 way clip would be a must on a new model. It would have to be a steel "hourglass" clip. The wire tip down is very challenging at this time. Long term tough use is harder than it looks.

4-way clip is awesome!!!! No biggie on the clip type. I'll live.

If I had my "druthers", I'd have a Walker Linerlock version, a caged ball lock version and a compression lock version, but that's a lot of engineering, tooling and inventory for a model. We're doing that with the Sage and that's a tough project in itself.

The Ti frame lock version is great start!!!

 

[gull wing]

Great review and pictures, Buzzbait.
Yes the Military is a winner(like linerlocks), I wish I had bigger hands, my hand gets lost on it.

 

[gull wing]

Oh, Buzzbait do you have a picture of your convexed edge?

 

[Buzzbait]

Oh, Buzzbait do you have a picture of your convexed edge?

I originally did the convex edge on my old 440V Military, which was given away to an LEO friend of mine. He snapped the tip twice , so I reprofiled the blade twice. I haven't seen that knife in years, since the officer left the local police force and entered state trooper training.

But as luck would have it, I convexed the edge of an Endura4 and the edge of my old S30V Military this morning. I'll try to snap some picks of them tomorrow. I did mostly just the edge shoulders on the Military. I severely thinned and convexed the Endura4.

I may go even further on the Endura. The Endura4 is so thick, you can really convex a long way up the blade, without loosing much blade strength. By the time I'm done, I may buy a G-10 Endura and do a blade swap. A half-convex grind with G-10 lockback would make for a super-cool "ultimate outdoor folder".

 

[gull wing]

thanks buzz

 

[sodak]

If you were going to "design" the perfect Military, what would you do?

Yeah, M2, I know. That we can do. What else?

sal

If you do M2, please keep it as close to 65 HRC as you dare. Almost unbeatable when at a high hardness. Otherwise, I'd also love VG10, 3V, M4, ZDP... The 4 way clip is great, I don't care about color, G10 sounds good also!

 

[kamagong]

Here are some pics I took of the convex edge on my S30V Military. Sorry for the quality, but it's not easy taking good pictures of a blade's edge.

 

[tenman]

Thanks for the timely review, enjoy learning some of the details and history. Just traded for my first Millie, older one in 440v. I really like it, blade has a lot more belly than I realized- and it's very, very sharp! Seems fairly light, but given what has been reported and reviewed it is no doubt stronger than it seems.

Really like that Mule in CPM-M4, how about a Millie in M4?