Advise needed on first Military purchase

R

rbc

Joined
Dec 20, 2005
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43
I would like to request for advise on my first Military Purchase.

I plan to get a Military for Christmas:
My question is, should I get plain edge or combo edge?

My other knives are:
Salt I: Plain Edge
NAvigator II: Plain Edge
Delica III: Combo edge
BM Griptilian(Oops): Plain Edge

Main uses for the knives:
All around household work
for example:
- cutting card board and packages
- cutting zip ties and various sized wires
- food prep (on weekends)

I want a bigger folder because, there are times that I find the blades on my current line up of knives just a bit to short.
Occasionally, I also want a longer knife for some fieldwork in the garden and in the farm( e.g. cutting 1 inch rope (manila hemp and nylon ropes), chopping wood, opening coconuts, watermelon and other fruits, etc.)

I could get a longer blade also by getting an Endura but I want to try a different metal (S30V) and a Flat Grind.

What edge on the Millie do you think would be more useful to me?

thanks in advance,
Bird
 
I think its safe to say that most people on the forums prefer plain edge: easier to sharpen & can handle the majority of everyday cutting tasks... that being said, there is something about a spyder edge when it slices through cardboard thats impressive. My spydies are either spyderedge or plain. Go with the plain edge...
 
plain edge

and don't chop wood with it, that's for fixed blades

when you get to handle one in a shop, inspect for unwanted vertical blade play and a proper engaging of the linerlock on the tang
 
Have you considered the BG42 sprint run military. Some like it better, some like S30V. They both are darn good, but I give the edge to the Bg42 version. ( only my opinion, I have no proof NG42 is better than S30V. I just prefer it)I'm not sure if the newest S30 models have the advancements like better jimping, and second liner. I heard they do. There's no telling if you would be getting a new or old one though. The BG42 millie is one of the best all around knives I've ever had. Good luck, Joe
 
Plain edge is better, IMO. Almost all of my knives are plain edge. I wouldn't dream of using a Military to open a coconut. I guarantee you'll either break the tip and/or hurt yourself in the process. The proper tool for opening a coconut is either a machete or a hammer. When I open coconut, I usually drill a hole to get out the milk and then take it outside and either use a hammer and chisel, or simply smash it with the hammer.

A Millie is pretty useless for chopping wood. It's way too light, too short and too expensive!

For the other uses you mention, cutting cardboard, zip-ties, food prep etc, the Millie is an excellent choice.
 
i say combo edge cause you still get 2.5 inches easy of "plane edge knife"
you ll love how the SE part will rip up rope trust me on this one i have had all 3 types
SE ats34 back in the day
CE s30v and PE carbonfiber in s30v now
 
The Military is my favorate Spyderco and at one time or another I have had all flavors of them.If you keep your knives sharp the SE part of the blade doesn't help that much except on very few things like hard plastic straps,seatbelts or other things that have a hard smooth surface.
If you do run into things like this a good bit the Military is the best knife I have seen yet in a CE blade.The blade is long enough for both edges to be useful.
If you decide to go PE the best Military I have seen yet is the BG42 CF model.
 
Thank to those who replied.

Yup, after thinking about it, chopping wood is not an ideal job for the Millie.

As for opening coconuts, my griptilian easy cuts through young coconuts(where the cocomeat and cocoshell are still tender) with no problems. I don't know if I want to find out if the military can take on the coconut myself.


I tried handling one in the shop near my place of work. Only one stock available that is already in display. It is in combo edge. no horizontal and vertical blade play. Looks and feels very substantial in my hands. IT is definitely bigger than my other knives.
I'll wait over the weekend and try other shops.
 
Joe,

lock engages good and gives off a very positive sound when it engages. I could not tell if it is a new or an old model Military. It's blade is S30V.

thanks for the inputs
 
"chopping wood, opening coconuts"

I have a suggestion, get a Manix. I have two, a PE and a CE and they are stronger than the Military.

I am a fan of CE unlike some knife knuts. I strongly prefer a CE on any "work" knife. I have decided that all my work knifes (as opposed to when I am hanging around the house or not at work) are going to have CE. I tend to run into a wide range of materials that I need to cut and the SE part of the blade has never been a bad thing to have. It is great when you just have to rip through something that would take more effort with a PE.

As a work knife, the PE is not as sharp as it should be all the time. I try to keep my work knives sharp but sometimes they get dull and I don't have the time to sharpen them. In those cases, the CE really helps me out.

I actually like SE, CE and PE but for different uses. If I had to have only one knife, it would be something like a CE Endura with a flat ground blade. I carry a non-Spyderco knife at work because it fills the roll better than any SPyderco I have found yet. I carry a BM 921 Switchback in CE and I love it.
 
I bought my first Military about two weeks ago. It is CF BG42. Very, very nice knife with very nice steel. It is more expensive than standard Milly, but much nicer and lately you can get a really good deal. I saw couple of them sold for about $120 on the auction, I wish I paid that much.
Very good fit and finish. Made in Golden.
 
eug2120 said:
plain edge: easier to sharpen
Click to expand...
Not true. With the proper sharpener (Spyderco Sharpmaker) it's just as easy.

mnblade said:
Actually, that's for an ax or saw.
Click to expand...
Nope, I have fixed blades that chop better than any axe I've seen.

That being said, the Military is not what I would find ideal for your applications. Just get a Manix. I have much more faith in that knive's heavy duty performance.
 
I will also consider a Manix, it is Christmas Season after all.

thanks,
Bird
 
J85909266 said:
Not true. With the proper sharpener (Spyderco Sharpmaker) it's just as easy.


Nope, I have fixed blades that chop better than any axe I've seen.

That being said, the Military is not what I would find ideal for your applications. Just get a Manix. I have much more faith in that knive's heavy duty performance.
Click to expand...

even with a sharpmaker, a plain edge is always easier and faster to sharpen than a serrated edge :D

yep, some fixed blades chop wood very well (eg. heavy 7" blade, blade-heavy). although a proper axe will outchop a fixed blade ALWAYS. just make sure to get a felling-axe, not a splitting-axe, those are dull and meant to splice firewood. felling-axes have acute sharp edges that chop like crazy. i can chop down a 10" thick tree with an Estwing 24 within 4 minutes :D . and forget saws, really! it takes quite longer than chopping and it's a waste of energy. sawing is only good for accurate woodworking, but it's slow. chopping is fast, but it can be somewhat rough and random and not so exact as sawing......

manix VS military, the old standoff again. let me just say this: don't underestimate the military's strength and heavy duty performance, because it def. does have that. the knife may not look nor feel like it's heavy duty, but somehow magically, they engineered that lightweight mili so perfectly it's amazingly strong. try one and see the abuse it can handle (just be careful with the tip though :D ........)
 
I went to a Gun / Defense show here and bought a Military at a discounted price.

Military is printed on the Blade, blade material is CPM S30V, G10 Scales. The box says "C36GPSE".
I know that it is not the latest version of the Military as it takes years to move/sell some items here in our place.
Does anyone have an idea around what years this variant of the Military was produced?
 
rbc said:
Military is printed on the Blade, blade material is CPM S30V, G10 Scales. The box says "C36GPSE".
I know that it is not the latest version of the Military Does anyone have an idea around what years this variant of the Military was produced?
Click to expand...

let's see...a combo-edge s30v specimen with military still printed on the blade......; i'd say it's a 2004'er......give or take a few months.
 
Dennis,

thanks for the info on the yearmake of my Military. Yes, it's now my Military.

Thanks to everyone who put in all your inputs prior to my purchase. I practically went through a threads that had a military in the title and I was convinced that it was a knife to have for me.

Although I was a bit short on cash so I had to sell my used Delica 3 and never been used Salt I to cover some of the cost of my Military.

I was able to immediately test what it can do over the weekend. I had a minor construction work being done in my house. So I was able to use it on gauge 16 stranded wires with no problems. The relatively bigger handle was very easy to work with. And yes, it was light for its size ( you tend to forget its in the pocket).

However, i'm a bit uncomfortable to bring it out of the house. It just too big for some of my friends. My delica did not get a second look from anyone even though I was able to use it for about a year. The Military got noticed by a friend when I whipped it out to open a box on its first weekend with me. I guess it is not really meant for that but I usually carry only one blade at a time.

But so far so good, it was sharp out of the box. No blade play so far and I expect that it will remain than way. Opening was smooth versus the other spydercos that I have/had. IT was not as smooth as the BM Grip though. But as I've read in the other threads, there is some breaking in that will happen and it will smoothen out after some use.

So for the time being, it'll be the Military in the house and in the Farm. But for everywhere else, the Nav2 will have to come out of the box do some EDC time.
 
good to hear you're pleased with your newly acquired mili rdc!

trust me, the more you use it, the more you'll be thrilled with the whole knife as being nearly the grail knife of EDC's.

by the way, ifyou ever get horizontal bladeplay > loosen the pivot, use thread-lock on the screw, screw the pivot back tight, but not too tight. and check if the tightness-setting is enough to prevent bladeplay, but not too tight it becomes stiff to open. then if you're satisfied with the new setting, let your knife lay still for half a day to let the thread-lock dry. trust me, after that, you'll never get horizontal bladepllay anymore, ever......

congrats on a wise purchase and enjoy the thing! :thumbup: :D
 
Thanks,
Two weeks with me and the knife just continues to impress me.

Again, this is my first flat grind so my relative experience with the other grinds might be giving me a different perspective.

It's a joy to use around the house. zip ties, hard plastics, cardboard, thin branches, roots, etc. It cuts with very little effort needed.

When should I start touching up the blade on the Sharpmaker?
If I only use it on light duty, can I just run it by the flat side of the fine stone of sharpmaker?

Is it advisable to use steel to roll up the edge from time to time?
 
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