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endura for a soldier

M

msierant

Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
180
greetings all,
my daughter wants to send her friend in Kuwait an Endura for an xmas present. I gave my nephew a Military before his Afghanistan tour and it served him more than well. anyway, would think the Endura would fit his needs as well but at a lesser cost. any experience or thoughts from the Forum would be appreciated. all we had, when I was in were buck 110's and some inferior quality straights. thanks and best regards to all.
mike
 
A folder isn't a combat fighting knife. I think any Spyderco would stand up to rigorous use in any tough job. The Endura the good steel. I think it'll work great.
 
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Never owned an Endura but heard plenty of good things. Also, I've never owned a Resilience, but if the fit and finish is anything like my Tenacious was, it could be another good option. You also have another .5" of blade on the Resilience. It may come down to her friend's preference of G10 vs. FRN handle or liner lock vs. lock back.
 
I think the Endura would be excellent. It certainly would be more usable as an everyday 'slicer' than a combat bowie.


I too have a solider who is redeploying soon and I was asking him about the kind of knife he carried. Surprise - he didn't. "No need. Got my M4, M9, and Leatherman Wave." Later he said it might be nice to have one but he didn't know what to get. No worries, let *me* take care it.

I actually got him 2 to choose from - a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 and a Benchmade Mini-RSK MK1 in M390.

Then I'll keep whichever he doesn't want. My only concern - what if he wants them both?! ;)
 
The endura was the knife I kept on my kit at all times while deployed or at field training. I had the standard vg-10 black FRN handle combo edge and worked beautifully. It was one of two folding knives I had on me. The other was a SOCFK-B Emerson, excellent boat knife, BTW.

For the money and quality you get, the Endura is exceptionally well suited to military life. "Combat Knife" gets thrown around an awful lot, but, truth be told the fixed blade "Combat knife" is more than likely going to be left in garrison. A folding knife is far more useful and, with it's redesigned tip, the endura is strong and light.
 
On the customs form don't list "knife". If you do, he'll never see it.

Call it "shaving supplies" or something else.
 
Lockbacks can be difficult to use with thick gloves. Also the military has a bigger hole. Just get him the military. But don't buy it off the bay.
 
Mike- Get a Pacific Salt, serrated. This folder is a cutting machine and no rust to worry about.
rolf
 
Dano1987 said:
Lockbacks can be difficult to use with thick gloves. Also the military has a bigger hole. Just get him the military. But don't buy it off the bay.
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Hi Dano, I don't know... With gloves, the lockback button (my exp with the Police and Endura) is easy to operate. Liner lock such as in the Millie is fine too but if I had to choose what's less "difficult" it would be a lockback button where I can just press it. Millie's bigger hole is def a plus.

Lycosa'a suggestion of the Pac Salt serrated may be a good compromise. Bigger hole, one hand close capable lockback. Does an Endura 3 have a big hole like the current Pac Salt? That would even be better because of the better steel for plain edge.
 
The Endura 4s hole is plenty big for gloves, I think. The Endura is a nice knife and would do most of the knife chores a soldier need doing. As a former soldier, I would want to know where he is deployed or stationed and what his job is. If he is a medic then an Endura would be a great. If his job entails CQB, I might want the Military. Most soldiers would be served well by the Endura. However, the Paramilitary 2 is another great option. It might be a bit more difficult to unlock with gloves, but not much and it has a big hole and stronger lock. When I was in the service there were no Spydercos and all we had were Buck Knives. I did okay with those but the Spydercos would have been much better. Your daughter is on the right track, I think.
 
The Endura (mine being circa 1994-5) were nice blades. I had two (both fully serrated). I liked it because it was my first "tactical blade" (if there really is such a thing). But the tips did not hold up. And the serrations did not cut the things I needed cutting very well. (It cut the crap out of MRE's but that was about it).

Heck, I used it to clear double and sometimes triple feeds from my M60 machine gun, LOL. It did the job for sure (this sort of use is non-typical unless you happen to be a Soldier or Marine).

For the roughness of A-stan, might I recommend some other bade with a thicker tip? Now, everyone stop freaking out for a second here.......I'm not saying the Endura isn't any good. It is a very nice blade, and one I miss from time to time. I'm just saying to get the guy something with a more robust tip. Perhaps a Salt.

Oh, if the guy is not going outside the wire then get him whatever. If he is gonna be outside the wire, please for the love of Spydercos everywhere, get him something that will hold up!
 
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I think an Endura would be fine for the average soldier. I'm carrying one right now as a second knife. A Military would be a great knife too but it is bigger and a bit harder to carry depending on how he would carry it. There are numerous other Spyderco knives that could also work well.
 
I carried a stainless plain edge Endura 2 for about ten years, including on two deployments, and it's still one of my favorite general use knives (hell, now I'm gonna have to go dig it out of the knife box and start carrying it again, LOL). The Endura 4 with its beefier tip is also a great knife, and would be an awesome gift for anybody going overseas.

I sent a friend's kid one of my Endura 2 Desert Tan models, which I found at a small, out of the way knife shop, while he was in Basra with First Cav, and he got a lot of use out of it.

They're not as fancy as the higher end folders, but at their price point, they are hard to beat, and will last forever with even a modicum of care.
 
Off Topic: Mississippi Rifleman.....would that be a name taken after the MS NG?

On Topic: I wasn't suggesting the Endura cannot perform in a harsh environment, I'm just saying the tip may not hold up during extreme gross motor movement type cutting and prying as was evidence from my usage. Just my opinion though and don't really mean squat once someone's mind is already made up. :D
 
I gave my wife a non-serrated stainless bodied one. Wish I could get it back. Truthfully, any of the suggested knives above would be great.
 
At work I wear three pairs of gloves. thin cotton gloves, puncture proof armor gloves, then a pair of gripping gloves. Lockbacks with that are a pain so I always have a liner lock at work. Usually just a beater tenacious or resilience.
 
I'd say get the sabre grind Endura and not the FFG. There will be no problem with tip breaking on the former. I still like the sabre grind the best.
 
Several posters have hit on this without specifically dwelling on this, but the modern soldier will have much more capable blades (most likely anyway) on their kit or "rack" or LBE or TA50 or chest rig or deuce gear or WHATEVER the "in" term is these days... The Endura will be light enough for carry AT ALL OTHER TIMES (garrison, leave, etc.) and maybe still be a last line knife in the field.
 
IMO, if I have a friend or relative shipping out for active duty, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them a Spyderco Military and a tough fixed blade. A good friend of mine served a couple tours back in 04/05, and he carried a Gerber fixed. Though he has a bunch of Ka-Bars now.
 
David From NC said:
Several posters have hit on this without specifically dwelling on this, but the modern soldier will have much more capable blades (most likely anyway) on their kit or "rack" or LBE or TA50 or chest rig or deuce gear or WHATEVER the "in" term is these days... The Endura will be light enough for carry AT ALL OTHER TIMES (garrison, leave, etc.) and maybe still be a last line knife in the field.
Click to expand...

^This
 
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