How robust is the BG-42 Military?

Macchina

Macchina

Joined
Apr 7, 2006
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I really like the design of the Spyderco Military, but shy away from knives without liners and with liner/frame locks (I've never owned a decent one until my Subcom, and now I see why people like em). Now the carbon fiber BG-42 one comes out, and my intrest is sparked! Carbon fiber is more rigid than G-10 (I believe), and this model has a second nested liner, Bingo! I EDC a full size Manix right now, and love the knife, but am looking for something a little more pocketable. Would you consider the BG-42 Military to be a stronger knife than the G-10 model. I plan on using it for EDC, hiking, and hunting chores. What is your opinion, is the steel and carbon fiber worth the extra $50? I've been trying to trade for one for a while, but no biters yet:grumpy: .
 
michaelmcgo said:
is the steel and carbon fiber worth the extra $50?
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Yup, but not because it is stronger. I don't have the G-10 model. I have other G-10 models but non of the linerless ones (only Manix, Lil'T, etc), but quite frankly, I find even the FRN models plenty strong. The reason, why the CF Mili is worth every penny IMHO, is because it is simple an extremely well made knife. End of story. Lockup is rock solid and the knife has a good substantial feel to it. I did grab the blade with protection and torqued the handle to see whether I could make it fold up (it is my first liner lock, so I wanted to make sure) and the lock bar didn't move a fraction of an inch. I can barely deform the handle at all. It is definitely very stiff, whether it is much stiffer than G-10 I can not say from personal experience, but many people say so. There is very little difference between the amount that I can bend the scales of a Manix and the CF Mili by pushing on the sides. Both move a little bit, but not much.

Again, IMHO and in the uses I put my knives through, the BG-42 turned out to be the best edge holder I have used so far. Of course I don't thin my blades out below about 12 deg. per side, so sofar I have not seen any problems with S30V (actually just crash the edge of my Manix with substantial force into some rebar, accidentally of course, which positively flattened a portion of the edge, but I didn't see any behavior that I wouldn't have expected such as undue chipping) so I would have ranked S30V or ZDP-189 as best edge holder before I got the CF Mili.

More pocketable......mmmh, I don't know about that. The Mili is lighter, slightly slimmer and not as wide, but it is quite a bit longer in the handle.

Bottom line is, that regardless of performance and certain annoying quirks (such as righhand tip down only and the plastic backspacer) it has truely captured my heart.
 
I don't have the G-10 Military, but the CF is considerably stiffer and stronger than the G-10 on my Paramilitary. The BG-42 seems to hold an edge quite well, and has been a breeze to get razor sharp. Note that HoB said he could flex the Manix and CF Military about the same amount. That means the partially lined carbon fiber handle of the Mili is about as strong as the fully lined G-10 of the Manix. I must be a wimp, because by hand pressure I can flex them exactly to same amount - zero :D

I think the BGCF Military is worth the price. :thumbup:
 
If you want a robust knife, get a fixed blade. I appreciate the attributes of the Military. It is a sturdy blade, but I still treat it like a folding knife (expect that it could fail)
 
Plenty robust, unless you're Kleft Stump. :D

The BG42 Military has become my favorite factory folder ever.
 
In my opinion, the BG42 CF military is worth every penny that I paid.

And that knife is not a collector's item sitting in a safe, it is used, and used hard.
 
Well, my suspisions have been proven true: I need to get one! Now if any of you guys would like to part with yours, I'd be happy to trade it off your hands. After all, I've heard that it is a crappy knife that is not very robust. Hob claims he can bend it with his bare fingers! Do not trust this piece of junk, I am certified to safetly dispose of it;) !
 
For what it's worth....several years ago, while the Ontario/RAT line of knives were still in the developmental stage, I remember a knife review section on the Randall Adventure Training website. The team would take knives down into the jungles of Peru, use them in all kinds of rigorous applications, that I doubt most of us could even contemplate, and evaluate their performance thoroughly. One of the knives they reviewed was an "older" Military model with the single steel nested liner and CMP-440V blade. They ABSOLUTEY beat the "snot" out of it.....batoned wood, built traps, and skinned cayman ....amoung other tasks. The knife performed flawlessly, as I recall, never skipping a beat. I was very impressed to say the least. And, after reading the review, as I had an extended wilderness canoe trip scheduled, I promptly went out and bought the Military for the upcoming adventure. While the rigors of my seven day trip paled in comparison to the Randall Adventure Training experience....I discovered everything that Randall said about the Spyderco Military was spot on.

There were some knives evaluated by the Randall team that did not fare so well.......however, the other knives that performed excetionally, like the Spyderco Military, were the Al Mar SERE ( no surprise there ! ) and the Junglee drop point fixed blade. Pity Jeff Randall removed the evauations........understandably, once the RAT line evolved into production......... because the testing made for a rip roarin' read for the "arm-chair" adventurer such as my-self !

-regards
 
a bg42 mili was my first spyderco. otherwise only bm folders thus far.

although i really have a strong preference for "axis type" locks, and borderline hate liners, i absolutely love this knife.

the bg42 has thus far been a great steel for me also. holds an edge as well as m2, doesn't readily rust, slices like a freakin dream with spyderco's grind, and sharpens so easily it feels unreal. despite having chipped every other steel i have used, and using the spydie to wack knots off a stick=> lame samuri sword i made, not a nick in site (under 15x magnification).

again, the liner lock is a flat out crying shame on this knife, but it was executed as well as a liner can be, and thus far hasn't given me any problems. of course this is my "slicer", my 710 hssr is still my go to knife for slightly tuffer work given the thinness of the militaries tip...
ryan
 
I just bought the Military with BG-42. It is one of the best knives I've ever owned. Spyderco says "The handle scales are G-10 with the lock's liner nested (inlayed) directly into the scale, pumping up lock strength without the addition of bulky liners."

This knife is so great I just ordered the Manix with the CPM-S30V blade for a secondary hunting knife. I think Spyderco will be in my collection for a long time. MV out!

EDIT- I liked the military so much I sent one each to my two kids in Iraq with the Spyderco 204MF sharpener. These guys give me great service: http://www.knifesite.com/
 
CF BG42 Military has metal liners hidden in CF scales. This is what differs it from G10 Military as well as CF CPM S30V Military. Similar to Griptilian or Rat Trap.

So it i smore complex then other Militaryes and bit heavier.

CF BG42 - 4.04 oz/114.8 g
CF S30V - 3.93 oz/111.6 g
G10 S60V - 3.97 oz/112.6 g (old)

Combination of BG42 with steel liner cost additional $50, for sure, also this is limited edition, CF or G10 does not really matter - there is not too much of them on a scales anyway to notice difference (see - 1g between CPM G10 and CPM CF), but there are no G10 Military with hidden liners. BG42 has better-finer edge then CPM S30V and also heat treated to better hardness. Sal sad that it shows best performance on his CATRA test among non PM steels.

I think you should get one while it is still awailable.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Well, I have to take back what I said, I am at home playing with both the Manix and the CF Mili, and can bend/push-together the scales of the CF Mili actually LESS than those of the Manix...I must say, I am surprised. As a comparison, I can pretty easily push the scales of a Pacific Salt so that they touch.
 
HoB said:
I am at home playing with both the Manix and the CF Mili, and can bend/push-together the scales of the CF Mili actually LESS than those of the Manix...I must say, I am surprised. As a comparison, I can pretty easily push the scales of a Pacific Salt so that they touch.
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You really play hob with your knives, don't you? :cool:
 
HoB said:
Well, I have to take back what I said, I am at home playing with both the Manix and the CF Mili, and can bend/push-together the scales of the CF Mili actually LESS than those of the Manix...I must say, I am surprised. As a comparison, I can pretty easily push the scales of a Pacific Salt so that they touch.
Click to expand...

I just did same experiment - exactely even Manix has full metal liners I was able to bend scales more then for CF. But CF BG-42 is almost unbendable for me, then it is G10 without liners, then CF without liners (CPM S30V) and then Manix - most "bendable". What is interesting - Manix handle not much wider then Military handle. I guess it is more bendable because back-lock which lefts less space for spacer.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Each person has to make their own judgement. I happen to think it was worth it. I really like the feel of the carbon fiber over G-10, the extra steel liner, handle stiffness and the BG-42 is a wonderful steel. To me, it's an awesome knife. In the top 10 of all production knives ever made.

By the way, New Graham has them on sale so it's only a $42 difference.

Regards
 
almost forgot... i was also a bit leary about "carbon fiber" handles. even with different texture i knew this would be a user. never the less i took a chance and feel confident in saying it has not been an issue. i have dropped mine on hard surfaces multiple times and not a single ding or scratch in the handle. i was worried the first couple times but now i don't even bother to look.
ryan
 
It's been my EDC for a couple of months and has displaced every other knife I used to carry. It excels at everything a knife should do: pure cutting efficiency, ease of carry, well balanced, superb self-defense capability, open-back design for easy cleaning and disassembly, etc. It's IMHO one of the most high-performance production knives currently available.

For those reading this and are worried about liner locks in general, the liner lock on the Military, from an engineering standpoint, is very cleverly designed. There are some great threads on the Spyderco company forums about lock pros & cons and lock strength, where Sal goes into specifics, along with other well respected members of the knife community. With the second nested liner and rigid-as-hell carbon fiber handles, make no mistake...this is a hard use knife.

The BG-42 received a top-notch heat treatment. It's hardened to 61 RC (per Sal) and holds an edge for an incredible amount of time...and the best part? Super easy to keep scary sharp (corners of Sharpmaker white stones or a light stropping will do the trick). I've opened metal cans of soup with no ill effects, cut hard plastics and other nasty stuff, but received a small chip after taking down some 12-pack cardboard boxes when I first received the knife. :confused: No chips since then, though. The $42 difference (get it from New Graham) is well-worth it; you WIL NOT be disappointed.
 
05dr said:
almost forgot... i was also a bit leary about "carbon fiber" handles. even with different texture i knew this would be a user. never the less i took a chance and feel confident in saying it has not been an issue. i have dropped mine on hard surfaces multiple times and not a single ding or scratch in the handle. i was worried the first couple times but now i don't even bother to look.
ryan
Click to expand...

The carbon fiber and G10 are laminates, fibers held in place by epoxy.
When you drop the knife, the fiber has no affect on whether it cracks or not. You are impacting the resin holding the fibers, not the fibers themselves. So there is no reason for the carbon fiber handles to be more prone to breakage. It just depends on what epoxy was used.
 
all right

i understand



HELP...WE ARE OVERSTOCKED...ON SALE NOW....

if new graham needs help, how can i say no?
 
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