i bought 3 knives in the last week

M

mosquitojoyride

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Jun 20, 2005
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a spyderco native s30v black coated blade serrated, spyderco calypso jr PE, and a bm 556 olive drab semi serrated.

of the three, i have to say the caly is my favorite. the handle is awesome, feels great in the hand. it is also very easy to open, as opposed to the native. the hole on the native feels too edgy, whereas the caly isn't (more smooth?). i feel like also the coating the the native's blade provides more friction in the pivot, but i can't verify this (anyone know?) i also like where my index finger and thumb goes on the caly, as opposed to both the mini grip and the native. the mini grip's handle is ok, but i feel it's too small. perhaps the grip will have a better grip for me.

of the three, i also have to say the caly's vg10 is already my favorite steel (although i have'nt done any heavy cutting). i'm not sure about s30v, but this is probably because it is black coated. i hate the feel of its steel. i also can't really say why i like the vg10 steel over bm's 440c, but it might be cause it's plain edge. i realize that i dont' really like serrated as cool as it looks, or have a real use for it.

that said, i want a knife with a bigger blade. if the caly was bigger in blade and handle, it would be perfect. how does it compare to the delica/endura in feel? is it harder or easier to open? if there isn't one better than the caly, i will probbaly keep the caly. i also love the mini grip's axis lock. very cool.

in the end, i want two knives. a bigger version of the caly from spyderco. and a benchmade with axis lock that is plain edge, and better steel than 440c. and perhaps a g10 handle (i want to feel like i can keep it for eternity as opposed to plastic)? can anyone recommend something for me? i'm currently looking into the delica, endura, manix, military/paramilitary, bm 710, griptilian, and bm 940. anyone receommending anything esle?

sorry for the long post, any input would be helpful.
 
The Manix is also a similar blade shape to the Calypso, full flat grind, and it's in S30v plain edge with no coating, G10 handle. I just got one and love it. It's a very BIG knife. As for something from Benchmade, what about a 710 with the M2 steel, or an 806D2 AFCK? You can get both of those in plain edge, and they have G10 handles.
 
There will be an 80mm version of the manix coming out soon. I am really anticipating this.

I love my paramilitary. It cuts almost as well as the calypso jr and is a great knife. Very similar handle design. If you want to go big, the manix is an awesome knife. It is heavier though, because of the liners. (the para and mil have liners, but they are not full liners and are thinner). The military is nice too, its a bit more "delicate" feeling than the manix but it is longer.

I have handle the endura and while its nice, ti doesnt feel much like the calypso.

I had decided on the benchmade 710HS (m2) but then ended up with a 940 isntead, feeling in person, and realistically considering my EDC contributed to this. The 940 is long and skinny.

IMO spyderco has nicer g10, but nothing about the 710 I handled felt bad, it just was not as grippy. Also the 710 HS comes with only black coating, as it is not totally stainless. However it is a much better steel for edge retention.

I hope this helps.
 
mosquitojoyride said:
i bought 3 knives in the last week
Click to expand...
Is that all? :cool:

M2 is not even remotely a stainless steel. It has a bit of chromium, but only about 4%, compared to the 14% that most premium stees (S30V, VG-10, 154CM) have. That's why Benchmade always coats it. Wipe the edge off on your pant leg or a paper towel anytime you get it wet, and you should be fine. The upside of M2 (as Benchmade uses it) is that it it's a bit harder (without being brittle) than most other steels, very fine grained (can take a razor sharp polished edge), and very tough. I just got a 710HS myself, and I'm loving it.

The 154CM 710 is also an excellent knife. Benchmade works serious magic on their 154CM.

The Military/Paramilitary/Manix are all excellent knives, and so is the S30V steel.

As for S30V vs. VG-10, I'm rather torn. S30V will hold an edge longer, but can be difficult to bring back to its original sharpness. VG-10 however gets extremely sharp, and easier, but has slightly less edge retention. Corrosion resistance is about the same.

Spyderco is coming out with some new knives that might fit your bill well. There's a mini-Manix as mentioned above, and there's also a new Calypso Jr with a laminated ZPD-189 blade (65-67Rc core).

Don't forget that there's some higher-class versions of the Griptilians. Cabella's offers Grips in D2 steel, a very hard semi-stainless (12% Cr) tool steel, and there's the Doug Ritter RSK, a Grip in S30V.
 
The Military is similar to the large Calypso in many ways. It's light, long and thin. The blade is flat ground, like the Calypso's, and the ergos are comparable.

If you can't find a plain-edge large Calypso anywhere (which, unfortunately, will probably be the case) then you might want to try the Millie. I think it's a better design anyway.
 
just got back from the knife store. i looked at the delica, endura,military, paramiltary, and the native s30v.

first off, i had many problems opening the endura and the delica, harder than the problems i had with the native.however, the endura handle feels great in the hand.

the paramiltary and miltary were a lot easier to open. i love the handle on the miltary, but it's way too big for and EDC, i think they an shave an inch off. i hate the lock though. the paramiltary also had a good handle, but was a little, not ergonomically correct for me. the compression lock is to die for! it was also very easy to open one handed with the thumb hole. that being said, i disliked the blade shape on both knives.

the native s30v didn't seem as hard to open as the native s30v black blade, but it was still difficult compared to the military and paramiltary.

i liked the benchmade that looked like the miltary, a lot easier to open, but the blade seemed too thin (from side view).

i've made my mind to sell the native, and perhaps also the caly if the knew spydie knives can top it.
 
that little calypso is a laser - sharpest I've seen out of the box. I agree - I'd like it to be a smidge larger just to fit my hand.
 
You haven't got your 3 little "gifts" for a week and your already deciding what to buy next as to improve on now present collection!! :D :D BTW BM's 440C is very good indeed and you should be happy with it.Good luck and go easy friend.hahaha :)As an aside, I've been looking for a Spyderco Calypso or is it the Calypso Jr.?-for a while(love the blade shape/handle /good steel )I've searched on 'net/Spyderco sit -no luck yet- is it a common catalog item/or a limited run?Thanks
 
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