King of Folding Workhorses

Nemo

Nemo

Joined
Oct 16, 1998
Messages
1,697
Do you still believe, like me, the C36 Military is the king of survival/tactical folding knives?

cheers,

JM
 
I agree wholeheartedly with you Nemo, for me, this knife is perfect.

I love the slim profile and lightweight design of this Spydie, as well as the flat grind of the edge and its' hefty belly that's ready for slicing and dicing. I have yet to find another to take its' place as my primary EDC. :D ;) :D
 
The Military is still my favorite working folder. A classic design and execution. One of the best folders you can buy for $100. Ask me again in five years and I'll probably still feel this way. I expect it to last awhile. After a spurt of knife buying and trying a couple years ago, I discovered that the Military ended up in my pocket most of the time. Hmmmm....
 
I should clarify my earlier post:

I prefer my Military over my Chinook because I don't need to use my folders too heavily. As a city boy, a lightweight folder serves me fine. Still, when people use words like "workhorse," "survival," and "king," this describes the Chinook in my mind.
 
I agree with TOTC; The Chinook!

I like to think of the Spyderco Chinook as a 1965 'Caddy, and the Spyderco Military as a 1970 Ford Pinto. (You can work-out the math on the weight/toughness difference.:D.).
 
I know coming up with a new knife costs a ton, but
if spyderco could use the lockback design that the chinook uses, with a drop point, clip point or spear point blade, they would really have a heavy duty general purpose knife on their hands. Not that the chinook cant do it, its just the radical blade style doesn't appeal to as many people. The new knife would not be the chinook of course, but could be given a different name. But the blade would have to be thick and strong like that of the chinook to match the awesome lock and handle slabs. Blade could be like that of the large wegner. I like the military but that blade is a slicer only. Prying with that baby will break the tip asap. Also, I am sorry but its too easy to rub your finger across the liner and release it when twisting slightly during a cut. I know you want to be able to close as well as open with one hand, but it should be recessed further and not be serrated. Maybe thats just me. Guess thats why they make fixed blades. Chinook lock and Moran FB's drop point blade would be perfect.:cool:
 
Rumor has it that the Chinook may lose some weight for 2003. Rumor also has it that the Military will move to a Compression lock sometime in 2003.

sal
 
Nemo,
Do you still believe, like me, the C36 Military is the king of survival/tactical folding knives?
Click to expand...
Nope, I don’t believe it...
I do know this exactly! :D
If seriously – the best survival knife in my opinion should be:
  • the best cutter
  • the best cutter in possible lightweight format
  • the best ratio between strength and weight
Do you know something better than Military according this conception?
I don’t...
 
Originally posted by Sal Glesser
Rumor has it that the Chinook may lose some weight for 2003. Rumor also has it that the Military will move to a Compression lock sometime in 2003.

sal
Click to expand...

Sal,

I think that it might be a mistake to put the Chinook on a diet. (What would it then be called?...A Minnow?.:D.). Actually it's the heft that really drew me to my pair of Chinooks, so please don't change that. (IF you feel a NEED to change anything of the Chinook, it COULD be made alittle more "Lefty-friendly", like the Native and Endura...).:).
 
No one mentioned the Endura?
This is really a workhorse for the masses. Out of all the knives mentioned, on a day-to-day basis much more enduras are beat to hell on the job. I love mine and have used it to do things never endured by even the baddest of all knives, yet it lives on!
 
I second the Endura!

In the heavy-weight division, the Endura II.
And in the lightweight division, the VG-10 Endura.

Cheers,
Allen.
 
Well, I have to admit, my old Endura, bought in '93 at Ft. McClellan, AL, has been a tough knife. It's not been abused as far as prying, or throwing or such, but it ain't been babied, either! It's been neglected, not sharpened for over eight years, in the pool, the ocean, etc. Snapped and flicked and spinewhacked and dropped onto hard stuff...

And it's still just as tight as can be. I have to say if I could only keep ONE of all my knives, my first Spydie--my Endura--would be the one.



Now for the idea of a Chinook (or near-Chinook) sized "Native Chief!"

More general purpose spear/drop point blade style, a teensy bit more svelteness than a Chinook, and another inch or so of blade length with the Native handle ergonomics (finger choil, unsharpened section of blade for easy one-hand closing). The Native is, IMNSHO, the best-handling "off hand" knife there is. A larger one would retain most of that dexterity and safety, along with, well, BIGGERNESS! :D

FRN quite acceptable! Any color. Heck, any steel!

Please, Sal...?

Don't make me whiiiiiiinnnne!

I got fooooour alreeeeady--you want me to buy a fifth, riiiight?

Unashamedly,

Karl
 
I never particularly cottoned to the Military and wound up giving it to my brother along with instructions on the care and feeding of CPM440V steel. My favorite of all Spydies is the StarMate; it comes as close to perfection in a pocket knife as any that I have ever used. I have said theis before and I will say it again: I will put my StarMate up against any Sebenza around and it will be functionally at least the equal of the knife that is three times its price, and I would give it the edge based upon its superior blade steel. The one place where the Sebbie beats the StarMate is in the detail finishing work, and that is eye candy not function. Now, I will admit that much of what you get in a Ferrari is "eye candy", but the fuctional improvement is still worth the price, at least it is to me, while it is not in the Sebenza or in the Porsche.
 
Honestly, one of the problems in evaulating factory knives is that there is often the wish to combine features of several into a single, perfect package. This is how one gets to spending money on customs.

But...sometimes those factory knife designs have specific, unbeatable features.

The Military flat ground pointy blade + 14 mm hole make it a truly unbeatable user knife. Although I have an armoury worth of fine kitchen knives, I still use the Military on occasion. A Military displaced my Chinook for camping. The Military has a better clip design that my Large Sebenza. The dropped, mild clip point of the Millie is more versatile that either the Large Sebenza or the Chinook. It is slimmer than either, and slides easily anywhere on the person.

It is not very pretty, so I can only say the "Prince", not the "King". Give me the Military with Ti scales and a frame lock or similar package, and then, yes, the King.
 
Reading Safety Guy's post put me in a state of Nirvana:) A "Chief Native" with a 4in flatground utility blade (similar to the shape of the native) with thick G-10 handles and TITANIUM liners with a super strong lockback like the Chinook's. Give it the handle shape of the native and you have one hell of a knife!
 
Originally posted by glockman99

I think that it might be a mistake to put the Chinook on a diet. (What would it then be called?...A Minnow?.:D.). Actually it's the heft that really drew me to my pair of Chinooks, so please don't change that. (IF you feel a NEED to change anything of the Chinook, it COULD be made alittle more "Lefty-friendly", like the Native and Endura...).:).
Click to expand...

What if the way the weight is reduced is by moving from a sabre grind to a full flat grind? That'd remove some weight from the blade, and provide more Temperence-jr-like performance. I don't think we have to worry about a full-scale endura-izing of the Chinook. I wonder if the handles will be thinned out a bit, though.

Joe
 
I debated whether or not to join this thread, since its purpose seems to be a Military love-fest :) But, although I consider myself a huge fan of Spyderco's knives, the Military isn't among my favorites among their offerings. How come?

Start with the blade. I like it, a lot, and don't have much room for complaint. However, looking competitively, I can see a few very strong competitors of the Military, that have M-2 or D-2 blades. Those steels are so tough that I don't mind really re-profiling the edges down to very low angles, for very good performance. So the Military's flat grind is a great performance enhancer, but I'd like to see it mated with an even stronger, tougher steel. This is kind of Spyderco's flagship, so at least a move forward to VG-10 seems in order.

The handle is a bit more problematic for me. It's thin, but really really long, compromising carryability (not unlike at least one of its stronger competitors). Subjectively, the handle feels ... odd to me, being so thin and long. Obviously, that's very subjective. I haven't actually handled a Military in a while, so I should probably try them out again.

The lock was the worst point for me. Spyderco's liner locks are good, but my general guideline -- I won't buy liner locks for anything but gents' folders -- still stands. The move to the compression lock would fantastic news for me.

Joe
 
Joe,
It almost sounds like you're describing the 'paramilitary' in part.
Thread http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=206473&perpage=20&pagenumber=2 . Sal replied 3.25"(smaller, I'm assuming the handle too)/S30V(newer Steel) and G-10. I didn't see info on the lock though. I'm awaiting to see this product come out. I've never owned a Mili, one of the issues I have would be the reaction I'd get pulling it out of my pocket.
Chris

Be Excellent to each other.
 
Joe,
You are quite right with all your complaints about Military minuses. However no one knife is ideal, choosing real knife we should just point what properties are more important and what ones – less.
For me Military has:
  • Excellent blade shape and geometry, nothing can match fully flat grind when cutting through thick things.
  • Excellent operating (opening and closing) properties including x-large opening hole.
  • Very good edge holding on pure cutting but I do not use my knives for anything else excepting cutting.
  • Good edge toughness what is quite enough taking into consideration my style of knife use. Not excluded I would like to have it in D2 or M2 steel but in this case rust resistance would be affected in comparison with CPM 440V. However VG-10 probably would be the best choice for this blade.
  • Good enough handling comfort and security, although I would like it to have small bit thicker handle and double steel liners. On the other hand this would increase entire package’s weight and as result – affect carrying comfort.
  • Slim and lightweight package what is certainly too big for daily urban carry but not an issue around household or going outdoors
  • Liner lock certainly is not the strongest nor the most reliable one, but being executed properly (and Military certainly is) it is strong and reliable enough to match my needs. No one lock is completely clear of minuses. I agree that compression lock (or maybe something completely new what I saw in SPYDERCO booth at IWA) could be nice addition, but current format is good enough for me.
So choosing real folding knife for outdoors use I choose Military as matching my needs and likings the most complete way. For me the closest competitor would be BENCHMADE Axis AFCK, but it also is not completely trouble free. First of all I would like it to have wider and fully flat ground blade. This list could be continued but then we would run out of Military love-fest :D

If I would work out my own ideal outdoors folding knife it would be quite different from both Military and AFCK. However I bet after it would be ready I would find there a lot of properties to change in the next trial.
No one knife is ideal :(
 
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