Military tip break-off.......try S30V instead?

D

dennis75

Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
820
hi,

i recently broke the tip of my favorite tactical folder, my Military with the CPM440V-steel. i was prying some wood and applied some lateral force and there it went, snap, 0.5 cm of the tip gone. i read some reviews and topics about the Military here and there and found out the weak tip is mentioned more than often. there are some guys though who claim that the new S30V-steel version is much stronger and less likely to chip or break. is this true? i really like the Mili because of its light weight and superfast and ergonomic opening and closing. i especially like flicking the blade open with my thumb, faster than an automatic.

so my question is: is it worth it to buy the newer S30V-version or is it just as 'fragile' as the cpm440v? whenever i'm working some tough jobs, especially on wood where some prying is involved, i find myself grabbing an Al Mar SERE or Buck-Strider instead, but i really would like the Military to be handle the job..........could S30V be the answer or is the tip-breaking issue mainly because of the pointy blade-design and i just have to live with it?

thanks in advance for any sugg's or help,

dennis
:)
 
Disclaimer: This is just my experience with S30V, I have not and any knifes with 440V. I personally do not advocate prying with knives as that is not their intended purpose, that is what screwdrivers are for.:rolleyes: Just remember that my opinion is worth every penny you pay for it............

Even through my brain lapses, my S30V Millie has held up well. Not just once, but twice that I have been cleaning it I have "shaken" it like I would anything else to get the excess water off. It, as you would expect, snapped right open and immediately proceeded to come into FIRM contact with the Corian sink. Both times the sink and the knife both faired about the same, each losing the same approximate amount of material. About a half millimeter divot in the sink and losing about a half millimeter of tip the first time and about 3/4 MM divot and tip loss the second time. Each time I was able to reprofile the tip back to a point that you would not know there was ever damage without knowing it (you know what I mean). I also carry a SAK Tinkerer that I use for my light/medium duty prying, for heavy prying I go get the right tool from the truck.
 
Ditto. Knives are not pry bars. Most knives just aren't designed for this task. I don't think steel is going to make too much difference.

My advice would be to buy a thick bladed fixed blade.
 
The tip of my Military (CPM440V) broke also.

For jobs that require prying I use a screwdriver or a cat's foot crowbar and not a pocket knife (which isn't designed for prying anyway).

1/16 of an inch of my Military broke off while I was cooking dinner several weeks ago (I use Spyderco for nearly everything). I never found the shard. Understandably, I was quite heartbroken :( at the time. Since then I have gone back to my G-2 Endura and everything is right with the world (more or less). :)

Perhaps there will be another Military in my future, but for right now I think I am sticking with the older model Enduras.

Anubis_03
 
Regardless of steel type....I would NEVER pry anything with a knife. A fixed blade may complete the task, however, even then I would get a screwdriver, crowbar, etc..

I highly recommend the S30V Military... I just recently got one in PE and it has replaced my CE(CPM440V) for EDC. This S30V steel is unbelievable....I don't ever remember my older Millies being so sharp. ;)
 
@Anubis_03

You can send your Military to Spyderco and they will reshape/resharpen your blade for a very small fee. The knife looks like new after that, esp. when only 1/16th of an inch was broken off, according to many similar reports on this forum.

-Connor
 
Strangely enough I never once thought to send my Military back to Spyderco with a fix request. I suppose that I was so busy being irritated over the fact that that type of damage isn't a warranty covered kind of thing that I got tunnel vision and forgot about any other options.

Thanks for the suggestion Connor!

Anubis_03
 
This is why I carry some kind of cheap screwdriver. My knives are way too thin, sharp and pointy to do any prying.
 
My understanding is that S30V is quite like a tool steel, so it should be less likely to chip that CPM440V. The latter has acquired quite a reputation for edge chipping, but then most such anecdotal accounts indicates the blade was being used for prying. I do not use knives as pry bars, unless the incident at hand is worth ruining the knife. For that matter, I hate to pry with fine screwdrivers. ;) OT: I have to hide my finely-finished gunsmithing screwdrivers to keep my wife from ruining the tips.
 
No prying with fine screwdrivers here either. (work working parallel ground)The cheap craftsman gets it done and an unconditional lifetime warranty.
 
I don't think it will matter what blade-steel is used, the tip is just too thin for prying.

I sometimes feel that my G-10 Police has too delicate of a tip and so I carry a knife with a thicker tip for while (like my benchmade 722 tanto, or my CRKT BladeLock).

But they don't stay in my pocket for very long. Those thick blades with thick tips just don't cut and slice as well as that thin flat blade on my G-10 Police.
And what good is a knife that does'nt actually cut very well?

Happy hunting,
Allen.
 
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