The military wasn't really on my radar for a while because in pictures it looked too big to practically carry around. I saw one in the exchange, though, for a good deal and picked it up because I thought it would be good for hiking and camping, since the paramilitary is on the small side for outdoor activities such as fighting lions and bears, or chopping down trees (you know, the stuff everyone is using their knives for when they hike). Anyhow, I had fairly low expectations for the military but nonetheless ordered a deep carry clip and standoffs to get rid of the backspacer to have ready for it.
When I first opened the package the knife came in, then held it, it did seem quite large. My spyderco experience has mostly been delica, DF2, PM2, and manix 2, all of which are quite a bit shorter than the military. That said, with the deep carry clip, it carries very small and light in the pocket. It's thin and takes up significantly less pocket than a manix, and is about the same as a PM2 in practice. It is also quite light, which makes it feel cheap at first since it is large so it does not feel as dense as even a delica.
In practical use, the longer blade is simply better than the shorter PM2 in my opinion. The ergonomics are even better than the PM2 because of the roomy handle, and it actually feels almost the same in the choil grip, besides the longer blade obviously.
I think the tip down carry puts a lot of people off but I personally got used to it and am now considering changing the PM2 to tip down.
As far as the lock, it's a good lock and is easy to operate one handed. It's not as cool as the compression lock but because of the choil there's little to no risk of hurting yourself while closing it quickly and in practice it's almost as good as the compression lock and just as intuitive.
I think I'm officially converted from the PM2 and have recently had no desire at all to carry it versus the military. If it's not illegal where you live I'd say give it a try because it is a better knife than the PM2.
When I first opened the package the knife came in, then held it, it did seem quite large. My spyderco experience has mostly been delica, DF2, PM2, and manix 2, all of which are quite a bit shorter than the military. That said, with the deep carry clip, it carries very small and light in the pocket. It's thin and takes up significantly less pocket than a manix, and is about the same as a PM2 in practice. It is also quite light, which makes it feel cheap at first since it is large so it does not feel as dense as even a delica.
In practical use, the longer blade is simply better than the shorter PM2 in my opinion. The ergonomics are even better than the PM2 because of the roomy handle, and it actually feels almost the same in the choil grip, besides the longer blade obviously.
I think the tip down carry puts a lot of people off but I personally got used to it and am now considering changing the PM2 to tip down.
As far as the lock, it's a good lock and is easy to operate one handed. It's not as cool as the compression lock but because of the choil there's little to no risk of hurting yourself while closing it quickly and in practice it's almost as good as the compression lock and just as intuitive.
I think I'm officially converted from the PM2 and have recently had no desire at all to carry it versus the military. If it's not illegal where you live I'd say give it a try because it is a better knife than the PM2.
