- Joined
- May 20, 2009
- Messages
- 528
Most of you probably have one (or in Jill's case, 9), but I just wanted to share my thoughts on it since this is my first Spyderco knife. I don't have my camera on me right now, but I will get pictures up when I can find it. Also, this is the Digital-camouflaged Military with a black blade. Lets get started:
First Impressions
My first reaction was "oh crap, this is too big". After holding it and carrying it around for a day or two I got used to it. I tried carrying my SAK Trekker after using the Military for a few days and it seemed laughably small when compared to the Military. The knife is also amazingly light for a four inch blade. I really didn't believe all the "It's so light that I forget it's in my pocket" comments...until now. Also, the knife looks really...dangerous. The sight of it would send most people running, especially after you open it to reveal that beautiful flat ground four inch blade. Which brings me to the next part...
The Blade
Out of the box sharpness was great. It was hair popping sharp on all parts of the blade and it would cut phone book paper like a laser. My one has a CPM-S30V blade. This is my first "super steel" blade (Mostly I have been using 154CM, Buck 420HC and 13C26). I can't comment on edge holding ability so far since I have only had the knife for a week and have not cut much beyond paper and arm hair
. The tip is also excellent although I'm not sure how strong it is. I think it will be fine as long as it's not used for prying. On the other hand, it offers EXCELLENT penetration. I had an old leather jacket which I was about to throw out since it's too small now, but I decided to put it to good use before I dispose of it. Erm...I'm not sure if I should be impressed or sickened by the ease of penetration of the blade. I would not want to be the person inside that leather jacket if someone decided to attack me with the Military. The jimping on the blade is also great and provides great traction if you put your thumb on it. The same goes for the finger choil.
The Handle
The G10 used on the Military is great. It provides a good grip on the handle without being super rough. The camouflage on the handle also looks nice. The clip is probably the only negative I can find on the handle since I prefer tip-up on my knives and the fact that you can't change it to tip-up sucks. The nested liner lock is a neat idea. It reduces weight without sacrificing lock strength. Speaking of locks, the lockup on the blade is rock solid. There was no play what so ever on the blade (up/down and side/side) and I could still deploy the blade pretty damn fast. I don't mind liner locks since I don't use my knives in such a way that I need to have a 1m thick frame lock and the lock looks sturdy enough so that you won't have to worry about it failing at some point.
Other things
Another negative is that when i first got the knife, the blade was off-center when closed. As Josh said, it's not a big problem since it doesn't affect performance, but it's still nice to have (although he was the one who helped me fix it). The thumb hole is a good size and I like it a lot more than the thumb studs found on my other knives. I paid approximately MSRP for it ($300AUD which is about $230USD. Australian knife prices are pure robbery), but I think it was worth it.
To conclude
This is a great knife and there are no two ways about it. Some people may not like the overly large handle, but since it's winter here in Australia we wear gloves occasionally and on those occasions, the knife fills your hand nicely. Ergonomics are also excellent and it allows you to choke up on the blade, hold it normally or hold it in a reverse grip.
9/10
First Impressions
My first reaction was "oh crap, this is too big". After holding it and carrying it around for a day or two I got used to it. I tried carrying my SAK Trekker after using the Military for a few days and it seemed laughably small when compared to the Military. The knife is also amazingly light for a four inch blade. I really didn't believe all the "It's so light that I forget it's in my pocket" comments...until now. Also, the knife looks really...dangerous. The sight of it would send most people running, especially after you open it to reveal that beautiful flat ground four inch blade. Which brings me to the next part...
The Blade
Out of the box sharpness was great. It was hair popping sharp on all parts of the blade and it would cut phone book paper like a laser. My one has a CPM-S30V blade. This is my first "super steel" blade (Mostly I have been using 154CM, Buck 420HC and 13C26). I can't comment on edge holding ability so far since I have only had the knife for a week and have not cut much beyond paper and arm hair
. The tip is also excellent although I'm not sure how strong it is. I think it will be fine as long as it's not used for prying. On the other hand, it offers EXCELLENT penetration. I had an old leather jacket which I was about to throw out since it's too small now, but I decided to put it to good use before I dispose of it. Erm...I'm not sure if I should be impressed or sickened by the ease of penetration of the blade. I would not want to be the person inside that leather jacket if someone decided to attack me with the Military. The jimping on the blade is also great and provides great traction if you put your thumb on it. The same goes for the finger choil.The Handle
The G10 used on the Military is great. It provides a good grip on the handle without being super rough. The camouflage on the handle also looks nice. The clip is probably the only negative I can find on the handle since I prefer tip-up on my knives and the fact that you can't change it to tip-up sucks. The nested liner lock is a neat idea. It reduces weight without sacrificing lock strength. Speaking of locks, the lockup on the blade is rock solid. There was no play what so ever on the blade (up/down and side/side) and I could still deploy the blade pretty damn fast. I don't mind liner locks since I don't use my knives in such a way that I need to have a 1m thick frame lock and the lock looks sturdy enough so that you won't have to worry about it failing at some point.
Other things
Another negative is that when i first got the knife, the blade was off-center when closed. As Josh said, it's not a big problem since it doesn't affect performance, but it's still nice to have (although he was the one who helped me fix it). The thumb hole is a good size and I like it a lot more than the thumb studs found on my other knives. I paid approximately MSRP for it ($300AUD which is about $230USD. Australian knife prices are pure robbery), but I think it was worth it.
To conclude
This is a great knife and there are no two ways about it. Some people may not like the overly large handle, but since it's winter here in Australia we wear gloves occasionally and on those occasions, the knife fills your hand nicely. Ergonomics are also excellent and it allows you to choke up on the blade, hold it normally or hold it in a reverse grip.
9/10
