need a suggestion on whats best

I'll vote for the Tenacious as well, a great knife for its price. (I'd be telling your friend with the loose scales to send it back to Spyderco (if he hasn't already) and see if they will fix/replace it.)

Is the Tenacious as good as a Paramilitary 2? No, of course not, but only in the same way that a Toyota isn't a BMW. If you want Para2 quality, wait until you have a bigger budget. If you really are limited to this budget for the foreseeable future, then the Tenacious will keep on delivering above and beyond other knives at that price point.
 
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