Para-Mille...

Yester5

Yester5

Joined
Dec 11, 2002
Messages
491
I have been carrying this knife for one whole day now, but I already have some opnions on it. Here goes:
1. Size and weight- damn near perfect for office/work EDC.
2. Blade/steel- flat grind, spyder edge: great. VG10: good, S30V would be even better. (I'd always be willing to pay more for better steel). Blade is nice compromise of size, utility. Nice big Spyder-hole.
3. Handle- Great ergos. G10 with nested liners is a great light weight choice. Nice beefy spacers and the end spacer can be used for lanyard attachment as well as the lanyard hole.
4. Action/lock-up- A little gritty, but it will smooth out, I believe. This is my first experience with a Compression lock, and I have to say, Sal- you have a winner here! Very excellent design- looks fullproof to me. Took a little getting used to, but after playing with it for a day, I'm very comfortable with it. There is no blade play whatsoever in any direction.
I have to say, this is my new favorite Spyderco. And as usual, I have a hard time believing such quality and utility can be had at this price point. I never thought any Spidie would replace my beloved Millie, but the compression lock just blows the liner lock out of the water! Here are some crappy pics for those still waiting for one. Have a great weekend, everyone:)
 

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I've had mine a total of 10 minutes. :)

Just opened the box from New Graham knives. I've always been a Spyderco fan and the para mille does nothing to diminish my attraction to Spydies.

It's one of those knives you know that the minute you have it in your hand it'll be one of your favorite carries.

I love the weight of the knife. A nice size, beefy enough for what I need, without it be cumbersome (weight wise).

The compression lock is something I still need to get used to. I have a Gunting but never really got used to the lock on that knife.

2 thumbs up from me!
 
I love the Para-Millie and the Compression Lock. Basically agree with all your comments.

I notice that a lot of people mention that they are having trouble "getting used to" the Compression Lock, and I wonder if they are closing it the same way I do. It took me a bit to figure it out the first time I used one, but I quickly found that the most convenient way to close a blade equipped with a Compression Lock is to "pinch" the lock release between your thumb and index finger and then lightly "flick" the blade closed. This keeps your fingers out of harm's way and as long as your pivot screws are not super tight, the blade should gracefully swing shut.

Check out this thread on the Spyderco Web Site where I posted a little video of the Compression Lock in action:

http://www.spyderco.com/forum/topic...forum_title=General+Discussion&M=False&S=True

(You will need the free QuickTime player to view it if you don't already have it.)
 
Hey Timlara,

Thanks for the tip. I tried it a couple of times (screws still need to work themselves in) and I can see what you're getting at.

-Leo

ps. Thanks for the vid. I tried it from the way you described it and was doing it wrong. The vid cleared up my mistake.
 
No problem, Leo. It is definitely easier to "show" than to describe things like that.

Cody at the Spyderco Factory Outlet store actually showed me that technique originally, and as soon as I saw him do it, the light bulb went on for me. Originally, I was trying to close the Compression Lock more like you would close a traditional lockback, i.e. more of a two step approach...

Take care,
Tim
 
Nice video, Thanks! I keep the same basic grip I use to open the knife. With my thumb in the hole, my index finger releases the compression lock and my thumb rotates the blade closed- just the oppoaite of opening it. It works fine for me. My blade is a little too "gritty" to close with out a really hard wrist snap, plus the Para blade is a lot lighter than the ATR. Just make sure all the fingertips are out of the way, or that ATR will do some damage!
 
Yester5 said:
2. Blade/steel- flat grind, spyder edge: great. VG10: good, S30V would be even better. (I'd always be willing to pay more for better steel).
Click to expand...
Huh? It IS S30V :p
Got to agree about how great the Para is. Wonderful, wonderful.
 
Yester5 said:
I have to say, this is my new favorite Spyderco. And as usual, I have a hard time believing such quality and utility can be had at this price point. I never thought any Spidie would replace my beloved Millie, but the compression lock just blows the liner lock out of the water!
Click to expand...

FULL AGREEMENT. I hope to see more models with the compression lock (AND the ball-bearing lock, actually). The execution of it in the Para Military is outstanding. Thanks, Sal. New favorite for me, too!

Blue skies,
-Jeffrey
 
OwenM said:
Huh? It IS S30V :p
Got to agree about how great the Para is. Wonderful, wonderful.
Click to expand...
Your right, my bad. I got confused with my new Spyderfly!
 
I got my Para in a nice little package that also contained a Benchmade 805 TSEK. ;)

I have to say that I prefer the TSEK. Fit and finish are considerably better than the Spydie.
The Para's Torx screwheads are full of metal "spall" and the blade has the copper discolouration that Peaceful Jeffrey highlighted.

The Benchmade is perfect - even though it is "only" 440C.
 
I must say, I like the Para over the 805. The 805 is a great knife, no doubt about that. Like the Axis lock and fit, finish. The 805 has too small a handle for a blade that size. I also don't like the blade finish.

The para on the other, just feels great in my hand like someone spent a lot of time designing it. The quality, fit, finish on mine are great.
 
This is just curiosity but I wonder if the lock thumb-tab on the paramillie, beingsmaller than the one on the Lil' Temp is a design refinement. Both work well for me.
 
Here's a Paramilitary question for you....
Should the lanyard hole contain a metal insert?
Mine is just bare G10 and you can squeeze the scales in towards the rear of the knife.
 
Steven Andrews said:
Here's a Paramilitary question for you....
Should the lanyard hole contain a metal insert?
Mine is just bare G10 and you can squeeze the scales in towards the rear of the knife.
Click to expand...
Yes. Mine has a spacer with a tube pressed through it. Oddly, mine does
not have the copper colored tang. The other day, I noticed that the gritty
opening was going away...it turned out to be the pivot loosening up as it also
developed lateral play. I tightened the pivot and the grit was back.
 
So I have the Paramilitary with:

1) The copper-coloured tang and hole.
2) The pivot Torx screwheads full of burred metal.
3) No lanyard hole spacer.

Those Benchmades are getting more and more inviting.
 
Mine?

- Copper colored tang
- Clean torx screws
- Lanyard spacer tube

Day 3 with it and I'm still happy with it. Not happy reading about the variations everyone is running into though.
 
I got my Paramilitary in the mail a few days ago and I'm really happy with it.

I'm pleased to say that the blade play that others have mentioned is not at all present in my knife. :D (Thankfullyi! I hate blade play!)

There is only one thing I wanted different about the knife, so I did it myself. I used a Dremel tool and ground a tiny crescent shape out of the blade edge right where it meets the tang, to interrupt what amounted to a tiiiiny bit of "recurve" that would have interfered with sharpening on a totally flat Spyderco Ceramic Benchstone.

The knife is now my favorite Spyderco.

-Jeffrey
 
sheltot said:
Yes. Mine has a spacer with a tube pressed through it. Oddly, mine does
not have the copper colored tang. The other day, I noticed that the gritty
opening was going away...it turned out to be the pivot loosening up as it also
developed lateral play. I tightened the pivot and the grit was back.
Click to expand...

I have been observing the feedback about the paramilitary and am especially concerned about that. Does anyone (Sal?) know if that problem has been addressed? I really, really want to get a paramilitary but don't want to risk spending $100 for a less-than-spyderco-perfect version. I'm just so used to spydercos performing flawlessly that anything less than that disappoints.

I do hope Sal or the spydie crew can chime in on this issue, which has been raised a few times, IIRC.
 
Thanx for the poisitive comments. It is a new model and will certainly undergo our nomal refinements as we learn about the model.

Ergos should be effective for just about any hand size. A great deal of design time went into the ergos on this piece.

Steven, they should have a spacer between the scales at the lanyard. Can't imagine how yours went out without one, but you should probably send it back to us. Sorry 'bout that.

(FYI, S30V costs about twice what 440C costs to purchase, cut, machine, grind, polish, ream, sharpen and put into a knife).

Marcelo, yes, it is a refinement.

sal
 
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