Paramilitary 2 First Impressions

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DrinkSumJuice

Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
3
First off i'd like to say that the Paramilitary 2 is the first knife i've ever purchased. I knew I needed an EDC knife that would fit comfortably in my pocket/waistband/hand/etc. It needed to be more than capable of handling everyday tasks & my backpacking and camping adventures. A couple of days worth of research and forum reading, and I fell in love with the Paramilitary 2.

I'm in starting Army ROTC this fall which inspired me to choose the Digicam G10 handles. I had one problem tho...DLC vs. Satin blade. So I made the most logical decision and bought both versions.

Apparently it's impossible to find these knives in stock online... Luckily in the first 5 minutes of searching, I found HKS which had one Satin Blade in stock. I ordered that right away. About an hour later, BladeHQ informed me that they just received DLC coated blades in a shipment through Instagram. Out of all places instagram. Two Paramilitary's ordered in less than an hour made me a happy camper :jerkit

Both packages arrived at the same time through UPS, my only trusted carrier.



Here are the Spyderco boxes in all their glory including the invoices from each retailer.



Slowly the anticipation of opening each box was killing me.



Here are the two twin brothers side by side







Here's a size comparison of my friend's Dragonfly 2





I have pretty small hands, not abnormally small but pretty small. I'm only 5'1, 121 lbs, so you can imagine my hand size. A size small glove can be too tight and a medium can be too big. Here's a comparison shot of my hand compared to an Iphone 4 so you guys can get a rough idea of my hand size.



This being said, even with my small hands, I find the Paramilitary 2 to be VERY comfortable. I have no problem opening or closing the knife with one hand. The spyder-hole method does take some practice due to my small thumb, but getting the hang of it is easy. Overall comfort is amazing.



WORD OF CAUTION TO NEW BUYERS
I wish someone told me this before I purchased the knife. The Paramilitary 2 comes in a tip down configuration. In order to change the position of the clip, I tried to use an allan wrench. I quickly noticed that the screws were torx screws. USE A TORX SCREW IF YOU DONT WANT TO STRIP YOUR SCREWS. This was a hassle because I had to go to my nearest hardware store (walmart...) to buy a set. The Paramilitary 2 uses size T6 Torx screws for the clip.





The Final Product





I'll keep you guys updated as I EDC this knife more often everyday. I'm looking forward to its cutting capabilities and how it just dissapears in your pocket. This knife is going to be a workhorse for the days,months,years to come.
I am more than satisfied with my purchase! This is just the start of my Spyderco collection and look forward to expanding my knives soon!
 
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Awesome! If those were mine, I'd swap the scales between the two. Your satin blade has darker scales than your DLC. My DLC PM2 has darker digicam scales, and it looks amazing.
 
Great choices, my PM2s are my favorite EDC at the moment. Also, did you use blue loctite on those clip screws before you put them back in?
 
Good purchase man. And good luck with Army ROTC. I'm a fourth year cadet in Army ROTC in California. It's a challenging ride but worth it.
 
I know how addictive they are too. I bought one, (digi/satin) and had digi/DLC, black/DLC and black/satin within a month.

Another word of caution. I somehow bent the tip of my digi/satin and don't even know how I did it. It's pretty obvious that it's a serious slicer and not meant for hard use.
 
southernknives said:
I know how addictive they are too. I bought one, (digi/satin) and had digi/DLC, black/DLC and black/satin within a month.

Another word of caution. I somehow bent the tip of my digi/satin and don't even know how I did it. It's pretty obvious that it's a serious slicer and not meant for hard use.
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You bent that one back yourself didnt you? How did that turn out? We're u able to get it fairly straight?
 
I love my digi/DLC (bonus points cause the scales are mostly green), so much so that I have a m390 version inbound. :D
 
Surfingringo said:
You bent that one back yourself didnt you? How did that turn out? We're u able to get it fairly straight?
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Yeah I did take your advice and fix it myself. It's definitely not perfect, but much better than it was. When the light hits it, you can see the crease. When I bent it back is when I really realized that the tip was delicate, because I over bent it once or twice very easily. I sure do like the PM2 knives though. Great slicers. Thanks for convincing me to fix it myself. I think I saved myself a headache. :)
 
southernknives said:
Yeah I did take your advice and fix it myself. It's definitely not perfect, but much better than it was. When the light hits it, you can see the crease. When I bent it back is when I really realized that the tip was delicate, because I over bent it once or twice very easily. I sure do like the PM2 knives though. Great slicers. Thanks for convincing me to fix it myself. I think I saved myself a headache. :)
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Hehe...don't you have four of them?? You needed ONE of them to be your beater! I kind of like things that have some nicks and dings...then you can enjoy em without worrying about em. ;)
 
The Para2 is a great knife, the blade size and shape are spot on for me and also a requirement for a knife to be a work carry for me is an open frame design.
I work construction so some days I will get dirt and grit in my pockets and I like to be able to clean and maintain my knives easily.

Now the only thing that bothers me about this knife is that the lock sometimes pinches me when I open it.
Other than that it is a fine tool.
 
Surfingringo said:
Hehe...don't you have four of them?? You needed ONE of them to be your beater! I kind of like things that have some nicks and dings...then you can enjoy em without worrying about em. ;)
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I do have four of them. It's hard to decide which flavor to carry sometimes. :)
 
I got the EXACT same tool kit from the Wal....pretty good deal for under $7...really good pics, felt like I was reading a story :D
 
Congrats on two great blades. I especially love the camo/satin for its looks. You'll love these knives even more in a year.
 
Cypress, my first thought was to swap the scales, too, lol.

Congrats on the knives, you won't be disappointed. I have carried mine for about a year and a half. I have a black/satin and a digicam/satin, but the digicam hasn't been carried yet.
 
FYI, in my experience that little screw driver kit is junk and I would not use it on my knives. Lowe's has one branded Kobalt as does someone else branded under Husky that is decent. There is also a little Benchmade travel kit that has quality bits. Wiha and Bondhus are often regarded as the top of the line. You'll kick yourself when you destroy a screw and cannot remove it because you saved a few bucks. Sorry for the side track, knives look awesome:D
 
nccole said:
FYI, in my experience that little screw driver kit is junk and I would not use it on my knives. Lowe's has one branded Kobalt as does someone else branded under Husky that is decent. There is also a little Benchmade travel kit that has quality bits. Wiha and Bondhus are often regarded as the top of the line. You'll kick yourself when you destroy a screw and cannot remove it because you saved a few bucks. Sorry for the side track, knives look awesome:D
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This is good advice, a good torx kit can save a guy some misery!
 
You really can not go wrong with the paramilitary two. It is a great knife and I agree that you made the logical decision to just get both blade finishes.
 
Cypress said:
Awesome! If those were mine, I'd swap the scales between the two. Your satin blade has darker scales than your DLC. My DLC PM2 has darker digicam scales, and it looks amazing.
Click to expand...

I totally agree the reversed scales would look better.
 
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