Paramilitary 2 lightweight

S

Sterculius

Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Messages
339
Some may think I am crazy, but I would love to see a lightweight version of the PM2, like the Manix 2 lightweight. I envision translucent red FRCP scales and a good quality but less expensive blade steel like VG-10 or even CTS BD1 and a street price of $65. It would be super light and totally awesome -at least I think so.
 
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The FRN molds are really expensive from what Sal has said in the past. At about 3.75 ounces, it's pretty much lightweight already. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for VG-10 on this model, the foundry that makes it historically doesn't ship it out of the country. I guess that has changed recently, I've seen some Chinese made knives branded with VG-10 as the blade steel. In short, I'd say, leave it as is. Te knife is as close to perfect as it gets.
 
Spyderco's non-sharpened "trainer" knives are red, so you won't be seeing a Para 2 in in that color unless its a trainer. Buy yeah, I'd buy an FRCP version.
 
As my forespeakers already said, the Para 2 is already very lightweight. I would like to add that the compression lock needs liners to operate properly so in order to make a linerless FRN version (linerless because that would mean truly lightweight), one would need to change the inner workings, probably to convert the knife to a lockback or a ball lock, the result being a totally different knife in the end.
There were rumours about a FRN Stretch with a straight spine, I guess that would be pretty close to a FRN Paramilitary.
 
I guess you could lose the off-side liner, but you'd be making a very significant sacrifice in lock strength unless you made some compensations elsewhere (which would inevitably add weight). The stop pin, which is a part of the functional lockup, is held in position by the dual liners. Overall, if the only change was FRN scales, the weight gain would probably be minimal, and the production costs would probably go up significantly due to the cost of the molds needed to produce the FRN scales. :o
 
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Started thinking about this the other day, and with the success of the Manix 2, Native 5, and Chaparral in various steels and colors since this thread was started, was thinking a PM2 FRN version could be cool as a lower cost alternative. After a few years have passed now since the introduction of these, I was wondering who'd be in for one?
 
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Sign me up.

That said, seeing how quickly PM2 sprints sell out, and thinking that even the base models are very popular, not sure what the motivation for Spyderco would be.

Could be wrong. And yes, I do want one. PM2 is with me during most of my physical activities. Lighter model would be nice.
 
not sure why you woke up such an old thread.

Sal said a LW PM2 is in the works eventually. he mentioned that it will allow for a better price and higher end steel types.
 
Mo2 said:
not sure why you woke up such an old thread.

Sal said a LW PM2 is in the works eventually. he mentioned that it will allow for a better price and higher end steel types.
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Because someone's gonna tell you to search anyway if you make a new thread, and I apparently only searched for titles. And thought it was cool a few years ago people thought we'd only see BD1 and cheaper steel in these and never see a red PM2.
 
uofaengr said:
Because someone's gonna tell you to search anyway if you make a new thread, and I apparently only searched for titles. And thought it was cool a few years ago people thought we'd only see BD1 and cheaper steel in these and never see a red PM2.
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Yea I thought there was some rule about about waking zombie threads. But I didn't find it in the rules unless I missed it. My bad
 
Mo2 said:
Yea I thought there was some rule about about waking zombie threads. But I didn't find it in the rules unless I missed it. My bad
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No worries. Hell I'm just now getting a Para 3 so I've been out of the loop awhile and still catching up on some of these new designs.
 
I'm a big fan of frn as a handle material so I would definitely be in. Lighter weight and less expensive pm2 sounds nice to me. If this is actually happening I have two requests.

1. round the edges a bit more on the frn version. To me, the Manix works fine in g10 but those hard edges make it a bit "boxy" feeling in frn. Just a tiny bit more rounding like on the japanese frn knives would feel better I think.

2. Get Japan's frn recipe and start using it in Golden. The frn on the Japan knives is not quite as hard/brittle feeling as what is used on the Golden knives. I'm sure it's a matter of perception more than actual strength or durability but I definitely like the feel of the frn on my Salts better than that used on the Native and Manix LW's.
 
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