Paramilitary - How has yours stood up over time?

J

Joe-Dirt

Banned
Joined
May 22, 2006
Messages
381
I have a Paramilitary that I love using and carrying. I've only had it for about 2 months.

The lock seems to have worn about 3/4 of the way over to the right side. This concerns me a little.

Do any of you folks have Para's that you use regularly and have had the lock wear in like this? Will it just stay that way for a long time now you think? Can you adjust it at all so that it locks closer to the left side again?

I don't really care much I just wondered. I imagine that I'll just have to use it and see what happens. :)
 
well... I cannot speak for others, but as to my para that I had for nearly 2 years works great. The area of you concern, the lock, still works fine, just the same as I had it firstday. From my experience I can say the lock wear on the para can hardly be detected even though you use it really hard for an year.
 
That's good to know. I'm thinking that maybe it just wore in really quickly to that point and it will stay there for a while. :)

Thanks! :)
 
My para came flawed, but the problems never increased with use for about a year I guess (sold now). Of course, I didn't abuse it or anything.

As per liner lock wear, I think a lot of our fears are out of proportion to the consequences. I had another liner lock knife (non spyderco) that got worked REALLY hard and the liner wore all the way through the other side of the handle. I had expected all sorts of problems--lock failure, getting stuck inbetween the tang and the handle, vertical play, etc. But actually, it works exactly as well as it did before. No play at all, it never gets jammed (even though I flick it hard) and I've definitely tested the lock.

My point being, although it seems obvious to most of us that wearing through will cause problems, it doesn't appear in my experience that it actually does cause any problems. It's weird.
 
I haven't used mine, I would say, a huge amount, but it has been used. It's not part of my regular EDC, but does get used on weekends. I've had mine aobut 8 months. When I first got mine, the lock was about a 1/3 of the way over and is now about half way. It hasn't moved past that, though. Mine sort of drifts between, if you know what I mean. If I open it slowly, it's just past the 1/3 mark, but if I open harder, not flick it, it will move to the 1/2 way mark. The odd time I have flipped it open, it will go to the 1/2 way mark, but not past it.

This is a concern with me, as well. I have a Buck Alpha that the liner was about half way when I got it. After a bit of use, and it wasn't that much use or that hard for that matter, it moved over to about the 2/3 mark. I was a bit miffed that it wore so fast, but then it hasn't moved from there since.

Interestingly, I have a Byrd Crow that I purchased not that long ago, and I've beat the tar out of it doing renovation work on a couple of rental properties I bought, and the liner has barely moved. My CRKT M16-03K has been used quite hard and the liner on it has barely moved. My Camillus Heat and Blaze both have been used a lot - liners haven't budged - and they are AO's which really snap the blade out, and you would think, if anything, the liner would wear faster. Gets you thinking, doesn't it?:)

- gord
 
I had one that I used for work and it really started to show wear. The lock started to losen up but I was able to adjust it back somewhat. Ireally liked the design but the loose blade never sat well with me. I did adjust the pivot but there was more wrong than that.

I am not soured on the idea of a Para but I will wait until the Para II comes out and not buy another Para I. I had two and they both had problems, different problem which seems worse somehow. Also, I have decided, the compression lock is the worst idea to come along from Spyderco since they stopped making the Police in G-10 and flat ground blade! Why is it that the SS Spydercos are the least well liked and the Police is one of the best designs but you can only get it in the heavy, slick and IMHO ugly SS. Also the flat ground blade will cut better.
 
I played with mine ALL the time, NO issues with the lock. 1/4 engaged. I love this lock, it's secure and easy to manipulate.
 
Mine has only recently begun to see EDC, after over a year of sitting in a box. It still does not really get used much at all, but I do open it and close it plenty. No change in the position of the lock.

But the potential for such an issue is yet another reason for me to renew the call for MORE BALL-BEARING LOCK KNIVES, PLEASE! They CAN'T have an issue like this!

-Jeffrey
 
The anvil pin is eccentric in cross section - rotate it and the lock will move across more or less depending on position. I can rotate mine to where it does not lock at all.
 
samphire said:
The anvil pin is eccentric in cross section - rotate it and the lock will move across more or less depending on position. I can rotate mine to where it does not lock at all.
Click to expand...

If you mean the "stop pin", I've already tried that and it does nothing. I have rotated it all 360 degrees and even in small increments it makes no difference.

;)
 
samphire said:
The anvil pin is eccentric in cross section - rotate it and the lock will move across more or less depending on position. I can rotate mine to where it does not lock at all.
Click to expand...


I've read conflicting claims about this. Some say it is, and some say it isn't.

I suppose that this might explain why I can rotate my Para's pin a small amount and suddenly I either have, or don't have, a minor amount of vertical blade play.


edit: Oh, darn. I was thinking not of the "stop pin" (or "anvil pin") but the pivot pin. I doubt that is eccentric, now that I think about it, so I don't know what explains my experience with the tiny blade play I get or don't get with my Para Military.


-Jeffrey
 
I've had my Para since January. I've used it alot and I've opened and closed it even more. My lock is in the same place at 1/3. No movement so far.
 
Joe,
Mine has moved from half way to all the way across to the other side. But it still locks up fine. I rotated the pin on mine and it does nothing either. I got mine right when Spyderco came out with them, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. But it's still one of my favorite knives, when I need a hard user, I go for it.
 
Plus what you have to remember is when you see it 2/3rds of the way across in respect to the stop pin (anvil pin) it's actually close to being all the way across due to the angle it's at and that it goes about 1/4" past the stop pin.

;)
 
Have you tryed tightening the pivot pin a little?
I have two compression lock Spydercos, none of them have worn and are about 1/3 across.
I like the compression locks, they are very simple, trouble free, and don't get foweled up with gunk in them. I have made several knives with titanium compression liners and they don't wear down.
 
I've edc my para for a few months now and the lock first sat to the left of the tang and now it sits right in the middle and has been there for a while now with no sign of it going any farther so unless the lock keeps traveling across the tang I would not worry about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top