Paramilitary2 or military?

S

SuzukiGS750EZ

Joined
Dec 30, 2008
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Looking for a new blade for christmas. Looking at these two. Which lock in your opinion is better for closing and a quick put away? I know both have the same blade material and handle material. Which has better ergos? Does one slip into the pocket and dissapear better than the other? Build quality? Also, which blade is more practical in size? The size difference is less than an inch, but not having a shop around here to hold one, i'll have to rely on you guys. I have a caly3 in zdp and its useful, but on the smaller side. It has its place though. I like the size of my Kershaw Blur, but that blade is taller. So, which do you guys think is the better blade?
 
Just my opinion, but I have bear paws. The Military is one of my favorite knives, it is too big for comfortable pocket carry, that is just my opinion again. The Paramilitary is of a perfect EDC size for me, but I cannot get past that compression lock. Several years ago, a member was nice enough to let me use his. Every time I come close to trading for or buying one, I chicken out at the last minute. Just can't wrap my head around the compression lock.

Sal, Joyce, Tazkristi, Eric, Michael? Can we get a Para with a linerlock? Don't make me beg!
 
Military is... well HUGE... I got tired waiting PM2 so I switched my order into G10 Millie. I haven't regret that. That is alot of knife big for EDC but excellent woods knife or knife for hikes. For size wise I think PM2 might be better for EDC. That or Caly 3.5 :D
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Just my opinion, but I have bear paws. The Military is one of my favorite knives, it is too big for comfortable pocket carry, that is just my opinion again. The Paramilitary is of a perfect EDC size for me, but I cannot get past that compression lock. Several years ago, a member was nice enough to let me use his. Every time I come close to trading for or buying one, I chicken out at the last minute. Just can't wrap my head around the compression lock.

Sal, Joyce, Tazkristi, Eric, Michael? Can we get a Para with a linerlock? Don't make me beg!
Click to expand...

Which is easier to manipulate? Compression or liner? I've never had a lock fail on me, nor so i use my knives in a way where they can close. I have a fixed blade for stuff like that :-).
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Just my opinion, but I have bear paws. The Military is one of my favorite knives, it is too big for comfortable pocket carry, that is just my opinion again. The Paramilitary is of a perfect EDC size for me, but I cannot get past that compression lock. Several years ago, a member was nice enough to let me use his. Every time I come close to trading for or buying one, I chicken out at the last minute. Just can't wrap my head around the compression lock.

Sal, Joyce, Tazkristi, Eric, Michael? Can we get a Para with a linerlock? Don't make me beg!
Click to expand...

You must have very small, and tight pants then...LOL!
I carry a Military SE and a Gayle Bradley (same pocket) with no issues. I'm just sayin' :)
 
I love the Military and have no issues pocketing it. It's so thin and lightweight I find it tends to disappear.

Warning though, it's a big knife.
 
I'm a big guy, about 350 lbs, 6'3". I have had knives like the Military, Skirmish, SMF, Rukus etc. All great knives, I just never found them comfortable for pants pocket carry. I always preferred coat pocket carry for them.
 
hey suzuki,
i have both knives, and it's hard to pick a favorite. they both have their place in my edc.
when i first got my milie, i thought it was huge, but after a few days, it seemed to magically shrink. there are places that i would be reluctant to deploy the knife because of it's size, but as far as pocket comfort, it's light weight makes me forget it's there.
the para is a little more sheeple friendly size wise, but just as much of a knife as the milie. and as far as pocket carry goes, it's very comfortable.
the comp lock does take some getting used to, especially if your used to liner locks or back locks. but after some experimentation with opening techniques, i've gotten very adept at closing the knife one handed.
the technique i use to close the knife goes like this. i turn the knife in my hand slightly, and place my thumb over the pivot, with the tip over the opening hole. i then use my index finger to push the comp lock towards my palm and pivot the blade closed with my thumb. until i figured this out, i wasn't very comfortable with the knife.
as far as placing the knife in the pocket, they're both about the same for me. i wear jeans all the time though, so other types of pants may produce different results.
as far as opening goes, both knives are flickable, although the milie proves a little easier because of the larger and heavier blade.
you can't go wrong with either knife, imho, you just have to chose the one that you think will better suite your needs and environment.
hope this helps!
later,
don
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
Looking for a new blade for christmas. Looking at these two. Which lock in your opinion is better for closing and a quick put away? I know both have the same blade material and handle material. Which has better ergos? Does one slip into the pocket and dissapear better than the other? Build quality? Also, which blade is more practical in size? [...]So, which do you guys think is the better blade?
Click to expand...

I close both the military and para2 in nearly the same way, using my thigh on the spine of the blade to push it close as I disengage the lock (with my thumb for compression lock since it's on outside edge, index finger for liner lock since it's on inside edge). So there really isn't a difference for me in speed with either. However, the compression lock did come a bit "sticky," for lack of a better word, so it does take a bit more to disengage the lock (doesn't bother me much, and less now that's it's wearing in) than the Military straight out of the box. I guess in that case the Military would be better straight out of the box.

Ergos are excellent on both, I prefer the Para2 because it's just as comfortable as the Military, but in a more compact package. The one thing I do notice, is the shortened arc in using the thumb-hole on the Para2. On the military, I can swing the blade out easily from a couple of different grips. With the smaller Para2, I can still swing the blade easily open when using my thumb and opening into a normal saber grip. But if trying to open with my pinky into reversed grip, it's not so easily flickable for me yet. Not a big deal, just something I noticed, and not really a surprise on the smaller knife.

I don't notice much of a difference in pocketing. They seem to be equally visible and to slide in equally well. The military may ride a little higher, but not enough to make a huge difference in my opinion. The Para takes up less room in the pocket of course. But the military really doesn't take up much room either, with it being so thin, and it really is incredibly lightweight for such a large knife. I have absolutely no problems EDCing it in jeans, shorts, or slacks. As the others have said, the Military really does just disappear in the pocket. And it really doesn't feel much heavier than the relatively dense Para2 with its full liners.

Build quality? Shrug, identical for me. Both knives were in tip-top shape when new, no flaws.

As for size, really, only you can answer that based on your intended usage, legal restrictions, preference, etc. The Military really is a big knife to me, and I find the Para2 to be just right.


The better blade? Subjectively, for me, based on all around usage, it's the Para2:

*Retains absolutely incredible ergos while being compact
*Perfect blade length for my EDC needs (large enough to cut and slice well, but short enough for fine manipulation and fine work with the tip)
*Compression lock seems less likely to fail with unexpected rough use
*And now, with the protruding tang eliminated, looks just as good as the Military


BUT, I don't plan on selling the Military anytime soon. Sometimes I swap it in to EDC on a whim, or take it out on short strolls in the woods or other outdoor activities, or assign it weekend knife duties. Aye, 'tis an old friend :D
 
Assuming that you can obtain a paramilitary 2.....I would say get that for an edc knife. As another big guy 6'1 290lbs I also find that knives in that size have a few issues. First if your not at work and you pull it out to do something it can make the sheeple nervous. Second When I had to crawn around in the rollers to thread lamination when I was at the factory larger knives tended to get in the way almost making it hard to get them into some places. Para2 for me is perfect size for edc but impossible to find one for sale:( i think Ill just wait for the first run of the para2 in digicamo
 
I've had 2 Millies and still have a Para CPMD2. While I didn't find the Millies too hard to carry they are big knives. I EDC a different knife almost every week and the Millie is the only one that freaked out Co-workers. It's just big for non-knife people and even some knife friendly people.
 
I've got a Para2 and was kind of on the fence about it at first.
I was EDC'ing a Caly3 VG-10 previously so I was a little shocked about its size right out of the box.
The fit and finish was pretty good except a few of the Torx screws on the scales had a few small scratches on them. One looked like it was torqued a little too tight and the Torx bit might have slipped out a little (however I contacted Spyderco and they've shipped me a few replacement screws for free so those should be in better shape).
I was even considering selling it but I honestly could not find anything to replace it with for several reasons.
For one I LOVE the compression lock. I have never cared for liner/scale locks very much for some reason I guess because during hard use I might grip the knife pretty tightly and I might be able to dissengage the lock. If I was skinning an animal and the back of the blade was being pressed up against the hide the knife closed and I'd get cut then be in A LOT of trouble if I was in the field and had a whole animal to quarter. For some reason ever since I was a kid I just don't care for liner/scale locks and unfortunately that limits me in selecting a knife (although I still want a Sebenza).
For two I don't think there's a knife available that can beat the ergonomics of a Spyderco. So many companies seemed to be obssessed with "tacticool" stuff these days and design knives with huge chunky blades, tanto grinds, "extreme" looking scales and coated blades etc. and hardly any of them seem to care about the owners actually USING the thing everyday for work, camping etc. So many companies just want a retired SEAL or somebody to come along and endorse the product and just make cool "looking" knives without considering how they will actually work.
I love the choil hold and saber hold on the Para2 and for me it just WORKS. Like whats been repeated many times, these knives were designed in the dark. They might not look like the latest mall ninja knife but they fit in the hand pretty darn well.
Finally I love the S30V steel and G10 scales. The reversable clip is great (I don't like the high polish sheen on it tho) and the price is awesome (less then $150 so I won't cry for days if I ever lose the thing). So when it came down to it there was nothing else I could find to replace it with so I kept it and broke it in with its first Sharpmaker sharpening!
Oh yeah I also got a Para2 with Sal and Eric's marks side-by-side which I understand they've phased out. I've seen pics of the final version with their marks surrounding the Spyderhole and I like mine better so that was just more reason to keep it!
 
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One more thing, you get the choice of tip-up or tip-down on the Para2, while Military is tip-down only so far. I've found tip up-carry is perfect on the Para2, while tip-down is perfect on the Military.
 
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