Just recieved my second Spyderco (first was a PE Cricket) in the form of a PE Military, and I couldn't be happier 
Bare in mind I'm in the UK so its pretty much impossible to 'try out' or even have a look at a knife in person. Therefore pretty much everything about the knife was a bit of a suprise (luckily a good one).
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After a lengthy debate on which knife to buy (originally looking at AL-Mar Sere 2k) I settled on a the Military as my choice for a hard-use, field utility knife for hiking. While it only arrived an hour or two ago, so far I believe its the embodiement of what I required;
Weight:
While not originally a requirment, the low weight of the Military is a big plus for me.
Funnily even though I spend hundreds of £'s on lightweight hiking gear, I never give a second through to carrying a weighty beast of a knife in my pack.
The Military seems to offer a great compromise between weight and performance (at least thats what I'm hoping), and in carrying it I don't feel like I'm loosing out compared to carrying a heavier knife.
Handle:
Simply amazing !!!
I was really shocked quite how big the handle was, even after seeing numerous pictures, but this isn't too say I wasn't pleased.....
The handle protrudes about 2" from my grip when I choke right up on the blade, leaving the blade feeling something akin to a whittling knife. The handle is long enough to easily accomodate my hand in the thickest pair of ski / riggers gloves, and facilitates the use of a variety of grips.
Personally I find this offers an excellent degree of control, but if you prefer your hand to cover the full-extent of a grip you might want to check one out before purchase.
I was also very impressed with the 'grippyness' of the G10 scales.
All the pictures I'd seen the scales looked fairly slick, with little to no texture (which was putting me off a little). As soon as I picked the knife up however, the aggressive texturing seemed to bite straight into my palm with a reasuring strength.
Deffinetly a knife that I'd be happy to use in and around water.
Simplicity:
I'd read that the Military was very easy to maintain / wash, which is a must for me when the knife is to be used in the prep of food.
Looking inside the Military's scales, the sheer simplicity and void inside brought a smile to my face. Its immediatley obvious that removal of debris, by rinsing, brushing etc will be a simple affair, and that cleaning can be carried out in the field.
-------
I can't comment on performance or edge retention as I haven't actually used the blade yet (bar a few minor tests
), but the knife did come with an excellent edge *indicates bare patch on arm*.
Blade opens very smoothly and seems to lock up strongly.
My one tiny grumble is that the lower finger choil doesn't have the same grooves as the rear of the thumbhole. While It is recessed, I'd imagine the little extra purchase it'd offer would be appreciated during slippery tasks.
------
Anyway, sorry for rambling on; most of which is more than likley old hat to any spyder-knut out there, but just thought I'd say a very big thank you to the folks at Spyderco for producing such an excellent product.
A quick pic of my lightweight hiking cook kit (click me)
Was it worth the $190 it cost me ? Hell yes !!!!!!!!
Bare in mind I'm in the UK so its pretty much impossible to 'try out' or even have a look at a knife in person. Therefore pretty much everything about the knife was a bit of a suprise (luckily a good one).
----
After a lengthy debate on which knife to buy (originally looking at AL-Mar Sere 2k) I settled on a the Military as my choice for a hard-use, field utility knife for hiking. While it only arrived an hour or two ago, so far I believe its the embodiement of what I required;
Weight:
While not originally a requirment, the low weight of the Military is a big plus for me.
Funnily even though I spend hundreds of £'s on lightweight hiking gear, I never give a second through to carrying a weighty beast of a knife in my pack.
The Military seems to offer a great compromise between weight and performance (at least thats what I'm hoping), and in carrying it I don't feel like I'm loosing out compared to carrying a heavier knife.
Handle:
Simply amazing !!!
I was really shocked quite how big the handle was, even after seeing numerous pictures, but this isn't too say I wasn't pleased.....
The handle protrudes about 2" from my grip when I choke right up on the blade, leaving the blade feeling something akin to a whittling knife. The handle is long enough to easily accomodate my hand in the thickest pair of ski / riggers gloves, and facilitates the use of a variety of grips.
Personally I find this offers an excellent degree of control, but if you prefer your hand to cover the full-extent of a grip you might want to check one out before purchase.
I was also very impressed with the 'grippyness' of the G10 scales.
All the pictures I'd seen the scales looked fairly slick, with little to no texture (which was putting me off a little). As soon as I picked the knife up however, the aggressive texturing seemed to bite straight into my palm with a reasuring strength.
Deffinetly a knife that I'd be happy to use in and around water.
Simplicity:
I'd read that the Military was very easy to maintain / wash, which is a must for me when the knife is to be used in the prep of food.
Looking inside the Military's scales, the sheer simplicity and void inside brought a smile to my face. Its immediatley obvious that removal of debris, by rinsing, brushing etc will be a simple affair, and that cleaning can be carried out in the field.
-------
I can't comment on performance or edge retention as I haven't actually used the blade yet (bar a few minor tests
), but the knife did come with an excellent edge *indicates bare patch on arm*.Blade opens very smoothly and seems to lock up strongly.
My one tiny grumble is that the lower finger choil doesn't have the same grooves as the rear of the thumbhole. While It is recessed, I'd imagine the little extra purchase it'd offer would be appreciated during slippery tasks.
------
Anyway, sorry for rambling on; most of which is more than likley old hat to any spyder-knut out there, but just thought I'd say a very big thank you to the folks at Spyderco for producing such an excellent product.
A quick pic of my lightweight hiking cook kit (click me)
Was it worth the $190 it cost me ? Hell yes !!!!!!!!
