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Rank your Paramilitary 2 (for those of you who have or had one)

Laws limit me to 3.5" around here so I'm happy to be the beneficiary of you desire for larger blades!

In a particular order.

1. Manix2
2. Para-Military2
3. Yojimbo2

1.
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2.
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3.
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See, that's why this place is awesome. One person's "too small", is another's "perfect"!! I'm glad you got that Cameron. Enjoy it. :)
 
In my view, the Para 2 is just about the perfect blend of being small and nimble enough for EDC tasks, but fast, sharp, pointy and wicked enough to alter someone's behavior. So it fits that role of EDC knife that most guys want, but (in theory) gives a good defensive capability as well.

I own about 6 or 7 Para 2's, and would rank it near the top of all folding, EDC-type knives. It excels at ergonomics and speed of deployment.

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Definitely top 3. It's more edc-able than my Military (which I love), so I've been carrying it a lot since I got it last week. It's the 204P which so far has been a great steel which certainly helps its ranking. It's also the most flawless knife I've bought, definitely made with pride.
 
It's in my top five and if I could only have one knife, it probably would be the Para 2. That doesn't mean it's my favorite. It's just a very practical knife. The Gayle Bradley seems a little less versatile but it's a little more interesting. The other 3 would be the Caly 3.5, Delica and Domino.
 
I avoided the original paramilitary and the PM2 like the plague for years because of the blade to handle ratio being so off aesthetically. I generally like a 1/1 or as close to a 1/1 as I can get. I also prefer the XL size knives like the military and Manix XL.

I got my first pm2 about a month and a half ago and I'm grateful I did. Its digicam/satin. It has made me a believer in carrying a smaller blade that is still very capable. I would definitely rank it in my top 3 and its been getting a whole lot of pocket time both at work and outside of work. Aside from carry, it is hands down my favorite fondling knife to sit and flick for hours on end. The knife is so smooth and fun to play with. I like it so much that I am on a waiting list to get a black/black one.
 
The PM2 wouldn't crack my top 10 production knives, nor would the Military. They're great knives, and I understand why lots of folks love them, but I never ended up carrying them much because of the way they're shaped. Being so wide and big-handled makes them super comfortable to use, but also really bulky in the pocket.

The Southard, on the other hand, is just the right temperature bowl of porridge for me.
 
It's a superb knife, I just never liked the compression lock. Comparing just spydie's I'd take a military or manix over it any day. I can't really put a number on the pm2, I've handled a couple hundred folders. Right now my carry on duty is a strider SMF DGG with PD-1 steel, off duty it's a SMF Lego PD-1. Also rotate a strider db with 3v steel if I carry my military or something else with a delicate tip. Pm2's are fun to flick that's for sure!
 
Between top 1 and top 2. Some days the Military wins. Its such a versatile design and size, it can do most you throw at it, and do it very well:

 
Never sold a knife that I bought (gave a few away, though). Ranking is always subjective and subject to change, but here it goes:

1. Benchmade 710 M390
2. Benchmade 710 D2
3. Bradley Alias 1 S30V
4. Benchmade 943 S30V
5. Benchmade 940 S30V
6. Gayle Bradley CPM M4
7. Manix 2 CTS BD30P
8. Military CPM Cruwear
9. Para 2 M390
10. Para 2 CTS 204P

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Between top 1 and top 2. Some days the Military wins. Its such a versatile design and size, it can do most you throw at it, and do it very well:


I like the hardware swap on the black one. I am thinking of doing that to my black/satin that's on the way, along with a black clip. Did everything go back together nicely?
 
Out of probably 250-300 knives and maybe 1000-1500-ish I've owned at any time (hard to guess how many), I would say in the top 10 in which it is hard to say which of the 10 are the best as they are all such great knives. One thing that made me enjoy both the original Para and the Para2 much more was an aftermarket clip that was more comfortable and carried the knife a little deeper in the pocket. I found I liked the knives much more with this simple mod. Also, after I sharpened them I liked them even more as I find the PM2 to be one of the easiest knives to sharpen of all, which is notable because it's in S30V which can be difficult to sharpen. That FFG performs well and is easy to maintain.
 
Top 3 for me and I firmly believe it is the best folding knife at around 120 dollars hands down
 
I like the hardware swap on the black one. I am thinking of doing that to my black/satin that's on the way, along with a black clip. Did everything go back together nicely?

Yes no problems on both. I never warmed up to the grey G10 on the 20CP, so I did a scale swop. The donor was an all black PM2, so it became a grey G10 DLC PM2, which was sold.

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