Saber-ground Military or Para-Military?

BlackNinja

BlackNinja

Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Messages
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Has there ever been a saber-ground (kinda like a CRK-saber grind) Military or Para-Military? :confused: Has there ever even been talk about one if not? :confused: I would LOVE to get my hands on a titanium frame-lock, saber-ground Military… or a saber-ground Para-Military w/ comp-lock! I would certainly not worry about the very small added weight. Maybe a saber-grind Sprint? ;)
 
No, there never has been a saber grind Military or Paramilitary. In my opinion, that is a good thing.
 
In my opinion, the full flat grind of the Military is one of the features that cause me to consider it the best production folding knife ever made.

From my perspective at least, a sabre grind on a blade significantly detracts from the ease of sharpening. It also increases weight somewhat, making it less comfortable to carry.:p
 
DrChimRichalds said:
You said it. Saber grinds are so disgusting. But, to each their own, I guess.
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Really, disgusting??? :rolleyes: I like the Military's FFG blade a lot, and I wouldn't change it, but that's pretty strong. They may not be great tomato or apple slicers, and you may be disgusted by them, but they have a useful place in the edged tool world.
 
DrChimRichalds said:
You said it. Saber grinds are so disgusting. But, to each their own, I guess.
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I do believe that this gentleman was posting his personal taste, rather than an actual opoinion and perhaps used a rather unfortunate choice of words. :o

I share his distaste for sabre grinds, (except on sabres, of course:p) but I certainly respect the fact that some knife users are fond of them.

I have stated my reasons for my dislike of them, but I am sure that others have equally valid reasons for choosing them. It is to be hoped that an unfortunate, or simply over stated position on the issue will not result in personal animosity. :)
 
RevDevil said:
:rolleyes:
Care to elaborate?
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+1...
Also, I said "SPRINT", not completely change the Military to a saber grind. I have broke 5-6 flat ground tips (2 Military's); and they didn't break from abuse - unless you consider pulling a knife out of a cutting board 'abuse'. Saber grinds make the blade stronger, more durable and that is a fact; that’s not up for debate. Sure, a flat grind is better for slicing and I’m not arguing that; but it is at the expense of durability. Personally, I like the looks of a saber/hollow grind vs. flat grind, but that’s just me, YMMV. A saber grind has a lot to offer a knife and I don’t think it would be a bad thing to offer it on a sprint run of 600-1000 or so.
And really, disgusting is just ridiculous – my Sebbie sure doesn’t look ‘disgusting’. And I prefer my saber/hollow ground Chinook to the flat ground Chinook for use and aesthetically – in fact, I think the flat Chinooks are kind of ugly (YMMV); but no doubt great slicers. I don’t see the harm in producing a batch of saber Military’s/Para-Mil, unless it is real expensive to manufacture. You may not like the looks of a saber, but come on, disgusting :rolleyes: - that’s a bit harsh!
 
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Yeah disgusting is a bit harsh:thumbup: :) but so is calling my chinook ugly:thumbdn::mad:

All joking a side I actually like saber grinds too. There will always be plenty of ffg spidies as well.
 
Yeah i would love to have a saber ground blade...I like the para mil, its one of my favorites, but when i choose a hard use folder i'll often pick up something with a little more tip strength. For instance, my benchmade mini-griptilian or Manix 2, with its hollow ground blade, would be a better choice with the added tip strength. Understandably, a knife is not meant for prying, but I find that you only live once so you might as well use the hell out of the knives that you have since 9 times out of 10 you won't use up a blade in your lifetime. Conceptually, I'm not sure how a saber ground millie would work, but I know that it would definitely increase the strength of the blade. However, like some other members pointed out, it would inhibit some of the cutting ability. One of the huge reasons why people like it so much is because it cuts "like a lazer." If i know I'm going to be prying a lot of stuff, I have a small prybar on my key chain, and I will often use that instead of my knife.
 
Pulling a knife out of cutting board is not abuse. Stabbing it in there in the first place is. I've never broken a tip pulling it straight out of anything, although I have broken a few twisting, prying or pulling at an angle (all lateral forces) and a couple stabbing them straight into things. I've also carried and used a Schrade 8OT stockman for almost thirty years with a tip that makes the Military's look like a battleaxe. I've used it for things that make knife knuts cringe, and it seems to have endured pretty well.

Yes, a saber grind makes a blade stronger and more durable, at the expense of cutting performance. Since knives are cutting tools first and foremost, that has always seened a poor trade to me. Why make it worse at what it is supposed to do to make it better at things other tools are made for?
 
yablanowitz said:
Yep, they make much better crowbars than flat-ground knives.
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The saber ground D4 and E4 are almost funny as a polar opposite (and arguably over-reaction) to the extremely thin-tipped D3 and E3, which suffered a pretty high rate of broken tips. :) I think the saber ground D3 makes a superb lightweight backpacking folder with a very sturdy blade. But as a fine slicer, no, not gonna do... :o
 
One must know to what purpose a blade will be put to design that blade.
Those who use a knife for activities other than cutting will most certainly wish to consider a sabre grind. The thicker sabre grind will no doubt make the blade much more resistant to damage from torsional stresses.

Those who use a knife solely for cutting, such as myself, will be far better served by a FFG. At least that has been my personal experience.

General Phil Sheridan, on an inspection tour of the west, wrote to the war department that he had finally found a practical application for the cavalry sabre. He stated that if one were to be camped on a treeless prairie, the sabre could be plunged to it's hilt in the ground, and used to tether one's horse. :p
 
I'd like to see the Military blade fitted to a scaled up Para-Military2 handle and lock design. Flat blade is fine, but I'd buy a saber grind too if they offered both. Sprint would be ok.
 
Ben Dover said:
General Phil Sheridan, on an inspection tour of the west, wrote to the war department that he had finally found a practical application for the cavalry sabre. He stated that if one were to be camped on a treeless prairie, the sabre could be plunged to it's hilt in the ground, and used to tether one's horse. :p
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Well, I can think of a few other uses, but yes, the saber grind is not exactly my idea of a general purpose blade. :D Grrreat quote, by the way! :thumbup:
 
In general, I think it would be cool for Spyderco to do some sprints in different blade grinds.
 
P1GEONPOO said:
Yeah disgusting is a bit harsh:thumbup: :) but so is calling my chinook ugly:thumbdn::mad:

All joking a side I actually like saber grinds too. There will always be plenty of ffg spidies as well.
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Hence "YMMV"...

But, you're right, it's not 'ugly', just not my style - FWIW, the Chinook-2 is one of my favorite folders by any company :thumbup:- just not flat ground. The Chinook 2 was my first Spyderco, which got me hooked! I used to own almost every Chinook model there was (and almost every Lum - could never get my hands on a blue one) up until the flat grind (and had one of those for a little while): Chinook-1 (PE & CE - I believe I had a PE w/ S30v & two w/ 440v {definitely had a couple 440v PE’s & CE’s}), 3-5 PE Chinook -2’s (S30v), 2-3 CE Chinook-2’s (I still have one of those), 1 Chinook-3 (flat) PE (CE discontinued {I think in the middle of the C2’s production}, IIRC)… And I would buy a PE Chinook-2 & 1 (especially the C1, PE, in S30v – even 440v – the lock on the C1 is the strongest lock I have ever seen) if I wasn’t broke all the time from buying knives :(:rolleyes:;) (Spyder’s included)… In fact, my Para-1 see’s by far the most pocket time of any folders; followed by my Diamond bed Lg. Sebbie which gets about ½ the pocket time of my Para-1. My CE Chinook-2 gets its fair share of pocket time too.
 
BlackNinja said:
Has there ever been a saber-ground (kinda like a CRK-saber grind) Military or Para-Military? :confused: Has there ever even been talk about one if not? :confused: I would LOVE to get my hands on a titanium frame-lock, saber-ground Military… or a saber-ground Para-Military w/ comp-lock! I would certainly not worry about the very small added weight. Maybe a saber-grind Sprint? ;)
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CRK uses a high hollow grind on most of their knives. Hollow grind would be cool on the Military, because it would still slice good and have a thicker tip.
 
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