SERE 2000 vs Millie...

H

Herr_Noobien

Joined
May 20, 2009
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Just wondering about these two knives. I saw an excellent comparison between the Military, 710 and the sebenza a while ago by one of the members here (sorry, but i can't remember the name). I like the Military more than the 710 and i'm broke at the moment so no sebenza for me :grumpy: I recently saw the Al Mar SERE 2000 at a shop and thought it looked pretty cool. Any experiences with it? how does it compare to the Military?

Thanks in advance.
 
I carried the SERE 2000 on my first deployment to Iraq, it is a good knife, but now I carry a Military and I just love it, I am a large person so the Military fits me better, and I like the ergos of it better. The SERE 2000 is OK and a smaller person may like it but they are really very different knives.

Bottomline is you got to get what fits you, try to put both in your hand and then make a decision about which one you want.

Hope this helps you,
RickJ
 
I have owned several Millies and a mini-SERE. While I can't do a head to head comparison for you since I haven't owned the larger SERE, I can vouch for Al Mar's overall F&F and their attention to their blade beveling and O-O-B sharpness. I really liked the mini-S. It had a very smooth action, positive lockup, and no b/p in any direction.

My mini-S carried very well in RFP or IWB with it's low-rider clip. The SEREs are TU, the Millies are TD, if that makes any difference. Al-Mar does VG10 very well and it's one of my fav folder steels, so I didn't have any concern about the performance of the blade material. Both knives are open construction so they're pretty easy to keep clean.

For me, the knives worked equally well and I had complete confidence in either one I was carrying and using at the time. The choice of which to keep and carry came down to personal preferences. I like the Military's blade shape a bit better than either of the SEREs because of the long curve to the edge and I like Spyderco's FG S30V better than just about anything else I've ever found including VG10.

Good luck with your decision. Somebody'll come along shortly and give you an apples-to-apples comparison between the big SERE and the Millie.
 
the military has a half inch longer blade, is 2 oz lighter and is ffg. I think for edc its hard to beat a military if you can deal with the handle size.

that being said, the sere 2000 is a great knife too. you wont be dissapointed with either, but you need to think about what youre going to be using the knife for and pick the one that fits your needs better.

if you live somewhere cold where you will be wearing gloves frequently you gotta go with the military. if you live in arizona or something thats a non issue.
 
and they are two of my favorite knives. I've owned a total of two SERE 2K's & four Militarys & am now EDC an Orange Military.

For carry purposes I prefer the Military simply because its a slimmer lump in my pocket & lighter which is an issue wearing shorts & hiking.

Around town it's a toss up, the SERE has a low riding clip & one of my Militarys is a BG-42 with a STR lowrider clip. I like the low riding aspect as it doesn't ping any radar or draw any unwelcome attention.

Finally I just like the asthetics on the SERE, simply great F&F & quality control, a liner lock that rivals the Military & is super smooth.

A final thought, I have a Blade Tech MLEK Magnum that I like as much as either. It's great to have these options but if I had to narrow it to just one I'd whine, agonize, rationalize & end up with a Military. Ruff Cobb
 
I had several Milies and though good knives. I ended up trading them all. I still have a Sere 2000. Great heft and I really like the blade design. Also the clip design lets sit very low in the pocket which I like. I am also a big fan of VG-10.





:)
 
No experience with the other knives mentioned but I have used a SERE 2000 as my main carry for several years. It is the most expensive folding knife I have ever bought and I consider it the best money I've ever spent on a knife. No other knife I've owned has fit my hand as well. It's big but the handle shape and the deep pocket clip made it ride well in the pocket. Fit, finish and build is superb. It never has seen any really heavy use or abuse so it has held up well throughout.

Right now I'm in the process of trying to find a smaller knife that I might like. The Al Mar doesn't get carried as much since I'm rotating several smaller knives. The SERE is one of the few knives I would never consider getting rid of.
 
included a response from Spyderco's Sal G. He expressed a strong concern & interest & requested this particular Military be returned for examination. Since this is one a a very few reported lock failures on a Military one could speculate endlessly on whether this is a failing of a specific sample, operator induced failure, or a manufacturing defect.

Perhaps the knife was returned to Spyderco. In this event I too would be interested to know if anything was determined.

Ruff Cobb
 
It could be argued that chopping through wood with any folding knife is abusive, but ignoring that issue even the finest product will have the ocasional flawed example, and substative complaints about Millie's failing in use seem to be awfully rare. I would not let one, isolated report of a failure put you off the knife.
 
Both Millie and Sere 2K went out of my pocket since the Bradley Alias 1 had proven to be a superior cutter. Nevertheless, Millie and Sere 2K are very good folders - Bradley is just better in my opinion.
 
I am all for the lawks/autolawks system and I don't have any idea why so many people knock it. The autolawks is a great safety feature that improves a knife's lock stability. I just wish some form of it were applied to the many liner and frame locks on the market.

After reading all of this and other similar reviews the benefit should be more than obvious.
 
In fact I like secondary safeties on all lock types. I wish the standard axis would come with the same slide safety as the auto axis for one example.
 
I've carried one Military variety or another for over a year and a half now and my locks are as solid as day one with general EDC use. In fact, none have even moved from the original early lock up point. It makes me wonder but I promised my self I would not be a Spyderco troll and would have an open mimd. So far though, no "reports" have altered my opinion about the Military.

I confess I own and use more Spydercos than any other production MFG but that is mainly because they stay consistent with their philosophy which aligns a lot with mine. A great great performing knife with manual operation, a variety of handle materials, locks and steels at a fair price for a top notch production knife. I think they offer a very large menu of choices too. All that said though, I appreciate most well regarded MFG and own a few of the others.
 
The SERE 2000 is one of the best knives made for the money.
The quality is just incredible. (BTW, I own a few high end knives including a CRK)
The SERE easiy rivals knives I own that cost twice as much.
Conversely, it's much nicer than many knives I own that cost about the same.

People rave about the Millie though, so I'd say pick whichever one you like best.
 
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It seems lock strength on both is great from what I'm hearing. Ergos seem to fine on both (although the Military fit my hand better when I held both at a shop). Also, as far as I know, spydercos CPM S30V may be a bit better than Al Mar's VG-10 in terms of edge holding ability. Ummm all that's left is lock up. Is there any blade play on either of them?
 
I wouldn't be too quick to knock Al Mar's VG-10. My Sere holds a great edge. The Serrated Milies I had in 440V were the best edge holders the other way. I had a BG-42 a S30V and the 440V. As for lock up both brands were great for me. You won't go wrong with either.:D:thumbup:




:)
 
Oh, I'm not knocking Al Mar's VG-10 or anything. I'm no steel expert, but off the top of my head I would think Spyderco's CPM S30V would be better than Al Mar's VG-10 when it comes to holding an edge. Of course I could be wrong since both companies may use different heat treating methods, but as far as I know, VG-10 gets sharper and is much easier to sharpen, while S30V will hold an edge for longer.
 
I just got my Millie today along with a waved Endura!
The Millie is awesome. Rock solid lockup, shaving sharp out of the box, feels like part of my hand. pure. awesomeness.

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Out of interest (i'm not trying to start a brawl here or anything...), how does the Millies S30V blade compare to benchmade's D2 (specifically, the 710) in terms of edge holding ability?
 
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