Continuing Adventures Para2 Camo DLC (Previously "Show Yours")

[Wowbagger]

Mostly I would like to see used ones to see how the DLC held up but I'm buying one in any case. It is a classic I have said I just had to have and now (soon as tax return hits bank) is the time.
Feel free to post safe queens and mods etc., I am jonesin' really bad and just need the distraction.
Has anyone polished the DLC ala WE knives ?

. . . and finally fill me in on the changes in the camo pattern I have seen of late. I don't think I care for it over the old stuff but . . . need input.

PS : the Para2 Camo DLC I get will be a heavily used knife I won't baby but won't abuse. I just had to add that.
. . . anyway . . .
show me some photos
Tell me some sharpening info . . . I'm thinking I will just use my DMT diamond aligner stones up to the skin colored 8,000 (the only knife I have with S30V is my safe queen so I never sharpen S30V).

This is the different camo that I saw. Now that I opened the photo and saw it up close I guess it is the same old camo just a sample with a lot of natural G10 in the middle. When it was postage stamp size it looked like it had a diagonal pattern or some such.

 

[731Chopper]

Here is mine. I’ve had it for a couple of years and use it. I don’t baby it but also haven’t cut more than paper, wood, tape, packaging, etc. The dlc holds up very well.

 

[Wowbagger]

Here is mine. I’ve had it for a couple of years and use it. I don’t baby it but also haven’t cut more than paper, wood, tape, packaging, etc. The dlc holds up very well.

Thanks Clint,
Nice photo

 

[Wowbagger]

Also the history of when the Camo Para got DLC.
How long ago did that happen ?

 

[anycal]

http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=C81_Para-Military

I had this one for almost couple of years before I dyed it, and gave it away.

 

[Cursum Perficio]

This one belonged to a farmer, and very good friend, who passed last year. He used this knife for all sorts of things, as farmers do. Witness the arc event evidence on the spine. When he bought it to me for sharpening it always wore new evidence of use.
It shows that DLC can be damaged if you do things like scrape it repeatedly over rusty barbed wire to cut away the Kikuyu overgrowth, dig mud out from tractor equipment, cut gorse off below ground level, opening many beer bottles, lord knows what else.

By contrast I've had this one since late 2012, used it plenty and the DLC is still in great condition.

 

[Wowbagger]

http://www.spydiewiki.com/index.php?title=C81_Para-Military

I had this one for almost couple of years before I dyed it, and gave it away.

Thanks for the link; took me a while to figure it out but looks like ~2011 for DLC but before that (from 2005) they came in "black". Does anyone know, was that teflon ? Doesn't matter I guess; mostly I wanted to know about the DLC.
Thank you again.

 

[Wowbagger]

Witness the arc event evidence on the spine.

That's a good place to arc to though. I once made that mistake with the edge and I don't recommend it. I eventually ground enough of the blade away to erase it. (on a Buck not a Para).

When he bought it to me for sharpening it always wore new evidence of use.
It shows that DLC can be damaged if you do things like scrape it repeatedly over rusty barbed wire to cut away the Kikuyu overgrowth, dig mud out from tractor equipment, cut gorse off below ground level, opening many beer bottles, lord knows what else

Looks really good considering all that; especially on the one side, hardly any scratches.

I'm particularly partial to the all black one. That's the one I am trying to keep looking new by getting this camo/black. Plus I really like the camo/black but won't mind it looking used.

 

[Wowbagger]

Bump

 

[Wowbagger]

By the way I didn't forget about or not appreciate the help I got years ago when I first asked about S30V; I just couldn't locate the thread. Today I went out on Google and searched for it and found it.
Link >>>>>to Thread about S30V.
I linked directly to the post from Jason B. because that was a most thorough and concise answer to my questions but all are interesting answers and I appreciate them.

Problem is, like I said, I just have not sharpened S30V much at all. Coming up in a few days I will be EDCing my camo Para2 so I guess I will be learning how. I just pulled the trigger.
I'm thinking a strop with diamond grit on it is going to figure in there some where . . . so I will have something to be happily grumpy about.
Is the Spyderco Ultra Fine Ceramic Triangle rod for touch up of a nearly sharp edge not so effective with S30V that has been used as a work knife ? I'm thinking that is going be the case.

 

[Yonose]

I have used both the ultrafine ceramic triangle rod and the green dmt diafold to get s30v back to sharp from nearly sharp. Actually I’ve used them on s35vn, m390, cts-204p, 440C, and s90v as well. One of these days I’ll buy a second so I can put it in the sharpmaker base. With the sharp maker, there’s nothing to learn really, as long as the edge is either 30 or 40 degrees inclusive. Just keep the knife straight.

 

[Wowbagger]

How can someone (me) get so excited over a kind of . . . "they'er every where" . . . knife ?

I was counting the hours from the minute I got to work . . . only nine and a half hours and I will be back at home opening the Spyderco Box. Only nine hours and twenty nine minutes and I will be back at home opening the . . .

Thank You Sal ! ! ! and the Golden Spyderco gang ! ! ! !
It's perfect !
The camo is just the way I wanted it (not too much light color (it has more dark green on the non clip side).
No play, way centered, perfect factory edge, no dings, rolls or bur AT ALL. Easily shave sharp on both sides.

Just now I tuned the clip to how I like it to grip my pockets and moved it to where I like it.
Then took some photos.



Man the action is the very best of all my Paras and I didn't have to tune the pivot. Bang out of the box perfect.
Allow me to demonstrate (I didn't even add any oil) :
I like to point the blade down


Release the lock and the blade begins its swing.


Tilt the handle up and the blade continues to pivot; or better said the handle pivots around the blade.


Get to the vertical and the blade doesn't hesitate but closes easy and no bounce.


I'm all like :
(it's the little things)

 

[Wowbagger]

Day one = a day at work.
I'll not gush . . . just the facts.
I used it lightly and that included a little hard rubber paring; very little but the rubber was particularly hard.

I got home and tested the edge on my finger nail; a draw cut to check for chipping.
Ohhhhhh . . . that didn't feel good. Dang.

With magnification under a light what I saw was flattened areas in the edge. Rolled to both sides in the same area if you will. There was some scratches on the factory sharpening bevels so must have contacted some grit along the way. No real chipping in the areas that were not flattened.

I decided to start with trying the Spyderco Ceramic Triangle rod in Ultra Fine. I just used one hand held with just the weight of the rod on the blade.
The corners of the triangle took care of the rather pronounced distortions at the flattened areas. I was pleased. The way it felt in the beginning I was thinking I would have to busss out my little sharpening steel.
Nope . . . I got a very light, consistent looking, bur and flipped it both ways.

Problem being I couldn't get rid of the bur with the ceramic rod; at this point I had gone on to using the flats of the rod. Going just against the edge (edge leading) still had the bur for quite a while.
M4 would have dropped the bur and I would have been finished.

So I considered grabbing my 8,000 Norton water stone but opted for the Aligner 8,000 diamond grit stone.
Vanadium carbides and all like that.
The Aligner stone made quick work of the bur and it was gone. Again used hand held with just the weight of the stone on the blade. Pretty much maintaining the factory's minuscule secondary bevel (minuscule is a good thing).

End result : The edge was even sharper than when I got the knife and was easily hair shaving and probably bordering on whittling but I didn't even try; just going on how it shaved.
BUT
there were some little chips in the edge. Hardly any and very tiny.

She's ready for another work day.
I'm happy.

 

[dalefuller]

I tend to get a burr on my Paras, too. That's mostly what I carry these days, so I'm used to it. I use a hard leather strop for final deburring after the knife comes off my SM or my WE. I know a lot of folks use stones for deburring, but I'm more comfortable using the hard, bare leather.

Here's my DLC/digi-cam family. As you can tell, they're show horses, not work horses. I got 'em because I like the color combo. They've all been carried some (the Para 2 took me across the country and back) but they're mostly for show.

The black Para 1 is the garage/garden workhorse. It's been our beater for several years. My wife has tried to kill it more times than I can recall, but the WD40 and my WE keep revivin' it. Still has a solid lockup and sharpens up pretty easily.

 

[Wowbagger]

Another day at work nearly identical to the last but a little more trimming of hard rubber, than last time, that was not quite as hard and I washed it first (to eliminate grit).
The edge on my S30V did a good job, held up fine and no flat spots or additional chips.

 

[Wowbagger]

I got 'em because I like the color combo.

You said it.
Me to.
Nice collection.

Thanks for the post and photos !

 

[Wowbagger]

OK; I used it a whole lot this week though not much hard rubber trimming (or the edge would be dead) but some.
Still, no more chips.
Still good and sharp; not M4 sharp but bites thumb nail all along the edge !
annnnnnnnnd the pivot is just staggeringly great !
Still zero play and pivots like it is on freshly cleaned and lubed ball bearings. I have not touched the pivot with a wrench. Noticeably better than my other three Para2s which tend to have a trace of play to be this free or just do not get this free swinging.
We're buddies for sure.

 

[Wowbagger]

I just can't get over the pivot on this thing !
I haven't touched it and it just keeps getting smoother and there is no play . . . literally like ball bearings.
I picked up my Para2 with M4 yesterday, poor thing has been sitting around for weeks now, and the pivot seemed kind of sleepy in comparison and seemed to said "Hmmmmmmm ? Whaaaaaaa ? and before this Camo S30V I felt that I was blessed to have such a nice functioning knife in the M4 Para.

The S30V is getting significantly dull in places on the blade where I cut the hard rubber (haven't been doing that as much in the last few months) but it is still hanging in there as far as usability. I'm just letting it go to see how far I can get before sharpening. When I can't pare accurately I will know it and that will be sharpening day.

I've done a ton more of pierce cuts in dirty rubber coated cloth and the edge near and at the tip is still very sharp and the point is perfect and no chipping anywhere.

 

[Cursum Perficio]

Of my Para2's it's the Elmax that has impressed me the most with smoothness and still having zero play after plenty of use. It started out very good but for a tiny bit of lock stick which has gone now, it moves completely freely and locks up absolutely tight. I've never yet had to adjust anything on it.

 

[Wowbagger]

I had kind of a weird experience using the Para2CamoS30V today. I will be posting it in the S30V thread as well.
As I said I hadn't been trimming near as much hard rubber, hardly any . . . until today.
A fair amount today.

Now . . . the blade is significantly dulled in the areas of the edge I use for trimming the hard rubber. It is dulled because of trimming that hard rubber in the recent past.

How do I tell how dull it is? I take the edge down my finger nail like this and where it is sharp it sinks in a grabs my nail; where it is dull or getting dull it just slides down my fingernail without grabbing . . . maybe scraping some nail off in the form of dust or scrapings.



Well the experience that was weird is that the blade just kept cutting well and accurately enough that I could just keep carrying the knife and trimming more hard rubber. Who knows when it would begin to fail me and loose its' ability to trim with accuracy but for now it is still cutting well.

This was the sort of experience I was expecting with my Manix in S110V. As some of you know it stopped cutting with even a hint of accuracy in one or two days at the most from a very sharp state and would keep repeating that scenario after many re sharpenings. My Para2 and UKPK in S110V are far better than the Manix at this cutting task . . .
but
still nothing like my experience with this particular Para2 in Camo and S30V.
It must be geometry is all I can think . . . in any case it is in a sweet spot.
When the S110V stopped grabbing my nail it also wasn't cutting well.

I won't be studying it much if any longer; the Para2CamoS30V is being kicked out of my pocket temporarily by my brand new Pattada (just arrived today).

So the dif with my Para2 in M4 is the edge would still be shave sharp after this much cutting and twice as much as that . . . but I'm impressed that some how the edge seems dull but continues to do this hard rubber trimming that kills and dulls so many other knives in not too long.

It just shows what a gem this particular Para that I wound up with is.