Spyderco Military : Good for Hard outdoor use?

Sorry.....but what is batoning? Chopping wood? If so, why wouldn't an ax or hatchet be the right choice?
 
tirod3 said:
I sold mine precisely because I appraised it's features and decided it wasn't a hard use knife. That doesn't make it a bad knife for outdoors; most do just fine when used as knives, not hatchets. An outdoors knife doesn't necessarily have to be a robust batoning prying tool, and history has shown most experienced travelers overland didn't do that with theirs.

If you include those two tasks - which are serious abuse to any folder - then the Military is out. Some others have been suggested as putting up with it, but in the long run, they would also suffer serious damage. They would at least resist a short two or three days of it, though, precisely where they fit in, as capable of extreme use when needed. It's your call whether the additional bulk and expense is really justifiable.

Comparing the Military to the Tenacious, I'd take the latter as a superior outdoor design.
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Please don't tell the S90V/CF Military I've been using for a drywall knife. I don't know what I'd do if it discovered it was delicate.
 
dan oliver said:
Sorry.....but what is batoning? Chopping wood? If so, why wouldn't an ax or hatchet be the right choice?
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Good question. :rolleyes:

Battoning may be a useful tool in the outdoorsperson's emergency kit, but as you say, an axe or hatchet is generally a much better choice for day-to-day chopping and splitting chores.

I tend to feel many people here on the forums place much too great an emphasis on a knife's suitability for battoning as the litmus test for a knife's suitability as a "camp" "bushcraft" or "survival" blade. This often results in recomendations for knives more like splitting wedges than cutting implements. :p
 
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The Military is mostly what I use for camping. If I want to chop wood, I bring an axe.
 
Josh K said:
ZT line and the Military have very different designs and purpose of use. I can't say I'd want to baton with either.
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They are based on different design philosophies. Spyderco Military is a large yet lightweight tactical knife, while ZT lines are about tactical heavy and hard use. ZT 0300 series is about twice as heavy as Spydero Military, so if he's looking for a folder to abuse he's better off with a ZT. None of them will survive prolonged batoning, but a ZT will most likely last longer.

I personally prefer the Military because I don't like heavy folders, but to answer the OP's question honestly I gotta say ZT will take more abuse.
 
Sep said:
They are based on different design philosophies. Spyderco Military is a large yet lightweight tactical knife, while ZT lines are about tactical heavy and hard use. ZT 0300 series is about twice as heavy as Spydero Military, so if he's looking for a folder to abuse he's better off with a ZT. None of them will survive prolonged batoning, but a ZT will most likely last longer.

I personally prefer the Military because I don't like heavy folders, but to answer the OP's question honestly I gotta say ZT will take more abuse.
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Agreed the ZT will probably take more abuse, but really if you're shelling out $170-$220 for the knife anyways, just get a nice FB. Hell get a Mora. :D
 
I carried one for a couple of years in the Army. It didn't feel safe with such a large cut-out and so much exposed liner. I thought that at some time, something was going to contact that liner and unlock it. I went back to my Benchmade AFCK and later to a CRK Sebenza. Been there ever since.
 
woodentsick said:
Hi guys,

I was wondering if the G-10 Spyderco Military was fit for hard use in the outdoors such as in batoning or hunting, especially with the absence of full stainless steel liners, a weak tip and rumours about a weak liner lock.

Anyone who has a Spyderco Millie and who uses it a lot, please share your thoughts about its rigidity here.

Thanks!!
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Why anyone would choose a folder to do the work of a fixed blade is beyond me, however you can use the milli to do many things, but it sounds like your asking for trouble to me.
 
dan oliver said:
Sorry.....but what is batoning? Chopping wood? If so, why wouldn't an ax or hatchet be the right choice?
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Batoning is when you place your knife onto the object you're cutting (hopefully wood) and then you proceed to knock the spine of the blade senselessly with an object (also hopefully wood) and that forces the blade into the object until it splits. Imagine you're splitting logs with an axe/hatchet, only you're using your folder and another object to get the force knocked into the blade.

Now I've done this with very small knives up to my main beefy folders and they've all done quite well. Keep in mind I sort of knew when to quit.....some people don't and that causes the "you'll shoot yer eye out," and the "Ahhh there goes my finger," type of scenarios :D

My military's from the past have always been great to have/use/own. I think if I had to pick a knife right off the bat for EDC it would be the millie. For such a large folder, it carries slim and is very lightweight. As for the liners, G-10 is durable and strong enough in it's own right. Look at striders and the emerson frame locks, tough hard use knives that have one side as just G-10 and then the other as titanium. That has to say something about the G-10 for the military.

I hope this helps both the OP and dan, take care, J.
 
Blade steel choices for fixed blades run to simpler steels than even the Tenacious. 1095 is common, and high alloys usually aren't. In the day, simple carbon steels are what the pioneers carried. They kept and edge and were easy to resharpen. It's only in the golden age of knifemaking that people could blow the disposable income on a high alloy knife. That doesn't mean the bar was raised tho. High alloy knives are expected to handle duties no pioneer would have done - they would carry a better tool and know why. The Hudson Bay Company traded quite a few axes in it's day, too. Batoning is a worst case survival skill - not an everyday activity.

Frankly, if I had to make a new home in the wilderness with no power tools - I'd take a two man saw, among other like items. I wouldn't waste my labor on chopping brush with a pocket knife.
 
Want to baton....buy a fixed blade....better for wood....buy an axe....if you want a knife for outdoor use like food prep, cutting rope.....buy spyderco....Do not worry about the liner! The mil was designed to be an effective cutting edge!
 
mdauben said:
... many people here on the forums place much too great an emphasis on a knife's suitability for battoning as the litmus test for a knife's suitability as a "camp" "bushcraft" or "survival" blade. This often results in recomendations for knives more like splitting wedges than cutting implements. :p
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A thousand amens.
 
The Military is easily one of the best folding knives I've ever owned... It is pretty bomber... I think it could use more robust hardware... For SUCH a perfect design, the little screws used in assembly just really stand out as the weak link... I think it would take abuse to break them, but I'd at least like to see bigger/thicker screws on the stop pin. For an everyday "all-around" knife, the Military would get my vote for the best folding knife ever made... If you are looking for something that is REALLY unlikely to break under more extreme uses (though I can't imagine what you may have planned), I would consider spending almost four times the $$$ of a Millie on a Strider SnG... or you could buy three Millies, and have backups... kinda puts things into perspective... um.... I may or may not have both. For me... there IS no perfect knife... I have gripes about ALL of them.
 
woodentsick said:
Hi guys,

I was wondering if the G-10 Spyderco Military was fit for hard use in the outdoors
Yes. It is a very durable knife

such as in batoning
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This is a no no with any folder. Bear Grylls does it with a Gerber gator but he's an idiot and got a new knife for every show. Your one and only folder will not stand up to this beating long. It will eventually develop slop and possibly lock failure over time.


or hunting
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Absolutely

a weak tip
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It only has a weak tip for prying and screw driving. But then again, it's not a pry bar or svrewdriver is it.


and rumours about a weak liner lock.
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I would say anyone starting this rumor either got the one bad one, or has never handled the knife.

Probably the most robust folder I've handled and is my outdoors folder of choice is the Strider AR. It's without a doubt the most tank like folder I've ever owned. Not to say anything to take away from the Military. It's a fine knife as well. But I still ain't gonna baton with my AR either LOL. They say spyderco is gonna come out with a titanium framelock military. I'll be getting one if so. Maybe you should wait and get that one if you aren't comfortable with the current military lock. But I can assure you it's solid.

If you want a knife that can be used for multiple tasks including screwdriving and such... I suggest the Leatherman Charge. That plus a fixed blade can do lot's of things in the woods.
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It is just such a sweet knife! I have the camo G-10 and with s30v steel. I use it for utility and kitchen chores. It's so sweet and cost me so much here in Canada there isn't a hope of using it to baton wood with unless I get caught out in an emergency without a hatchet/fixed chopper.
With the increase in cost of some knives I am not sure if it means it could stand up to "that" kind of abuse and I just cannot afford to see if it would. I would be upset if it broke or was destroyed.

sean
 
If I really needed to baton with a folder I would use it make some wood wedges and use that to baton with. my millie is arriving soon! and I bought it to be my outdoors folder.
Ill tell you more about it once I get it.
 
I had a CPM440V (S60V) Military since they first came out in 1996. I used it in work just about every day cutting alot of tough materials. It never chipped an edge and is above average in mainttaining sharpness.

I would not recommend batoning with any folder.
 
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