Spyderco Paramilitary 2 Issue?

[craytab]

Thanks. And yea that's why I joined here...to learn more and obviously get insight from people who are more educated than me in this field. So good to hear from multiple folks that it's real, and that it just needs a little tweaking.

With the minor adjustments I made it's already feeling better.

If it is a stronger detent that I'm looking for, is there a simple way to do that without effecting anything else or no?

Depends on how willing you are to take it apart. You could bend the lock bar slightly more inward to put more pressure in the lock bar. This might void your warranty and it also might make it harder to open if you bend it too much because the detent ball will be putting more pressure on the blade. I have done it on a couple of knives. Never on a spyderco though. You could also consider sending it to spyderco to see if they would help and do it for you. I won't even mention messing with the detent ball or the detent hole. That seems way too risky even for me.

I would just cycle it a bunch and see if it wears in. Then if you are still not happy, consider other options.

 

[Evolved]

Depends on how willing you are to take it apart. You could bend the lock bar slightly more inward to put more pressure in the lock bar. This might void your warranty and it also might make it harder to open if you bend it too much because the detent ball will be putting more pressure on the blade. I have done it on a couple of knives. Never on a spyderco though. You could also consider sending it to spyderco to see if they would help and do it for you. I won't even mention messing with the detent ball or the detent hole. That seems way too risky even for me.

I would just cycle it a bunch and see if it wears in. Then if you are still not happy, consider other options.

Sounds good. Worst case Amazon is usually great with refunds/exchanges so I could always exchange it.

I tried to get a clip showing the detent and I think this kind shows the difference.
Not trying to actually deploy the blade, just slight shakes, you'll see: https://youtu.be/OWdDkkdpHs0

 

[lead slinger]

I'm not sure how you open it but instead of flicking your thumb out, put all your pressure towards the pivot screw before breaking the detent barrier and you can get much more pre-load before the flick.

 

[Evolved]

I'm not sure how you open it but instead of flicking your thumb out, put all your pressure towards the pivot screw before breaking the detent barrier and you can get much more pre-load before the flick.

Yup I know that. Realized this when I got my first Spyderco Tenacious. Push upwards and not outwards. Since the detent is so weak it limits how much I can build up before it just starts sliding out. I think thats the main reason why it doesn't flick open as quick/powerful as the Tenacious or others...the weak detent.

 

[AusLoX]

Use your middle finger to "spidy flick" the knife open. The blade isn't heavy like on other knives. With the flick you use the detent to help build pressure until it breaks free and flys open

 

[craytab]

Yeah, the blade is not heavy so it can be hard to flick out without a stronger detent. Kind of like how you can throw a mediums sized rock farther than a small pebble.

In your video it looks like a very lite detent. I just tried doing that with my PM2 and it took a ton more force to get it out, so much so that it flies out and locks up with authority. I am one who does not like lite detent. This is completely personal. I might call spyderco to see what they say.

 

[Evolved]

Use your middle finger to "spidy flick" the knife open. The blade isn't heavy like on other knives. With the flick you use the detent to help build pressure until it breaks free and flys open

Yea but like I mentioned the issue is the detent is very weak, unlike the Tenacoius which is a bit stronger so it opens 99% of the time where the PM2 is so weak that at times it just opens half way since it doesn't build up any force behind it.

Yeah, the blade is not heavy so it can be hard to flick out without a stronger detent. Kind of like how you can throw a mediums sized rock farther than a small pebble.

In your video it looks like a very lite detent. I just tried doing that with my PM2 and it took a ton more force to get it out, so much so that it flies out and locks up with authority. I am one who does not like lite detent. This is completely personal. I might call spyderco to see what they say.

Yup, exactly. So yea looks like the conclusion is it has very weak detent. Overall it has a smooth manual opening. In the end it's just personal preference like you said. The weak detent makes it very easy to manually rotate open, but difficult to flick open.

Although I do think the detent on my PM2 is weaker than it should be from the factory compared to others.

 

[lead slinger]

Ok, yea you must've posted that video while I was typing my post. After watching that, like craytab mine would never open with those shakes, so I would contact spyderco as well.

 

[swarthys]

I have two PM2s, one of which I suspect is a fake. I bought these some time ago, and I noticed that the knives feel virtually identical, but one is very stiff and the blade on the other falls freely when the lock is disengaged. Several months ago, I took them apart to see if I could figure out why there was such a difference. When I did, I noticed that the knives are virtually identical, except that the lock-side liner is laid out very differently on each piece. The lock opening in the G10 is the same on the two knives, but the lock itself sits very differently in the cutout. I assumed that it was a design change implemented by Spyderco at some point in the PM2 run. Reading this thread tempted me to take the knives apart and share a few pics. I apologize in advance for the poor lighting.

 

[craytab]

I have two PM2s, one of which I suspect is a fake. I bought these some time ago, and I noticed that the knives feel virtually identical, but one is very stiff and the blade on the other falls freely when the lock is disengaged. Several months ago, I took them apart to see if I could figure out why there was such a difference. When I did, I noticed that the knives are virtually identical, except that the lock-side liner is laid out very differently on each piece. The lock opening in the G10 is the same on the two knives, but the lock itself sits very differently in the cutout. I assumed that it was a design change implemented by Spyderco at some point in the PM2 run. Reading this thread tempted me to take the knives apart and share a few pics. I apologize in advance for the poor lighting.

That is strange. If I remember correctly the fakes don't have a milled lock side liner. The lock cut outs on the G-10 look fine. Is the jimping angled on the thumb ramp?

 

[Evolved]

Just a quick update. Today I got in my replacement PM2 from Amazon and it's a world of a difference. Detent is just a bit stronger, which makes deploying the blade via flicking amazing. Just enough detent that once it releases, the blade flies open. Unlike before where it just started moving with slightest bit of pressure.

Some side notes are that the new PM2 actually has a more grippy G10 handle, and the G10 is also more of a jet black color. Plus I noticed a very faint discolored ring around the old pivot screw (can see it if you look closely at the pics). This almost makes me think that the knife I originally got could have been a used model although everything else did look brand new. Either that or quality control was not the best during that run.

Either way, i'm super happy with the new one and now I understand why this knife gets all the positive ratings that it does. Silky smooth opening.

New PM2 is on the right for all pics:

 

[link2derek]

I've owned 6 of them, and with every one of them (stiff or not) I disassembled, washed, dried, lubed and reassembled. All of them were buttery smooth with proper pivot adjustment. The black blades - because of the coating is on the pivot areas of the blade also - will take some breaking in before they are super smooth, though.

 

[bigolegator]

Great knife choice and welcome to the addiction and enjoy your Spydies!

 

[SpeedHoles]

I have two PM2s, one of which I suspect is a fake. I bought these some time ago, and I noticed that the knives feel virtually identical, but one is very stiff and the blade on the other falls freely when the lock is disengaged. Several months ago, I took them apart to see if I could figure out why there was such a difference. When I did, I noticed that the knives are virtually identical, except that the lock-side liner is laid out very differently on each piece. The lock opening in the G10 is the same on the two knives, but the lock itself sits very differently in the cutout. I assumed that it was a design change implemented by Spyderco at some point in the PM2 run. Reading this thread tempted me to take the knives apart and share a few pics. I apologize in advance for the poor lighting.

Did you ever confirm if that black one is a fake or not?

 

[swarthys]

No. I took a couple of pictures of the jimping. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between the two. I might post this over in the Spyderco fakes thread as well just to see if anyone else has any thoughts. Also glad the OP got his replacement PM2 and that it is functioning well.

 

[SpeedHoles]

Try weighing them? Then compare to Spyderco listed weight...?
Also, do you see the small "notch" under the "belly" of the liner? All of the Paramilitary 2's I have had have those. Your black one does not appear to have it.

 

[swarthys]

The black one does not have the notches, at least as far as I can see. I am having trouble finding my digital scale, but the black one has always felt slightly lighter to me. I thought the weight difference was in the blade, but when I took the knives apart, I couldn't tell much difference in the weight of the blades. I'll see if I can track down my scale and get a precise measurement.

 

[dkblade]

Didn't read this whole thread but I worked the crazy detent out of my PM2 by loosening the pivot screw a tiny bit. My knife won't swing open when I hold the lock bar unless I use my wrist to slightly flick it. But I can thumb flick and middle finger flick it all day long. Just to give you an idea of how tight the detent is, if I try to open the knife with my thumb lightly, the blade swings open to 90 degrees before my thumb is able to stop it. To be honest though, this knife rivals my sebenza 21 in terms of smoothness and ease of use. Fit and finish is a whole different story, but the PM2 for the money is pretty damn amazing.

 

[craytab]

No. I took a couple of pictures of the jimping. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between the two. I might post this over in the Spyderco fakes thread as well just to see if anyone else has any thoughts. Also glad the OP got his replacement PM2 and that it is functioning well.

The jimping on those look just fine. I would be curious about an explanation of the different lock bars though.

 

[swarthys]

Try weighing them? Then compare to Spyderco listed weight...?
Also, do you see the small "notch" under the "belly" of the liner? All of the Paramilitary 2's I have had have those. Your black one does not appear to have it.

I found my digital scale, and the black/satin weighs in at 3.77oz. The digicamo/black weighs in at 3.83oz. The official weight for both is 3.9 oz on Spyderco's site.