Spyderco Paramilitary 2 vs. CS American Lawman vs. BM Griptilian

[batosai117]

I finally had a day off and about an hour to myself so I took the time to take a few pictures yesterday and these are my results and opinions:

I wanted to compare three (3) of my EDC knives that are generally the same size on the blade length. The three (3) I chose were my Spyderco Paramilitary 2, Cold Steel 2010 American Lawman, and my Benchmade 550 Griptilian (discontinued model).

Here's some comparison pics of the three:

At first glance they all look around the same size in the handle and blade, but there are some differences.

In this pic below, I poked all three knives into the wooden picnic table out back and there were 3 different results. The CS American Lawman stabbed well into the table and stayed put, the Spyderco Paramilitary 2 stuck into the table with great ease, and the Benchmade Griptilian 550 did not do so well - this is due to the rounded down tip of the Griptilian model that I own (the discontinued one) but it is related to the newer 550HG in shape only this version that I have is flat ground instead of hollow like the newer one. It took about 3 different pokes to get the Griptilian to stay put on it's own...

Example of the tips:

The blades:

The blade shapes are all great in their own right. The American Lawman slices well, the Griptilian not as well with it's thicker grind, and the Paramilitary 2 was right in the middle with it's full flat grind.

The handles:

The handles are all fit differently in the palm. The American Lawman feels as though it could use an extra 1/2 inch of handle on the rear of it. The griptilian fills the palm very well but the pocket clip feels as though it could leave a real hot spot, and the Paramilitary 2 fits like a glove. Examples of all three individually held:

The rest will be continued on following post due to pic count...

 

[batosai117]

Now all three cut wood very well (I used mesquite sticks laying around). The American Lawman performed very well but felt a little "weak" in the blade edge due to the hollow grind (just a personal bias). The Griptilian 550 (flat ground) did good as well but seemed to drag a bit with it having a lot of steel behind the edge. The Paramilitary 2 performed great all around.

Pics of all three posing by one of the sticks they whittled down:

For me striking a ferro rod with the spine is essential for my outdoors trips. The American Lawman had a big FAIL at this with it's rounded spine and Teflon coating. The Griptilian spine worked but not as much as I'd hope. The Paramilitary 2 has a perfectly square spine and did the job very nicely:

So, to conclude things, I didn't do some big ole mumbo jumbo hacking through stuff review, just some simple things that it seems most of us would do with an EDC. I hope if anything at least the pics were helpful in comparing the sizes of the three knives shown above for future knife owners.

Take care, J.

 

[cj65]

I have both a Paramilitary and a griptilian. I use them mostly for cutting cardboard, since I do not get outdoors as much as I would like too, but you are accurate about the square spine on the Spyderco. I never thought about that much, but do have a ferro rod in case of emergencies.

 

[OrdnanceBubbaUSMC]

Good review - nice to see the 3 mid-size work-horses compared to each other. Some times the focus of the Blackberry pics was messing with my eyes though

It would be interesting to see if you can gather data in a test or two on how those 3 perform in edge retention in comparison to each other.

Thanks for the write-up.

 

[John_B]

and that explains the burnt picnic tables I've seen in Texas too!

 

[Reeek]

Nice review and thanks for taking the time - your results confirm my opinion that the Para 2 is a really good EDC. Much better than many.

 

[batosai117]

Thanks guys

The review was cut short (pun intended ) due to my wife and 3 month old son speaking incoherent things at me with something along the lines of making a bottle

I would like to add more (handle grippiness, texture, blade finish, etc...), but it will have to be at a later time (at work right now).

 

[Talum15]

Good review batosai117!
Nice to see that you enjoy the para 2 & putting it into good use. Makes me miss it sometimes...
Stay safe!