Spyderco Paramilitary / Strider SNG Comparison

[kamagong]

I still believe that the Military is the best folding utility knife ever made.

Agreed. I guess I just like having a reason to carry two knives. Plus I get to carry one knife that's a technological marvel and one that's just plain beautiful to look at with jigged bone scales.

There is one situation in which I find carrying two folders indispensable. I occassionally use my pocket knives to cut food. Because my Military gets the dirty jobs I hesitate to use it to cut up a sandwich or slice some fruit. The Spire can easily do these jobs.

 

[HoB]

Great review, Buzzbait!

 

[Buzzbait]

Agreed. I guess I just like having a reason to carry two knives. Plus I get to carry one knife that's a technological marvel and one that's just plain beautiful to look at with jigged bone scales.

Natural handle materials, when done nicely, are a wonderful thing to behold. When they're attached to the quality of a William Henry, you've got a heck of a knife in your hand.

There is one situation in which I find carrying two folders indispensable. I occassionally use my pocket knives to cut food. Because my Military gets the dirty jobs I hesitate to use it to cut up a sandwich or slice some fruit. The Spire can easily do these jobs.

I understand the food part completely. I'm always cleaning off my Millie for food prep. My problem is that the Millie is my only folder with a blade long enough to cut through a Morabito's double meatball grinder, without getting the handle coated with sauce. Maybe I need to carry my Millie and my Para.......

 

[kamagong]

Morabito double meatball grinder? What's that? I have an image of a huge sandwich with dozens of meatballs and slathered with marinara sauce. See what you've done? I don't even know what it is, but I now have an irresistible urge to go out and pick up a meatball sandwich from the local pizza joint.

 

[Blop]

Hi Buzz,

reading your SnG review i was surprised, that you were looking for a stronger tip, because most of the time you liked the fine tip more.

Now, everything has come back to normal!

Considering the paras finish, i think there are better finished production knives and Spycerdo could spend an extra on the spine. I disliked the choil for the small finger at the end of the handle and (in that passaround) i thought, if that should be mine, i would try to dremel the back for more comfort.

If someone can stand that tip, the para is a very well made knife and as a lefty a came around with the compression lock greatly.

 

[tknife]

Great write up and pics. I've owned both knives at one time or another, and liked them both, but I like the SnG better. It's the perfect size and weight for a heavy duty EDC. I like your coyote tan version, very nice.

 

[Buzzbait]

Hi Buzz,

reading your SnG review i was surprised, that you were looking for a stronger tip, because most of the time you liked the fine tip more.

Now, everything has come back to normal!

Considering the paras finish, i think there are better finished production knives and Spycerdo could spend an extra on the spine. I disliked the choil for the small finger at the end of the handle and (in that passaround) i thought, if that should be mine, i would try to dremel the back for more comfort.

If someone can stand that tip, the para is a very well made knife and as a lefty a came around with the compression lock greatly.

I don't think that I mentioned wanting a stronger tip on the SNG. I did say that people who plan on prying might want the stronger tip of the tanto model. I don't pry, but I know that others have more need of a stronger tip than I do. That's why I mentioned it. I was just trying to cover all bases, and not mislead people into thinking that my SNG had an extremely broad tip.

Compared to the Para, the Strider definitely has the stronger tip. The shape of the spine on the SNG adds quite a bit more steel to the tip. But given the thickness of the blade, the full flat grind, and the taper at the tip, I certainly wouldn't categorize the SNG's tip as being "broad". It’s a reasonably fine tip, but not as delicate as the Para’s.

For my hand, the hook at the butt end of the handle worked very well. The fold of my pinky finger rested quite nicely on it, actually adding to the grip. If it weren't for that hook, I think that the butt end would have been too loose in my hand. For other shaped hands, I could see that hook as being bothersome though. I've heard similar complaints about the hook on the Manix, although the Manix allows for a MUCH larger hand before the hook becomes an issue.

At least the nested nature of the Para's liners allows for easy Dremel modifications to the handle shape. Reshaping of the handle would be much tougher on a folder with full liners.

Ideally for me, the mid-handle swell would have progressed right into the hook of the handle, leaving no hook and a wider overall handle at the butt. Unfortunately, that would require adding to the handle and not subtracting, so no Dremel mods for me.

tkknife - The SNG is definitely a great folder. Styling is exceptional. Performance is excellent. For people who aren't bothered by sharpening choils, the SNG is a no-brainer for medium-sized EDC. It’s easy to see why somebody would prefer the SNG over the Para.

As it happened, I received an unintended tan handle on my SNG. There was an apparent mix-up in the phone conversation with my vendor. I thought that I’d ordered the green handle, and ended up receiving the tan. I was a little disappointed at first, but the tan has really grown on me. The tan takes on a nice worn looking hue after a bit of use, which I find attractive.

 

[ginshun]

Great review!

My only question is what are you comparing the SnG to that you think it has a thin handle? The think is like a 1/2" thick. LOL

 

[Buzzbait]

Hi all. I just thought I’d post sort of a follow-up to my Spyderco Paramilitary / Strider SNG comparison. The last month has been very odd and very busy. The wife was in the hospital for a couple weeks, giving birth to our first child. The baby also spent a couple weeks in the hospital, creating a grand total of 3 weeks of me living out of a backpack in the hospital. Some days were spent staying at my in-laws house. The last week has been spent taking care of the wife and child, as well as catching up on weeks worth house upkeep. This whole ordeal has been an interesting test of EDC carry.

It isn’t until you don’t have the luxury of time to think about EDC carry, that you really understand what you do and don’t need on a constant basis. A wide array of features is suddenly less important than a few features that work every single time without any real maintenance. It wasn’t until this last few weeks that I was really able to grasp what I needed for an urban EDC setup. I’m still a bit busy, so I’ll be somewhat brief, and mention a couple items that have proven invaluable of late.

The Paramilitary was a huge asset. The pure slicing ability of the blade garnered high marks for basic utility cuts. Living out of your backpack in an urban environment means you are constantly purchasing things and opening new packaging. The Para is perfect for this type of work. The Para also saw lots of cutting of bandages, medical tape, etc. No small amount of food prep was also done with the knife. In my week home, the Para has seen quite a bit of outdoor work in the yard, cutting seed and fertilizer bags, as well as cutting small twigs and branches from the shrubbery.

The size and weight of the Para was also a huge deal. When you live in a hospital for weeks on end, your style of clothing lightens considerably. Jeans and cotton shirts are just too darned heavy and uncomfortable for life in a barcalounger. You need a folder that sits well in sweats, scrubs, and clothing made of modern wicking materials. The Para was absolutely perfect in this regard. You never knew it was there until you reached for it.

The compression lock on the Para was a godsend. In the short time I’ve owned the Paramilitary, I have become completely comfortable in the manipulation of its lock. I’d go as far as to say that I actually prefer the Para’s compression lock over the liner lock on my full-sized Military. Once you get used to it, the compression lock on the Para is VERY easy and VERY quick to manipulate. It becomes a reflex action, requiring no thought whatsoever. Sal, you officially have my permission to bring a compression lock version the Military to market.

I pretty much performed no maintenance on the Para over the course of the last few weeks, other than occasionally running it under a tap, and sometimes wiping the blade with hospital hand sanitizer. The most I did every day or so, was the open the blade, and blow through the back of the handle, to remove dust bunnies. The Para stays exceptionally clean on its own, holds a killer edge, and has proven to be very rust resistant. Juice from sliced tomatoes and onions had little to no effect on the finish.

All in all, for me at least, the Paramilitary truly is the perfect urban EDC knife. It present no hassles, always makes the cut, and disappears until you need it.

The Strider SNG saw a couple days of carry, but was quickly left behind at home. The knife’s tendency to open when withdrawing it from my pants proved very problematic. The sharpening choil also proved to be maddening. I really want to love this knife, but its drawbacks really get under my skin.

Another knife (well, sort of) to rise to the occasion was my Victorinox Swisstool Spirit. It is now known around the house as the “Dad Tool”, since it has been used to assemble an unending barrage of baby related gadgets, as well as the performing of many household duties. The Spirit is not too small to be useful, nor is it too large to bother carrying. It’s darned near perfect. The pliers work exceptionally well. The Philips screwdriver has worked on every screw I’ve needed it for. The blade is surprisingly handy. The file is even useful in a pinch. After having owned countless Leathermans and Gerbers over the years, the Spirit is the first multitool to truly impress me since my first Leatherman PST. The Spirit’s locking system is wonderful. Tool access is excellent. Comfort level is very high. I can’t tell you how truly impressed I am with the Spirit.

I’ll make quick mention of one non-knife related item, just because it has become so invaluable lately. It is the Casio G-Shock Frogman. This watch must have been whacked on 873 different stainless steel hospital items, yet is still looks like brand new. The watch proved to be very accurate. The alarms were used every day for the baby’s feeding times. The countdown timer was used endlessly to time breast milk pumping sessions. The stopwatch was used to time contractions. This watch is a miracle. For those interested, my Frogman is outfitted with strap adapters and a Zulu dive strap, for excellent comfort and security.

That’s all for now. I’ll add to this thread again, as I gain more experience with the Paramilitary.

 

[Gryffin]

Thanks for the update, it's a very interesting read!

I hope your wife and baby are doing well. Oh, and YOU, too! You've all had a helluva lot happen to you all in a short period of time. I can sympathize: my girlfriend was recently diagnosed with cancer, had surgery, and is still recovering.

Hospitals sure aren't fun places, but do make for an interesting EDC challenge. In my case, I had good luck using a Brigade Quartermasters nylon cover for those small Rite-In-The-Rain notebooks; it held the notebook and Fisher Cap-O-Matic space pen; cash, ID and Visa/ATM card tucked in behind the notebook; and a Victorinox Compact SAK and Peak Matterhorn 3 LED light in the outside pocket. It was surprisingly light; everything fit very flat, and at about 4"x6" sat pretty stable in whatever pocket I was using, and kept everything in one place.

The SAK worked well; the blade was long enough for food prep and large bandages and such, but didn't wig out the nurses; and it also had such luxuries as tweezers, scissors and a toothpick. Don't think I really needed the light, but it was nice to know it was there.

I think us knife knuts are so used to looking for the perfect knife, that we forget that just having a knife is what's important!

 

[Vivi]

Very nice reviews. I've been eying the Para's for a while after being extremely satisfied with the Delica and Native. It seems like a wonderful knife, I look forward to owning one.