To CQI, or Not To CQI; Millie Question

Cow51

Cow51

Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
662
I've had my eyes on the Millie line lately and one came up on the exchange with "older CQI". I know CQI is better, but by how much? Am I better off with CQI, or are the pre-CQI still just as good? Thanks.
 
I think the shouldered pin and pivot bushing may help with tuneablility and allow for a slightly more smooth action. If the price was right I wouldnt let an “older cqi” stop my from buying it. The Military is and excellent knife either way.

Which one you looking at?
 
Riz! said:
I think the shouldered pin and pivot bushing may help with tuneablility and allow for a slightly more smooth action. If the price was right I wouldnt let an “older cqi” stop my from buying it. The Military is and excellent knife either way.

Which one you looking at?
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Thanks. I hear great things about them and come close to getting one but never do. I think I need to just try it. I'm looking at a blacked out S30V black G10.
 
The other responses are right on. For the right price, it wouldn’t matter, but if the prices were the same or close, I’d go with newer cqi.
 
Exactly. I love the newest CQI. The larger screws, stepped pivot, rounded clip end, larger lanyard hole, standoff’s, are all wonderful. But I wouldn’t pass on an older version if the price was right. Lots of exceptional Sprints/Exclusives from past years.
 
So, if it comes down to price, is $120 for a LNIB blacked out S30V "the right price"? I'm not familiar to secondary market pricing on these.
 
Probably, for a like new dlc coated, sounds about right. I payed $125 for a Lnib, satin blade with cqi. Unless you absolutely have to have the newest and the latest. I’ve paid $175 for cruwear non cqi with some slight tip damage. Because I had to have the cruwear version, and had a budget.
Edit;
I didn’t check the listing, I see that the price is $120 + 3.5%. So, I don’t know, and am probably not allowed to say since I’m not a Goldmember
 
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I dont care much about the larger lanyard hole but the bigger body screws and the open construction are definitely improvements that I like. So lets put it this way, if the price difference is no more than $20, I would go with the one with the latest CQI. That being said, I had a ti millie and still have a dlc/digicam millie both old models and both great.
 
Yonose said:
I didn’t check the listing, I see that the price is $120 + 3.5%. So, I don’t know, and am probably not allowed to say since I’m not a Goldmember
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Thanks for pointing out that the buyer pays fees, I got caught up in the hunt I over looked that. I won't buy when the seller makes the buyer pay fees like that, just because of the principle of it.
 
For me the larger lanyard is mandatory:

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With the newer CQI Millies, you don't have to worry about over-tightening the stop pin, thus resulting in poor blade action. I also like the see-through construction with the standoffs. I've owned many Millies over the years and newer CQI ones have come perfect in action, centering and lockup.
 
I vote for the newer CQI. I'm a fan of the bigger screws and open back construction.

But if I found an older NIB/LNIB Military for $100 or less then I'd get it.
 
I'm neutral on lanyard holes (don't use them, don't mind them), but when I was researching my first Millie purchase I liked everything about the new CQI better than the older version. I probably spent more buying one new than getting a deal on an older one, but it was worth it to me.

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I like the bigger torx heads. I've replaced them on my older models for bigger ones (pre cqi releases).

I am not a fan of the stepped pivot, though. I prefer to control how tight the pivot can be and not have a max possible tighness.

For me the old model wins out becausr I can replace the screws in the old and not the pivot in the new.
 
The newer CQI models are my first preference. The older ones are not far behind in refinement though, my older CF S90V and G10/Ti M4 versions are still pretty sweet.
 
I love all millies, probably my favorite knife ever. But after pulling apart my new ones and seeing how it all fits together and how the pivot tension is managed i must say i prefer the old style pivot. Everything else tho - larger screws, lanyard hole and standoffs i like better on the new ones.
 
91bravo said:
With the newer CQI Millies, you don't have to worry about over-tightening the stop pin, thus resulting in poor blade action. I also like the see-through construction with the standoffs. I've owned many Millies over the years and newer CQI ones have come perfect in action, centering and lockup.
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Somehow on my two new Militarys of newer CQI, tightening the pivot can make a major difference of action: from super smooth with some blade play, to smooth with no blade play (this is what I need), to sluggish, to stiff, and eventually to hard to open. So my conclusion is that the new CQI does NOT eliminate the need of dialing the pivot to the sweat spot.
 
sharp_edge said:
Somehow on my two new Militarys of newer CQI, tightening the pivot can make a major difference of action: from super smooth with some blade play, to smooth with no blade play (this is what I need), to sluggish, to stiff, and eventually to hard to open. So my conclusion is that the new CQI does NOT eliminate the need of dialing the pivot to the sweat spot.
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I always adjust the pivot to my liking and lok-tite it down. I'm referring to the stop pin. On the newer CQIs, the stop pin is a floating one, so nothing to tighten down and mess with the blade action. If you remember the older Millies, they have the screwed-in stop pin. Very similar to the PM2, if you tighten the stop pin screws down too much, it will mess with the action of the blade. Sometimes it's easy to do and sometimes it's just downright finicky!
 
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