Use and abuse military?

S

SuzukiGS750EZ

Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
4,563
Got a spyderco military two years ago for christmas. I've carried it but never really used it much. It's one of my favorite knives i own due to its smoothness, look, carry and overall feel. I was just telling a friend the other day, if it came down to either getting rid of my CF/TI sebenza or the military, the sebenza would have to go. I just can't get over the whole not wanting to ruin it thing. I guess my issue is, if i like a knife and its expensive, i'm afraid to ruin it. Before i knew about knives, steels, chips, flat spots, etc., i would use a knife hard. I guess what they say is true, the more you know, the worse off you are. I got it with the intention to use it hard. I would carry it and pair it up with a leatherman surge for a while, then dropped the military and carried the surge. I guess i'm more so afraid to damage the blade and not be able to repair it the way it was. What have you guys put your militaries through?
 
i have beat the holy crap out of a few millies, they will take it as long as all your doing is cutting, no twisting, prying, using your knife as a screwdriver etc. use your knife as a knife and you will be fine. You can easily find a brand new millie for the 100 range if you look around enough, I know i did , so i bought 2 one to use any which way i like and as hard as i like , and if something happens to it then i have a backup ready to go. You think you love your millie now??? Put her through her paces and see what she can do then you will come to appreciate the knife even more and your love for the design will grow even more. An example of what i put mine through on a daily basis is cutiing through those huge industrial zipties, those are hell on a knife blade I've chipped about 4 or 5 knives cutting these so i decided to start carrying the millie for this because i figured the ffg with the s30v steel would be a better option for these and i cut a lot of them a night and I've yet to chip the edge on my millie yet. I also make car frames for a living and I haft to cut alot of copper insulated wire and the millie cuts them just fine , sure i haft to sharpen it alot just because if my knife isn't hair popping sharp it's dull to me but my millie has never let me down.
 
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Sad thing is, i had an old crkt m16-03 (before auto lawks and before they became crappy) and that thing went everywhere with me and did anything and everything i ask of it. I look at it now and it survived, with the AUS steel and the plastic washers and such, but yet im afraid to harm a modern folder with "super" steel. I guess it's just a mind game.
 
I went through the same thing when i first started buying high end knives, I was scared to cut anything, I carried a knife and used it to open mail that's it, Then i joined the military and really saw what some people put folders through, trust me they are alot stronger than you think, I have a buddy who is still active duty and he's somewhere in a conflict zone( he's SF) and i know he has an emerson folder on him and a spyderco millie with him , and he uses the crap out of them, and they never failed him, or hadn't last time i saw him.
 
I've had a few regular Military Models suffer from lock failure over the years. I also have a few newer production ones that have had no such issues even under heavy use. If you get one with really good lockup, in my experience, you'll be good for a long while. As for blade steel, I've had Militaries in pretty much every steel they've issued the model in, and haven't had any major problems that weren't my fault.
Aside from the limited clip position options, the Military would be my top EDC choice. Particularly the Titanium Framlock Military....
 
Allen R. said:
Put her through her paces and see what she can do then you will come to appreciate the knife even more
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This! Part of the joy of owning it is using it.


SuzukiGS750EZ said:
I guess i'm more so afraid to damage the blade and not be able to repair it the way it was.
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I know what you mean here, the turning point for me was buying a wicked edge. Now I know that if I end up damaging the edge I can easily and consistently bring it back to better than factory when ever I want. (Not that the edge is damaged easily!)
 
If you do damge your blade find Richard J on here hes my go to knife sharpener if i get a blade that i damge or just want to get it to maximun performance he charges 1.00 per inch plus shipping, and his turn around time is usually the same day he gets your knife its already shipped back out to you.
 
What have I put a Military through? Haven't you learned not to ask questions you really don't want to know the answer to?

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Fml. Backspacer screw has been loosening up somewhat lately and when I went to tighten it the threads came out. I've never had that happen on a knife before. Hope spyderco fixes me up
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
Fml. Backspacer screw has been loosening up somewhat lately and when I went to tighten it the threads came out. I've never had that happen on a knife before. Hope spyderco fixes me up
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That is the only problem I have with my Military. It also causes the blade to be off center some what. Otherwise, it's a fantastic knife that should hold up to some hard CUTTING tasks.
 
This is off topic but looking at that pic of the very used/ sharpened military, I really wish Sal would leave an extra millimeter or so of steel on the edge instead of starting the cutting edge so high up on the blade. This little bit of extra steel would equate to years of extra blade life and you wouldn't have to worry as much about losing your blade to sharpening over the years.
 
KalEl said:
This is off topic but looking at that pic of the very used/ sharpened military, I really wish Sal would leave an extra millimeter or so of steel on the edge instead of starting the cutting edge so high up on the blade. This little bit of extra steel would equate to years of extra blade life and you wouldn't have to worry as much about losing your blade to sharpening over the years.
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Your meaning was not clear to me. Are you suggesting they make the blade 1 mm wider from spine to edge, or did you mean to make the blade thicker behind the edge? Or was it some other thing entirely?
 
he meant wider,not sure if i want that, it would change the blade shape, they'll have to add more curve to the edge so it meets the tip in the same place. more curve = less pointy.
 
One thing to note, I can't sharpen a tiny portion of the heel of the knife all the way at the bottom of the edge due to the design of the wicked edge paddles. The plastic hits the hilt of the blade and doesn't allow me to sharpen it. I suppose I could sand down the plastic on the paddles....
 
I'm pretty sure that Yab will tell us that the real issue with that knife is not what it was sharpened on but the reason it had to be sharpened. IIRC, he uses it at work to do things like scraping concrete. :eek: :D

PB Wilson said:
How many stones did you go through to grind all that S90V away? ;)

That's really awesome.
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