K
ktataragasi
at the end of the day if you happen to be a knife nut but...you don't want a million knives just lying around, I can see why you want to be super careful. We're all kinda idiots in that any of these knives could be our one knife for a decade and it would just be fine.
I tell this story a lot. My brother loooves high end everything. He bought a $400 AR lower once and proceeded to add another $1,600 of stuff onto it, lol. His cruisers that he trades in every 4 years or so are usually the $20k and up versions. Growing up in the 80s when he got his first real job in the real world he bought a model year '87 Grand National, proceeded to put a stage 3 kit in it and began going to Englishtown NJ to eat Corvettes. That said I bought the guy a Protech Godson for his bday bc he carries too, I told him to whip out his 10 year old $40 Boker AK74 and to throw it out as it was beat to hell. He takes out his knife and looks at me like I shot his puppy and refused my gift. Lol.
Long story short, there's never going to be the most perfect knife or just one knife to rule them all if you are that kinda guy. The knife that you pick is going to be a rough compromise of hand feel, blade steel, blade length, weight, thickness and preferred deployment method. In terms of opening, Spyderco lockbacks open as well as any other Spyderco, they're going to be thinner than other Spydercos so they work as great EDCs. They don't close as easy and don't have fidget factor to their form. Otherwise just get an Endura or a Delica and stop there.
That ^ notwithstanding. Oh and the Native is a little short in hand, but its thicker and has great handfeel and that's its saving grace. It feels better in hand than a Delica, it's kinda Techno size if the Techno was skinny which it's not. The Para 3 LW, if you like FRN, I personally love it because you can throw it around and it stays true to just being a basic work knife is to me the very pinnacle of all the great things that Spyderco has done up to now. It has like a bunch of features stuffed into a LW vesion of one of its other knives. As I said I didn't like the G10 version and I had the fancy pants Rex45 version of the regular Para 3. I love the LW and think its the penultimate regular everyday carry. It's a compromise, it could be longer, yes. The steel could be better yes. It could be G10 but then it would be heavier. Instead what it is is a great all around knife and these are the knives that I find that I actually keep and use. If my CRK is lying around I will use it.
But more often than not I usually grab a sub $125 Spyderco. I've learned mostly that these are my favorite knives and I've ventured into Bob Dozier Customs, some other midtechs here and there like Three Sisters and Olamic but none of that fit my uses. I'm a cut up some boxes and do some yard work and gardening kinda guy. I don't make any bones or have any fantasies about what I use or would use a knife for. It's why I don't have many fixed blades anymore because I only go camping like once a year.
If you need a larger blade the Manix 2LW uses BD1n steel too it takes up a bit more room in the pocket but has super flattish scales so it hides it well. If you have bigger hands the Manix 2 lw would be a great choice. To date the Manix 2LW and the Para 3 LW and Wharncliffe Delica are my favorite Spydercos and I've bought, traded and sold a hell of a lot of them from Domino's sprint Millis, sprint Para 2s to 5 different Sages etc...just like everyone else on the board who loves Spyderco. It's my favorite brand bar none.
Edit here's a link to 3 side by side photos of the Manix and Para 3 LW
Para 3 LW vs Manix 2 lw in hand
https://imgur.com/gallery/Ak0x498
