What would you buy and why

Dwfinitely Military! :thumbup:

I have two of them, CPM D-2 and CPM S90V. IMHO, one of the 2 or 3 best designed folders ever made.
 
thanks for the suggestions, however for those suggesting other knives, I want to limit it to the ones specified except I would add the H1 pacific salt.
The prices I quoted are in canadian dollar, total including taxes so I doubt I could get it cheaper here from the US

What is the practical difference in steel between the military and the endura
CPM S30V
ZDP 189
 
Military. S30V is awesome, takes and holds an edge like a champ. Also, the G10 handle preforms well, and I think it looks pretty great too.
 
I find the Military a bit large for carrying in the same pockets the Endura will fit comfortably. I'm not a big fan of the FRN E4 design, so I'd look at either the G10 Endura (adds some grip to the stainless handle) or the E3 design Pacific Salt. The Police is just ridiculously long. Not that that's bad, but it doesn't work for me for EDC. If you like the E4 design, go with the FRN ZDP.
 
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Just a side note: the FFG G10 Endura does solve what IMO is the original's "grind problem". However, this comes at a cost: weight and money. End result: lovely knife, but still no match for a Millie.
 
coyotebc said:
thanks for the suggestions, however for those suggesting other knives, I want to limit it to the ones specified except I would add the H1 pacific salt.
The prices I quoted are in canadian dollar, total including taxes so I doubt I could get it cheaper here from the US

What is the practical difference in steel between the military and the endura
CPM S30V
ZDP 189
Click to expand...

Both steel types use powder metallurgy to manufacture them. Which means that rather than pouring the molten steel into a mold to form cast bars, it's shot out of the smelting pot under high pressure into a stream of compressed Nitrogen, blasting it into a fine powder. This way the alloying elements which would normally congregate together during cooling, making the steel unusable, are now evenly distributed in each particle. Thus allowing quantities of elements not normally possible. The steel is then hot pressed in a vacuum camber to make solid bars.

S30V is an economical high performance steel type with good all around characteristics (especially wear resistance). ZDP-189 is a Japanese steel which specializes in high hardness and wear resistance.
ZDP-189 will hold its edge a little longer, however it's not so corrosion resistant. The blade of mine has darkened just sitting in a zip-lock bag, and numerous people have reported rust problems in wet environments.
If you're a steel nut and must have the most high tech blade, that would be the ZDP-189 Endura (or anything in S90V). If you just want a great knife to use every day, the Military fills that role better than just about anything else. From handle ergonomics to blade geometry, the Military is one of the best EDC's you can get.
 
Military :thumbup: because I like it better than the others you listed. The others are good knives but the Military is one of my favorites. Its nice and big but not heavy. Has a FFG blade and good egros.
 
Only those 4 choices?

Personally, they're all too big for my EDC purposes, where a 3 inch, give or take a bit, blade is more useful.

I love the shape of the Police's blade, but don't like stainless handles on a knife that big (And don't like the P3's blade. Give me the original Police blade with G10 handles and it's a winner.)

I already have a Pacific, and while it's a perfectly decent workhorse knife that I use a lot while camping, the Endura/Pacific design just doesn't do a lot for me.

The big issue on the Military for me is that it's tip-down only. I have a Para and don't use it much for the same reason. Maybe if I kept in a sheath or back pocket...

So, hmm. ZDP-189 Endura. Milly if tip-down doesn't bother you.
 
Millie, hands down....hands. down.

While the others are "good" knives, the Spyderco Military is one of the best knives ever made.
 
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randomlooker said:
Personally, they're all too big for my EDC purposes, where a 3 inch, give or take a bit, blade is more useful.
Click to expand...

Too big?
The CS Voyager X2 is big, but still not too big. It only weighs 6.65 ounces, fits most jeans pockets quite well, and the extra blade length is nice when opening large packages or reaching into the mayonnaise jar.
What do you do that would make a normal 4" blade too big?
 
Joshua J. said:
What do you do that would make a normal 4" blade too big?
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Spend a lot of time in a city with a 3.5" blade limit, for one...

I could get by with a peanut or similar sized knife for most if not all of my day-to-day knife needs outside of the kitchen (Mostly opening boxes and other packaging). 3 inches or so of blade is more than enough, and the bigger handle compared to a peanut is easier for me to hold comfortably. No need to go bigger.

If I'm camping or doing work outdoors, it can be a different story.
 
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