****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Whew, what can be said about this knife. A couple months back I bought a Manix 2 and stated that was the most expensive knife planned on owning. That didn't stick. Not even a bit. Strap in, this is gonna be a long review.Upon receiving this knife my heart was pounding. I haven't been this excited in a long while. Technically, I'm an adult (28) but I still occasionally get excited over things. It's a sign of youth or something. Anyway...upon opening the Amazon box and subsequent Spyderco box, I realized my excitement was well founded. It was love at first sight. If you're reading this I'm sure you understand what I mean.The box had the knife (obviously) and the requisite Spyderco paperwork. The knife was wrapped in a plastic sleeve. After removing the knife and holding it for the first time I saw why the Para2 is so difficult to get/keep in stock. It is beautiful. The camo scales are flawless. The satin finish is flawless. The centering and materials are flawless. The grind is flawless. The black logo and wording is flawless. I'm kinda rambling on here so let's get down to the meat of this knife....The G10 handles, as stated earlier, are beautiful. Moreover, they are functionally superior. The grip texture is awesome. No worries of it shredding my pockets, but it grips amazingly. The G10 on the Tenacious feels like garbage compared (and I think the Tenacious is about the best value for the money). The bright silver pocket clip, standard spoon style, works excellently and is 4 way positionable. Left/right, tip up/down. Why don't all manufacturers do this? It carries fairly deep, about a half inch or so sticks up above the pocket in the tip up orientation. Not too bad. The GIANT lanyard hole is nice and its 'piped' not a hole in each scale. It's large enough to fit at least 2 pieces of 550 through. The steel liners are aggressively skeletonized, reducing weight quite a bit. This knife doesn't weigh you down. The overall grip easily accommodates my XL hands, without choking up on the choil. Speaking of the choil, it incorporates Spyderco's world beating jimping. The absolute BEST jimping around, in my opinion. The thumb ramp also has the sharp, comfortable jimping as well. A+ on the handle an ergonomics.Now the blade. As mentioned, the blade sat perfectly centered in the handle. Awesome. That feature should be on every knife, regardless of price. The oversized Spydie hole is a dream, works well with gloves or without. The blade rides on buttery smooth, low friction phosphor bronze washers. The action is as good as I've ever experienced, and what is to be expected from Sal and the boys. Mr. Sal Glesser has his own logo on the right side of the blade, as does Eric Glesser, Sal's son. Proudly marked on the right side, near the tang is the country of origin; Golden Colorado USA Earth. Sweet. The left side has the black Spyder logo near the thumb hole and the steel, in this case CPM S30V.Crucible Materials Corporation's fantastic blade steel is used on this knife. It is strong, resistant to corrosion, and takes a wicked sharp edge. Anyone who owns a Spyderco knows how sharp they are delivered. This knife raised the bar. It is insanely...absurdly...outstandingly...stupidly....there isn't an adjective to describe it. It isn't surgical scalpel sharp, no pocket knife is, but this is by far the sharpest I've ever seen. And it holds it's edge very well. I've cut cardboard, tape and plastic strapping and the edge is still sharp enough to make the hair jump off my arm. The final piece I'll say is about the compression lock. It's solid. The blade swings up, hits the stop pin and the compression lock slides into a notch in the tang. It's kinda like a reverse liner lock, but stronger. Disengaging the lock and supplying a light flick of the wrist sends the knife swinging closed. Very nice being able to open and close with one hand.If I came off as a Spyderco fanboy, it's because I am. I have been supremely pleased with every product I've purchased from them. This knife didn't quench the thirst for badass knives, it kinda made it worse. If you're still with my I'll sum it all up with a final sentence. The Paramilitary 2 is an awesome knife and I don't know that you can find a better all around knife at any price point.
