SpydercoPara Military 2 EDC Folding Utility Knife - 3.42" CPM S45VN Steel Blade and Durable G-10 Handle, PlainEdge - C81GP2

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.

Believe the reviews and the hype about the Para MiIitary 2 --- the size, weight, feel and blade quality of this knife have made it an EDC classic! I had considered purchasing this knife for a few years before finally taking the plunge - now, I have been EDC'ing this knife since the day it arrived, and it is one fine knife that holds a keen edge, and holds it very well. I am really beginning to appreciate the S30V steel on the PM 2. S30V it is a very high quality knife steel!I own three other Spyderco's - the Police Stainless, a Delica FRN and a Lil' Matriarch - and all have a lot of use between home, work, camping, hiking, backpacking, etc. But, the next backpacking trip will have this knife at my side, I enjoy the size and action of this knife a lot. It is very light for its size at 3.8 oz, and it has a very good feeling in the hand with the G10 handle. The balance is very good and most importantly it cuts like a dream. The locking mechanism has a good "snap" to it when opening, and it has just the right amount of stiffness on the action where it opens very smoothly.Owning the Delica with a 3" blade and the Police with the 4" blade makes me realize how perfect the 3.5" blade of the PM 2 is for my hand size. The Delica always felt a little small and I carried mainly for its light weight.... likewise, the Police always felt a tad big, and heavy due to the all stainless construction. Then again, the Police was never an EDC for these reasons, I typically keep that for around the house duties.I am not a big fan of the blade release / locking mechanism on the PM 2, but that is a minor concern and does not even come close to outweighing all the positives about this knife.I liked this knife so much that I also ordered the Camo with the black blade - it is backordered and may take a few months to get it - but it will be worth the wait. I look forward to passing these knives on to my sons' some day....I highly recommend this knife..... Thanks for reading.EDIT: For those concerned about the number of ParaMilitary 2 fakes floating around out there, I thought I would add a few sentences...First, the knife I purchased was sold / shipped by Amazon directly, and arrived with the box taped on both ends. This gave me initial cause for concern, as the Spyderco factory does NOT tape the box (I called Spyderco and they verified that). I still have not found who taped the box, whether it is Amazon, or perhaps a 3rd party that might be supplying Amazon (note again, I called Spyderco directly, and they stated definitively they do NOT tape the boxes). Also, even though my first box was taped shut, the knife had definitely been used and handled previously - perhaps a return? I called Amazon, expressed my concern, and they sent a replacement out - which was brand new, never used. However, the box on the replacement was also taped... so my guess is Amazon is taping the boxes shut. The tape job is professional, uses rounded corners and is well done, but just a heads up.Next - as far as real vs fake - I spent a lot of time checking the knife I received from Amazon (both of them) and I am 100% confident that these are authentic. I checked all the known issues with the fakes, and none of them exist here.... this is an authentic Spyderco, so at the time of writing this, the current stock sold by Amazon looks good. Just don't be alarmed if your box arrives taped on both ends... both of the PM2's I purchased Fulfilled by Amazon were taped on both ends.

I am a bit ashamed to admit that I only own 2 American made knives and they are both Spyderco. I prefer American made quality, but a lot of times American made knives are a lot more expensive. Spyderco are worth every penny! This knife is amazing! I didn't have to touch up the blade or tighten a single screw! This knife was perfect right out of the box! Great action, great size, great blade, just all around great!

All knives want to be Spydercos and all Spydercos want to be PM2s. This knife doesn't have any true flaws. Out of the box it's razor sharp. The action is smooth and deliberate. The geometry and ergonomics are spot on. It feels great in the hand. The gray G10 scales look great and are grippy without being too rough. The compression lock, while not my favorite style, works and works consistently. The PM2 might be a little big for EDC, but it is a great knife to have in your lineup. If you drive a truck, or a car, or a motorcycle, or if you ride the bus, or a bike, or a horse, or if you just walk you should have one of these knives.