Spyderco Paramilitary 2 Review

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I haven’t owned a Spyderco knife in a very long time. In recent times, I have been all about Striders, CRK, Emerson, and custom knives. With that being said, the Paramilitary 2 by Spyderco intrigued me quite a bit, but for one reason or another, I never pulled the trigger on one. That is, until today.

Let me start this review off by talking about cost. This knife is one of the best values you can get today. CPM S30V, G10, and US made, all for less than $120. It’s no wonder these are constantly sold out from nearly all retailers.

Fit and finish on this piece is superb. I picked this one up second hand, and it had a little bit of play from the previous owner, but that has been resolved with a quick disassembly and tune up by me. The action on this knife is very smooth. It utilizes a bushing pivot. I will note that this is NOT the same style of bushing system that the Sebenza uses. On the Sebenza, the bushing and pivot bolt are two separate parts. On the PM2, the pivot screws screw directly into the bushing. This is why you cannot tighten the PM2’s pivot all the way down and expect smooth action like you would on a Sebenza. Not a big deal though. Once you find that sweet spot, it opens like a dream and locks up tight. Which brings me to my next point.

The Compression lock. I am a huge advocate of Liner Locks and Framelocks. This is my first knife with the Compression lock. While it is not my favorite locking system, it does its job. It is easy to operate and locks up well. One thing I can see as an issue is if you have meatier hands, when opening the knife, there is the possibility of being pinched in the palm by the lock. Not a big deal though, IMO.

Onto the blade. The opening hole on the PM2 is very large, and can be used quite easily to deploy the knife even with thick gloves on. With my Mechanix Impact gloves, I can still flick the knife open using the hole very easily. The knife also has a surprisingly thick blade stock (it is thicker than the stock on my Emerson SOFCK), yet Spyderco has done a fantastic job with their FFG, making this thick blade slice like a dream. Blade steel is S30V. It is more than likely that if you are a knife person, you’ve encountered S30V. It’s good. Period.

The G10 on this knife is checkered, but is not overly aggressive. IMO, it is perfect. The corners of the knife have been rounded, making it very comfortable in the hand during use. The 4-way pocket clip is nice for positioning the knife any way that you would like. While the extra holes do detract from the look, it is negligible at worst. Gimping is aggressive and locks the hand in very well. The large lanyard tube easily takes two strands of 550 cord. This knife is also crazy light, and carries well in the pocket.

I was quite pleased with this knife. I had a hard time finding anything wrong with it, other than things that were my own personal preference. I think everyone should look into getting a Paramilitary for their collection. It’s pretty  good.

Some may be wondering what the notches on the spine of my blade are. I decided to do some filework on my knife, just for fun.

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