Spyderco Para Military 2 G10 Dark Gray Maxamet Folding Knife 18

The Para 2 is legendary and this is the pinnacle version "but" you need to have mastered sharpening to enjoy it. Aluminium Oxide stones will not work and Silicon Carbide stones seriously struggle. This leaves Diamond or Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) stones which can do the job and be prepared to invest at least the value of the knife (and likely more) to enable you to benefit from the Maxamet steel. Otherwise you will have bought the ultimate "disposable" knife. The knife comes razor sharp (Bess test 75g) and if you want to be able to sharpen it easily and quickly, by investing in a Tormek T4 with the "fine" diamond wheel and the latest angle finder and knife clamp, this can give you some awesome results! The knife comes with a 15 degree per side back bevel and a 20 degree micro bevel. I reprofiled mine to a 17 degree secondary convex edge and it scored 50g on the BESS test and after a year of use it still scores 75g and has stayed that sharp through considerable use. Mostly gralloching deer and skinning but some fire preparation as well. I took mine to a grinder to create a right angle spine and remove the chamfered roundness to enable it to throw good sparks from a ferro rod and it now excels at "bushcraft" fires. The edge creates superb feather sticks and the shower of sparks from the rod easily ignite the inner dry tinder. The fit and finish and smooth action of the PM2 are superb and this is probably my most effective "folder" for long term use. I collect knives and have way more than I need (100+) and it is only the robust tasks for the knife which you need to be careful with. This knife would probably make it to the top five folders which I would keep. The Cold Steel AD10 is the strongest folder but is nearly the size of a Silky Pocket Boy 130 and the Benchmade Carbon Freek is stronger and lighter but the S90V edge retention is not in the same league. Larrin Thomas scores S90V as a 9 but Maxamet is at 11 and this is meant to be out of 10! In real time use, this is the only steel other than my Phil Wilson Smoke Creek in Bohler K294, which never seem to dull. They score 50g after being sharpened and then stay at 75g for ages. It is over a year since I sharpened either. This is fundamentally what you need from a knife. Long lasting sharpness. I highly recommend this knife. Even if you cannot sharpen it, there is likely one to two years worth of use and I doubt it would ever become totally blunt. I have had my Phil Wilson for over 10 years and it took 2 years of kitchen use to dull the blade. I have not had this knife long enough to achieve that yet. This speaks volumes!

Ok folks this knife will need looking after . High carbon steel so ideally don’t forget to care for it as it will pick up rust if not cared for after use in certain conditions. It will develop a lovely patina with use too - which will protect it against corrosion if correctly maintained. Superb build quality as it should be being made in Golden , Colorado USA Earth . One of my grail knives

Mine arrived today and I was very excited, however the compression lock was very sticky out of the box. I watched some YouTube videos and they mostly suggested it would bed in and loosen up with use, however it got worse and worse,very painful and took an unreasonable amount force to free up. I found some videos from people who had the same issue and they pretty much gave up and returned theirs. Then I watched a badly filmed video where the owner used dry graphite lubricant in the locking indent (don't know the proper name) on a pm2 with a fairly seriously sticking lock issues, it worked for him. I didn't have access (immediately) to graphite lubricant so I tried scraping some pencil lead into the indent, it has done the trick (so far) I guess my issue is that the action is one of the big selling points of this knife and it arrived completely unusable. I was on the verge of returning it, without YouTube I would have. Otherwise it's a great knife and I'm glad I could fix the issue myself.

First impression of this beautiful knife is just wow, expensive for sure but knowing it has the second highest edge retention and comes razer sharp out the box, this being my first syderco I see the appreciation for good craftsmanship, so nice you don't wanna use its that good. Perfect service as usual from hennie, I don't go anywhere else. Customer service is king after all. Saved for months for this, but worth every penny. Apparently it stains very easy though so maintenance is needed to keep it looking it's best. The perfect knife until the next super steel. A+.

My first Spyderco dates back to about 1995 a Seki City Aus-6 which I absolutely love. It is so well-balanced and always does what it should, fli**ing open with ease and keeps an edge. I bought an ATR Titanium with CPM S30V about 15 years ago. Awesome balance, slick opening and general handling with only slightly harder sharpening although good edge retention. Just bought the Para2 with Maxamet steel blade. Lovely knife and great blade, but the previous two have superior mechanisms, particularly the ATR which I can’t Imagine being beaten.

the best quality knife for a great price. unbeatable edge retention, grows a patina which makes it more and more unique and personal over time. not that difficult to sharpen, but you don't have to do it often anyways :)

I have to admit to being a big fan of the Spyderco Military and Para Military models. I purchased my first what I would call “ high quality production knife” back in the early 90’s a Benchmade AFCK, before then I hadn’t realised such quality knives existed. Many quality knives later, by many a manufacturer I purchased my first Spyderco and the my first Spyderco Military. Two of the knives I now own are Spyderco sprint run knives a Military CPM S110V and now this Para Military 2 Maxamet, two of the best edge retaining steels produced today ! When you realise so few manufacturers will even try to tame Maxamet and attempt to make a blade from it, you will realise what a treasure this truly is