Latest EDC Knife - Spyderco Paramilitary II

[Malsua]

I've been carrying a Spyderco Tenacious for 4 or so years now, my Christmas Present to myself was a SpyderCo Paramilitary II.

I have a couple of observations.

First, I chose this knife because the Mannix 2 was out of stock.

I like the G-10 handle of the Tenacious.
I like a hefty knife.
I wanted better steel than the Tenacious. While my Tenacious is still pretty sharp, the edge rolled a little and it's not where it was. It's also serrated so sharpening is difficult and beyond my meager sharpening skills. I can do chainsaw chains but my knife sharpening skills blow.

The Paramilitary II is lighter than the Tenacious. I personally consider this a negative although it's only a little lighter.
The stippling and grip on the PMII is much better. The Tenacious is almost slippery comparatively.
The blade on the PMII is sharp as fuck from the factory. It's exactly what you'd expect.
The open is exactly the same as the Tenacious. I can flick the knife open rapidly with either hand.
I can close the Tenacious with one hand, the PM requires two hands, at least for now since it's a back lock. No biggie.

While I'm happy with this knife, what I really wanted was a Tenacious with better steel, which is what I think the Mannix 2 is. That said, this one will go in the pocket for EDC and the Tenacious will be the weekend warrior and get all the shit jobs that really fuck up a knife.

As far as Value goes, the Tenacious really is a great value, probably the best-in-value folder you can buy.

[Ryan Ruck]

That's a fine looking knife!

I've been pretty impressed with the G-10 handle material myself on my Benchmade Griptilian that's my EDC knife.

I had previously only had metal handles with the most recent being a CRKT M16 until it went missing.

I'm honestly glad it did because it finally pushed me to step up and spend the money on a decent knife and the Griptilian is definitely a step far above it. It was also on sale for $30 cheaper than it normally was.

Personally, I'm not a fan of serrated edges for the reason you mention, they are time consuming and a pain in the ass to sharpen. Benchmade won't even sharpen them under their under their "Lifesharp" program, just the plain edge section of the blade. My Griptilian has a plain edge Tanto blade for these reasons.

Eventually I want to upgrade the Griptilian to the Auto-Presidio but the plain edge is, unfortunately, no longer an option so I'll be stuck with a serrated edge when I do. Guess I'll have to go back to putting some time in to sharpen it myself.

I've got a Kershaw Blur to carry when the Griptilian gets sent off. No where near as nice as the Griptilian but it was an inexpensive backup and is a decent knife.

Does Spiderco have a "Lifesharp" program equivalent? If so, it may be worth having them restore the edge on your Tenacious and do regular maintenance on your PMII. I know my Griptilian is overdue to be sent in. Benchmade's program used to be free plus $5 to cover return shipping. They just recently did away with return shipping costs which is nice.

[Malsua]

Spyderco will sharpen plain edges for free with $5 shipping. It's $20 +$5 shipping for serrated sharpening, which would make sense if the Tenacious weren't a $30 knife.($33 Amazon Prime). I bought it in 2011 for $35.

I should probably just buy another one, but I've grown very attached to it. It's kind of like kicking an old dog out of the house.