Do you know how the black coating on the Para2 holds up? I lean towards non-coated blades if they are stainless.
Do you know how the black coating on the Para2 holds up? I lean towards non-coated blades if they are stainless.
Is the CTS-XHP significantly better than the S30V? I'm not a fan of the orange myself.
I've got a Kershaw Clash that I EDC that I really like. Mine is partially serrated and I wish i would have gotten the full straight blade but I didn't.
I like it regardless.
I like it regardless.
If your set on Spyderco, and your looking for defensive / utility I would say look at the Military, or the Police. If your open to Benchmade I would tell you to look at the 860 bedlam. If you want a smaller defensive utility folder I would tell you to look at the Manix2. Though there are other great companies around. Cold steel Recon 1 has been one of my favorite folders.
That Bedlam is a wicked looking blade.
Thanks for all of the suggestions, I am looking mainly at the Benchmade Torrent or the Sypderco Paramilitary 2 right now, and leaning towards the Spyderco. An assisted-opening blade makes me a little nervous for encounters with LEOs.
So what's up with the composite blades? Any chance theta they can come delaminated or anything?
I choose between a Byrd (by Spyderco) Cara Cara 2 in G10 or a Kershaw Chill for everyday carry. Both are high value, high utility blades for my use.
A swiss army executive always goes with either choice. The little swiss army knife is the most often used knife that I own and carry.
A swiss army executive always goes with either choice. The little swiss army knife is the most often used knife that I own and carry.
My Para-2 is matte finished. I don't think I even own a coated-blade anymore (aside from my 1095 fixed-blade ESEEs and Beckers - and that's mostly because I use them in situations where they are exposed to the elements for a while between maintenance). The Digi-cam coloring is actually colored in a layer below the surface of the scales on the Para-2. Between the G-10 and the uncoated blade, it looks remarkably well under pretty hard use - minor blade-scratches and marks that barely show up on the G-10 scales aren't bad for mine - it gets used a lot.
CTS-XHP is one of my favorite steels. Its basically Carpenter's stainless answer to Crubicle's CPM-D2 (which is another of my favorite steels). Great edge retention, but it is a pain to sharpen (though not that much worse than S30V). S30V is not my absolute favorite steel, but I've come to appreciate it over time. I wasn't a fan of 154CM or ATS-34 either, but in reality, they're good at what they were designed to be - tool steels.
The Para-2's S30V is heat treated to around 60rc - which (IMHO) is a lot better than the 58-59rc treated versions used in a lot of other manufacturer's knives. This does come at a price though. Its a pain to sharpen, and at 60rc, its hard enough that you risk chipping the edge if the blade is struck against something hard (so I don't chop with any of my S30V Spydercos personally just in case). Its like stretching an engine to its max performance possible - there isn't a lot of room for error or abuse.
At the end of the day, I still prefer Spyderco's CTS-XHP or CPM-D2 over their CPM-S30V personally - they retain that initial razor-edge for far better than S30V in my experience. S30V quickly falls into what Crucible calls a "working edge" which lasts a long time (but even that initial razor-edge is crazy hard to achieve in S30V - you have to sharpen for a long time, hone, and then attempt to get a micro-bevel and then strop). All that and you lose the initial edge in about a day or two of hard use. When you're lazy (like me), you just quickly sharpen back to just above that working edge and go with it.
Zero Tolerance's S30V is a little softer than Spyderco's (right around 59rc) and Chris Reeve (and I want to say Benchmade's and the Buck Vantage's) are a touch softer than that. You might look at the ZT 0350 as well - Its a good knife (and you can remove the torsion bar on almost any Kershaw/ZT speed-safe opening knife and the ball-detent will hold it in place just like a non-assisted flipper). I just sold my 0301 and 0200 - they were both too big for me - if you don't mind great big heavy (7-9oz heavy) knives, then I'd say to look at either one. I pre-ordered the new Hinderer-ZT collab 0561 though - and anxiously await its arrival (ELMAX steel in a Hinderer-designed flipper is win/win).
Here's a thread on Blade Forums about the various blade-steels and their performance in a controlled test for edge-retention:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope
I own several Composite blade Kershaws btw. Good knives (I've got a Rake, a Tyrade, a large JYD - I'd love to pick up a Composite ZT 0350). Anything that would cause the composite steels to separate would destroy the knife handles or break the liners or blade itself. You've got no worries there. Tim Galyean is one of my favorite knife-makers and his designs (the Rake, JYD, etc.) are very nice. He likes blind stop-pins and composite steels - which makes for a very clean look and a lot of durability.
CTS-XHP is one of my favorite steels. Its basically Carpenter's stainless answer to Crubicle's CPM-D2 (which is another of my favorite steels). Great edge retention, but it is a pain to sharpen (though not that much worse than S30V). S30V is not my absolute favorite steel, but I've come to appreciate it over time. I wasn't a fan of 154CM or ATS-34 either, but in reality, they're good at what they were designed to be - tool steels.
The Para-2's S30V is heat treated to around 60rc - which (IMHO) is a lot better than the 58-59rc treated versions used in a lot of other manufacturer's knives. This does come at a price though. Its a pain to sharpen, and at 60rc, its hard enough that you risk chipping the edge if the blade is struck against something hard (so I don't chop with any of my S30V Spydercos personally just in case). Its like stretching an engine to its max performance possible - there isn't a lot of room for error or abuse.
At the end of the day, I still prefer Spyderco's CTS-XHP or CPM-D2 over their CPM-S30V personally - they retain that initial razor-edge for far better than S30V in my experience. S30V quickly falls into what Crucible calls a "working edge" which lasts a long time (but even that initial razor-edge is crazy hard to achieve in S30V - you have to sharpen for a long time, hone, and then attempt to get a micro-bevel and then strop). All that and you lose the initial edge in about a day or two of hard use. When you're lazy (like me), you just quickly sharpen back to just above that working edge and go with it.
Zero Tolerance's S30V is a little softer than Spyderco's (right around 59rc) and Chris Reeve (and I want to say Benchmade's and the Buck Vantage's) are a touch softer than that. You might look at the ZT 0350 as well - Its a good knife (and you can remove the torsion bar on almost any Kershaw/ZT speed-safe opening knife and the ball-detent will hold it in place just like a non-assisted flipper). I just sold my 0301 and 0200 - they were both too big for me - if you don't mind great big heavy (7-9oz heavy) knives, then I'd say to look at either one. I pre-ordered the new Hinderer-ZT collab 0561 though - and anxiously await its arrival (ELMAX steel in a Hinderer-designed flipper is win/win).
Here's a thread on Blade Forums about the various blade-steels and their performance in a controlled test for edge-retention:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope
I own several Composite blade Kershaws btw. Good knives (I've got a Rake, a Tyrade, a large JYD - I'd love to pick up a Composite ZT 0350). Anything that would cause the composite steels to separate would destroy the knife handles or break the liners or blade itself. You've got no worries there. Tim Galyean is one of my favorite knife-makers and his designs (the Rake, JYD, etc.) are very nice. He likes blind stop-pins and composite steels - which makes for a very clean look and a lot of durability.
