I really love Spyderco knives…
Their designs are unique, and they’re built to a very high standard. Because of this, they typically perform really well and are very sharp… And they just look really cool too.
Right now, two of their most popular folding knives are:
| Image | Products |
 | Spyderco Military (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
 | Spyderco ParaMilitary 2 (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
And in this Spyderco Military Vs Paramilitary 2 comparison, we’re going to put these two designs up against each other in the following categories…
- Blade Steel And Materials
- Blade Shape And Handle Design
- Locking Mechanism
- Size And Dimensions
- Pocket Clip And Carry Position
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll tell you which knife I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine which is the best option for you…
Let’s get started!
Blade Steel And Materials…
Spyderco Military
The Spyderco Military model was created with the needs of deployed military personnel in mind. So naturally, it’s a strong blade that is built with quality materials to make sure it maintains a high performance…
It’s available in a variety of blade steels, but the most common steel you’ll find is CPM S30V, which I think is a great choice…
CPM S30V is a premium knife steel. It’s one of the best steels out there because it’s strong, it does a good job at resisting corrosion, and it holds an edge very well…
These are all important factors when you’re making a knife for heavy use such as the Military model because you want your blade to hold up, you don’t want it to rust, and you don’t want to have to keep sharpening it all the time….
Now in addition to that, the handle on the Military model is made from G-10, which is also a great material choice…
I really like it because it’s lightweight, it’s strong, and it gives you a good amount of traction when you’re holding the knife in hand.
It’s also very comfortable and ergonomic, and it makes using the knife very natural. All in all, I’m very impressed with the blade steel and other materials that Spyderco uses in this knife design.
Spyderco Paramilitary 2
Just as with the Military model, the Spyderco Paramilitary 2 is built with very high quality materials. Truth be told, the Para 2 is a slightly more compact version of the Military model, so many of the materials are actually the same…
For example, even though the Paramilitary 2 is available in a variety of different blade steels, once again, the most common steel is CPM S30V.
As I mentioned before, CPM S30V is a fantastic knife steel because it’s strong, corrosion resistant, and holds an edge very well, and it’s what I like to see on a knife meant for tough use…
Also just as with the Military model, the Paramilitary 2’s handle is made from G-10, which again, is strong, lightweight, comfortable, and gives you a good amount of traction when holding the knife…
In the end, the quality materials that Spyderco uses to produce this knife design are also very impressive to me.
Blade Shape And Handle Design…
Spyderco Military
As I mentioned before, the Military model was built with military service in mind, and it has a medium-to-long blade that’s elegant and follows the typical lines that you get with Spyderco knives…
To me, it looks great and the blade is very practical and useful in a number of different scenarios. It does incorporate a full-flat grind, and it comes with a Plain Edge, which is what I personally prefer over a serrated edge.
In addition to that, the Military model has jimping on the spine and on the finger choil in the front of the knife to help give you a little bit more control when using it…
And like I mentioned earlier, the handle material is G-10 which i think is a great choice by Spyderco because it’s pretty lightweight, strong, and gives you a good amount of purchase to grip the knife…
I also really like that Spyderco offers this design with a number of different handle colors. You can get it with a black handle, blue handle, camo handle, and with other colors and patterns as well…
And it also comes in versions that have either a naked steel (metallic) blade or a black blade. Again, I really like that Spyderco gives you these options because it allows you to pick out a knife that suits your needs and desires best.
Paramilitary 2
Like I mentioned earlier, the Paramilitary 2 is basically a scaled down version of the Spyderco Military model. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the blade shape is very similar…
Now the blade on the Para 2 is a little bit shorter than the Military model, and it’s also slightly more broad than the blade on it’s bigger brother (the Military model)…
The Paramilitary 2’s blade, also has a high-performance full flat-grind, but you can actually get it with either a Plain Edge or with the Spyder Edge, which is Spyderco’s version of a serrated edge.
As I mentioned earlier, I personally prefer to go with Plain Edge blades because they’re easier to sharpen, but I like that Spyderco gives you a choice by offering this design with or without a serrated edge.
In addition to that, the Paramilitary 2 has the same jimping on the spine and finger choil that the Military model has, and that gives you a little extra control over the knife when you’re using it…
And again, the handle is made from G-10 so it’s lightweight, very comfortable, and it gives you a great purchase on the knife…
Last, you can also get the Paramilitary 2 in several different handle colors such as black, blue, and camo…
…and it comes in versions that have a metallic blade or a black blade, which again, I think is awesome because it allows you to get the color features you want on your knife.
Locking Mechanism…
Both the Military model and the Paramilitary 2 use Spyderco’s Compression Lock system. This is a locking mechanism that incorporates the blade tang, a stop (anvil) pin, and a ramp to lock out the blade when it’s deployed…
Spyderco developed and patented the Compression Lock locking mechanism, and I think it’s a great feature of these 2 knife designs because it’s a very strong mechanism…
It makes these knives extremely secure, and that’s one of the features I’m always looking for on a folding knife (especially one build for hard use).
Size And Dimensions…
Spyderco Military
The Spyderco Military model is a pretty large sized folding knife. It has a 4 inch long blade, and the handle is 5.52 inches long…
That brings the overall length to 9.52 inches when the blade is opened. So you really can’t call it a compact knife, but at the same time, it’s a very usable size and it gives you a lot of options because of it’s large size.
Paramilitary 2
The Paramilitary 2 is a slightly more compact version of the Military model (and the Paramilitary 3 is an even more compact version)…
The blade length on the Para military 2 is 3.42 inches long, and the handle length is 4.82 inches long. That brings the overall length to 8.24 inches when the blade is deployed…
When compared with the Military model, the Paramilitary 2 is 1.28 inches shorter in terms of overall length.
Pocket Clip And Carry Position…
Spyderco Military
The clip on the Spyderco Military is adjustable for two positions. You can set your knife up for tip-up pocket carry or for tip-down pocket carry, however, you cannot swap the clip to the other side.
I really like that the Military model gives you that flexibility, and they do offer a left handed version as well, if you really want to have the clip on the reverse side.
Now on most models the color of the clip will match the color of the blade, so it will either be metallic in color or black, and it sits relatively deep in your pocket…
The knife doesn’t completely disappear in your pocket (with only the clip showing) the way some knife designs do, but both the tip-up and tip-down carry positions allow you to carry the knife comfortably and pretty discreetly.
Paramilitary 2
The clip on the Paramilitary 2 is adjustable for four positions. You can set the knife up to carry in the tip-up or tip-down position, and you can swap the clip over to either side of the knife.
I really love this because it gives you a lot of flexibility when you’re deciding how you want to carry your knife (I typically like tip-down carry, but I know there are many people that like tip-up).
Just as with the Military model, the color of the clip will usually go along with the color of the blade on your particular version of the Paramilitary 2. So it will either be metallic or black in color…
And also just as will the Military model, the Paramilitary 2 carries fairly deep in the pocket, and while it doesn’t completely disappear, I would say it is pretty discreet and very comfortable.
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to give exact numbers in this category because the prices of these knives are changing all the time…
That being said, in general, you can usually find the Paramilitary 2 for around 40 to 60 bucks less expensive than the Military model…
Now these prices do vary a little bit depending on the type of edge you want to get, the blade color, and the color or pattern on the handle…
But it’s pretty clear that the Paramilitary 2 is going to be a bit more friendly to your wallet.
Spyderco Military Vs Paramilitary 2 – Final Thoughts…
So to sum it all up, in the Blade Steel And Materials category both knives use CPM S30V steel which is a great choice because it’s strong, corrosion resistant, and holds an edge well…
And they both have G-10 handles that are strong, lightweight, and give you a good amount of purchase…
In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category the Military model’s blade is a little longer than the blade on the Paramilitary 2, but their shape is very similar…
And they both come with different blade finishes (metallic or black) and a variety of different handle colors…
In the Locking Mechanism category, both designs use Spyderco’s patented Compression Lock system which is extremely strong…
In the Size And Dimensions category, the Paramilitary 2 is 1.28 inches shorter in overall length than the Military model when their blades are deployed…
In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, the Military model allows for tip-up or tip-down carry out the clip is not reversible…
…whereas the Paramilitary 2 allows for tip-up or tip down carry and the clip can be swapped to either side of the handle…
And last, in the Price Comparison, the Paramilitary 2 is around 40 to 60 bucks less expensive than the Military model…
So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Paramilitary 2…
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I prefer the Paramilitary 2 (especially if you intend to use it as an everyday carry “EDC” knife) because it’s a little bit more compact than the Military model…
That means it takes up less real estate in your pocket, and it’s just a little bit more comfortable to carry around…
In addition to that, it’s around 40 to 60 bucks less expensive than the Military model, so it will save you a little bit of money.
Now if you prefer a slightly larger knife, then feel free to go with the Military model because it’s still an awesome folding knife…
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Either way I hope I was able to show the major similarities and differences between these two amazing knife designs from Spyderco!