Sometimes I feel a little spoiled these days…
There are just so many knife manufacturers that are producing super quality knives that perform at a high level…
Two of those manufacturers are Spyderco and Benchmade, and right now two of their most popular utility or everyday carry designs are…
| Image | Products |
 | Spyderco ParaMilitary 2 (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
 | Benchmade 940 (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
And in this Spyderco Paramilitary 2 Vs Benchmade 940 comparison, we’re going to examine these two great EDC knives in the following six categories…
- Blade Steel And Materials
- Blade Shape And Handle Design
- Locking Mechanism
- Size And Dimensions
- Pocket Clip And Carry Position
- Price Comparison
At the end of this comparison, I’ll tell you which of these two knives I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine which knife design is right for you…
Let’s get started!
Blade Steel And Materials…
Spyderco Paramilitary 2
The Paramilitary 2 is, without question, one of Spyderco’s most popular designs. It’s actually a smaller version of another one of their popular knife designs, the Military model, which was designed for forward deployed military personnel…
Because the Military model had to be a tough knife, it had to be built to a high standard and use high quality materials…
And because the Paramilitary 2 is a scaled down version for the Military, it maintains those high standards of build quality…
Now the Paramilitary 2 comes in a number of different blade steels, but the most common version uses CPM S30V…
CPM S30V is considered a premium blade steel, and I think it was a great choice of steel to go with by Spyderco…
I like it because it’s strong, it’s corrosion resistant, and it holds an edge pretty well. This is great because you won’t have to baby your blade just to keep it from rusting or corroding…
…and you also won’t be stuck sharpening your knife all the time just to keep a decent edge on it. So like I said, CPM S30V is a great knife steel, and it can handle a lot of tough use.
Now the handle on the Paramilitary 2 is made from G-10, and again, I think this was a good choice by Spyderco because G-10 is a tough handle material…
It can take a lot of abuse, but at the same time, it’s pretty lightweight and it feels incredibly comfortable in your hand…
All in all, I’m pretty impressed by the materials that Spyderco chose to use in this design.
Benchmade 940
Just like the Paramilitary 2, the Benchmade 940 is an extremely popular knife design. It also has a number of different versions such as the original 940, the 940-1, and the 940-2, and it’s also built with high quality materials and to a very high standard…
The original version of the 940 uses the same CPM S30V blade steel that the Paramilitary 2 uses, but the 940-1 version actually uses CPM S90V blade steel…
CPM S90V is an ultra premium blade steel. It’s incredibly strong, and it holds an edge extremely well (a little bit better than CPM S30V)…
The only drawback to having CPM S90V steel is that it’s pretty difficult to sharpen, but that’s kind of the trade off you get when your blade steel has really good edge retention…
Now don’t get me wrong, with a little bit of time and effort you can sharpen it, but Benchmade also has the Life Sharp program where you can send in your knife for repair, lubrication, and sharpening for free…
I think the Life Sharp program is a pretty cool service, and I like that Benchmade takes a little extra care of their customers without charging them any extra fees…
Now the handle material you get on your 940 will, again, depend upon which version you go with. The original 940 has green aluminum handles, and the 940-2 has G-10 handles (like the Paramilitary 2)…
The other option is the 940-1 which uses carbon fiber as it’s handle material. This is probably my favorite version of the 940 because the carbon fiber is extremely lightweight, but at the same time, it’s tough and very comfortable…
All in all, the materials used on the Benchmade 940 are also very high quality and impressive.
Blade Shape And Handle Design…
Spyderco Paramilitary 2
The blade shape on the Paramilitary 2 is kind of a drop point with Spyderco’s traditional styling. It has a bit of a leaf-like shape to it and a high-performance full flat grind…
I really like the full flat grind on this knife because it makes the blade very strong and you can still get it extremely sharp (it’s razor sharp right out of the box)…
The full flat grind is also great for cutting, slicing, and dicing, and you also can get the Paramilitary 2 with a PlainEdge or the SpyderEdge, which is Spyderco’s version of a serrated blade…
The Para 2’s blade also features the traditional Spyderco deployment hole which allows you to open the knife easily with one hand…
And there is jimping on the spine and finger choil to help give you greater control when making fine or precise cuts…
Now Like I mentioned earlier, the handle is made from G-10 and it has stainless steel liners in it. The G-10 is textured, and really locks the knife into your hand when you’re using it…
It’s also very comfortable and ergonomic, and G-10 is a strong material that can handle the tough use that an EDC knife goes through…
Last, Spyderco offers the Paramilitary 2 in a variety of blade colors and handle colors. You can get versions that have a naked metallic blade or a black coated blade, and you can get handle colors such as black, camo, and midnight blue…
I really love when knife companies give you a wide number of colors to choose from, because it means you can pick out a knife that fits your personal needs and styling.
Benchmade 940
The blade shape on the Benchmade 940 is a reverse tanto. It’s a versatile blade shape, and it can be useful in a number of different EDC applications…
In addition to that, you can get the 940 with a plain edge or a serrated edge, which means the lower half of the blade will be serrated and the top half will have a plain edge…
Overall, the blade on the 940 is elegant looking and a great cutter, and the included thumb stud makes it easy to deploy the blade with one hand…
Now just as will the Paramilitary 2, you can get the Benchmade 940 with a couple of different blade finishes. You can get the plain metal (satin) finished blade or a black coated blade…
Personally, I really like the look of the black coated blade, but I think the satin finished blade is also very attractive looking.
Last, like I mentioned before, there are many different handle materials offered for the 940. You can get it with an aluminum handle (the 940), G-10 (the 940-2), or carbon fiber (the 940-1)…
All of the handle materials are comfortable and ergonomic, but my favorite is the carbon fiber because it feels great, looks cool, and gives you a really good purchase on the knife when you’re using it.
Locking Mechanism…
Spyderco Paramilitary 2
The Paramilitary 2 uses the Compression Lock locking mechanism. This is a locking system that incorporates a leaf-like spring, a stop pin, and a ramp on the tang of the blade…
It was designed and patented by Spyderco, and I think it’s a pretty good locking system because it’s extremely strong and easy to use with one hand…
It also allows you to deploy the blade very smoothly, and it just gives you a feeling of quality when you open and close your knife.
Benchmade 940
The Benchmade 940 uses the AXIS Lock locking mechanism. This is a locking system that incorporates a spring-tensioned bar and a track that’s hidden inside the handle…
The AXIS Lock is a proprietary locking mechanism for benchmade, and like the Compression Lock on the Spyderco Paramilitary 2, it’s extremely strong, smooth, and easy to use.
All in all, both knives have very high quality locking mechanisms that lock out the blade very securely and allow the blade to deploy smoothly.
Size And Dimensions…
Spyderco Paramilitary 2
Like I mentioned before, the Paramilitary 2 is actually a smaller version of the Spyderco Military model (and the Paramilitary 3 is an even smaller version)…
Being that it’s the middle brother of the Spyderco Military family of knives, it really is a medium-sized knife. Now the blade length on the Para 2 is 3.42 inches long, and the handle is 4.82 inches long…
That brings the overall length on the Paramilitary 2 to 8.24 inches long when the blade is fully deployed, and just for comparison’s sake, it’s around 1.28 inches shorter than it’s big brother, the Spyderco Military model…
Benchmade 940
The Benchmade 940 is also a fairly medium-sized knife. The blade length on the 940 is 3.40 inches long, and the handle is 4.47 inches long…
That brings the overall length on the Benchmade 940 to 7.87 inches long when the blade is fully locked out…
So in comparison the Paramilitary 2, the 940 has a slightly shorter blade length and handle length, and overall, it’s around 0.37 inches shorter when the blades on both knives are fully deployed.
Pocket Clip And Carry Position…
Spyderco Paramilitary 2
The clip on the Paramilitary 2 is adjustable for four positions. You can set it up for tip up carry or tip down carry, and you can swap the clip to either side of the knife (which will make it more optimal for right-handed or left-handed carry)…
Personally, I prefer tip down carry, but I really like that Spyderco gives you so much flexibility when it comes to the placement of your pocket clip…
It allows you to set the knife up exactly how you prefer to carry, which is going to be different person to person…
Now the Para 2 sits fairly low in your pocket. It doesn’t completely disappear (with just the clip showing) the way some knife designs do, but it’s fairly discrete and still pretty easy to get to…
All in all, I like the clip design on the Paramilitary 2 because it’s fully adjustable and the knife sits very comfortably in your pocket.
Benchmade 940
The clip on the Benchmade 940 sets you up for tip up carry, and it’s swappable to either side of the knife (so you can optimize carry whether you’re right-handed or left-handed)…
Like I said earlier, I personally prefer tip down carry, but I’m ok with tip up carry when it’s on a knife design that I like (and I like the 940)…
Like the Paramilitary 2, the Benchmade 940 sits relatively low in your pocket. It also doesn’t completely disappear…
…but it’s still pretty discreet and the extra bit of handle sticking out of your pocket makes the knife very easy to get to.
In addition to that, the 940 is an incredibly slim and lightweight design. So because of that, it’s an extremely comfortable knife to carry around in your pocket all day.
All in all, I think both the Paramilitary 2 and the Benchmade 940 are great EDC knives because they both keep a pretty low profile, and they are both very comfortable to carry around in your pocket.
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to share exact numbers with you in this category because the prices on these knives are changing all the time…
That being said, you’ll usually find that the Paramilitary 2 is somewhere in the range of 35 to 120 bucks less expensive than the Benchmade 940…
Like I mentioned earlier, the Benchmade 940 has a few different variations that really have a huge range in price (because of the different blade steels), and that makes it really difficult to peg down the price difference…
However, even with the lower priced versions of the 940, the Paramilitary 2 is going to end up being the less expensive option.
Spyderco Paramilitary 2 Vs Benchmade 940 – Final Thoughts…
So to sum it all up, in the Blade Steel And Materials category, both knives come in a variety of blade steels but the most common for both is going to be CPM S30V (even though the 940-1 comes with the ultra premium CPM S90V blade steel)…
CPM S30V is a great blade steel, but the 940-1’s CPM S90V has just a little bit better edge retention…
In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category, the Paramilitary 2 has a Spyderco drop point blade with a full flat grind and the Benchmade 940 has a reverse tanto blade…
Personally, I prefer the Spyderco drop point blade, because it’s a little more suited for EDC use than the reverse tanto blade on the 940…
In the Locking Mechanism category, the Paramilitary 2 uses the Compression Lock locking mechanism, and the Benchmade 940 uses the AXIS Lock locking mechanism…
Both systems lock out the blade very securely, and both are smooth and easy to use.
In the Size And Dimensions category, the Paramilitary 2 is around 0.37 inches longer than the Benchmade 940 when both of their blades are fully locked out…
In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, the Paramilitary 2 clip can be adjusted for tip up or tip down carry and swapped to either side of the knife…
And the clip on the Benchmade 940 sets you up for tip up carry only and can be swapped to either side of the knife.
And last, in the Price Comparison, the Paramilitary 2 is going to be less expensive than the Benchmade 940, but depending on the version of the 940 you go with, the price difference can range from around 30 dollars to 120 dollars…
So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Spyderco Paramilitary 2…
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I prefer the Spyderco Paramilitary 2 for a few reasons. First of all, I really love the blade shape and full flat grind on the Para 2…
It performs really well at cutting, slicing, and dicing, and I think it’s superior to the reverse tanto blade on the 940 for almost every EDC task. I also really love that the clip is fully adjustable on the Paramilitary 2…
It can be set up for tip down carry, which is my personal preference, and with the Benchmade 940 you’re stuck with tip up carry (which isn’t the end of the world, but if i can get tip down carry, that’s what I want)…
Last, the Paramilitary 2 is the less expensive knife… So it will save you anywhere from 30 to 120 dollars.
Now if you like the reverse tanto blade on the 940, and you don’t mind tip up carry and spending a little bit more money, then feel free to go with the Benchmade 940 because it’s still an awesome knife…
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You won’t go wrong going with either of these two amazing knife designs because both Spyderco and Benchmade know how to make a high quality knife that performs in the everyday carry (utility) role.