Spyderco Para 3 Limited Edition Folding Knife 3 52100 Reviews

If yous're a regular at Knife Informer and then you're probably familiar with the Spyderco Para 3.  You may already have 1 by now, and you likely witnessed some of the hype that surrounded the arrival of the Para three.  Originally referred to as the Para-Military three, so rumored to be called the Minuteman, the Para 3 is substantially a shrunken downwardly Paramilitary 2.  In some ways this is a good thing, and in other ways information technology's not.

Now that the excitement and anticipation has settled downwards and the Para 3 is here in the mankind, information technology's time to dig in and examine it.  Is it the all-time great EDC blade that anybody hoped information technology would be, or is it more of an underwhelming disappointment?

Key Specs: Spyderco Para iii

Locking Machinery

Compression Lock

Deployment Mechanism

Pollex Pigsty

Get-go, let's go something out of the way.  While the Para 3 is basically a shrunken PM2 it would exist incorrect to refer to it equally the "PM3".  Why?  Well because Spyderco said so.  Our friends over in Gilt, Colorado have been very clear since launch that the Para iii was not named the "Para-Military 3" because its smaller size puts it in a different design category.  Further, they point out that the "iii" in the proper name should non exist assumed to refer to a third-generation Paramilitary – instead it refers to the 3-inch blade on the Para 3.  And so, while it clearly carries Paramilitary Deoxyribonucleic acid, Spyderco really wants you to think of the Para 3 equally having an identity all of its own.

The Bract

Nothing particularly surprising here.  The blade is 3.0" with a 2.62" cutting edge per Spyderco's specifications, versus the PM2's iii.44" and 3.00" cutting edge, which means information technology'due south legal to carry in places that restrict legal blade length to nether 3" – like Chicago. The blade shape is a prune point with a direct spine, full apartment basis from CPM S30V steel – the aforementioned as the PM2, just shrunken down in length and then the blade more resembles the flat footing Delica 4 in proportions, at least to my optics.

It's satin finished and has the same oversized thumb hole opener every bit the full sized PM2 for deployment.  Another mod Spyderco hallmark, the forward choil, is present here to allow the user to asphyxiate upward forwards on the bract too as assist with sharpening.  Like virtually The states-made Spydercos, the grinds are clean and fifty-fifty and it came very sharp out of the box, hands push cutting paper or shaving hair.  Being full apartment ground with a needle point tip, the Para 3 is platonic for the sort of mundane everyday behave tasks that require precision and control, like opening packages or food preparation (where the loftier corrosion resistance of S30V comes in handy) and it'south designed to exist a more than manageable size for 24-hour interval to twenty-four hour period use than the PM2.  No complaints here.

Deployment & Lockup

It's a compression lock Spyderco with an oversized thumb pigsty opener – which is the long way of maxim that deployment and lockup are peachy.  My reviews sometimes come up off as "Spyderco fanboy" and I'll take that accusation – there are some things they just do right, and the pinch lock is one of them.

Working like an inverted liner lock, the pinch lock is actuated forth the spine and locks the bract in place by putting the lock bar in between the blade tang and the stop pivot. You lot have options when information technology comes to opening the Para 3: rolling open up or coin flipping with your thumb works great, as the abaft edge of the forward choil doesn't get in the way of your thumb.  Yous can film it open with your middle finger from the back (my preferred method), and you can as well concord the lock and snap the blade open with your wrist.  Phosphor statuary washers and Spyderco'due south smooth "bushing pin" pattern – where the washers are located betwixt the scales and a modest shoulder on the pivot pivot itself – ensure the bract opens with lilliputian drama.

Side to side blade play is minimal simply present, a disappointing eventuality of these pivot bushing systems.  Since tightening the pivot screw pulls the entire associates together rather than just tightening straight down on the washers, you tin't actually tighten all of the bract play out.  This is more of an irritation to the knife enthusiast than a practical business concern, merely it's worth mentioning.

Some other thing I've noticed about the Para 3 – owing to the lighter weight of its blade versus the PM2, it tin be harder to successfully shut it in one fluid motion since the blade is more prone to sitting on the detent ball, leading to a "flip closed and then shut it all the manner" motion that's the knife equivalent of stalling your Mustang repeatedly in front of all your friends.  Maybe this will get amend with long term pause in but it didn't improve with weeks of pocket carry.

Features, Fit & End

Hither's where the plot begins to autumn apart.  Let'due south talk about the elephant in the room: the Para 3's pocket clip is terrible.  Actually, to be accurate: information technology's the same every bit the Paramilitary 2's pocket clip, and it's been stuck onto the Para 3 as an afterthought. On the Paramilitary ii, the tail of the handle is wider at the terminate, then there's enough width to place the lanyard pigsty side by side to the pocket clip.  The pocket prune is angled upwards towards the compression lock, which moves the bulk of the handle towards the border of your pocket, minimizing the infinite information technology takes up in your pocket.

For some reason, the Para 3 doesn't take the flared tail end of the PM2, so the prune is mounted to a higher place the lanyard hole rather than next to information technology, farther up the handle.  This has ii unfortunate downsides.  Outset, more of the knife sticks out of your pocket, which is inappreciably e'er a expert thing.  More knife sticking out of your pocket ways it'due south more than noticeable to other people, which could raise the wrong eyebrows.  Secondly, and more than importantly, with the clip sitting smack dab in the middle of the handle it is about immediately uncomfortable to actually utilize the knife, creating an instant hot spot in the heart of your palm that doesn't exist on the PM2.

With the Para 3, you are constantly aware the clip is pressing into your hand, whereas with the PM2 you forget the clip exists in the showtime place.  This is a forehead-slapping oversite on Spyderco's office.  Thankfully if y'all're really attached to the PM3's design you can fit it with an aftermarket deep comport clip – like this one from Lynch Northwest, a titanium deep conduct prune that fits a variety of mainstream Spyderco'southward.  It's just $18 simply as we talk about later in this review, that makes fifty-fifty less sense. Information technology would too partially occlude the lanyard tube equally well. Maybe a deep deport wire clip would solve the issue, merely moving the lanyard hole further out and down the spine and moving the prune mounting screws up towards the tail end would become a long way towards fixing this problem.  Just poor positioning aside, the prune is still oversized for the Para 3's atomic frame.

Some other curious difference between the PM2 and the Para 3 is the stop pivot.  On the PM2, it's adjustable – a threaded tube with a spiral – which is useful for properly setting the pin tension.  I've ever plant the trick for a happy PM2 is to evenly tighten the pivot itself all the way downwardly evenly on both sides, so loosen the stop pin itself a pilus to eliminate binding forth the axis of the frame, allowing for a free-dropping activeness with the lock held open but almost no blade play when open up.  The Para three ditches this for a unproblematic press fit pivot, eliminating this aligning choice for tinkerers like myself.

The residue of the Para 3 is what'south expected of high finish Spydercos, which is to say that it's quite nice to those that know the difference, and people that aren't informed volition presume it'due south a inexpensive knife.  There's no contoured titanium, colorful backspacers, or flippers and bearings hither.  The blackness G10 handles have more of a soft radius to their edges than the PM2 making the Para 3 comfortable in hand.

There are 4 positions for the prune (and none of them are ideal.)  The pivot and torso hardware is polished and sits flush with the scales when tightened downwards – except the same pivot pivot.  The lanyard hole, which is in the manner, sports a slick stainless barrel that is press fit into the scales and serves as a structural element of the pocketknife.  The Para 3 uses skeletonized nested stainless steel liners for strength and weight savings, and indeed the pocketknife has a very solid feel in hand considering its lite weight.

Fit and finish is perfect.  This is a domestically produced knife from a reputable company and frankly anything other than perfect at this price point wouldn't be tolerated, but it'due south worth noting that Spyderco can still creepo out a knife that'southward absolutely gratuitous of production or manufacturing flaws.  The grinds are even, the scales line upwardly, the blade is perfectly centered when closed, and the compression lock operates without any stick. The satin finish on the blade is even, and there's no evidence of tooling marks or anything of that sort.  Other than the terminate pin continuing proud of the scales, everything on the Para 3 gives the impression of a product assembled by people that really intendance near the work they do, which is a nice matter.

Field Test

As mentioned previously, the Para iii just isn't a comfortable knife in hand.  The grip, at to the lowest degree with the clip configured in the tip downwards right hand configuration that the majority of users prefer, creates a hot spot in your palm when you use it for any extended menstruum of time.  This is disappointing and paints a negative low-cal on the usage impression of what would otherwise be a pleasant pocketknife, although I suspect information technology would be much meliorate with an aftermarket deep deport clip or a redesign of the positioning of the lanyard hole and pocket clip mounting screws.

It cuts well, though.  Full flat footing Spydercos that cut well shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.  The factory edge is great, and the geometry of the blade allows it to slice through things with ease.  The smaller blade size versus the PM2 is a thing of stance – I think the sweet spot for daily apply is right around three.5", so for me the Para 3 is a little on the small side, just some people prefer sub 3" blades for EDC apply equally they lend themselves more naturally to detail oriented tasks.

The forward choil is smashing for a choked up grip, and this application of the compression lock is fantastic, and nearly identical to the PM2.  The more rounded edges of the Para 3 are one feature I hope migrates over to the PM2, a pocket-size change that seemingly makes a big difference to in-mitt condolement, if yous're ignoring the uncomfortable pocket clip. Thumb jimping on the spine is well placed, locating your grip strongly, and the curvature of the underside of the handle matches up well with your fingers for a comfortable grip.

At this point most knife users are pretty familiar with Crucible CPM-S30V, which used to be one of the most well-regarded super steels on the market place.  It'due south since been left behind by a wave of fifty-fifty higher end steels, but S30V is nonetheless a nifty steel for the price.  Compared to its newer brother S35VN, it'south slightly more breakable and a tad harder to sharpen but its edge property abilities are virtually on par.  It's no S110V, but information technology's still a neat steel.  Skilful news for Para three fans: the eventuality of upgraded steel and sprint run versions of this knife is most as inevitable equally expiry and taxes.  I personally look forward to a blurple/S110V variant, or maybe CTS-204p/M390/CPM-20CV.  And who wouldn't like a Para 3 in natural Jade G10 with CPM-M4?

Alternatives

All these knives available at BladeHQ.

The elephant in the room?  The Para three retails for $119 on BladeHQ in standard black G10/satin blade format (the only version currently available.)  The Paramilitary two in the same configuration is $125 from BladeHQ. Is the Para three's shorter blade, annoying clip placement, and not-adjustable stop pin worth saving $6?  Non for me. If you desire to correct the clip effect with a titanium deep carry clip you come out $12 more expensive than a PM2 that doesn't demand it in the first place.

If you lot want a 3" Spyderco with a total flat ground blade, a compression lock, S30V steel, a forward choil, and all the other things that arrive worth waking upward in the morning to deal with another day on this earth, why not purchase the new Sage five? At about $140 it'due south ~$20 more expensive, or basically what it would toll to slap a Lynch clip on a Para 3!  Information technology also has carbon fiber laminated G10 scales and a deep acquit wire clip.

You can snag a Sage 1 for near the aforementioned money with a liner lock if you adopt, or the bolt activity lock Sage 3 for $160 if you fancy a different lock.  The leaf shaped blade is more reminiscent of the Manix 2 than the Paramilitary series, but yet a fantastic slicer. There's also the long-running Native serial in Lightweight format with S35VN steel for about $85, or in CPM-S110V for $116(!) and even Maxamet Micro-Melt for $143 if you never want to have to acuminate your knife again.

Unusually, Benchmade doesn't brand much that directly competes with the Para iii on price. As far as size, the Para three is comparable to the well-known Mini Griptilian with its 2.91" blade. The standard hole-opener Mini Griptilian (model 555HG) is my preference over the thumb stud variant, with its unique sheepsfoot blade shape compared to the thumb stud model's drop betoken. Noryl GTX (plastic) handles and 154 CM steel are a footstep down from the Para iii'due south G10 and S30V, and the standard Mini Grip's ring in right around $95 or so.

There are the new upgraded Griptilian models with the -1 prefix, featuring grey G10 over stainless liners, blue backspacer barrels, and premium CPM 20CV steel.  The hole opener 555-one comes in well over the Para 3'south price tag at $165, only are extremely well regarded by those who ain them. The Benchmade 485 Valet series is as well similar sized – with a 2.96" bract – merely the Bohler M390 steel and Benchmade'due south "aggressive" pricing places it a solid $50 to a higher place the Para iii at $170 retail.

The Nakamura 484 is another gorgeous knife that'south around the aforementioned size – a 3.08" M390 bract – but a retail price of effectually $190 is even farther out of the brawl park. The closest thing to the Para iii comes from Benchmade'southward popular hunting line, the G10 handled 15031-1 "Due north Fork" axis lock folder.  With a ii.97" S30V blade and a $140 price tag it bears consideration if yous're an axis lock fan.

Less mainstream options are available if y'all await.  Boker makes heaps of interesting knives in this price range, oftentimes with well-known designers.  The Boker FR is a Brad Zinker designed framelock with skeletonized handles and a hollow ground drib 2.9" point VG-10 blade that flips on bearings for nigh $100, and weighs merely 2 ounces.

Finally, if you haven't tried anything from Kizer even so, the iii" marketplace is a nifty place to start.  At that place is a plethora of options effectually this size at varying price points.  Kizer's new Vanguard line of low-priced designs rendered in G10 handles and VG-10 blades offer extreme value for money and predictably fantastic flipping action.  With designs by Matt Cucchiara, Kim Ning, Michael Vagnino, and Ray Laconico all under $100, in that location's more than enough choices to keep you busy for years.

Wrap-Up

It'southward hard to overlook your biases when reviewing something that'southward been eagerly anticipated past enthusiasts for months or fifty-fifty years.  We've been hearing rumors of a shrunken PM2 for years now, with the fervor surrounding the topic almost approaching sneaker territory.  It's hard not to be disappointed by what ends upwardly coming off equally a half-broiled effort ergonomically, struck down by something so hard to screw up as a pocket clip, and rendered a hard logical buy past its close fiscal proximity to its (ergonomically superior) bigger brother.

The fact that it would cost more to remedy the faulty clip pattern than it would to just buy a PM2 or a Sage five makes it difficult to whole-heartedly recommend the Para iii.  It'southward not to say that the knife is a total failure – it has a fantastic lock, nifty bract geometry, practiced fit and finish, and information technology cuts well.  Information technology's just that the Paramilitary two does all these things better for an boosted $6, and while I don't know what your fourth dimension is worth, I probably waste material more than $6 a week incorrectly calculating the tip at restaurants.

I approximate if your standard of measurement for the Para 3 is "is information technology a smaller PM2?" and so information technology'due south a success.  Information technology'southward a shrunken PM2 with a bad clip.  Merely frankly, I'm not sure I get the point of shrinking down a blueprint that emphasizes packing length and performance into a calorie-free and thin packet in the first place; the Para three ends up butting heads with knives in the same size range in Spyderco's own lineup that were designed from the offset to be 3" folders, rather than shrunken down to fit.

"But I really want a PM2 that I can legally behave in my jurisdiction, which has penalties for blades over 3 inches!"  That may be the case, and I get that, only from Spyderco alone the Sage serial and the Native five both do a better job of being a 3" (or sub 3") daily carry knife than the Para 3 does, and in some cases fifty-fifty for less money with amend steel – like the Native 5 Lightweight.

I suppose it'south a sign that we're living in the perfect age of knives when we can be this critical of a knife like the Para 3, which fits the paw well, cuts similar a lite saber, is made in the USA and volition concluding for years and years.  However, to reach success in this overcrowded segment y'all need to bring more to the tabular array than a shrunken version of a popular design with some questionable ergonomic choices and a loftier price tag.  You won't be mad if y'all purchase 1, but there are improve choices on the market.

• A PM2 for people that need a sub iii" knife, cuts great, rounded handle edges are more comfy

• Terrible clip placement, non-adaptable stop pin, ameliorate similar-priced options out in that location

Quality/Operation - 73%

Value for money - 69%

71%

You wanted a smaller PM2 - you got it...just somehow it leaves us wanting more. Consider a Sage 5… or a PM2 if it's not a legal issue.

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Source: https://knifeinformer.com/spyderco-para-3-review/

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