Military

[einstein2001]

The Military was an unexpected instant favorite for me.

[ginsuwarrior]

Go BIG or go home, is what my Millie told me. :D

He rides nicely in my right lower tool pocket on my Carhartt's, which happen to be the only type of pants that I ever wear.

[xceptnl]

Go BIG or go home, is what my Millie told me. :D

He rides nicely in my right lower tool pocket on my Carhartt's, which happen to be the only type of pants that I ever wear.

Amen. Carhartt, Dickies, Kuhl, or Mountain Khakis are all I prefer to wear anymore. I use the right lower tool pocket for the smartphone, freeing up the others for my knives.

[NoFair]

Amen. Carhartt, Dickies, Kuhl, or Mountain Khakis are all I prefer to wear anymore. I use the right lower tool pocket for the smartphone, freeing up the others for my knives.

I do the same with my Kuhl trousers. The knife is always right front, flashlight left front. Everything else can move around depending on what brand of trousers I'm wearing.

[ChapmanPreferred]

Sorry, I dig the Military and carry one everyday.

[Buendia518]

The Cruwear is my first military so I haven't used it much but I'm pleased so far. The finger choil is well designed and doesn't sacrifice much cutting edge.
I've been gravitating to large knives lately, particularly my Calypso Sprint, and the Military feels lighter in hand and provides a nice alternative that feels a little more capable.
I also like the tip up carry and I'm planning to switch that Calypso though I'm sure it'll go back.

Need I saw that grey g-10 accents blue jeans well? :)

[GoodEyeSniper]

the clip: moving to four way clip means you have to switch to a worse clip which doesn't follow the contour of the knife. tip down on a knife with a handle this long is the only way to carry. at least as far as retrieving and opening counts for. there is not a human on the planet who would be better served by tip up on this knife. all the people clamoring for tip up have probably never done a fair comparison between the two on a military sized knife. unless they only want tip up for how it carries in pocket.

everything else is perfect too :p

[DougC-3]

I've been a big fan of the millie since I got my lefty model. Now that I've got my Cru rightie, I'm crazy about it too. I'm fine with tip down carry. As I mentioned once before, I just stick my thumb pretty deep in my pocket along the inner side of the knife and my forefinger tip under the end of the clip and grasp the upper end of the handle in the crotch of my thumb and forefinger. The knife swings back into my hand as I pull it out of the pocket and my thumb is automatically in place at the spydie hole, ready for instant deployment.

Strangely this same procedure works very nearly the same way when I switch from a leftie to a rightie, even though the knife is backward in the pocket, the only difference being that the knife tends to open more with the sharp edge facing up when you use the "wrong handed" knife and down with the correct handed knife.

Also, as other people have mentioned, you can close the knife one-handed with the wrong hand by depressing the lock with your finger tip while pushing the blade with your thumb, but I may stop doing this very much with my Cru because I think that it will wear the lock face if care is not taken to completely depress the lock, and it also causes wear on the fingertip :p

By the way, I'm puzzled about people needing to flip tip-up carry knives like the Manix to get them into position to open. I get them out similar to the mille but with my hand in front of the knife instead of behind it, and by the time they're out they are pretty much llned up and ready to open.

[Senate]

Ah, just curious. I thought I saw a weird spot in the grind on that top Millie. I did something like that to my gayle Bradley the first and last time I used a worksharp. It may just be the photo.

I get the same if I'm careless with the sharpmaker...

Sverre nailed the fact that i'm sometimes careless... thanks buddy! :o
the diamond rods eat fast.

[Surfingringo]

the clip: moving to four way clip means you have to switch to a worse clip which doesn't follow the contour of the knife. tip down on a knife with a handle this long is the only way to carry. at least as far as retrieving and opening counts for. there is not a human on the planet who would be better served by tip up on this knife. all the people clamoring for tip up have probably never done a fair comparison between the two on a military sized knife. unless they only want tip up for how it carries in pocket.



everything else is perfect too :p

Hehehe. Except the ones who use a lanyard. As I've said before, I often carry my truck key on my knife. If I carry tip down then I've got a lanyard and key hanging down my leg iwb. For some, tip up or tip down has nothing to do with "quick draw" or "ease of opening". I know that lanyards aren't for everyone, but they are functional for some of us. What's the point of not at least having an OPTION for tip up carry. If I buy a tip down knife then IMO it might as well not even have a lanyard hole.

Ok, that's the end of my rant. :) . I just felt obliged to try to explain this because everyone who touts how tip down as the only way to carry a big knife like the Millie only seems to consider the idea of "ease of draw and opening"

btw, G.E.S, I'm looking forward to reading your response to this. I always enjoy reading your posts. You tend to put things well and bring a little order to the chaos. :)

[Brock O Lee]

When it comes to doing actual work (whittling stakes or cooking sticks for camping, cutting twine/rope, stripping wire, cutting cardboard, and so on) mine is normally my "go to" knife, besides my original Manix. I like the roominess of the handle. I also like the fact that I feel like I can do some major "digging in" for hard cutting or wood shaving, but I can also work with finer tasks due to being able to "choke up" toward the choil.

Have to agree with Mike here... I always reach for the Military if I have some real work to do.

I also prefer the longer blade on the Military for food prep type work, which is what I use my EDC's for a lot.

My backup knife riding in my bag 7 days a week is the SE Military.

[yablanowitz]

A lanyard works well on a tip down knife, if you are talking about an actual lanyard. If, like most people, you really mean "fob" when you say "lanyard", then I agree that it doesn't work.

A lanyard is a length of line used to attach an object to something else, typically one's self, to prevent said object from being lost. Having the lanyard hole inside the pocket keeps the majority of the line inside where it doesn't snag on things. In fact, if the other end of the lanyard is attached to the bottom of the pocket, the entire safety line can be kept out of harm's way when the knife is not in use.

A fob on the other hand is a short, free hanging decoration.

[NoFair]

Sverre nailed the fact that i'm sometimes careless... thanks buddy! :o
the diamond rods eat fast.

Actually did the same to my BG42 Millie, but using the brown rods. It has sharpened out later with use. Anytime buddy :D :p

[bdblue]

tip down on a knife with a handle this long is the only way to carry. at least as far as retrieving and opening counts for

I have done a lot of testing with my own knives and I've found that with a knife 3" blade or less, tip-up or tip-down works about equally. Beyond a 3" blade and tip-down is much faster.

By the way, I'm puzzled about people needing to flip tip-up carry knives like the Manix to get them into position to open. I get them out similar to the mille but with my hand in front of the knife instead of behind it, and by the time they're out they are pretty much llned up and ready to open.

When my knife is clipped in my pocket, the only other thing that can go into my pocket is the tip of my thumb. There is no way my hand is going into the pocket, my hand will barely go into my pocket when there is no knife in there. So I have to grab the tip of the knife that is sticking out of the pocket and pull it out that way. The knife rotates into my hand and my thumb is right where it needs to be. With the Manix 2 my thumb is way at the wrong end of the knife and requires the knife to be flipped. In a safe environment I can toss the knife up in the air and catch it in the right position. In an environment where I want to maintain complete control I have to use both hands or just inch-worm my way up the knife. I have carried my Manix 2 constantly the past 3 weeks to help me close and open boxes during my more so I have a lot of experience trying to grip it. I've watched youtube videos on how to draw and open a tip-up knife and invariably the people making those videos are wearing sweatpants or even pajamas while they make the videos. I don't dress like that in my house much less when I leave my house so my circumstances with tight pants pockets may be different from some people.

I do have a lot of knives that are tip-up just because that is the only way that they make them, but if you like the rest of the knife you have to decide if you like it enough to put up with the clip. I do find it unusual that the Para 2 comes from the factory tip-down but the GB comes from the factory tip-up. From reading the forums I find that it is very difficult to switch Spyderco clips without risking ruining the knife so I have to leave them the way that they came from the factory.

[DougC-3]

When my knife is clipped in my pocket, the only other thing that can go into my pocket is the tip of my thumb. There is no way my hand is going into the pocket, my hand will barely go into my pocket when there is no knife in there. So I have to grab the tip of the knife that is sticking out of the pocket and pull it out that way. The knife rotates into my hand and my thumb is right where it needs to be. With the Manix 2 my thumb is way at the wrong end of the knife and requires the knife to be flipped. In a safe environment I can toss the knife up in the air and catch it in the right position. In an environment where I want to maintain complete control I have to use both hands or just inch-worm my way up the knife. I have carried my Manix 2 constantly the past 3 weeks to help me close and open boxes during my more so I have a lot of experience trying to grip it. I've watched youtube videos on how to draw and open a tip-up knife and invariably the people making those videos are wearing sweatpants or even pajamas while they make the videos. I don't dress like that in my house much less when I leave my house so my circumstances with tight pants pockets may be different from some people.

I do have a lot of knives that are tip-up just because that is the only way that they make them, but if you like the rest of the knife you have to decide if you like it enough to put up with the clip. I do find it unusual that the Para 2 comes from the factory tip-down but the GB comes from the factory tip-up. From reading the forums I find that it is very difficult to switch Spyderco clips without risking ruining the knife so I have to leave them the way that they came from the factory.

Aha, I always wear loose pants with loose pockets. That explains it -- thanks for the clarification, bd. Even so, my thumb is all that goes into the pocket, but it goes deep, and there's enough slack in the material for me to sort of grasp the knife on the outside of the pocket, and, with tip up knives, I can usually wrap my little finger and ring finger around the butt of the knife and put my forefinger tip under the clip tip, which makes it pretty easy to extricate the sucker. I've only been carrying clip knives for under six months, so this is still a learning process for me. With clipless knives in the bottom of a loose, dedicated pocket, it's easy to have the knife in opening position before it even comes out of the pocket, but clips have other advantages.

[ginsuwarrior]

Is there any correlation between guys that wear "skinny jeans," and their dislike of the Military model?

[TomAiello]

Is there any correlation between guys that wear "skinny jeans," and their dislike of the Military model?

I wear baggy cargo pants from Duluth Trading 95% of the time.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Hehehe. Except the ones who use a lanyard. As I've said before, I often carry my truck key on my knife. If I carry tip down then I've got a lanyard and key hanging down my leg iwb. For some, tip up or tip down has nothing to do with "quick draw" or "ease of opening". I know that lanyards aren't for everyone, but they are functional for some of us. What's the point of not at least having an OPTION for tip up carry. If I buy a tip down knife then IMO it might as well not even have a lanyard hole.

Ok, that's the end of my rant. :) . I just felt obliged to try to explain this because everyone who touts how tip down as the only way to carry a big knife like the Millie only seems to consider the idea of "ease of draw and opening"

btw, G.E.S, I'm looking forward to reading your response to this. I always enjoy reading your posts. You tend to put things well and bring a little order to the chaos. :)

Hi Lance, just curious, when you have your truck key on your lanyard (or fob, whatever it is :) ), do you unclip the key before using it, or do you keep it attached to the knife and let the knife swing about in the truck cab on the lanyard/fob? Just trying to get the setup down in my head, I do like the idea a lot especially for a work truck or other single key (or very few keys) on a ring situation.

As for the burgeoning fashion discussion beginning to show up in this thread, do we really need to start polling who wears skinny versus baggy pants! I personally love the Millie (hope to post a pic of the group soon), but other than yard work, it doesn't see much EDC time due to its largish size. Don't mind the tip down and as others have said, for knives this size and above, it may very well be the more logical position. Pretty sure the Spydercrew put some thought into that for the current generation too, coming to the same conclusion, while our clamoring has helped push for a 4-way option for Gen 2.

[Surfingringo]

Hi Lance, just curious, when you have your truck key on your lanyard (or fob, whatever it is :) ), do you unclip the key before using it, or do you keep it attached to the knife and let the knife swing about in the truck cab on the lanyard/fob? Just trying to get the setup down in my head, I do like the idea a lot especially for a work truck or other single key (or very few keys) on a ring situation.

As for the burgeoning fashion discussion beginning to show up in this thread, do we really need to start polling who wears skinny versus baggy pants! I personally love the Millie (hope to post a pic of the group soon), but other than yard work, it doesn't see much EDC time due to its largish size. Don't mind the tip down and as others have said, for knives this size and above, it may very well be the more logical position. Pretty sure the Spydercrew put some thought into that for the current generation too, coming to the same conclusion, while our clamoring has helped push for a 4-way option for Gen 2.

Well, it's apparently a fob that I use as a lanyard to attach my truck key to my knife. :) . I have my top two or three knives rigged with a quick release so I can attach my key to any of them and detach it to drive. I just like consolidating some of my edc things. I'm kind of absent minded, so I like carrying my key like this. When I've got my knife I've got my key...and when I've got my key I've got my knife. I carry iwb and I don't care to change. So a tip down only knife kind of screws up my little system.

I don't really get the hard headed attitudes on here about any changes. It's not like we are suggesting converting the military to tip up only. :rolleyes: Just drill a few extra holes and give those of us who like "tip up" an option. Where does this need to convince us that we shouldn't even want to carry tip up come from? I think I've given pretty logical reasons. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a legitimate reason for wanting to carry tip up.

[TomAiello]

I don't really get the hard headed attitudes on here about any changes. It's not like we are suggesting converting the military to tip up only. :rolleyes: Just drill a few extra holes and give those of us who like "tip up" an option.

+1.