Paramilitary 2 lemon

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Soakedntorment
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Paramilitary 2 lemon

#1

Post by Soakedntorment »

So I've owned a endura and still own it for several years, I was given a paramilitary 2 as gift about 5 months ago. Now few days ago I've noticed small rust spots on one side of the blade now I'm sure I can clean it with little bit of oil no problem, but I thought this metal was suppose to be pretty resistant against rusting. My endura not a spot anywhere and have had that blade in the water all over different liquids being on the blade. Now my second rant today I was cutting some zip ties and some plastic wrap and after words I notice a chip on the blade in which a small tear of disappointment ran down my cheek. Now let's get this straight I baby this knife even though I tell my self it's a great edc knife and I've seen the YouTube videos of people abusing them and they hold up. But when my knife chips from cutting plastic I just don't get it was I given a lemon ? Knife was purchased through blade HQ. What's your guys opinions did I buy into the paramilitary hype ?
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farnorthdan
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#2

Post by farnorthdan »

Welcome to the forum Soakedntorment, what blade steel on your PM2?
Happy to be part of this great forum and group of down to earth spyderco addicts, Thanks Sal and gang.
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Soakedntorment
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#3

Post by Soakedntorment »

Thanks farnorthdan I've been lurking the forum for awhile now I'm in. Blade steel is S30V
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ZrowsN1s
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#4

Post by ZrowsN1s »

Welcome to the forum. Could you post a Pic of your knife so we can see what we are dealing with? (resize your pic to less than 500kb if you don't use a photo hosting site) My S30V knives are pretty reliable, perhaps you got a dud?

*I HAVE heard of people having an edge that was fragile and chippy, but after a good sharpening and removing the bad steel at the edge, they no longer had the issue. I have never personally had that problem though. Again Pics help, if you can post them we can get a better idea of what the issue is.
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Bloke
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#5

Post by Bloke »

Welcome to the forum. :)

I'd assume your Endura is likely VG-10 and that makes it fairly corrosion resistant. S30V is about the same in that regard so perhaps you inadvertently got something corrosive on the blade that cause a little rust. It's easy enough done and a cough or sneeze is sometimes all it takes.

With regard to chipping, factory edges are power ground and consequently the edge can be stressed in the process and therefore susceptible to chipping, particularly when a degree of lateral pressure is applied as could happen when cutting tough mediums like cable ties in awkward positions.

For what it's worth, I sympathise with you because I'm the King of Chips. It's never much fun and it's nearly always my own fault but it happens.

Post some pics for us as Z said and I'm sure we'll sort it all out.
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The Mastiff
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#6

Post by The Mastiff »

Sharp knives don't have a lot of steel supporting them on the side of the edge which means some times a knife can do what you talk about even on plastic from doing something like sliding the knife under the tie and applying pressure sideways and not straight into the zip tie. For sure it doesn't mean anything is wrong with the knife or steel. Some zip ties are pretty tough. You don't even begin to give enough information to do anything but make guesses. I doubt you have a lemon or bad steel.

As far as rust is concerned since you have lurked here you know all steel except H1 can rust. If you have a knife with rust on it just do the maintenance and if it bothers you do the maintenance before it rusts next time. If that is too much then get an H1 Salt Spyderco and don't worry about rust any more.

:)

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araneae
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#7

Post by araneae »

If you are using a knife for work, a little chip here or there is bound to happen unless you are meticulous in your cutting. And a little rust is not anything new, different steels react differently and while you may have some specks of surface rust on s30v, it may be something you never noticed on vg-10. Maybe from perspiration or something you cut? Stainless steels are not rust proof, they just resist rust to different degrees.
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bearfacedkiller
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#8

Post by bearfacedkiller »

Can we see the chip? How big was the zip tie? Has the knife ever been sharpened? Do you live in a humid climate? We want to help and more info will help us do that. :)

I have had S30V rust a little and find it less corrosion resistant than vg10. It doesn't rust easily but if you do not keep it clean and dry when you put it away it can rust a little.

Zip ties are not all created equal. Some are very tough. Also, people often put the knife under them and twist to cut them. This is hard on edges. Lateral forces on harder plastics can chip edges. You said plastic wrap. Do you think that there is any chance you hit a harder object like a staple while removing the plastic wrap?

Keeping it clean should help with any corrosion and putting a slight microbevel on it should stop the chipping. One chip is not an indication that there is a problem. Repeated chipping is. I would touch up the edge and see if it happens again.

I am not saying that this is your fault. You may have a lemon and you may not. Statistically it is far more likely that you don't have a lemon than that you do so that is why I am giving the advice I am.
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sal
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#9

Post by sal »

Hi Soakedntorment,

Welcome to our forum.

Do you know where the knife was purchased? While occasional chips do occur from zip ties, it's not common. Rust is less common unless you are in a very humid area.

We are having a rough time with numerous Chinese made counterfeits. I don't know where you are located, but you may consider shooting it to us for a look?

sal
Soakedntorment
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#10

Post by Soakedntorment »

Here's some photos. Glad to see some helpful responses I really appreciate it.

Here's some of the rust spots it spots on the top of the blade as well.
Image

Image

Chips
Image
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Soakedntorment
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#11

Post by Soakedntorment »

I live in Southern California so it doesn't get to humid. I haven't sharpened it because I haven't had to yet it's still pretty sharp the first few months I had it I would strop it every now and then. Yeah the zip tie was pretty big I'm an hvac tech so I'm typically cutting ties and pneumatic lines and opening boxes or cutting tap nothing to crazy which I know my limits like I said I baby my knife I don't even like when other people ask to use it I got strong attachment haha. The rust spots don't bother me I owe firearms and serval tools that get spots or start to show and good oil maintenance cleans it up and keeps it protected. But I'm just little worried about the chipping as it will bother me for a little bit.
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Soakedntorment
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#12

Post by Soakedntorment »

sal wrote:Hi Soakedntorment,

Welcome to our forum.

Do you know where the knife was purchased? While occasional chips do occur from zip ties, it's not common. Rust is less common unless you are in a very humid area.

We are having a rough time with numerous Chinese made counterfeits. I don't know where you are located, but you may consider shooting it to us for a look?

sal
Thank you sal I'm glad to be apart of the spyderco community. From what I was told it was purchased through blade HQ out of Utah.
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toomzz
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#13

Post by toomzz »

Can you show us a picture of both sides of the entire knife?
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#14

Post by Soakedntorment »

toomzz wrote:Can you show us a picture of both sides of the entire knife?
Picture of the edge or rusting spots? Cause it only has the spots on one side and on the top part of the blade.
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toomzz
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#15

Post by toomzz »

No, the entire knife both sides, open.
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gunmike1
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#16

Post by gunmike1 »

Many times a factory edge needs to be completely sharpened off to get to good steel that won't chip. I'd try that before declaring the knife a lemon. As others have said if you put a knife under a thick zip tie and laterally load the edge to cut it then you would expect to see some chipping on a high carbide steel like S30V. I usually try to cut down into the zip tie rather than stick the knife inside of the zip tie when I cut them. If the knife still chips out after some sharpenings I'm sure Spyderco would take care of you if you send it in. For rough use where corrosion is a worry you might consider H1. It is both tough and rust proof.
mad german
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#17

Post by mad german »

Soakedntorment wrote:Here's some photos. Glad to see some helpful responses I really appreciate it.

Here's some of the rust spots it spots on the top of the blade as well.
Image

Image

Chips
Image
The jimping in the top photo looks off to me. On my PM2 (purchased first hand from GP Knives), the jimping is angled a bit more towards the back. It's not as "straight up" as what's shown in the photos.

Also, the OP states that this particular PM2 was supposedly purchased at Blade HQ, from what he was told. From the tone of his reply, it sounds like he bought this particular PM2 used. I'm betting that the PM2 that he has is a fake. Sending it to Spyderco, as Sal mentioned, will confirm this.

If he posts several more full knife shots we might be able to tell if his PM2 is real or not. The fakes are getting pretty good in the appearance department, but on things like steel, you can't fake good steel. The properties of the fake stuff will become evident with use.
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#18

Post by murphjd25 »

Hey soaked, welcome to the forum! I am a fellow HvAC tech too, and I have not had any problems with any of my knives for this job. I'm going to be willing to bet it was the factory sharpening and angle, once you get your own edge on there after a few good sharpenings and get into the "good" steel again I'd be willing to bet you'd be hard pressed to roll or chip the edge doing anything we do. The factory edge is all done by robot and on a belt grinder so that heat doesn't do to well for the "initial" edge, as others have stated.

A couple things are throwing me for a loop here though.. the etching of the bug almost looks like the etching from taichung, golden uses a laser now, and that jimping on the thumb ramp looks a little off to my eye..
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#19

Post by dplafoll »

+1 to posting whole-knife pics so we can get a better look at it.
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Re: Paramilitary 2 lemon

#20

Post by ZrowsN1s »

murphjd25 wrote: A couple things are throwing me for a loop here though.. the etching of the bug almost looks like the etching from taichung, golden uses a laser now, and that jimping on the thumb ramp looks a little off to my eye..
I have to agree with Murph, you may have a fake. I'll post some pics of my PM2 so you can see for comparison. If you run your fingernail over the makers marks and the Golden Colorado U.S.A. Earth logo can you feel it? Is it engraved into the blade or just etched on the surface?
*ignore the edge, that's my sharpening, not the factories.
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Last edited by ZrowsN1s on Fri Jul 14, 2017 12:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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