Nick's question of "why"?

[Evil D]

Thanks for the video, you raised some interesting points but in what world would a parra 2.5 have a 3.25” blade, this is lunacy.
I would happily embrace a parra variant with a 2.5” blade as that’s where I thought you where going :)
It would be like a normal shaped rhino.
*god that’s a weird sentence*

I think he might be referring to the number sequence...the 3 doesn't refer to blade length, only that it's the 3rd Paramilitary version. A 2.5 would be between the 2 and 3 and I guess share traits of both.

The 3 in the "Para 3" name does refer to the blade length, not its place in the lineup. So, a "Para 2.5" would insinuate a 2.5" blade.

From the December 2016 Spyderco Byte: "...Although clearly based on the Para Military 2, the Para 3 was not named the “Para Military 3” because its smaller size qualifies it as a different knife design. Similarly, the “3” in its name actually reflects its three-inch blade length rather than identifying it as a third-generation of the Para Military design..."

If the Paramilitary 2 ever sees enough of a design change to warrant changing the name, it would likely be Paramilitary 3.

I suspect the knife suggested by ALuckyBum would be a confusing one to name. Is it part of the Para line or Paramilitary line? I would guess the name to be "Para 3.25", if the same handle remained from the Para 3.

See that just proves how confusing it is lol. The 3 in Para 3 refers to length while the 2 in Para 2 refers to version.

[Daveho]

Yep. Para 3 as in 3”
Pm2 as in paramilitary version 2.

I think we all agree a para 2.5 would be rad

[guywithopinion]

Nick “Bomb thrower” Shabazz.
Comes in, throws bomb, gone for a week.
The villagers are all razzed up.
“Rabble rabble rabble
Burn the blasphemous
Rabble rabble”

I can't tell if that's humor or not. If not, I'd point out that he didn't start the thread. Unless by "comes in, throws bomb" you mean posts a video to his own YouTube channel, which he didn't then leave for a week.

[MichaelScott]

Nick “Bomb thrower” Shabazz.
Comes in, throws bomb, gone for a week.
The villagers are all razzed up.
“Rabble rabble rabble
Burn the blasphemous
Rabble rabble”

I can't tell if that's humor or not. If not, I'd point out that he didn't start the thread. Unless by "comes in, throws bomb" you mean posts a video to his own YouTube channel, which he didn't then leave for a week.

I would also note that most of us villagers were not “all razzed up.” I think Nick’s response here to our criticisms was thoughtful, funny and interesting.

[ALuckyBum]

Thanks for the video, you raised some interesting points but in what world would a parra 2.5 have a 3.25” blade, this is lunacy.
I would happily embrace a parra variant with a 2.5” blade as that’s where I thought you where going :)
It would be like a normal shaped rhino.
*god that’s a weird sentence*

I think he might be referring to the number sequence...the 3 doesn't refer to blade length, only that it's the 3rd Paramilitary version. A 2.5 would be between the 2 and 3 and I guess share traits of both.

The 3 in the "Para 3" name does refer to the blade length, not its place in the lineup. So, a "Para 2.5" would insinuate a 2.5" blade.

From the December 2016 Spyderco Byte: "...Although clearly based on the Para Military 2, the Para 3 was not named the “Para Military 3” because its smaller size qualifies it as a different knife design. Similarly, the “3” in its name actually reflects its three-inch blade length rather than identifying it as a third-generation of the Para Military design..."

If the Paramilitary 2 ever sees enough of a design change to warrant changing the name, it would likely be Paramilitary 3.

I suspect the knife suggested by ALuckyBum would be a confusing one to name. Is it part of the Para line or Paramilitary line? I would guess the name to be "Para 3.25", if the same handle remained from the Para 3.

In my mind the logic was this. The PM 2 is a 3.44 inch and the para 3 is a 3 inch blade. I want a knife somewhere in-between with the body of the para 3 without a lanyard tube (which I think stops it from being a "para", "paramilitary 2", or "Military" since all 3 have lanyard tubes) and a 3.25 inch blade. You can call it the para 2.5 (something in-between the para 3 and PM 2), the Para 3.25, the PM 3.25, or ALB Special for all I care. I just want my precious.

[Eli Chaps]

Nick “Bomb thrower” Shabazz.
Comes in, throws bomb, gone for a week.
The villagers are all razzed up.
“Rabble rabble rabble
Burn the blasphemous
Rabble rabble”

Sigh...

[Daveho]

It’s a joke guys, lighten up a bit- it’s cutlery after all.
Evidence of significant razzing evident however..

[Ric]

Para 2.5 = Lil Native

Maybe with special scales it's possible to make the lanyard tube disappear.

[Tucson Tom]

Wait -- doesn't "para" mean two, like "a para socks". So para 2 makes sense, but is just redundant. Para 3 doesn't make any sense. I think the name should be changed to "3 inch para" to avoid confusion.

Don't look for logic -- there is no logic. Not today anyhow.

[Tucson Tom]

Anyways, great discussion everybody, thanks for watching, and I'm off to go find me some ice cream.

Anybody who can chew on all of this and come back like he did is an alright guy.

[Daveho]

Wait -- doesn't "para" mean two, like "a para socks". So para 2 makes sense, but is just redundant. Para 3 doesn't make any sense. I think the name should be changed to "3 inch para" to avoid confusion.

Don't look for logic -- there is no logic. Not today anyhow.

So the para is really the spyderco 6?
Or the 33

[Tucson Tom]

Wait -- doesn't "para" mean two, like "a para socks". So para 2 makes sense, but is just redundant. Para 3 doesn't make any sense. I think the name should be changed to "3 inch para" to avoid confusion.

Don't look for logic -- there is no logic. Not today anyhow.

So the para is really the spyderco 6?
Or the 33

Yeah !! That's what I was trying to say! I think so anyway.

And by that same clever logic, the Para 2 should just be called "the four" or maybe the .22

[gundamaniac]

Just imagine the naming confusion when we get to the 3rd generation Paramilitary (Paramilitary 3), and a 2nd generation Para 3 (Para 3 2??) :p

I appreciate Nick responding to this thread directly. I agree with the point that the fatigue sets in with companies that churn out endless models that are slightly variations of a single type of design that all fulfill basically the same need (straight handled ti framelock flipper with 3.25 inch drop point anyone?).

Spyderco has a diverse set of offerings and doesn't fall into this same trap IMO. One of the really great things about Spyderco is the variety in its catalog due to the drive to constantly improve and try new things, whether it's blade steel, lock types, materials, sizes, even different shapes/profiles for specific ergonomics or cutting tasks, etc.

[Ric]

Para 3.1 or Para 3 a or just Para 3.
PM 1 to PM 2 was also like a facelift or big CQI.

Para was a short form from Paramilitary.

[MichaelScott]

a prefix appearing in loanwords from Greek, most often attached to verbs and verbal derivatives, with the meanings “at or to one side of, beside, side by side” (parabola; paragraph; parallel; paralysis), “beyond, past, by” (paradox; paragogue); by extension from these senses, this prefix came to designate objects or activities auxiliary to or derivative of that denoted by the base word (parody; paronomasia), and hence abnormal or defective (paranoia), a sense now common in modern scientific coinages (parageusia; paralexia). As an English prefix, para-1 may have any of these senses; it is also productive in the naming of occupational roles considered ancillary or subsidiary to roles requiring more training, or of a higher status, on such models as paramedical and paraprofessional: paralegal; paralibrarian; parapolice.

[Tucson Tom]

So really, the Para 3 should have been called the "metamilitary" or the "hypermilitary", or even better: the "minimilitary".

Quasimilitary?
Pseudomilitary?

The "Un-military"

At any event, this would allow a non conflicting number sequence as CQI revisions came along.

[MichaelScott]

One is a “Para”, one is a “Para Military”. So, you could have a Para 4,or 4.x, and a Para Military 3,or 2.x

[NickShabazz]

Can we get the next revisions to be the Paramilitary 2.1 and Para 3.1? Maybe with CQI changes giving us the Para 3.1.1? :D

[ALuckyBum]

Can we get the next revisions to be the Paramilitary 2.1 and Para 3.1? Maybe with CQI changes giving us the Para 3.1.1? :D

Maybe Para High Sierra?

[Tucson Tom]

One is a “Para”, one is a “Para Military”.

All this foolishness, and now thanks to you, I just learned something.

All this time I thought "para" was just slang. Well, it is for the Para 2, which has the official name of "Paramilitary 2".
However in the case of the Para 3, "Para" is the honest to goodness official, honest, real-deal name.
Who would ever have guessed? Slap me with a dead fish.

And sorry everyone for derailing this whole thread. I'll get banned from this forum yet if I don't learn some manners.