Initial impressions of new pm2 micarta/cruwear

[Cowboyfromhell]

I just wanted to start a thread about this new version of the pm2. It hasn't been on the market very long as I type this and I've had mine for almost a week now. Feel free to chime in with any observations as well.
First off, knife was screaming sharp out of the box. The micarta is handsome and should look better in time with actual use. I also think its a good value for what you get. I do want to mention about the things I don't necessarily like, I know no knife is perfect so take this as my opinion. Out of the box the action was super stiff and I had to loosen the pivot to get the action smooth. After doing so, now the blade has a bit of side to side play-bummer. If I tighten it up again it goes away but now the action is very stiff again and won't drop free. Ugh, have to find that happy medium but I prefer smooth action at the cost of ridgidness. My knife is also off center a tad and that does annoy me, I tried all the tricks to remedy this to no avail....whatever, I will learn to live with it as I intend to use it, not safe queen it. Finally, I dislike the large cutout for the liner on lock side. it leaves the scale unsupported and has a ton of flex, feels like a piece of cardboard or a necco wafer honestly. Im not sure why spyderco designed it this way...future cqi possibility?
Anyway, these are just one mans opinion. All in all I like the knife more than I don't like it.

[lilshaver]

Well just a couple of thoughts on my new PM2 crucarta.
Fit and finish - This knife was done very well.
Action - As stated previously it is a bit stiff. I will live with it as it should wear in.
Micarta scales - These were my only disappointment. They are too thin leaving the lock cutout area seemingly vulnerable.
Value - For what you get and compared to the other models this knife seems priced very well.
For me it is a winner.

[Big_Tex]

I love mine!

Fit and finish: free dropping. Sharpest spyderco I've ever experienced out of the box. blade centered. Edges ground well
Action: buttery smooth
Micarta scales/full liners: I like them. Excited to watch the micarta patina over time
Value: $171 for a cruwear PM2? well worth it in my opinion!

[VooDooChild]

They are easier to adjust once the knife has broken in.

With that said trying to get the perfect adjustment on a comp lock can sometimes be a pain. Theres such a small sweet spot where everything is perfect and it can be hard getting to that spot adjusting by hand.

[DSH007]

Mine is about as pristine a sample as I've ever received from Golden.. essentially perfect in all the ways that matter. Blade grinds are even and the knife arrived extremely sharp. Action out of the box was very smooth & lockup is solid with no play. Centering is just about dead on.. only the most OCD among us would notice that it ever so slightly favors one side.. AFAIC, it's "perfect" haha.

If I'm being forced to come up with little "nit-picks" though.. the "grain" of the micarta doesn't quite match. I'm not sure if this occurs on other knives, or is a one-off on my sample, but the grain runs vertically along one scale and horizontally on the other. Doesn't really bother me, but I did kind go "hmm" to myself when I noticed it.. some of the more OCD collectors may take umbrage. Like others have mentioned, the micarta does also feel a little thin to me around the lock-bar. It's seemed solid enough in use so far, but it's definitely not as rigid as the g10 models. I'm hoping the micarta holds up well.. I'm sure it will be fine.

Overall, I love this knife.. I think it's one of the finest expressions of the PM2 that exists.

[Buddafucco]

If I'm being forced to come up with little "nit-picks" though.. the "grain" of the micarta doesn't quite match. I'm not sure if this occurs on other knives, or is a one-off on my sample, but the grain runs vertically along one scale and horizontally on the other. Doesn't really bother me, but I did kind go "hmm" to myself when I noticed it.. some of the more OCD collectors may take umbrage.

Ha! Now I have to go check my grains! lol

[TkoK83Spy]

If I'm being forced to come up with little "nit-picks" though.. the "grain" of the micarta doesn't quite match. I'm not sure if this occurs on other knives, or is a one-off on my sample, but the grain runs vertically along one scale and horizontally on the other. Doesn't really bother me, but I did kind go "hmm" to myself when I noticed it.. some of the more OCD collectors may take umbrage.

Ha! Now I have to go check my grains! lol

That happened with the Shaman as well. When I bought mine from attila he let me know that he disassembled it to match the grain pattern/direction for the two knives he had. I don't know if it's something I would have caught onto or not, but glad to know it's matching now.

[Buddafucco]

Mine came perfect. I was hesitant to swap the blade because the action was so good out of the box. And kudos to whoever was sharpening Cruwear that day.
I'm a fan of the new lock tab area. Because of the larger lock release area, I can get the tip of my finger farther forward between the liners and when it drops closed the guard bumps my finger. Kinda like the shaman except the PM2 lands on the detent and is fully closed. Or I can hold it like any other PM2 and it doesn't touch my finger, but I like that it doesn't have to smack into the stop pin every time.
It would be nice if there was a little more micarta left in that lock bar area but it hasn't failed and it hasn't really bothered me.

[Soulrack]

I'm surprised there's that much flex left with the steel liners. That's the problem with the aftermarket micarta scales I have--too much flex leading to the knives not holding their adjustment as well as G-10 knives. Maybe we're seeing why it's taken so long to get micarta...

[Danvp]

My knife is also off center a tad and that does annoy me, I tried all the tricks to remedy this to no avail....whatever, I will learn to live with it as I intend to use it, not safe queen it.

Have you tried the "soft bending" trick? It has saved me a lot of times. I too like centered blades. It works everytime for me when a knife is off center. Take the closed knive, lock side down, blade up, tip pointing to the left. Which way is the blade off center? When it is closer to your body then open the knife fully until it locks (hold same position).Then left thumb on pivot area and bend the tip of the blade gently toward you with your right hand. Close the knife and examine the result. Repeat if necessary. And ofcourse the other way around if the closed blade points off center further away from you. Hopes this makes sense.

Anyway, enjoy your crucarta!

Dan

[Pokey]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, mine has a razor edge, the grind is very even, the Micarta plies run up and down the length and left and right, it'll swing closed just by gravity when holding it horizontal and pressing the lock bar, but it does have a slight bit of play in the pivot when I hold the lock bar in.

I agree with what VooDooChild said, and let mine wear-in before adjusting the pivot. Any long time readers here may recall me rambling on about how I adjusted my Para 3's here in Colorado, drove over the Continental Divide to the West Coast and all of them tightened up. The consensus is, and Sal said he's seen this, even changes in humidity makes a difference in the action. So, I let them roam free for a while before I tweak them every now and then.

Mine did come out of the box with some sort of stains on one of the scales. It doesn't bother me, it's never going to look better, and I can't wait until the other scale get more "character" to match. The Micarta does flex, if I press on it. For my use I'm not sure that would come into play, YMMV.

[ABX2011]

I had two. The one I have left is very smooth. Blade is centered. The pivot is fully tightened and there is a small amount of side to side play. The texture of the micarta is great. Two of the screw holes for tip-up righty are messed up. I found one spare screw from who-knows-where that works for one of the holes.

[BelgiumSander]

I've just bought my first (well actually my second one but I'll get to that ) PM2 in CRUWEAR with micarta scales.
I have bought 2 tenacious's(tenaciouses?), endura4, dragonfly and ladybug so this isn't my first Spyderco knife.
I was really excited when the first knife arrived but It had some problems. The holes in the scales and liners for tip up carry didn't align properly so I couldn't switch the clip from tip down to tip up. It also had a real stiff action. I've sent this one back to the place where I bought it (Belgium so Knivesandtools.be) and bought another one.
Second one:
The holes in the scales and liners lined up perfectly so no problem here with the second one. But when using the knife I experienced a sort of ticking sound when tapping the blade. It seems that the lanyard holething doesn't sit very snug in the liners/scales so it's a bit loose, I can rotate the lanyardhole insert and also, because it's not suported that well I can pull open the scales with my nails very easily. I've fixed this with adding a lanyard (for the moment but maybe I'll glue it ). The action was very smooth on the second one and both knives came razor sharp.
It's the first knife I bought from the Golden factory but I have to say that I'm a tad bit dissapointed with the quality that I get, especially for the pricepoint (4-5x tenacious in Belgium, 2x endura)
I'll try to post some pictures from the problems that I have with the knife.
I will be keeping the knife because I still like the blade/scales combination and want a knife that will get a nice patina after a couple of years of use but now I'm a little afraid that the knife won't be as sturdy as I want it to be if I would keep it as an heirloom piece.

First knife, holes in scales and liners not aligning up (I know, not the greatest picture but you get the point).

Second knife, loose scales at tip:



Hope this helps Spyderco to improve quality and quality control and make future buyers of this knife aware of this possible quality issue.

[BugBite84]

I've just bought my first (well actually my second one but I'll get to that ) PM2 in CRUWEAR with micarta scales.
I have bought 2 tenacious's(tenaciouses?), endura4, dragonfly and ladybug so this isn't my first Spyderco knife.
I was really excited when the first knife arrived but It had some problems. The holes in the scales and liners for tip up carry didn't align properly so I couldn't switch the clip from tip down to tip up. It also had a real stiff action. I've sent this one back to the place where I bought it (Belgium so Knivesandtools.be) and bought another one.
Second one:
The holes in the scales and liners lined up perfectly so no problem here with the second one. But when using the knife I experienced a sort of ticking sound when tapping the blade. It seems that the lanyard holething doesn't sit very snug in the liners/scales so it's a bit loose, I can rotate the lanyardhole insert and also, because it's not suported that well I can pull open the scales with my nails very easily. I've fixed this with adding a lanyard (for the moment but maybe I'll glue it ). The action was very smooth on the second one and both knives came razor sharp.
It's the first knife I bought from the Golden factory but I have to say that I'm a tad bit dissapointed with the quality that I get, especially for the pricepoint (4-5x tenacious in Belgium, 2x endura)
I'll try to post some pictures from the problems that I have with the knife.
I will be keeping the knife because I still like the blade/scales combination and want a knife that will get a nice patina after a couple of years of use but now I'm a little afraid that the knife won't be as sturdy as I want it to be if I would keep it as an heirloom piece.

First knife, holes in scales and liners not aligning up (I know, not the greatest picture but you get the point).

Second knife, loose scales at tip:



Hope this helps Spyderco to improve quality and quality control and make future buyers of this knife aware of this possible quality issue.

That’s not good, Put a spare pocket clip screw on the side of the scale that is lifting on instead of glueing it, I’m gonna have to check mine now.

[Michael Janich]

Dear bugbite84:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

[Molle Ninja]

My lock is “poppy.” I keep buying these PM2s and 3s … about 1/2 are smooth unlocking.

[Godzilla68]

I'm a lot happier with the micarta scales than I thought I'd be. I was ready to oder g10 scales but once I held it. I was sold. It's probably my favorite spyderco, surpassing my manix 2 m390. I prefer how the pm2sits in the picket. I can see another pm2 in my future.

[R100]

I was very keen for this but the flexi scales killed that for me. Oh well I guess Sal warned us for years that Micarta is structurally inferior to G10 and not up to Spyderco standards. We just wouldn't leave him alone though.

Second knife, loose scales at tip:

[url=https://postimg.cc/xk73LxcJ]

This is not what I expect from Spyderco.

Dan

[Manixguy@1994]

I received mine some weeks ago but basically have had little time with it except for minor observations. I was doing testing on the Pacific Salt and also got the CQI Siren in around the same time . I was going to carry the C44 and thought after reading this thread last night I might as well throw in strong side pocket . Checking fit and finish was spot on and break in opening and closing is smooth as good as my lefty PM2 . I like the full liners and larger tab , the scales are not exactly up to my expectations they function well having a nice grippy feel . The color of scales is a personal nit pick , I would have preferred a darker Micarta color . I’m already familiar with the steel and cuts as expected very very well . My blade sample from Golden was and is outstanding. No regrets MG2

[kennethsime]

The I received mine some weeks ago but basically have had little time with it except for minor observations. I was doing testing on the Pacific Salt and also got the CQI Siren in around the same time . I was going to carry the C44 and thought after reading this thread last night I might as well throw in strong side pocket . Checking fit and finish was spot on and break in opening and closing is smooth as good as my lefty PM2 . I like the full liners and larger tab , the scales are not exactly up to my expectations they function well having a nice grippy feel . The color of scales is a personal nit pick , I would have preferred a darker Micarta color . I’m already familiar with the steel and cuts as expected very very well . My blade sample from Golden was and is outstanding. No regrets MG2

The scales will darken a bit over time - mine are starting to. A bit of mineral oil should help quicken the process if you like.

I wish they were sanded a bit smoother, more similar to the Crucarta Shaman.