Looking to upgrade

[Skar]

I have both models you mentioned, they both are great. For an upgrade, PM2. I personally really prefer the compression locks. I just picked up a Caribbean SE on Friday, and am amazed how it cuts. I would highly recommend as a third consideration. It originally turned me off with the styling, but now I "get it." The grip is great.

I could imagine that David might approve of this...

Ha! You don't know how much self control it takes to not blurt out CARIBBEAN! every time someone asks about a knife recommendation. At this point I'm sick of saying it so I'm sure people are sick of reading it

Lately my most obsessed over knife has been the Autonomy 1 again. It was "the one" just before I got a Caribbean and I've circled back around to it. The Caribbean though, every time I pick it up I really do wonder why I own anything else. I would change some things if I had the power to but it's the most perfect non automatic folder for me so far.

I'm with you, the Caribbean is a top favorite of mine too.
I need to buy the se version, holds a razor edge and sharpens easy. No regrets buying that knife.

[Bourget117]

Almost bought the pm2 micarta last night. Have it in my shopping cart just waiting for me to press the buy button. Just can’t seem to do it. Lol.

[z1r]

Almost bought the pm2 micarta last night. Have it in my shopping cart just waiting for me to press the buy button. Just can’t seem to do it. Lol.

Do it! You won't regret it.

[Bourget117]

Almost bought the pm2 micarta last night. Have it in my shopping cart just waiting for me to press the buy button. Just can’t seem to do it. Lol.

Do it! You won't regret it.

I know. I just don’t want to get it and not like it and then have to buy new scales take it apart it dye the scales. Kinda makes the whole point of buying a $180 knife pointless.

[bleasure]

Almost bought the pm2 micarta last night. Have it in my shopping cart just waiting for me to press the buy button. Just can’t seem to do it. Lol.

Do it! You won't regret it.

I know. I just don’t want to get it and not like it and then have to buy new scales take it apart it dye the scales. Kinda makes the whole point of buying a $180 knife pointless.

fwiw, i'm with you on the different colors. a dark, reddish-chocolate brown is definitely not my thing, but the lighter tan of the micarta new looks perfect to me. it also feels unlike any other micarta i've held, i love it. I've had mine since they arrived, and the handle is still a great shade that doesn't disappoint me. I've gotten oil on the top by the pivot when lubricating it, and it's a bit darker there, but nothing i dislike. the micarta does seem to come back to original color after darkening pretty easily too.

i don't think you'll have-a the buyer's remorse if you get it, and i predict it'll grow on you quickly. that said, if you do end up just not feeling it, you can almost guaranteed get your money back on it selling it used

[Bourget117]

Almost bought the pm2 micarta last night. Have it in my shopping cart just waiting for me to press the buy button. Just can’t seem to do it. Lol.

Do it! You won't regret it.

I know. I just don’t want to get it and not like it and then have to buy new scales take it apart it dye the scales. Kinda makes the whole point of buying a $180 knife pointless.

fwiw, i'm with you on the different colors. a dark, reddish-chocolate brown is definitely not my thing, but the lighter tan of the micarta new looks perfect to me. it also feels unlike any other micarta i've held, i love it. I've had mine since they arrived, and the handle is still a great shade that doesn't disappoint me. I've gotten oil on the top by the pivot when lubricating it, and it's a bit darker there, but nothing i dislike. the micarta does seem to come back to original color after darkening pretty easily too.

i don't think you'll have-a the buyer's remorse if you get it, and i predict it'll grow on you quickly. that said, if you do end up just not feeling it, you can almost guaranteed get your money back on it selling it used

Thank you for the positive feedback. That does make me want it a little more now. I do like the lighter color of it new.
You mentioned getting it back to original color after it gets dark. How ?

[TkoK83Spy]

If you're going to carry it and use it, it's inevitable. I bet you change your mind if you get it and use it and it becomes more "your" knife to your hand with your own natural patina. It even feels much nicer in hand as well from that scratchy kind of natural texture.

[bleasure]

You mentioned getting it back to original color after it gets dark. How ?

first, tkok83spy is right imo - a key appeal of this model is the unique wear it'll get. so far the two scales on mine are now slightly different shades, and the edges/different areas on it have worn in differently in a way i like.

all i've done is wash it with a sponge, soap, and water when i've been cleaning the blade off. it inevitably cleans the same spot where i get oil 'stains' on it, and just doing that has removed some and lightened it when it's dried. one thing i've noticed, and is inevitable, is that the handle is wearing smoother in higher friction areas, vs. the overall fuzzy feeling it had new. there's still plenty of softness to it though, and i think a quick scrub with the rough side of a sponge, or as others have said here, maybe some fine grit sandpaper if you were really dedicated, could bring it back to like newish.

it's not easy to take the plunge on the sort of expensive thing you want to be excited about when you have no experience with some major aspect of it, and are worried you'd end up disliking it. i can understand your hesitation. if you don't feel right pulling the trigger yet (and can't find one nearby to see and hold in person), i don't think you'd go wrong waiting for the right g-10 version for you to show up. esp because this version regular production and you'll still have a chance in the future. but personally - and i'm someone who likes blade patina, so handle wear is appealing to me too - i think it's the best option going atm.

[Cowboyfromhell]

I had the cruwear/ micarta pm2 as an edc for over 3 months before I traded it away to a buddy. The micarta barely changed any colors, it was still the very light sandy color. I would imagine it stays pretty light long-term. Get the pm2, it is legendary when it comes to a quality spyderco. The PM2 was my first spyderco and led me down the spider hole to owning over 20 different spydercos in 3yrs! Funny, I actually just opened up a package today from DLT, a beautiful PM2 purple g10/cruwear dealer exclusive!

[Bourget117]

Well I did it. I ordered the pm2 Cruwear Micarta this morning. We’ll see what happens.
Thank you all for the excellent advice and personal options. Definitely well appreciated.

[troutinCO]

Solid choice! I love mine

[z1r]

Sweet!

[Bourget117]

Ok so I got my pm2 Micarta in the mail today and wanted to share my thoughts AND concerns.
When I opened the box I was initially pleased although a little surprised it was darker than I thought. Everyone says it looks lighter in person almost blonde color. Mine does not. In fact one scale is lighter than the other. Maybe not a big deal as I’m sure the other scale will catch up in color. Now some of my bigger issues is that opening is extremely stiff. It’s pretty difficult to flick open. Can’t do it anywhere near as fast or smoothly as I’ve seen online. Ok maybe some of you will say it will get better with time. I hope so because it very difficult to even open slowly. And the worse part is that when it’s open, there is a lot of wiggle in the blade lock up. My 4 year old 40 dollar Efficient has zero. My last concern is that the liners are just slightly recessed on one side and protrude past the micarta on the other side. One liner doing it a little more than the other.
Maybe I’m being too picky but I was expecting close to perfect for the money I spent and all the hype. Am I wrong?

[bleasure]

that's a shame. too stiff and hard to open even when slow, wiggle in the locked blade and proud liners are all off - any one of those would've been a red flag. sounds like you got a really bad example somehow. i will say mine still won't drop shut, but it certainly flicks open well enough and i just haven't bothered to adjust it because i really don't care. there's usually a break-in period, and sometimes some pivot adjustment that needs to happen to suit your preferences, but if i were you i'd consider exchanging this one. it really sounds like a lemon!

i'm also surprised to hear yours is darker than expected - mine was definitely a very light tan initially. my scales were slightly different in color, but i kind of liked that.

[metaphoricalsimile]

E82FE230-9C1A-4B3F-990F-78CA79F69C32.jpegOk so I got my pm2 Micarta in the mail today and wanted to share my thoughts AND concerns.
When I opened the box I was initially pleased although a little surprised it was darker than I thought. Everyone says it looks lighter in person almost blonde color. Mine does not. In fact one scale is lighter than the other. Maybe not a big deal as I’m sure the other scale will catch up in color. Now some of my bigger issues is that opening is extremely stiff. It’s pretty difficult to flick open. Can’t do it anywhere near as fast or smoothly as I’ve seen online. Ok maybe some of you will say it will get better with time. I hope so because it very difficult to even open slowly. And the worse part is that when it’s open, there is a lot of wiggle in the blade lock up. My 4 year old 40 dollar Efficient has zero. My last concern is that the liners are just slightly recessed on one side and protrude past the micarta on the other side. One liner doing it a little more than the other.
Maybe I’m being too picky but I was expecting close to perfect for the money I spent and all the hype. Am I wrong?

All that added up makes me think you got a bit of a dud. I'd probably disassemble it and reassemble it to see if I could straighten everything out, but since it sounded like that's not your thing (I'm a tinkerer) I'd send it back. Out of 15ish spydercos I've purchased I've never had one like that, but even companies with good processes and QC let something slip every once in a while. In comparison I just got one of the DLT-exclusive cruwear PM2s today and it was a *little* tight out of the box, but it has smoothed up considerably with just a bit of flicking I've done today, which is very much my expected experience with a new Spyderco.

[Bourget117]

Last thing I want to do is take apart a knife I just paid that kinda of money for and have to tinker with it. I went with a vendor that was recommended in the earlier posts. National Knives. Which was $20 less than everyone else selling this pm2. Now I know why. Going back to their website and reading the “fine print” says if you want a knife that has no defects then you need to contact them first and ask them. Well I did not do that and got one with all the defects.
I suggest staying away from that vendor if you want a knife without headaches.

[TkoK83Spy]

You can't go trashing National Knives. They have a very good reputation around here. I highly doubt they purposely selected a knife with defects and then sold it at the sale price.

I'm sure what that means is to call them if you want them to take a glance over of a knife out of the box before shipping it. I can't imagine every place looks over every knife they have prior to shipping them.

It may not apply to you, but many of us around here immediately tinker with our knives right out of the box. Whether it's to change a pocket clip, dial in the action/centering to our liking, putting our own edge on a brand new knife. Sometimes it takes a little work to get it to where you like it. If not, you can always send it back.

[JSumm]

I just ordered a Polestar from National Knives and received great service. I think the policy on calling up asking for certain qualities is normal across reputal knife dealers. The only difference I know is DLT allows you to type in a request at the order screen instead of calling. But most dealer want you to call up for any specifics to check for. Otherwise any dealer is going to send you what they have in stock from the manufacturer. I wouldn't hold the dealer responsible for any QC issues the manufacturer checks before they ship it out to the dealer.

[bleasure]

when you say 'stiff,' is the knife literally, physically difficult to open? or is it just a little tight in spots, and opens, and can operate like a kinfe? if the latter, just use it a little, it'll loosen up quickly and be fine.

if that image is meant to be of the liner being proud, i'm not sure it's coming across. the color also looks right to me in that picture. honestly i'd give yourself a day or two, i get the feeling some of this might be the kind of un- or semi-conscious balking at having made a choice you didn't sound 100% on.

of the issues you named, the really serious one to me is wiggle in blade lockup. that is unheard of in my experience and i would not be ok with it, because it affects the fundamental function and safety of the blade. if there's a core default in the lockup, and it's not rock solid, i'd consider exchanging it if it's not fixable, and/or if fixing something instead of mailing it back isn't something you'd want to do.

[Bourget117]

You can't go trashing National Knives. They have a very good reputation around here. I highly doubt they purposely selected a knife with defects and then sold it at the sale price.

I'm sure what that means is to call them if you want them to take a glance over of a knife out of the box before shipping it. I can't imagine every place looks over every knife they have prior to shipping them.

It may not apply to you, but many of us around here immediately tinker with our knives right out of the box. Whether it's to change a pocket clip, dial in the action/centering to our liking, putting our own edge on a brand new knife. Sometimes it takes a little work to get it to where you like it. If not, you can always send it back.

Sorry if your a little offended that I’m giving fault with National Knives. I thought it was a given that I would not want any of those defects. And that I didn’t think I needed to specify it in writing at the time of purchase. Especially since almost every review I’ve read about any version PM2 especially the Micarta version, had none of those issues.
I bought this particular knife with the sole purpose of leaving it stock. I don’t want to customize it or tinker with it. I got no issue with tinkering or customizing things I like such as cars, motorcycles, and firearms, but this isn’t one of those things I wanted to do that for.