Para 2 Questions

Random Dan · #1

I've heard a lot of people complain about the Para 2 having blade play issues, so before I buy one I have a few questions.

#1. How common is it for a P2 to have blade play?
#2. Is blade play something the Spyderco warranty would cover?
#3. Could you fix it by tightening the pivot screw?

Thanks for your time!

eloreno · #2

1. I have 6 of them, half of which have noticeable blade-play. I consider all of them acceptable.
2. I tried sending one in for blade-play and the lock sticking. It came back with less blade play, and the lock stuck less.
3. Sometimes, but usually not.

EDIT: I should qualify the above statement by mentioning most people think my obsession, and compulsion regarding knives is a little crazy. The blade-play present in my para2s is noticeable, but just barely. I do not think most people would even notice it.

Seven · #3

I dont mind some side to side, I consider up and down a hazard and a problem with the lock or blade stop and I send those back but I only own one para2 and its perfect.

JNewell · #4

Random Dan wrote:I've heard a lot of people complain about the Para 2 having blade play issues, so before I buy one I have a few questions.

#1. How common is it for a P2 to have blade play?
#2. Is blade play something the Spyderco warranty would cover?
#3. Could you fix it by tightening the pivot screw?

Thanks for your time!

I have ~ 1.5 dozen P2s in various versions.

1. Rare but not unheard of (none of mine, though a few required slight tweaking of pivot and/or stop pin screws).
2. Not unless extreme.
3 Yes, and/or tightening the stop pin screws (both sides).

Sht · #5

I think its not really as wide spread as the internet would have you believe.

MachSchnell · #6

Random Dan wrote:I've heard a lot of people complain about the Para 2 having blade play issues, so before I buy one I have a few questions.

#1. How common is it for a P2 to have blade play?
#2. Is blade play something the Spyderco warranty would cover?
#3. Could you fix it by tightening the pivot screw?

Thanks for your time!

My blue M390 had very minute side to side and up/down play, and it was probably only moving what would be equivalent to the width of a hair, but it was noticeable if you were looking for it. It wasn't significant enough to send it in for warranty. Eventually I finally got to the point where I needed to clean the grit and such out of it so I disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled with loc-tite on the screws and there is absolutely zero play now. :confused: Where it went no one knows, but previously no matter how tight the pivot was the play was still there.

The knife is essentially a liner lock and a simple design to take apart and put back together when you leave the scales attached to the lanyard tube. As with any thing else being taken apart, don't lose any pieces.

Buttt... The warranty dept. would be the best option and it will not void the warranty.

Blerv · #7

Sht wrote:I think its not really as wide spread as the internet would have you believe.

But...isn't that whole point of the internet?

gbelleh · #8

I have several PM2s and some have a tiny amount of side to side play. A couple needed slight pivot screw adjustment out of the box to reduce any play, but they are all completely acceptable now. My M390 Para 2 has almost no play at all. If there is a serious problem, Spyderco will definitely fix it.

eloreno · #9

JNewell wrote:I have ~ 1.5 dozen P2s in various versions.

1. Rare but not unheard of (none of mine).
2. Not unless extreme.
3 Yes, and/or tightening the stop pin screws (both sides).

If you've got 18 para2s, you must have at least one grey one, none of which have blade-play per your statement. I've got 3 para2s with a small amount of blade-play, two of which are grey sprints.

How many grey para2s do you have?
Do you simply tighten the stop pin all the way to alleviate blade-play?

mikerestivo · #10

Blerv wrote:But...isn't that whole point of the internet?

Yes!

One of my maxims is "if it's on the internet, it must be true".

Jet B · #11

The problem is there are many different ideas of what is blade play... There is the reasonable and normal idea of blade play that would be a sloppy blade that has very noticeable wiggle. I think this would be extremely rare in a Para 2 or any other Spyderco for that matter and it would be covered by warranty if it was there. But that is just my opinion. I only own one Para 2 and it has no sloppy blade play.

The other kind of play is only noticeable by those of us who are slightly obsessive compulsive and will grab that blade and crank on it just to see if we can get it to flex at the pivot by a micro-fraction of an inch. This kind of play will sometimes exist in most folding knives from my limited experience and the problem can sometimes be adjusted out. Most times it will likely require a psychiatrist to fix though. I would hazard a guess that most of the complaints you might have read online about Para 2 blade play are the latter type. If you really want completely zero play, the best solution is to buy a fixed blade. I have never found any blade play in any of my fixed blade knives...

The Para 2 is a bit of a funny beast to adjust because it has that nice bushing pivot. This allows you to tighten the blade pivot very tight without seizing the blade. When there is very slight side to side play present, you can sometimes adjust it out by loosening the blade screw and stop pin screws and turning and re-tightening them. Whereas a knife like my Military will get that slight blade play if the pivot loosens up a bit and the action gets really loose. To adjust that out, I put some loctite on the screw and tighten up until it's at that sweet spot where there is no play and the action is still smooth enough to my liking. This kind of adjusting won't work with the bushing pivot on a Para 2, but when the tolerances are good it has a very smooth action with no wiggle.

eloreno · #12

^^^ The blade-play on my para2s is definitely the obsessive compulsive type.

gbelleh · #13

Yeah, that's what I meant by "tiny amount of side to side play" too.

phillipsted · #14

I've got nine Paramilitaries and none of them have any significant blade play in any direction. None of my knives have ever had a sticky lock, either. There are some differences among them, due to CQI changes at the factory (for instance the closing detent on the new brown s35vn model is a little stronger than previous models). Otherwise, all my Paras have been top quality.

TedP

JNewell · #15

Two gray P2s, neither has blade play. I don't think I had to tweak either of them. I have had to tweak a couple - my post above edited to reflect that.

eloreno wrote:If you've got 18 para2s, you must have at least one grey one, none of which have blade-play per your statement. I've got 3 para2s with a small amount of blade-play, two of which are grey sprints.

How many grey para2s do you have?
Do you simply tighten the stop pin all the way to alleviate blade-play?

enduraguy · #16

Sht wrote:I think its not really as wide spread as the internet would have you believe.

Exactly. If you believed the internet, Glock pistol "ka-booms" would be a very common thing too.

Sonny · #17

I have a Para2 with 20CP blade-steel. It is perfect. Buying this knife with the super-steels can get expensive. I have two other Spydies that are perfect.
When they cost that much, it better be right, as there is a lot of competition out there. The only way to keep a good business "good" is to make sure that the customer is happy. And I am.
Sonny

PARATOM · #18

I think all this talk about blade play should not weigh on ur decision at all.

Most of the play that is discussed is prob obsessive compulsive. And if for some reason you get too much and can't get rid of it, send it in...problem fixed

sir_mike · #19

I have about 6 differnt Para 2's (so far) with different steels and they all are excellent. I believe that one of them isnt as sharp as I would have liked but not a big deal!

I am sure there are a few that may have slight imperfections, very slight blade play or whatever and I am pretty sure if I looked hard enough, I could find a flaw on one of them but the para 2's are awesome knives, perfect size, perfect fit and blade shape, etc. so you should go ahead and get one, you wont be sorry.

Sht · #20

enduraguy wrote:Exactly. If you believed the internet, Glock pistol "ka-booms" would be a very common thing too.

I'm so glad you brought this up because I reload for my glock 20 & now I'm going to blow my hand up every weekend!

**** you internet