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Hello all, I carry a Manix 2 in S30V. I live on a farm, Hunt, clean game, fish, camp. I am wanting to buy a para 2. I’m always using my knife for something. This time I would like to improve on the blade with this purchase from the S30V. Edge retention and able to withstand abuse is my main goal here. I have a few steels in mind but don’t want to list them just yet. I want to see if great minds think alike. All your minds and opinions matter. Thank you for your thought and consideration. Thanks for all you do day in and day out. You all have educated my mind body and soul. Feel free to do it day in and day out.

Hey Spyderbugs, just found your post by happenstance back on page 5... everybody (including me) must have missed it...

No time right now for going into details about suggestions concerning possible steel choices for your PM2, but at least I can bump your question!
I am sure some folks here will chime in who know more about steels than I do anyway.

... and welcome to the forum of course!

Welcome to the forum, Spyderbugs!

You didn't list corrosion resistance as a requirement, so you're probably best off with 4V or Cruwear.

Edge retention is highly dependent on your sharpening choices and what you're actually cutting, but both are pretty much on par with s30v. The edge degrades in a totally different way though, and strops back incredibly well. They'll definitely stand up to whatever abuse you decide to put them though, the toughness also seems to be what contributes to the edge very rarely taking damage that can't be stropped out.

Cruwear is quite a bit more corrosion resistant, in my experience, so if that is a concern then you may wanna avoid 4V. Cruwear is also on a regular production pm2 as opposed to 4v only being on probably the single most scalped pm2 version, so availability is definitely better.

If you want something that can be a definite improvement in edge retention over s30v, then theres also M4 and 10V. Edge maintenance gets a bit more difficult with them, so the sharpening equipment you own/use becomes a lot more important.

Im sure someone else will cover stainless options. There's people here who are a lot more knowledgeable about stainless than I am, as my interest in them is pretty much limited to options that wouldn't be appropriate for the scenario you laid out.

In case you're not familiar with it, Larrin's website, Knifesteelnerds, is an excellent resource: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/ ... esistance/

I would suggest CruWear as the crucarta is a standard run although may take a while to get if ordered.

But wouldn’t be throwing a Pacific Salt out of the mix when the Fishing is involved…

I second the Knifesteelnerds resource and will throw out another consideration REX45. What you desire is a balanced steel. If you get high edge retention then that means lower toughness and if you get higher toughness you get lower edge retention. Ultimately you must give up some of one to get more of the other. Good luck in choosing.

FWIW, the Para Military 2 is very popular and often sold out. I quickly checked a few online knife shops which came to mind. The only Para Military 2 variants I find in stock have blade steels in CPM S45VN, CPM S110V, or CPM CruWear. You might have to look on the secondary market if you want something else.

You might take a look at the Shaman model also.

What are your sharpening options and experience? Some steels may offer better edge retention but also be more difficult and time consuming to sharpen if your options are limited and you may find that the trade-off isn't worth it. I would also lean more towards toughness and edge stability since edge damage will take more work to fix. For a knife that's really getting abused I'd rather do frequent tough ups vs frequent long and tedious chip repairs.

Welcome to the Forum ! There already some good suggestions posted that can give you food for thought . If you are not totally set on a PM2 and the environment seems to be everyday outdoor use my take would be a Pacific Salt . Hope you enjoy your time on the Forum . MG2

Since you mentioned hunting, I selected a ZDP Stretch 2 for that purpose. It is used for skinning, I use a fixed blade for separating shoulders, etc.

That said, I do like my CruCarta PM2.

I'm surprised to see this pop up.

I personally like the M2 better than the PM2, which doesn't fit my hand. I really like the K390 Straight Spine Stretch. Perhaps take a look at that?

Perhaps not the obvious choice, but I like the SpydieChef for a lot of my outdoor activities.

honestly, i'm not a big a fan of higher edge retention steels. the harder they are, the more they chip. the more wear-resistant they are, the harder they are to sharpen. so, you end up with blades that will still dull and will still chip, but be much harder to maintain in the field if you need to. for the applications you stated, i would probably prefer lc200n. it's tough and touches up easily. i'd rather have a blade i can run over a ceramic rod a few times and keep working with than a knife that i can't sharpen without specific materials.

i would recommend a caribbean with a leaf shaped blade. it's about the size of a pm2, but with more blade length, and it has the leaf shape you're already used to with the manix. another option would be the magnacut manix lw that is on the horizon (although there's no telling how long we will be waiting for it).

For farming and outdoor activities, it seems that more than one knife is needed. Perhaps one large and one small. For constant or frequent use, ease of sharpening is a much desired trait. My S110V Manix doesn't get much pocket time because of this.

Agree with Giygas, Cruwear, 4V are great options for tough, wear-resistant steels. 4V is only going to be available on the secondary market, at which point I’d also recommend K390 or Rex45 if you can find them.

DLT currently has a Cruwear PM2 with purple g10 for just under $160. They also have a Cruwear PM2 with natural canvas micarta scales, which would be my preference, for just under $190.

Sorry, I know you want a PM2, but if it were me, having hunted, fished, and worked on a ranch, I'd want something larger. I'd pick the Resilience LW CE in S35VN. It might be the best bargain, and one of the best all-around folders, on the market.

Coastal wrote: ↑

Thu May 12, 2022 10:45 am

Sorry, I know you want a PM2, but if it were me, having hunted, fished, and worked on a ranch, I'd want something larger. I'd pick the Resilience LW CE in S35VN. It might be the best bargain, and one of the best all-around folders, on the market.

I echo your sentiments. The S35VN Resilience is growing on me.....especially for camp duty. My sample of one is very well made with a strong detent. IMHO the large general purpose utility designed blade covers a multitude of functions.

I see the OP hasn't logged in since April 29. I hope they weren't put off by the fact that nobody responded to their first thread. I wonder if that first post was in moderation for awhile and that's how it ended up not being seen. Hopefully the OP logs in and sees there's been several great responses to their question

...and Welcome to the Spyderco Forums Spyderbugs!

Spyderbugs wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 24, 2022 11:27 am

Hello all, I carry a Manix 2 in S30V.....

Sharp Guy wrote: I see the OP hasn't logged in since April 29. I hope they weren't put off by the fact that nobody responded to their first thread. ...

Good thing you checked that , Sharp Guy..

Since nobody (I think) quoted OP directly so far, I did at least just that right now, so he/she will hopefully get an email notification and log in again...

Hey Spyderbugs, some great options here. My use is similar to yours and I would add the Gayle Bradley 2 to the list. M4, fantastic hollow grind and a great Skinner. More edge length and much better cutter than the PM2.

Dan

Spyderbugs wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 24, 2022 11:27 am

Hello all, I carry a Manix 2 in S30V. I live on a farm, Hunt, clean game, fish, camp. I am wanting to buy a para 2. I’m always using my knife for something. This time I would like to improve on the blade with this purchase from the S30V. Edge retention and able to withstand abuse is my main goal here. I have a few steels in mind but don’t want to list them just yet. I want to see if great minds think alike. All your minds and opinions matter. Thank you for your thought and consideration. Thanks for all you do day in and day out. You all have educated my mind body and soul. Feel free to do it day in and day out.

Hey Spyderbugs, since I saw you logged in here again in the meantime: I´d now be interested in which steels YOU actually had in mind!

Just if you care to reply of course, no "obligation" whatsoever.