Para 3 Lightweight Salt first impressions

[metaphoricalsimile]

I haven't been on this forum much for a while and very honestly it was because the S90V para 3 Lightweight had become my one and done knife. I had found my perfect edc knife so I didn't really feel as much need to learn and talk about knives.

Of course I lost it.

So when I heard Spyderco was making a Para 3 LW Salt in Magnacut I figured I would just buy that when it comes out to replace it.

It showed up in the mail today from gearsupplyco

I can't speak for every knife out of the factory, but I am very happy with mine. I was afraid I wouldn't like the Salt yellow, but this knife is a very rich, egg-yolky yellow that I find quite pleasant. I might not dye it after all! The factory edge is extremely clean, not even a whisper of a burr, and it shaves cleanly.

Additionally, unlike every other para 3 LW I've ever seen, the centering is dead on. I personally don't care about centering on these knives, but I do wonder if they did a CQI pass since so many people complained about it.

The pivot out of the box was extremely stiff, but a few nudges with a torx driver and the blade drops shut without even a hint of blade play.

Overall I am very impressed with this knife and I salute Spyderco for selling me another knife that will assuredly keep me disinterested in other knives lol

[toml4185]

Lovely looking knife - congrats! The para 3 LW is one of my personal favorites (I have it in SPY27 and I love that steel).

[Joelc73]

Congrats. I can’t wait to pick one up too

[CDEP]

The original PARA 3 LW was my first Spyderco knife, so it holds a special place in my heart. After rolling the blade out and gripping it for the first time I instantly "got it" with the whole Spyderco thing. It went from "weird looking knife" to a masterwork of design follows function beauty. I immediately recalled the first time I held my 1973 Fender Precision Bass guitar. Same vibe - "of course it looks like this, it HAS to look like this."

To now have it in MagnaCut Salt, along with my SPY27 version and the TKJ Cru-Wear exclusive is pure joy. I have other PARA 3 LW exclusives, but these steels are among my favorites. My salt was perfect out of the box and hasn't left my pocket since it arrived.

I still love my Native 5s above all others, but they are gonna have to get used to this little yellow beauty stealing some of their pocket time.

Thanks to Eric for this wonderful design, and to Sal, Eric and everyone in Golden for giving us so many amazing tools to choose from.

[Joelc73]

The original PARA 3 LW was my first Spyderco knife, so it holds a special place in my heart. After rolling the blade out and gripping it for the first time I instantly "got it" with the whole Spyderco thing. It went from "weird looking knife" to a masterwork of design follows function beauty. I immediately recalled the first time I held my 1973 Fender Precision Bass guitar. Same vibe - "of course it looks like this, it HAS to look like this."
Can we see the 73 P bass? Fellow bass player here. Thanks
To now have it in MagnaCut Salt, along with my SPY27 version and the TKJ Cru-Wear exclusive is pure joy. I have other PARA 3 LW exclusives, but these steels are among my favorites. My salt was perfect out of the box and hasn't left my pocket since it arrived.

I still love my Native 5s above all others, but they are gonna have to get used to this little yellow beauty stealing some of their pocket time.

Thanks to Eric for this wonderful design, and to Sal, Eric and everyone in Golden for giving us so many amazing tools to choose from.

[nerdlock]

Additionally, unlike every other para 3 LW I've ever seen, the centering is dead on. I personally don't care about centering on these knives, but I do wonder if they did a CQI pass since so many people complained about it.

Try opening and closing it several times, and using it for at least 2 weeks, then let us know if it develops centering issues. I personally would like to get an update if this issue is resolved or not.

I think the issue is inherent to the Para 3 LW design since there is only one washer and liner (for the comp lock).

But I would be very happy to be proven wrong if there are CQI changes that address this particular weakness of the Para 3 design - which I actually find to be one of the best Spydercos ever made, and could be the perfect lightweight knife if only the centering issue could be addressed (and I really, really, really hope it is addressed this time around).

[metaphoricalsimile]

Additionally, unlike every other para 3 LW I've ever seen, the centering is dead on. I personally don't care about centering on these knives, but I do wonder if they did a CQI pass since so many people complained about it.

Try opening and closing it several times, and using it for at least 2 weeks, then let us know if it develops centering issues. I personally would like to get an update if this issue is resolved or not.

I think the issue is inherent to the Para 3 LW design since there is only one washer and liner (for the comp lock).

But I would be very happy to be proven wrong if there are CQI changes that address this particular weakness of the Para 3 design - which I actually find to be one of the best Spydercos ever made, and could be the perfect lightweight knife if only the centering issue could be addressed (and I really, really, really hope it is addressed this time around).

If I just randomly got one that, through the variances inherent to manufactured goods, happened to be centered, I'd hate to lead you astray by telling you spyderco had fixed the "issue" (that I personally consider a non-issue) based on my personal experience.

Considering the Para 3 LW is designed to be a user rather than a collector knife I just don't see how the centering is important, as long as the blade doesn't contact the scales during its path of travel opening or closing.

If you care deeply about centering it's probably just not the right knife for you.

[nerdlock]

Additionally, unlike every other para 3 LW I've ever seen, the centering is dead on. I personally don't care about centering on these knives, but I do wonder if they did a CQI pass since so many people complained about it.

Try opening and closing it several times, and using it for at least 2 weeks, then let us know if it develops centering issues. I personally would like to get an update if this issue is resolved or not.

I think the issue is inherent to the Para 3 LW design since there is only one washer and liner (for the comp lock).

But I would be very happy to be proven wrong if there are CQI changes that address this particular weakness of the Para 3 design - which I actually find to be one of the best Spydercos ever made, and could be the perfect lightweight knife if only the centering issue could be addressed (and I really, really, really hope it is addressed this time around).

If I just randomly got one that, through the variances inherent to manufactured goods, happened to be centered, I'd hate to lead you astray by telling you spyderco had fixed the "issue" (that I personally consider a non-issue) based on my personal experience.

Considering the Para 3 LW is designed to be a user rather than a collector knife I just don't see how the centering is important, as long as the blade doesn't contact the scales during its path of travel opening or closing.

If you care deeply about centering it's probably just not the right knife for you.

Ah, sadly I thought as much, you're probably right, you could have gotten a variant that was centered better from the factory, instead of a welcome CQI change.

All of my Para 3 LW's have similar off centering issues. It becomes a problem when the blade stock and the scale rub each other at the point near the pivot, on the left side of each LW (you can see that there is almost no gap there).



Which is a shame because I am a self proclaimed avid fan of this knife with at least 9 variations off the top of my head. The ergonomics for me is top notch.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

My Para 3 lw Salt arrived very close to centered but if I worried about centering issues on all my knives I’d go crazy…on some knives I fix the issue but this one gets a pass …I wonder if Mrj will chime in because it’s also his favorite Spyderco and if I’m not mistaken I believe he has almost every version

[CDEP]

I also do not care about perfect blade centering, but I've never had one from Spyderco that was so far off I felt the need to adjust. I have had to center a few other knives from other brands that were waaay off, but it is pretty easy to do.

My PARA 3 Salt arrived perfectly centered. I went back and looked at my others and found the Original, SPY27, and the TKJ Cru-Wear were all also centered. Two of my other exclusives were slightly off.

The action on all was drop shut out of the box, or got there after a few minutes of breaking it in. The one exception was the TKJ, which required an adjustment to the body screw nearest to the pivot. Once I loosened it and then snugged it back with some fresh locktite (but not too tight) the action was perfect.

I love this knife. It's a perfect sub-3" EDC.

[Joelc73]

They don’t seem to be in stock anywhere unfortunately.

[gimibala]

They don’t seem to be in stock anywhere unfortunately.

National knives still have them in stock

https://www.nationalknives.com/spyderco ... ellow-frn/

[Rob-F]

The original PARA 3 LW was my first Spyderco knife, so it holds a special place in my heart. After rolling the blade out and gripping it for the first time I instantly "got it" with the whole Spyderco thing. It went from "weird looking knife" to a masterwork of design follows function beauty. I immediately recalled the first time I held my 1973 Fender Precision Bass guitar. Same vibe - "of course it looks like this, it HAS to look like this."

To now have it in MagnaCut Salt, along with my SPY27 version and the TKJ Cru-Wear exclusive is pure joy. I have other PARA 3 LW exclusives, but these steels are among my favorites. My salt was perfect out of the box and hasn't left my pocket since it arrived.

I still love my Native 5s above all others, but they are gonna have to get used to this little yellow beauty stealing some of their pocket time.

Thanks to Eric for this wonderful design, and to Sal, Eric and everyone in Golden for giving us so many amazing tools to choose from.

I agree with the comment about "design follows function!" That phrase, or "form must follow function," originally from the architect Louis Sullivan, seems just right for Spyderco knives. Right now i'm thinking of a Para 3 in Magnacut. I think I will like the blade profile, as I like the blades on my two Para 2's. That to me is the form follows function blade shape, more so than a leaf blade. But the Para 2 is a bit large for an EDC for my purpose; so why not a Para 3. And why not Magnacut? Maybe it's the supersteel to end all supersteels. All I do is open envelopes, cut food, cut up cardboard boxes to recycle, or work around the house; for which I'm mostly using my Para 2 Crucarta these days.

[Chieftjs]

My Para3 Salt was perfectly centered from the factory. I switched the blade to S45VN and that blade also centers. It's been a great knife and the Para3 is my flat out favorite Spyderco. I have 5 now and the wife has discussed an intervention.