Had a chance to handle one (live and in person) at a knife store (the way people used to buy knives) and I can tell you I was not particularly impressed (felt the same way about the other Paras too). Definitely not a fan of the Compression Lock mechanism on the 3--works fine, just awkward to use. Getting a little bored with G10 too (works okay too, just have too many dressed that way). Still, if this is your kinda knife, MD's price is pretty good.
Frankly, I don't really give a rats-ass what the steel is either (if it was good enough for Spyderco, I can deal with it). Don't go out of my way to keep the knives I have especially sharp (don't shave my arms much, don't slice a lot of paper). I do use a Spyderco Sharp Maker when I need too, just not in an OCD sort of way. Don't care how many positions the clip can be moved to (don't have a big preference for carrying tip up or down).
Over all I just don't think paying a lot more gets you a lot more--and I'm speaking here about Spyderco for the most part, but I'm not enamored of "car-payment" priced knives from any manufacturer. Truth is, I have more knives than I actually need, and regardless of what they're made of, or how much I paid for them, they'll all be around long after I'm gone.
Getting back to the knife store, after handling all of the Paras, I eventually settled on much less expensive Spyderco "Resilience"--part of Spyderco's Chinese-made line. The Resilience is a longer version of the Tenacious--a knife I carry regularly (I have the plain-edge and half serrated versions). At just under 9 3/4" over all, the Resilience is a bit too large for my EDC needs, but it's comparable to the larger Military's, when a larger/longer size is needed--and, as I said, it's much less expensive.
I won't use it to cut down trees and build a cabin in the woods, and I doubt I'll ever have to kill and skin a bunch of damn Grizzly bears with it either. May have to open a box or two from Amazon, or a bag of Doritos from time to time, but I'm pretty sure any of my cheap Chinese steel knives won't fail me even when the going gets really tough--like opening multiple Christmas cards-- in rapid succession. The chances of the blade overheating and melting before I get to the last ribbon on the last xmas present are pretty remote too.
That's the Resilience, by the way--at the bottom...
Frankly, I don't really give a rats-ass what the steel is either (if it was good enough for Spyderco, I can deal with it). Don't go out of my way to keep the knives I have especially sharp (don't shave my arms much, don't slice a lot of paper). I do use a Spyderco Sharp Maker when I need too, just not in an OCD sort of way. Don't care how many positions the clip can be moved to (don't have a big preference for carrying tip up or down).
Over all I just don't think paying a lot more gets you a lot more--and I'm speaking here about Spyderco for the most part, but I'm not enamored of "car-payment" priced knives from any manufacturer. Truth is, I have more knives than I actually need, and regardless of what they're made of, or how much I paid for them, they'll all be around long after I'm gone.
Getting back to the knife store, after handling all of the Paras, I eventually settled on much less expensive Spyderco "Resilience"--part of Spyderco's Chinese-made line. The Resilience is a longer version of the Tenacious--a knife I carry regularly (I have the plain-edge and half serrated versions). At just under 9 3/4" over all, the Resilience is a bit too large for my EDC needs, but it's comparable to the larger Military's, when a larger/longer size is needed--and, as I said, it's much less expensive.
I won't use it to cut down trees and build a cabin in the woods, and I doubt I'll ever have to kill and skin a bunch of damn Grizzly bears with it either. May have to open a box or two from Amazon, or a bag of Doritos from time to time, but I'm pretty sure any of my cheap Chinese steel knives won't fail me even when the going gets really tough--like opening multiple Christmas cards-- in rapid succession. The chances of the blade overheating and melting before I get to the last ribbon on the last xmas present are pretty remote too.
That's the Resilience, by the way--at the bottom...