Spyderco Para 3 S90V/CF - review and sharpening
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- čas přidán 16. 03. 2018
- This is a review of the Spyderco Para 3 sprint run in S90V and carbon fiber. There’s discussion on the steel, the build quality of the knife, and the video documents sharpening the knife.
- Věda a technologie
I learn so much from you. I feel like when I pick up one of my knives I should be saying to myself, “the knife is a Spyderco Paramilitary 2...”
Classic Christy Video, really enjoying this one with my late morning coffee. Damn I'm going to have to buy some s90v for knives
Big Brown Bear Lol, I agree... I think this is the standard video format for me.
Michael, is the stone at 8:30 a Spyderco Benchstone, or another brand of ultrafine stone? Can you recommend anything, I'm looking to buy something similar. Thanks.
E M it’s a Spyderco Ultra Fine.
E M as far as ceramic stones are concerned (not talking about water stones here), I haven’t found anything that compares.
Ah crap :( I wish Spyderco made a medium and fine ceramic stone in that size ( 3 x 8). It would be PERFECT, I love wide stones, its so comfortable to work on them.
I must have watched this video 20 times since it came out before I finally sold a Sage 1 to partially fund one of these this afternoon! Haha. Can’t wait to get this one. 🔥
I have the Carbon fiber S90V and 52100 Para 3s for users. Love the build quality on both ! Great video
Great review! I also have this Sprint Run and I'm happy to hear it stood up to your tests and sharpening!
Doctor Frunkey thank you. It is a really nice knife.
Another great video, I also got one been carrying for 2+ weeks using it everyday and edge does really hold up. Before this para3 in m390 was my edc now cf s90v is my edc really like the knife.
Exceptionally Detailed Content Michael,!!!
Mark Anthony Stringfellow thank you.
After seeing this knife on your Instagram I've been waiting for this!!! Mine is on the way as I write this, Thank's Michael. Great as always.
George Frazier yeah, this Para 3 has been dominating my instagram feed lately. It’s a great knife.
Another excellent video. Thanks
I have one coming in trade this week, can't wait.
Love your steel knowledge. Would love to learn how sharpen a knife like you do brother!
After this video I want to buy this knife immediately, good job mate
MrGDigitalMusic thank you.
Got a benchmade in S90V. Its amazing
Good stuff, as always, brother.
Chuck Nunface thank you, brother.
I've got P3 in 110v,90v,m4,35vn. For me s90v is my fav...It just gets so darn sharp on my KME...I took the angle to 18 degrees, and am very pleased. No chips so far.
Great video as usual!! very informative. Thanks for posting. I look forward to a strop loading video?
Another awsome vid that proves definitely what a great GREAT steel s90 is!!!!! I’m so sick of people saying inferior steels are better and throwing out bs like it’s chippy!!!! Thank you Michael I love these vids and I don’t know if I will get that knife but I love that blade performance!
Jovonn Trujillo thanks.
You sir, are now my favorite knife sharpening guy on CZcams. I just today picked up a Para 2 in M4, a Para 3 in M390 and a Manix 2in s90v. I want the hair whittling results you get. Very impressive. I posted on another videoo of yours asking what steel you think gets the sharpest. Can you throw one out there so I have an idea?
Shane Scott your PM2 in M4 and Para 3 in M390 should be fun sharpening.
Thanks for sharing! I have a Native5 in S90V and after handing it to an idiot to cut a cardboard box off of a stainless steel piece of machinery I got it back with crocs teeth. So I took it to the stones. My impression is that in sharpening is very similar to M390, K390, S110V. Little harder than ZDP-189 but not by much. Also noticed the scary sharpness it takes just as you did.
Mark Tudor sucks that you had someone tear up your knife. I’ll always hand over my multi tool in those situations.
Sounds like you got it back to a good edge though.
I wasn’t going to get a Para 3 and only did because of this sprint run. Figured I’d have it just to have it and it has now replaced my M4 PM2 CF. I can’t put it down. My favorite Spyderco by far. Btw, the MXG deep carry makes a huge difference. Thanks for your videos.
Wm S the Para 3 as a model is surprisingly nice to carry and this sprint run is very well executed.
I’ve had that clip suggested to me before. I don’t have any issues with the stock clip. I’m not sure why people keep suggesting the change.
I carried an Osborne with s90v exclusively for about 4 years and never had any issues with chipping. I carried a Spyderco “blurple” s110v and it chipped within the first few weeks, then again when I tried to sharpen out the chip.
Nice little knife I enjoy the video .
little woody thank you.
Awesome as usual
OMG OMG!!! I just pulled the trigger on this one!!! Haha it was expensive but it will come in good use, im confident in sharpening s110v so I'll doubt s90v will surprise me in any negative way, might even prefer it if the rumors are true about slightly easier sharpening. Man im excited my first sprint run spydie.
Very well done. 😊
fluoling thank you.
Something amazing just shown here
Anthony P what were you referring to specifically?
Michael Christy and Big Brown Bear are Super Steel SUPER HEROES!
Hey Michael. I e spoken with you before about sharpening high carbide steel and my difficulties doing so. I was getting micro chipping off the stones. I figured it out! I was using the sharpmaker to sharpen. If the bevel is not flat on the broad side of the stones, I end up migrating onto the corners of the stone. That is when it chipped out. I could feel it. I did it freehand, s110v , made it easy to stay off the corners. Used 9 6 3 .5 micron diamond strops. It now has the best edge retention I ha e seen yet including fine edge retention. Now I’m thinking about trying out maxamet. I was gonna skip it but wow s110 is a great performer! Really stoked! Thanks for your help. That was the sixth Knife I’ve had in s110v. Finally got it
Matthew Forrest I’m glad to hear you figured out the issue. S110V is a great steel.
Michael Christy not to keep badgering you, but it really is. I was thinking that cpm steels we’re inferior to carpenter or bohler. 20cv seemed harder to sharpen than the competitors equivalent. But I though is a first gen particle technology and a second really that big of a deal? I mean the Japanese make I ngot steels that can hang with particle steels like COS. Anyway stoked! It may be my new favorite. It held a razor edge better than M390 even and was very aggressive.
Matthew Forrest S110V is a great steel if you can handle the sharpening and don’t try to hard use it like it’s 3V.
The CPM steels are fine. Not inferior on a whole at all. It simply depends on the steel and the application.
Michael Christy yeah seems to work well in a folding Knife. Do you have a favorite steel for a folder for general carry. Not a Work Knife just general utility?
Matthew Forrest that depends on the model.
With leather I generally go up in grit eg 6 micron coming offa XXF DMT. Seems counter productive but it works. All i do is a couple of really light burr removing passes on the xxf before moving over.
Also give a plain kangaroo strop a go with nothing on it as the very last thing you do as a light pass cleanup stage. The difference is noticeable from the 1 micron paste anyway.
Mike, the paramilitary 3 is out in Maxamet at Blade HQ just thought I'd let you know in case you hadn't heard it's a little spendy but not too bad. Later.
Dean Beler I got one last night.
But thank you for the heads up.
Hey mike, where did you learn your sharpening/stroping techniques and talent? Can you recommend any classes, videos or other ways, besides your videos obviously, for a newbie to learn the correct way to sharpen and or strop while limiting bad habits being picked up. Any advice or points in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Always love your honest reviews. 👍👍👍
I've had M-4, Maxamet, S90-110 that chipped with the factory edge. After sharping ( hand with KME ) to the factory edge angle and did the same type of cutting and the chipping was't there. I wonder if the factory are over heating the blade during sharping?
Paul Jenkins I think in some cases they are.
Yeah I would agree in some cases. Spyderco has a very advanced sharpening machine or people that are very good doing it by hand and keeping an eye on them very closely, Although it still is very easy to overheat a thin edge in just 1 second on power equipment! So still very possible.
Sharpening
Hey man! Great video. I thought I would tell you I got the spyderco military in cts 204p! So sweet. First military and I needed to to complete the para fam. I also thought I would tell you on Ken Schwartz Facebook page he sells all his emulsions and crazy stones and REAL nanocloth strops unlike the jende ones you tried that were a kind of knock off. Kens nanocloth is completely different and where they even got the name. I guess his nanocloth according to Ken are the closest to a complete 0 grit flat surface that he has found and even used a microscope. Pretty cool. And he also has his newest emulsion.... .005! Which is like 3.4 million grit! You gotta get his nanocloth strops and the .005 and do some tests. Search for his on FB..I couldn't believe all the cool stuff he has. I have a feeling you have checked it out or may know him or something but thought I would share
Paul Lonardo I appreciate you sharing, but I’m friends with Ken and friends with him on FB. I use his .005 and have it in some videos. We’ve discussed his nano cloth. I might try them one of these days.
Michael Christy Oh very cool!
In your opinion, would the diamond stones available for the Lansky system be able to get S90v to a serviceable sharpness?
My plan was to take it up to the 800 grit ish diamond stone on my Lansky system, strop it on a 3 micron diamond compound on balsa wood, and then 1 micron on hard leather.
Sweet! Wish I could pick one up and the M390 version. The Para 3 Is a very nice model! 👍 Question: I have a Kershaw Natrix with Cu handles and D2 from China. Any thoughts on Chinese D2 vs US D2? Thanks!
I’m digging that Spyderco is offering so many options for the para 3. I got a cru wear one a few months ago and love it.
Question about sharpening: I see that you’ll often spray a stone with a diamond spray midway through sharpening. Have you ever tried starting your sharpening progression using that method? I’m curious to know if that’s a viable option to start sharpening that way. The basis of my question is morbid curiosity.
jooky5 I usually use diamond spray on alumina based stones when I’m using high vanadium steels. The abrasive in something like normal water stones is often alumina. Alumina is not hard enough to cut vanadium carbide. The final edge will suffer using only these stones while sharpening a high vanadium steel. Using the spray helps to cut those carbides in sharpening. Even at that, I usually only use an alumina stone with spray in finishing the edge.
Also, using the spray can help the stone to cut more aggressively, or it can lower the overall grit of the stone during the sharpening if the diamond spray you’re using is lower then the grit rating of the stone, because you’re using 3 body abrasion (as opposed to 2 body abrasion) where one of the abrasives is significantly smaller then the other.
Michael Christy thanks, Michael. This was helpful.
Can you maintain S90V with basic Sharpmaker and strop? I mostly use my knife for cutting lots of paper and cardboard boxes.
Trex with the diamond rods as well as the ceramic rods on the sharpmaker, you keep the knife maintained with just the sharpmaker and strops.
What do you think is better for wood carving / light Bushcraft for edge retention s30v, s35vn, elmax, m4 or s110v? All Pm2's.
Maurice Delorenzo I wouldn’t use a PM2 for bushcraft, but if I had to, probably S35VN or M4. M4 isn’t stainless though, so if you’re going to be using it for bushcraft, you might be setting yourself up for a problem.
All steel take me basically the same amount of time to sharpen, I just use different stones to sharpen them. 440c on water stones, takes me about the same amount of time to sharpen s90v on diamond. Or at least very comparable amount of time.
Assuming your knives are in great shape and don't need much sharpening which one do you think would take the most time if the blades had to be re-profiled?
Terry Pullen hard to answer that. The length, thickness behind the edge are factors. Probably my swamp rat rodent 9 in 1095 would take the longest to sharpen. As for pocket knives I have no idea. I know I can put a hair popping edge on 110v pm2 in less then 10 min. It won’t be the prettiest bevel, but it’ll be plenty sharp.
On an unrelated topic, how tough is Cold Steel’s CTS XHP? How tough is CTS XHP compared to CPM S35VN? Your help is appreciated. Thanks!
Justin My two cents. They’re very similar steels. Edge holding (hardness I know) XHP is superior and CS do it well. I’ve never had any issues with rolling or fracturing with either (toughness). And we’re talking folding knives. Ive read s35vn is tougher but not experienced any difference and I’ve seen people abuse Cold Steels XHP folders with no problems relating to lack of toughness.
I’d go with XHP but S35vn is just fine as well.
I have Recon 1 models in both Steels and I can’t complain about the performance of either (but I did stock up on XHP models before the transition!)
Just my opinion. Michael is the guru. I hope he gets to your question.
Lol. Yeah I understand why people slicing paper doesn’t normally impress the guy who regularly splits a single human hair 7 times or so. Lol. U crack me up when you drop little jokes like that ever so slightly with your dry scientist like voice and factual narrative. Great video as always
George Cesarini Lol, glad you liked the video, brother.
Thanks for the great content very informative. I'm looking to pick up this or the m390 version which would you recommend for daily edc?
Marc both are good. M390 will be easier to sharpen and more corrosion resistant. (Although S90V is a stainless steel.).
S90V will hold an edge longer.
The choice is yours.
Thanks for the quick reply, . I was leaning towards the sprint s90v but now I see there is a para in maxamet steel..after watching your video on maxamet it looks like an interesting choice as well
Marc if you can get both, get both.
I may have to
WE need a P3 in 90v, with fluted real carbon fiber, like the Native cf.....Everyone Write Spydie !!!!!!!!!!!
Mike, I'd appreciate if maybe you could settle an argument for me what do you think's a better all-around Steel s35vn or xhp thanks for your help. By the way it was a good thing you got that para 3 last night because they're sold out already.
Dean Beler they’re both good all around steels. My preference between them is XHP, but they’re both very good.
Xhp. I’ve heard people say it’s m390 like. Although S35vn I think is more impact resistant but never had a problem abusing a xhp.
f22shift I’ve heard people (including Carpenter I think) say that XHP doesn’t have the highest toughness, but like you, I’ve never had a problem with XHP chipping.
I would think S35VN would be tougher.
Hi Michael, first, thank you for all your videos. I've watched a ton of them during the past two weeks, and really enjoyed and learned a lot from them. I was wondering if I could pick your brain. I could always get my knives to be hair shaving sharp consistently in the past, typically getting simpler 01/A2 type steels through ~8000 shaptons, and through EF DMT with S30Vs. I recently purchased some CBN emulsions in 1, 0.5, and 0.1 microns along with KME sized kangaroo strops (to be done by hand, I don't actually have the system). I can now finally whittle hair with my S30V! the only initial issue I'm having is, going through the CBN progression certainly does wonders refining the edge, but it also seems to give couple of micro chips along the edge (I can feel it when I cut through thin papers). I'm sure I could do with even lighter touch through the stropping, but just wondering whether you had similar experiences and if you could impart any insight/wisdom on how to correct it. Would greatly appreciate any help. Thank you!
Josh Lee where is the CBN from?
Are you using the EF as a finishing stone?
I got the Ken Schwartz CBN. Yeah, EF is my final DMT in the progression, then I did some stropping on Shapton Pro 12k with 1 micron CBN pasted on it (after which there's no nicks). Then I did 0.5 micron and 0.1 micron on Kangaroo leather strop on KME sized metal plate. (after which I got some nicks) wondering whether a few irregularities in the leather may cause this, because the CBN seems very aggressive/effective. Did maybe 16 strops on each side of the blade per strop (0.5 and 0.1)
Josh Lee I would think the EF is your problem. I’ve had trouble with the EF DMT and I’ve talked to others who have as well. The EF seems to be the main plate with problems of irregularity in the grit. I’ve had several F’s and EEF’s without issue, but the EF was a different story.
Also, why are you stropping on a stone? I realize you’re only dealing with S30V, but still. First, try replacing your edge trailing strokes on the 12K with edge leading strokes. If that doesn’t work, you might want to really feel out the surface of your EF for inconsistencies in the diamond.
Michael Christy ok thanks Michael! I’ll have to spend some dedicated time to make sure I’m isolating the problem. I didn’t feel the tiny nicks after the EF and the 12k stropping, but something could be happening during those stages that I didn’t notice, but got accentuated during stropping on 0.5 and 0.1 micron. The reason I’m stropping on the 12k is a result of an experiment. Lapping the 12k Shapton Pro (Japanese version, I think the US version they call it 15k or something) was something I could do easily, so I figured it was a good flat base I could use to paste 1 micron cbn (the 0.5 and 0.1 was a recent purchase whereas I had the 1 micron for couple of months, all from Ken Schwartz). And it worked better than expected. Only down side is of course when I want to actually use the 12k for my kitchen knives, I have to wipe off the CBN and reapply later.
I've just sharpened another S30V (Spyderco Sage 2) through DMT XC, C, F, EF, Shapton 12k w/ 1 micron CBN emulsion paste, 0.5 micron CBN emulsion on Kangaroo, then 0.1 on Kangaroo (so same progression that I took with the other knife, which was a PM2 S30V), and got no microchips. I kept a pretty firm pressure on the Kangaroo stropping, so as you suspected, it wasn't the CBN nor the too much pressure during stropping (which was my guess). So the issue is most likely from the DMT stones (and/or me doing something wrong). The DMTs are fairly new (I sharpened maybe handful of knives on them), so maybe now they're starting to break in..... thanks again for your help, and please keep those videos coming!
Man ive been feeling bad for not pulling the trigger on this knife and getting another spydie. 😥 da pain is real
convex save up and buy one.
It seems like, and I appreciate, how you appear to dial the hyperbole down to zero in your videos.
Thanks for vid..if you had to choose 1.. the para 3 cru or s90v..which one would you take?
MrLotus0303 I would go for S90V.
I hear ya...I like things to be tougher in case I ever really needed that.. that's why i was leaning towards the Cru Wear. I love my Military in S110V tho. I'll give S90V a chance probably.
MrLotus0303 CruWear is no slouch. I highly recommend both.
Would you say you could strop s110v for 30 sec and get it back to hair whittling sharp? S90v vs S110V, which do you prefer and why? Thanks
corismsyn I’ve had S110V last through a lot and stay very sharp. Not sure which one has held a hair whittling edge longer in carry for me, or which one comes back better from strops.
Michael Christy I've read a post by Cliff Stamp that they are very similar so I guess it's a toss up if one was deciding which one to get. May be a moot point as I don't think Spyderco uses s90v anymore. Seems like it's either S110V for high end steel production knives or S30V/S35VN for the regular ones.
corismsyn actually Spyderco uses S90V quite a bit. They have some similarities. Maybe you should decide what you want to buy based on the knife model you want more.
Michael Christy yeah I'm coming to that conclusion. I guess I was not noticing the S90V blades from Spyderco because the models I was looking at were offered in either S110V or S30V.
corismsyn unless you’re buying the knife just for the sake of the steel, I think knife model is an important factor.
please do video on normal military
What degree did you sharpen at?
Michael Shults I wasn’t paying much attention to a particular angle, but it was probably very close to 30 inclusive.
In your opinion, what would be the best knife steel in stainless and non stainless?
Eli Krestov the best for what?
Michael Christy a knife that would see a fair amount of exposure to salt water, but also something that keep a strong edge while cutting through abrasive material
Eli Krestov if you’re dealing with salt water, get something with serrated H1 from Spyderco’s salt line.
Why do people say S90v doesn’t hold a razor edge very long? In your opinion of course. Also do you prefer S90v to s110v at all? I find S90v easier to sharpen and get a good edge on. S110v seems to chip out on the stones, as I’ve spoken with you before about.
Matthew Forrest It's razor edge doesn't last as long that's just the nature of the beast, when it comes to high carbide steels they lose their razor's edge quickly. They hold a sharp good working edge for a very long time. For holding a very sharp edge I really like super blue, 52100, and such like aeb-l or 13c26, 12c27 if you don't need crazy wear resistance or aren't cutting highly abrasive material they are great. Sometimes you'll actually have better edge retention from them depending on what you are cutting/doing with your knife. Super blue is very good at both though in my opinion. For razor sharp lasting edges Steel's with high edge stability (lower carbide) are best imo and many others. S90v and S110v are great for long lasting working edges though. Btw if you were getting chipping try going to a steeper angle I've noticed a very big difference using high carbide steels. It helps alot with chipping.
jmarsh667 like maybe just putting on a 40 degree micro?
Matthew Forrest exactly I just did that to my maxamet after trying 15-17 and the edge didn't last at all. I went and put on a micro bevel and it cleared it right up. Same thing with S110v I was getting alot of micro chipping/carbide tear out and put a steeper micro bevel and it cleared that one up too. The problem with these super high carbide steels is that anything below 15-17 can't really support all the carbides. Although it's worth trying to see what works best for your particular blade my bm 484 in m390 can handle a bit lower than most with no issues and so can my zt 0566 in elmax but the elmax blade I have is great when it comes to micro chipping and tear out although it tends to roll easier with a low angle edge. So there's always a trade off somewhere. I've noticed that I like taking the behind the edge thickness to around .010 (regrind) and then go to a steeper edge angle that way I get the performance I want without chipping/tear out. Rather than go with a 10-15 degree edge with the high carbide steels.
Matthew Forrest people say S90V doesn’t hold a razor edge very long because they’re not sharpening it correctly.
Michael Christy yes and that too!
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Great knife.. can't do $300 for it though
I cannot get any of my knives hair whittling sharp, i can barley get to shaving sharp with my Lanskey diamond sharpener.
Vucari what stones are you using? What angle are you using?
Michael Christy just the stones that came with my Lanskey system, they're the diamond ones and I normally use 20 degrees because that's the average angle for pocket knives.
Vucari are you sure that you’re apexing the blade? Are you forming a burr?
My s110v para 3 is terrible. It has side to side blade play and serious lock stick. Bought from Amazon in the last 6 months. Also not super sharp. Just wanted to put this here to contrast your comment of how well your knife was finished. Also bought a 110v manix and pm2 and only the pm2 was finished well.
Jesse Templeton that’s fine that you put the comment, but this was a sprint run. A lot of people, including myself have speculated that sprint runs often seem to be higher quality then their production counter parts.
Sucks that you’re not happy with your knife. Why don’t you contact Spyderco about it and see what they can do.
Have you talked to them about it?
Michael Christy thanks for the reply. Its not that bad after some tweaking and Sharpie. Its a work knife. But it pisses me off after a price hike. The manix was worse. It felt like the ball bearing was coming out of the cage and hitching up the lock. I should contact spyderco but I thought that's why you buy a spyderco instead of a cheap knife. I am new to nicer knives. I'm gonna stop buying from Amazon also.
Jesse Templeton yeah, I won’t buy from Amazon. I’ve gotten the wrong knife in the right knife’s box from Amazon, and heard about clones on Amazon.
I don’t do good with the lock on the Manix, which is why I don’t buy them, so I can’t help you much there.
But contacting the company, being calm and civil about it, and giving them a chance to make it right is always the best approach before publicly criticizing them. And I understand why you would be upset... you spend good money on a product and expect it to be right. But it sounds like your issues are simple adjustments and a sharpening, which I think Spyderco would take care of for you.
FlamQ Dbltap that’s another reason to contact Spyderco. If you send it in and it is a fake, they’ll know it.
FlamQ Dbltap no they are all real. They were all bought directly from Amazon. I did some research before buying and after. They're all real.