I recently acquired a Blades We Love PM2 Ultra. This knife is a mod of the Spyderco PM2, a long venerated blade in the knife community, and for good reason. It is, as I wrote in my original review all those years ago, a big knife that carries like a medium sized knife. The Ultra fixes the one big beef I had with the original—the pinchy compression lock access point. By making the Compression lock button activated, the PM2 Ultra makes the handle nicer and the grip pinch-free. Huge win and worth the extra cost in my book. Plus that matchy-matchy anodized button tickles my gear-loving brain. In all, this is a truly great knife.
But after I acquired the PM2 Ultra I also acquired the straight-spine version of the Stretch 2. These knives, specs-wise, are virtually identical. How close? Here are some stats:
OAL: Stretch 2: 8.14”; PM2: 8.24”
Weight: Stretch 2: 3.7 oz; PM2: 3.9 oz
Blade Thickness: Stretch 2: .118; PM2: .145
But here is the kicker—the blade length is .01 inches different (the Stretch 2 has a blade length of 3.43 inches and the PM2 has a blade length of 3.44 inches). That is a lot of similarities.
How could a blade so close to one of my favorites of all time go unnoticed for such a long time? First, and this is just a matter of preference, I found the original blade shape to be quite ugly. Second, I am not a huge fan of VG-10, which is a steel that yields poor results in my sharpening system, especially when compared to the time investment. So the Stretch 2 remained one of the very few evergreen Spydercos that I had never even handled.
IKC = Internet Knife Community in case you were wondering.
Read the whole thing at EverydayCommentary.com
EverydayCommentary: Has the IKC Missed the Mark?
IKC = Internet Knife Community in case you were wondering.
Read the whole thing at EverydayCommentary.com