Spyderco para 3 Lightweight Signature Folding Utility Pocket Knife with 2.92" Stainless Steel Blade and FRN Handle - Everyday Carry - PlainEdge - C223PBK

Very high quality knife.

Excellent knife!! Brand new and Very sharp!!

Read the reviews and my experience was a Spyderco Para 3 lightweight that meet all I hoped it would, right out of the box sharp, blade centered, blade and lock worked just fine, I find any brand new knife will get even better as you break it in by enjoying opening and closing it. Great service AAA+.

Great knife

I'm not a huge pocket knife guy, I mostly just use them for backpacking, but this knife has me wanting to carry it with me all the time. I bought a benchmade bugout and then this knife right after. The spyderco is way better in my opinion, and cheaper as well. Compared to the benchmade this knife just feels way more useable as a daily carry. The clip works better, the grip is smoother and sturdier, and the locking action is way easier to use especially 1-handed. I'll probably throw the benchmade in to my bugout bag or bring it camping, since it is lighter and has a nice blade. The benchmade might have a better blade, but it overall feels too delicate both in the handle and blade. The spyderco blade is thick and the knife as a whole seems ready for some abuse and works good for all knife tasks I've put it up against. The para 3 is very ergonomic and the perfect size as well in my opinion.I put this thing to the test yesterday when I was building dirt beds and opened a dozen bags of dirt/mulch with gloves and thick mud on my hands and this knife went in and out of my pocket and operated with ease. Rinsed it off afterwards and did some food prep. This knife is awesome. Beats the crap out of every other knife I've ever used.Spending $100 + on a pocket knife is a tough sell for me, but for $100 I'd buy this knife again.

Some of Spyerco's FRN knives have steel liners while others do not. This one does not have any liners. What that translates to is a very lightweight knife, to the point that it feels a bit unbalanced. I prefer a little heft to my knives.Being somewhat new to Spyderco, I didn't realize there were two flavors of FRN handles. I decided to purchase this knife based on my extremely positive impressions of two other knives I own: a blurple Para 3 with a G-10 handle and a Delica 4 with an FRN handle. The Delica 4 has steel liners, and it feels more natural to hold. On the other hand, the G-10 handle on my other Para 3 is a bit blocky and doesn't slip in and out of my pocket as easily as the FRN, but I do like its heft.The liner-less Para 3 FRN handle lacks weight, which makes it seem a bit plasticky and cheap, but that's a very real deception. I think most people tend to falsely equate heft with quality. Upon close examination, the FRN is very well made and functions extremely well. It feels good in hand in terms of size, and all the mechanics on the knife work great. The FRN does have a little bit of flex to it, but I don't see that as a quality issue at all. If anything, the flex makes it seem maybe less brittle (though I'd never truly consider the G-10 in the other Para 3 to be brittle). And when I say flex, I mean that I can pinch the scales together slightly compared to the G-10 handles. I haven't noticed any flexing when the knife is in use, though truthfully I haven't used it for anything strenuous, either. But the FRN is solid and seems to be very strong—it just behaves a bit differently from G-10. I don't view this as "cheap" or as a quality issue of any kind. It is what it is designed to be.The handle material is 100% user preference. After trying the Para 3 in both G-10 and FRN, I think that G-10 is my personal preference when using the knife. In the pocket, the FRN wins. And that's enough about the handle.For me, the Para 3 represents the goldilocks of knives—not too big, not too small. I love the blade shape, and the Spyderhole is awesome to use. However, because I work in an office with strict rules about such things, the Para 3 is not an EDC knife for me. I'm new to CTS BD1N steel, so I can't comment specifically on overall performance except to say the knife came sharp and cuts well.The compression lock is interesting. It feels less smooth than a normal back lock in that there is a slight scraping of metal when you use it that can be felt. It's hard to describe, but it's nothing to worry about. The compression lock just provides a different experience. I like how easy it is to operate one-handed, and I have no concerns about durability.Overall, this is a great knife. I'm marking it 4 stars instead of 5 because it isn't an extraordinary knife for me, but I'm confident it could be near-perfect for many others. Like so many other things, knives are all about personal tastes. As far as quality goes, this knife is everything I've come to expect from Spyderco.

Very sharp out of the box. Fit and finish is tops. Dead center alignment. A few drops of knife oil really helps the mechanism break in. It’s a tad stiff at first but smoothed out after a few days of flicking.I could actually like this a bit more if it was actually a bit heavier…might be a bit too light for my taste. Compared to the benchmade mini grip….prob lean towards the benchmade. But I like the size of the para 3 more…it’s a touch bigger but half the weight. Both are great and both lock mechanisms work well….again leaning more toward the benchmade. It just has a better over quality and less “cheap” feel.

I LOVE this knife! So much that I now own 3 of them... I find myself wanting to buy MORE of them, even though I don't need anymore. For fear that they will one day be gone! I love everything about it. The lightweight, the grip is awesome, the blade is so cool looking. Easy to open, easy to close. It's beefy enough, but not overpowering. I have a Benchmade Bugout as well, and the only thing I give the Benchmade over this knife is the slimness. But if I had to choose "just one".... I would choose the Para 3 lightweight. No doubt about it! Home Run knife! I hope they never stop make these. If they do, I'll find myself buying a dozen to make sure I always have one