Spyderco Manix 2 Lightweight Signature Knife with 3.37" CPM SPY27 Premium Steel Blade and Blue FRCP Handle - PlainEdge - C101PCBL2

Ok, a couple of things first... The picture shows a S30v Manix2 with G10 handles and a hollowground blade. The Maxamet knife is the lightweight model (no G10 handles), and the blade is a full-flat grind (not hollowground).As for the actual knife... It's bigger than I was expecting, but very lightweight for it's size.It was reasonably sharp for a factory edge, but I like my knives to be beyond sharp. So, I broke out the Lansky Diamond kit and set up for a 20 degree primary edge angle. Even using the diamond sharpener, the hones just skipped over the surface of the blade without the usual 'bite' feel of the diamonds abrading the surface. Sal from Spyderco said a while back that they were aiming for a Rockwell C hardness of 67 for this blade, and I believe it! This was easily the hardest knife blade that I have ever sharpened. It dulled my diamond Lansky stones (the center of the stone is now much less effective than the ends of the stone), so I'll have to replace my diamond hones. I suspect that I was pressing the stones too hard against the blade, resulting in the diamonds getting dislocated from their surrounding metal surface. After the diamond stones, I used the yellow (Extra Fine) and Sapphire (Ultra Fine) stones and then stropped with Chromium Dioxide (green) polishing compount. Now, the knife is hair-topping sharp, and easily removes arm hair when slid along my arm about 1/8 inch above the skin.Maxamet is a super-hard steel, but it is relatively low in chromium content. As a result, it is not a stainless steel and it *will* rust if not cared for. I used a tissue and a drop of honing oil to apply a thin protective coating on the blade to avoid rust.The locking mechanism for the blade is very secure and the spring is very strong, but the drawback is that the spring makes it very hard to unlock the blade. It's *much* stiffer than the similar mechanism on my Benchmade Mini-Griptilion. If you don't have large strong hands, then you may have difficulty closing the knife with only one hand. Since this is the only Manix 2 I have ever held, the lock on mine could be unusually stiff..The blade lockup is solid, with no up/down or side/side play of the blade relative to the handle. But when the lock is retracted, the blade swings freely. Honestly, the build quality is superb. The knife superficially resembles the $4.99 knives you see at the gas station checkout counter, but this is a quality knife made with premium materials. The most premium material, of course, is the crazy Maxamet blade.I bought the knife for the Maxamet blade, but it's just too big for my tastes. I will buy the Spyderco Native 5 in Maxamet when it is released (any day now), and when it is available in the Paramilitary2 or Para3. If you have large hands, the Manix2 will probably suit you fine. It's all a matter of personal preference.

I want to be honest and mention I just recieved this knife yesterday. This is my initial impressions only and will be updated as time goes on, good or bad.This knife appears to be an amazing piece of engineering. The weight is so little that this rather large knife iterally dissappears once it is clipped onto your pocket. It is thin enough that your hand can easily slip past it to any other contents in your pocket, and the material is not harsh and abrasive. I would imagine that this combination of handle scales and pocket clip would be ideal to keep your pants in good shape (not abrading the material). As an example, I wear polyester hiking pants often, and I have to be careful what knives I carry so as to keep them nice.The handle is extremely grippy and ergonomic (I have medium to large hands), and if the handle weren't enough the jimping and choil provide excellent traction on the blade surface as well.The knife itself is constructed with a combonation of torx bolt and pinned construction (torx on the knife pivot, and bottom of handle where the pocket clip is) and feels very secure. I am sure if it rattled apart Spyderco would replace it, though I just don't see it happening in every day use.Speaking of the construction, a few people here commented on the handle material as being too weak, and that the steel lined manix being so far superior. How sad it is that our poor soldiers have been running around with weakly constructed M4 rifles that are made predomenently from a Fiberglass Reinforced Co-Polomyr nearly identicle to the materials in this knife handle. I personally can attest to the durability of this material, and millions of soldiers can as well.The blade itself locks up as solid as a rock, yet glides effortlessly to open or close. The cutting edge is the sharpest I have ever seen with possible exception to my own Morakniv Classic, though I still believe that this knife has the edge (Ha).As stated, I will update this as I go, but for now, I am very happy to have spent the money on this knife. Also as an aside, the price dropped after I ordered it (the day after I received it) and after contacting Amazon, they are refunding me the difference. All in all, fantastic experience.--------------------UPDATE 8-19-14-------------------------I took this knife on two significant outings over the last few weeks, where it was my main or only blade used. The first was backpacking in the Colorado rockies, where the knife withstood use for everything from fire making, food prep, and significant weather. I also used the knife for whitling wood, and after the trip, the blade was still pristine (no nics in the blade, no stains and razor sharp).This weekend, I went on a four day camping trip with my family at Terryall Resevior. I used this knife exclusively for everything you would use a knife for in the wilderness, including cutting down a few smaller Aspen trees. It handled all tasks perfectly, and to my surprize the knife is still razor sharp (I carved wood for hours on this trip, and have shredded many knife blades attempting to carve half of what I was able to do with this knife). For me, I am completely sold on this knife, and this blade steel. I beat the crap out of it, and it still cuts like new, shows no signs of wear and continues to be my favorite knife.--------------------UPDATE 1-30-15-------------------------After much use I did finally put a chip in the blade. I was carving a walking stick with a bear head on the top. There was a bit of a knot in the wood, and though the knife carved everything fine, once I got home, I realized there was a chip in the knife... This is where the BD1 steel really comes into play. For as sharp as this knife is, and as well as it holds a cutting edge, it is very easy to sharpen and reprofile. The knife is again shaving sharp, and after all that I have put it through it has no blade play at all (without needing to tighten the pivot screw), and is just as solid as day one. This is a fantastic knife that will always be with me when I go back packing.