There’s nothing knife dudes like more than buying the same knife twice, selling them,
buying 3 more, selling all three, then rebuying 1- wondering why they ever sold it.
Sprint runs that sell out in 2 minutes, 3.0’s, wharncliffe, bearings- it’s how knife makers
stay afloat- that and the annual raising of the MSRP.
Kniflation bro.
In the knife world the saddest six word story is: For Sale, Grail knife, never used.
In this particular instance, we have what we call a Lightweight version.
The Para 3 LT.
They remove the liners, swap out the handle material, change it to a wire pocket clip,
give it a cheaper steel, but retain the lock and same basic proportions.
But it’s cheaper, lighter, and feels slightly better in the hand… why not go ahead and
buy your at least 2nd Para 3- amirite?
But before we go any further, let’s look at the dimensions, like the overall length
and weight.
When the original Para 3 has a different measurement you’ll see it in parentheses.
Weight is the obvious change.
Blade length and cutting edge.
What is the most you own of any one knife?
Handle size and grip area.
The correct answer is I only own one knife, I’m here for your personality.
Spine thickness, handle thickness, and behind the edge.
Except for your backup knife, but that doesn’t count, as don’t your fixed blades.
Those are for hunting.
Tallness.
Then there’s the machete- and the rest of collection you have packed away- which really
don’t count because you gotta drive to the storage shed to get them.
So the Para 3 LT, is designed to save you some money, that is if you haven’t bought
one already- and save you some weight.
First let’s look at the blade.
We’ve traded steel from the original S30V, in the standard model, to CTS-BD1N.
Although the Para 3 has seen numerous sprint runs with high end steels too, you have several
of those in your collection.
(Guy off screen) we get it we have spending problems.
According to amazing fellow Youtube artist Cedric and Ada, CTS-BD1N tests a little lower
in a rope cut test versus S30V, and better than VG-10 found in the slightly cheaper Delica
and Endura line.
It is linked at the end- please watch it or be known as a terrible human being.
So let’s call it a downgrade in steel, unless you have some anecdotal evidence where you’re
certain you feel in your soul BD1N outperforms S30V- in that then case I’m wrong.
You have that Spyderco leaf shaped blade with a flat grind that’s sharp out of the box.
Lockup and deployment.
Here you have the compression lock- found on the standard Para 3 and the Para Military
2, as well as a few other spyderco knives, that I own.
The fact of the matter is, just so you don’t get bent out of shape- whether you own 50
different knives, or 50 Para Military 2 sprint runs, you still have a problem.
Anyway so if I get this straight Jack Farm Boy bought this but sold it to Outpost 76
while I was borrowing it- both fellow youtubers I’ll link at the end.
Outpost 76 does edge retention tests too… but anyway- since it was a loaner I didn’t
adjust the pivot- because it’s rude to do on another mans knife.
So deployment is kind stiff, and not broken in yet.
But you can flick it open with one finger, and flick it back kinda with one hand.
Out of the box it’s slightly better than a lockback spyderco- so expect a breaking
period or to do some pivot adjustment.
Handle is nice and comfortable, and improves on the ergonomics of the pretty good original
a bit, by giving the handle a bit more curve to the grip area.
Same proportions as the original Para 3 though, it’s not a knife for large hands.
And since there’s no liners the handle is made of FRN instead of G10 over liners.
FRN is a high grade plastic.
Over the years I get comments on knives without liners as feeling cheap or flimsy.
My experience has been out of the half dozen or more knives I’ve broken over the years
on this channel- it’s always been steel or aluminum.
Never have a I cracked, broken, or overflexed spydercos FRN or even benchmades.
And my hands are jacked bro.
I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but in my experience the metal parts are more
likely to fail on knives than the high grade plastics that premium companies use.
Like Spyderco, Benchmade, or Z-Hunter.
The clip.
It’s an improvement over the original clip by being deep carry and sliding the pocket
easier, also you feel it less when you squeeze the handle during use.
It’s swappable to the right or left side in a tip up configuration only.
The original clip on the Para 3 may hold a bit tighter, but that’s about it.
Of course they mount very differently to the knives so you can’t swap them between one
another.
Comparisons.
The Para 3 LT isn’t exactly a budget knife- it’s cheaper than the regular version- but
it’s still a $90 knife.
I’m sure it’ll be $95 or a hundred in a year or two.
It is made in the USA, so there’s that but I have a feeling worker’s labor is a small
component to knife price, as spydercos most expensive production knives come from Taiwan.
I mean it’s still cheaper than the Benchmade Bugout seen here… both are linerless knives
with FRN or GFN handles… although the Bugout has a larger handle and blade- which I like
more better.
The Bugout would be my choice of the two.
Then there’s the Delica… it’s always been too small of a knife for me- and it’s
kinda expensive for the the steel it uses nowadays.
I mean there’s not a lot wrong with the steel- it’s just that it keeps creeping
up in price without really improving.
I prefer the larger Endura anyway.
I’d say the Para 3 LT is the better knife.
Now the regular Para 3.
I prefer this to the lightweight, because the standard Para has sprint runs with better
steel, and I like the feel of the scales better than on the LT.
And since I already own one Para 3, that I’m sorta happy with- my rule is I don’t need
to own another.
Just 50 other different knives.
Or is it a hundred.
I’d like to state for the record nothing about collecting makes a whole lot of sense.
Ok wrapping it up.
The Para 3 LT, I guess it has some slight ergonomic improvements over the standard Para
3- I don’t know if it’s enough to warrant the upgrade to downgrade in steel.
If you’re happy with your current Para 3, trading down to this might be a little underwhelming,
but that money is burning a hole in your pocket.
It’s hard to say anything extremely positive or negative about the Para 3 Light Weight.
If you had to start with a Spyderco I’d say the Tenacious is a better place to start-
then maybe the Para Military 2 or standard Para 3, the latter you want a smaller knife.
If you like this sort of review, subscribe.
Say hello to my Patrons here, with a new larger font end card because one dude was complaining-
but mostly because I’ve gotten some new patrons and the last single card was getting
too small.
As a patron who gets nothing, the trade off is a font size complaint- I get it.
Thanks everyone.
T-shirts are for sale below- probably the only design I’m doing for a while.
Sold about 15, so it was extremely popular.
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