Has the IKC Missed the Mark?
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.
Then two things happened in relatively quick succession. First, Spyderco released a straight spine version of the Stretch 2 and then they released an evergreen version in K390. Suddenly I was looking for a way to grab one. After making the purchase I was stunned at just how refined and well made this knife is. The entire package—the steel, the blade shape, the handle shape, and yes, the FRN with liners and a stamped steel clip, were truly great. Compared to the supposedly superior PM2, I was carrying the Stretch 2 an awful lot. It was thinner, less squared off in the hand, and it was lighter. Not by a lot, but enough to notice.
Over time a few other things stood out. First, the lockback on this Stretch 2 was excellent. There was zero blade play and lots and lots of flickability. Quick deployment, often an impossibility for lockbacks, is downright easy. Then there is the blade shape. Its not different from the PM2, but it is just more distinct in its features. The belly is bigger and the straightaway more clearly delineated. It is the PM2 blade but just a smidge sweeter.
But there is no question which of these knives is more the darling of the IKC. There is no question which has more aftermarket parts and upgrades. There is no question which gets more attention (i.e. sprints and new steels) from Spyderco. The PM2 is one of the IKC’s very most favorite knives (for good reason). A lot of this has to do with the fact that the PM2 is domestically made while the Stretch 2 is a Seki City knife. This limits sprints and steels significantly. But in terms of accolades the PM2 is miles ahead of the Stretch 2.
But carrying and using the Stretch 2 for a few weeks straight has convinced me that it is not an inferior knife when compared to the PM2. That is a real compliment. The knife is just stunning. Thin, responsive, and really solid. The Stretch 2 is equal to the PM2. And that is, of course, a revelation to me. But the other thing that was a revelation was just how good the FRN/liners set up is. The fixation with G10 and micarta is something that mystifies me. Sure they can be really good, but slab cut G10 or micarta is not as good as the molded FRN, which is both grippy without being shreddy and has rounded corners and nice ramps to the lock and the thumb hole. All these years I thought it was a budget thing, but now, coming back to it later with a new and great design, I think that the Spyderco FRN/steel liners set up just might be the best configuration for a knife that is used as a tool (as opposed to a knife as an IG model).
Why did the IKC miss both the Stretch 2 AND the brilliance of the FRN/liners set up? The only answers that come to mind after some deep thinking is that familiarity breeds contempt AND people’s penchant for accessorizing.
We always take for granted what is most readily available. Gatorade seems better than water. The Honda Accord looks bad compared to an exotic sports car. But the thing that works and is there, day in and day out, often gets overlooked compared to something rare or unusual. So the ubiquity of the solid design of the FRN/liner handled Spydercos is overlooked by the IKC largely because it is so readily available. We all started there and so it seemed natural to move on. We graduate from FRN/liners to slab cut G10 or micarta that is sculpted, but we miss the fact that the FRN/liners set up is actually both significantly more difficult to pull off from a manufacturing standpoint AND performs better. Coming back to the design, years later, its clear why it is so readily available—its great. Spyderco has always been a design company that happened to make knives so them choosing an unusual but solid foundation that just works is no surprise.
The other reason why the Stretch 2 is not as liked compared to the PM2 is that these days everyone wants a knife to be unique or eyecatching or rare. You buy a PM2 and you make it rare. I did. The PM2 Ultra is exactly the kind of knife that the IKC loves—its familiar yet different, useful and still unique. In a world of full of people that think of their gear as somehow representing their personality, I think of the quote from Incredibles where Dash retorts, mainly to himself, that if everyone is unique, no one is. And so in a world where you can drop $500 on aftermarket parts to supe up a $160 knife, a knife like the Stretch 2 which is almost immune to aftermarket upgrades, the design is decidedly off trend. But off trend isn’t the same as bad. The Stretch 2 is flat out amazing.
Don’t sleep on the Stretch 2. Its great. Its also about $30 cheaper than the stock PM2 even with the excellent K390 steel.
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