Head to Head - Spyderco Para 2 vs Ganzo G729

I put the $23 Ganzo G729 up against one of the GOAT knives, the almost $200 Spyderco Paramilitary 2.
How do they compare? The PM2 costs 8x as much. Is it 8x the knife?
That's what we will try to answer.
Link to the Amazons:
amzn.to/3XwINQZ

[@bighill5680]

I've got that Ganzo G729. Very happy with it. I guess some people are into the name brands, but this has been great for me !

[@stevew585]

The Ganzo for me, crazy value for a quality knife.

[@druidic4353]

Ok knife 81

[@songmlf]

Discovered gonzo's a few years ago. I have several some 440c and D2 for me they are an extreme value. Not crazy about buying Chinese stuff but the quality is hard to argue against thier literally 10 times cheaper than name brand. Love my ganzos .i

[@cintage]

Totally agree. Those Ganzo 729 knives are not on par with a PM2, but they are really good knives, indeed better than the Chinese Spydercos. Thanks for the video!

[@SquireSCA]

Exactly. Side by side, and materials, the Spyderco is at another level. But on it's own, its a brilliant, well made knife. That it costs $25 delivered to your door, is astounding. 440C isn't great steel, but it was the standard for many years... And its as good or better than any of our Swiss Army knife blades... I really like it, and the edge bevel on the G10 scales, makes the Ganzo actually FEEL better in your hand, than the PM2. That part floored me. The PM2 has sharp hard corners, whereas the Ganzo is beveled and kinda rounded. Much nicer to grip hard.

[@Count_Smegulla]

I think ganzo is a great knife. I bought all in years ago from a direct to consumer b4 alibaba etc called fastech had a flashlight and camping problem and it was a great place to get certain things. Never broke a blade and with stroping keeps edges fairly well for edc easy to make razor sharp.

[@cocabandi]

I happen to own the Ganzo G729 and for my needs, this knife performs just fine. I agree with you when you say the jumping is substandard,; other than that, I'm quite happy with my Ganzo. Nice comparison , thank you.

[@SquireSCA]

I am considering putting my Ganzo into a padded vice, and taking a small round file and maybe making the thumb ramp jumping a little deeper and sharper. Thoughts?

[@KINGACE9]

​@@SquireSCA I think that would be a great idea. If you do perform those mods, can you please upload a recorded video of the process?

[@SquireSCA]

@@KINGACE9 Well, I did the mods a couple weeks ago. It is such a simple thing to improve the gimping that I felt like the video would be boring... lol

[@madhatter3640]

Rockwell hardness scale on Ganzo 440c and their D2 is 58. I have a few Ganzo's in 440c as far as edge retention you'd be surprised. You should buy one of their blades that's made in D2 you can get various models in D2 from $25 to $30 their D2 of course performs much much better than their 440c but I like Ganzo's and both steels

[@lymedog3176]

The 440c is a tougher steel for durability, doesn’t hold an edge as long as, but will sharpen up faster.

[@jamesbrouse9257]

Being left handed I like the lock on the ganzo. I have the spiderco Para3 and it is just the right size for my needs. i wished lefted manipulation was a little better though.

[@Sway1177]

Wish they made a Para 3 "Homage" but I'll def keep this in the lineup. The Spyderco Efficient I bought was way worse of a knife out of the box for 50$ The weak ass pocket clip is why I lost it in the first place.

[@SMarcey]

Ive been pining for a spyderco but I dont make spyderco money, I do have Ganzo money. I ordered one of the grey ones and a little bit of red paracord for the lanyard hole. Im excited to get it in hand.

[@SquireSCA]

You can find some deals on Spydercos from time to time... What country are you in?

[@twotex4235]

How is it

[@TSGK]

I get that Spyderco has better steel and all that, but my thing with expensive knives is justifying the expense, I would say that 95% of people out there have no justifiable need for a pocket knife that costs more than $30. Now if you are a collector then fine but most people Are not. I have ganzo, knives I have been using for YEARS doing every day normal things that 95% of people woulf do, and they are still in excellent shape , so spending $200 bucks on a knife makes no sense TO ME. Besides I would be terrified of carrying and using it to much. I lost one of my Ganzo knives and replaced it the same day. I do like to support US companies but man, some of these prices for a pocket knife are off the charts. Anyway this is my humble opinion, not putting anyone down or criticizing, just saying that for what I do with pocket knives Ganzo a have been amazing.

[@chiefslief1886]

Another great review! O yeah, I always see these green table mats on reviews..what is the name of these green table mats? I'ld like to buy them too but don't know where to find m in my country. The Netherlands in Europe ✌🏻👍🏻🇱🇺

[@SquireSCA]

www.amazon.com/US-Art-Supply-Professional-Scrapbooking/dp/B00L5I8RKQ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3DVA1IZJ4N0Y2&keywords=green%2Bcraft%2Bmat&qid=1703434114&sprefix=green%2Bcraft%2Bmat%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-4&th=1

[@clintwestwood3539]

Can I ask you if the clip of the paramilitary fits on that ganzo? Thanks

[@SquireSCA]

Not sure, I can look but I may have given one or both knives away by now...

[@clintwestwood3539]

@@SquireSCA Daaamn. No worries! I got late to the party. I got interested in that Ganzo but I really don't like that pocket clip. I was thinking about purchasing an after market for the pm2 but it's expensive to "try it out". I wanted to see if it could fit before. Thanks anyway!

[@Knivesarelife]

I have every ganzo made ty ganzo for making hood knives people can afford i like japan over china my Honda never breaks down nore has my knives kool video ty yup i watched a video on knife i have im different lol

[@JoseGonzalez-yx6vm]

The Ganzo can be taken apart to stretch the springs, and it will have a smoother action, a great comparison video, thank you.

[@strikenryken]

I just leave mine open to the point the spring is most stretched overnight.

[@KINGACE9]

They loosen up after some time of fidgeting. At least it worked for me on the ones I got that were stiff.

[@Proudloser95]

Ever try hitting it on the spine and seeing if the lock holds? I have a few Chinese axis locks and all would close with light tapping on a bench. I had to take them all apart and file more of a shelf on the blade where the lock sits. One had no flat shelf whatsoever. I was wondering if ganzo have that problem.

[@SquireSCA]

Not sure... I can check that knife and others tomorrow. Maybe do a lock fail test, I can out on a motorcycle glove and give them some good whacks and see if any fail...

[@Proudloser95]

@@SquireSCA thanks! If they close you probably won’t need to hit it very hard. I beat one of my benchmades after pretty hard to see if they close and it didn’t. I really beat on those china knives in the woods and they never closed, but after seeing them just close right up with a few light taps got me nervous lol. If yours does it then it’s either the hump before the shelf on spine is too high and not allowing lock to go all the way forward, so file down a little bit before it drops down to the shelf. Or they need a little more lip where it drops down on the shelf. But I’m happy to say they were all fixable. Pain taking them all apart though lol.

[@SquireSCA]

@@Proudloser95 I gave the Ganzo half a dozen fairly stout raps to the back of the blade against a 2x4 and it didn't budge at all. Did it to a few others and they all stayed locked up tight as well...,

[@Proudloser95]

@@SquireSCA that’s great! Thanks so much! I think I’m going to snag one of the rat ganzo and cut a spidie hole in it 😅

[@SquireSCA]

@@Proudloser95 I wouldnt do that last part. Will likely ruin it and compromise the strength of the blade...

[@gaara8217]

I pronounce it with the short a sound.. I just assume if its Chinese most asian languages uses the short a sound n never the long..

[@cfltitan]

Love love LOVE me some Para 2’s! I love Spyderco in general but the PM2 is by far my favorite model. So far I have a CruCarta, Maxamet and I just got my sprint run Teal/S90V version Today!! The Maxamet gets the most pocket time and is a straight F-ing beast of a blade. That shit does not dull! I mean it does obviously but my God does it take a LOOOOOT of cutting for it to even lose its shaving edge. Then a few passes on the sharpmaker fine stones and a few passes on the strop loaded with 1 micron diamond paste brings it right back to scary sharp.

[@EDCandLace]

Using alox based abrasives on high vanadium carbide steels is really harming the preformance of the steel. Maxamet is diamond or cbn abrasives only. You using the spyderco ceramic/alox rods all you are doing is cutting the surrounding steel matrix and not the carbides. This is a great way to cause the carbides to fracture out the steel matrix (aka carbide tear out). Not to mention alox really isn't capable of cutting steel matrix that is higher then about 66hrc. Spyderco maxamet is ran around 67-69HRC. I've had 5 spydie maxamet knives hardness tested and every one of them was between 68 and 69, the best alox on earth isn't hard enough to cut steel matrix at 68+ hrc.

[@cfltitan]

@@EDCandLace I’m not sharpening it though. I’m literally using the five stones as a kind of strop. Very light passes to just realign the apex. When I sharpened it (it was still crazy sharp but I just wanted to make sure it was at 15° with even bevels on both sides plus I brought the edge all the way back to the plunge grind.) I used my Edge Pro with TSProf Diamond plates. Those worked excellent even on Maxamet. I’m currently saving for the Edge Pro Diamond Matrix stone set. I’ve read a LOOOOT of really good reviews on them and that they’re even better than the Venev Orion series which are incredible resin bonded stones.

[@twotex4235]

Easy to spydie flick the ganzo??

[@SquireSCA]

Easy enough, but I don't really care for the spider flick method, personally...

[@bigbrother9531]

Can not believe a guy who laughs and talks in the same sentence.

[@SquireSCA]

You have never heard someone laugh and talk? It’s only one or the other? Not even sure what that means…

[@adamcunningham9947]

What? 😅

[@canaantravis]

Bro what?

[@kickstothehead3705]

Manix handle paramilitary knock off blade but how does she cut

[@SquireSCA]

It's closer to the PM2 than the Manix 2. I have a Manix, I should have brought that one out for the comparison... Dimensionally its nearly identical to the PM2, the differences being the gimping and the lock. Seems to cut pretty well, I stropped it and its got a pretty keen factory edge now...

[@kickstothehead3705]

@@SquireSCA the lock 🔒 is like the manix the rest is para like

[@SquireSCA]

@@kickstothehead3705 Kinda... The Manix lock is at a different angle and it uses a ball bearing... This lock is more of a direct copy of the Benchmade Axis lock, both in it's location and the mechanism itself... But I get what you mean...

[@lancesimon3965]

G10 is such a laughable term for “junk plastic “

[@SquireSCA]

Did I call it that, or are you?

[@Speedsix13]

Spyderco costs 10x more than the Ganzo and has that crappy compression lock which sucks. I own both these knives and my Ganzo locks up with no blade play. The Spyderco has a little play. The Spyderco has a better blade and just overall is a little nicer. It’s just not 10x better or even 2x better in my book. If they made a Para with an Axis lock, it would be worth buying.

[@SquireSCA]

I have never had a compression lock fail, they seem pretty strong and I have watched some videos where they tested the strength of various brands and locks, some with weights, another with a 3,000lbs electric ATV winch, and the Sypderco compression lock did very well. But to each their own... But the Ganzo is definitely the better value.

[@Speedsix13]

I didn’t say the compression lock fails. I just think it’s awkward and most that I have had did have vertical blade play. Vertical play really bothers me. Axis locks don’t have vertical play because of the design. I fully trust Benchmade Axis locks because I have a long history with them in daily hard use. My cheap axis locks seem to be good as well so I think it’s just a great design that works well.

[@SquireSCA]

@@Speedsix13 Ahhh... gotcha... Yeah, I guess it depends on the knife. I don't feel any blade play in mine, but I am sure there is some variation in the manufacturing process...

[@cfltitan]

And just FYI all current Para 2’s are now in S45VN steel, not S30V. Not a ton better but is an upgrade for sure. About the same toughness but a decent chunk better edge retention.

[@SquireSCA]

Yeah, the PM2 that I have is several years old now, so its S30V. I am not that picky about blade steel. As long as it is adequately corrosion resistant and holds a decent edge, that works for me. The handle doesn't feel as nice as the Ganzo... The hard square edges, and the cutout for the compression lock... it just doesn't sit in the hand as well as the Ganzo's handle...

[@SquireSCA]

I just ordered a Tenacious Lightweight with S35VN steel. :-)

[@cfltitan]

@@SquireSCA yeah I saw they’re dropping the tenacious in legit good steels now. They’re dropping one in CPM M4 soon too! That’ll be the one for me. I’m a high speed tool steel kinda guy! I love me some ZDP-189, M4, Maxamet, K390, 10V, 15V and all the others. They’re just such incredibly hard steels with mind blowing edge retention and for the most part they’re still more than tough enough for general EDC tasks. Yeah with abuse they can be “chippy” but I don’t abuse my folders. That’s what I have stuff like my ESEE Izula 2 for and other tough fixed blades

[@cfltitan]

@@SquireSCA plus I LOVE a nice patina and you can’t get that on a stainless steel. My Maxamet is darkening up nicely and even gets a few hints of bluing in certain areas. 😍 My K390 stretch 2 has a really nice pains as well. I haven’t used any of my M4 blades In the kitchen or on food yet so they’re still nice and shiny but I’ve seen M4 take a nice patina as well.