For the past 16 years, the Para Military 2 has been the knife community’s default answer to just about everything, and our own editor-in-chief has spent over a decade carrying one. Now, fresh out of the brand’s Reveal 22 announcement, the PM2 is wading into the ocean. Meet the Para Military 2 Lightweight Salt CPM MagnaCut, quite possibly the most complete PM2 ever made.
Born for the Brine
A quick refresher. Spyderco’s Salt series is the brand’s dedicated family of water-ready blades, built around corrosion-resistant steels and marine-grade hardware so you can toss one in a tackle box and forget about it.
The PM2 Lightweight, which only debuted earlier this year, turns out to be a natural candidate. Its injection-molded FRN scales trim more than 25 percent of the weight from the G10 original while also stripping out metal components. And fewer metal parts means fewer things to rust, which is the entire foundation for the Salt series.
The Larrin Thomas Effect
CPM MagnaCut is still the super steel of the moment, and for good reason. It was developed by metallurgist Dr. Larrin Thomas in 2021, and it remains a rare example of an alloy designed specifically for knives rather than borrowed from the tooling industry at large.
By engineering chromium carbides out of the microstructure, Thomas created a stainless steel with the toughness of hard-use tool steels, excellent edge retention, and some of the best corrosion resistance in the business.
Featherweight, Hi-Vis, and Fully Dialed
The satin-finished 3.47″ blade is full-flat ground in either PlainEdge or fully serrated SpyderEdge trim, deployed via the trademark Round Hole and secured by Spyderco’s famously fidget-friendly Compression Lock. The hi-vis yellow handle wears the brand’s Bi-Directional Texture so it won’t swim out of your grip, and a reversible deep-carry wire clip rounds out the package.
Best of all? The whole thing weighs 2.75 ounces. Stacked against the existing G10-handled PM2 Salt, which carries a $284 MSRP on a platform that weighs 3.75 ounces in standard form, the Lightweight is both the cheaper and the easier-carrying route to a MagnaCut PM2.
Spec Sheet
Brand: Spyderco
Model: Para Military 2 Lightweight Salt CPM MagnaCut
SKUs: C81PYL2 (PlainEdge), C81SYL2 (SpyderEdge)
Overall Length: 8.29″
Blade Length: 3.47″
Blade Thickness: 0.145″
Blade Steel: CPM MagnaCut
Blade Shape: Clip Point
Blade Grind: Full Flat
Handle Material: Yellow FRN
Locking Mechanism: Compression Lock
Weight: 2.75 oz
Manufacturing Origin: Golden, Colorado, USA
MSRP: $253
Pricing & Availability
The Para Military 2 Lightweight Salt carries a $253 MSRP, with pre-orders already live at major retailers like BladeHQ and KnifeCenter for around $190. Spyderco hasn’t pinned down an exact ship date, so head over to Spyderco’s website to sign up for availability alerts.
Recap
Spyderco Para Military 2 Lightweight Salt CPM MagnaCut
Spyderco folds its ultra-corrosion-resistant Salt treatment and Larrin Thomas’ do-it-all MagnaCut steel into the 2.75-ounce PM2 Lightweight, making the most water-ready version of its legendary folder to date.
