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I got both of mine today. The action is perfect on both but they’re also both off center which is surprising.
DLT M390 Para 3 LW
- Thread starter Colorodo
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Fonedork
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Every single Para 3 Lightweight I've seen is off center to the left, there's only a single pivot washer and it's on the right. I've taken them open and tried everything I know to move the centering and it doesn't budge. This has been the knife that is giving me cognitive/behavioral therapy on my pathological issues with blade centering. I force myself not to be bothered by it because the knife is so so good.
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Brummie
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Mine just arrived. If anyone wants the 2nd one ($138 net to me), then speak now, as if not, it'll be on its way back to DLT in the morning.
And IMHO, you'd have to be pretty OCD to consider the two I have as off-center.
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Slightly off center. Nowhere near off enough to bother me as a user knife.
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I'm now kicking myself for not grabbing one of these. I got a LW the day they were released and it's seen pocket time almost daily all summer. I don't like red knife scales but would have scale swapped the M390 blade into a black scale or an upcoming LW release. Oh well, might grab one eventually off the secondary market.
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Thanks for posting this.
I'm usually not too sensitive to centering, but my Para 3 LW is, as you described, noticeably off center to the left. It bothers me much less knowing it is a trait of the breed.
Got mine yesterday. Perfect free-dropping, flickable action and centered beautifully. Factory edge was also quite impressive, but I am a nut and had to put my edge on it right away. Put it on my KME at the factory angle, polished down to 0.05 micron. This thing will cut through time.
Tigerden
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My first Spyderco and agree the blade is slight left of center. I like the design and the light weight feel but the blade is very hard to open and close. Watching videos of the ease in which others open and close their Spydercos makes me think either I am doing something wrong (not used to the finger flick ) or the knife needs to be taken apart and lubricated. Maybe it just needs to be broken in. It will be a user but I think this brand and style isn’t for me. It is a sharp blade though I’ll give it that.
Soulrack223
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I never even noticed the Para 3 LW that I carry a lot is off center to the left as described. Doesn't bug me.
I got mine today, and the blade is off center left, but very slightly. Not a problem as long as it doesn’t get worse. The action was stiff, but has loosened up now to the point that it can be flicked open and closed. Not the buttery smoothness and solid sounding lock of my PM2, but getting better and is now acceptable. Ergonomics are great for the size. Gamecock Garnet scales are the perfect color. Blade grind is perfect and very sharp. Sharper than my 110v PM2 was out of the box. I’m happy with it for what I bought it for.
Brummie
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It's all boxed up to go back to DLT. So if anyone is still looking, they should be getting one back in stock Monday or Tuesday.
Worldwatcher
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Got mine today. Perfectly centered and free dropping. Seems like luck of the draw.
I’ve never handled a para 3 and held off on getting one until the first lightweight sprint or exclusive. Really glad I did because this thing is really awesome. It’s so light and feels great to handle. It’s a nice change from my huge military or my heavy titanium handled pm2.
Brummie
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My suspicion is that they're all very similar, but we have different tolerances for what counts as off-center. The washers are different on either side of the blade - one is embedded in the scale and the other isn't, so the blade is actually a tiny bit off-center at the pivot. So if your blade is perfectly straight (which I'm guessing most of them are), then the tip will also be a tiny bit off-center. I had two examples and they both looked exactly the same to me. I would never have picked them up and said "that's an off-center blade", but given others had talked about it, I could see what they were referring to.
Anyway, upshot for me is that I see no manufacturing issues at all. This is a great knife - what the Delica always should have been. Makes a great EDC, but also a perfect companion blade to a larger field knife. For my purposes, I'm more concerned about weight when I'm looking at knives I'll carry in the field vs urban edc.