Sage 5 or Para3 S110V?

M

mael333ca

Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
447
Hi fellows,

Thinking about getting one of these two, here are the pros and cons I can think of that one would habe over the other.

Para3
Pros: S110V blade, like the blurple color
Cons: blade stock thickness

Sage 5
Pros: simple pivot with ph washers, friendly design in appearence, ergos I like(didnt handle a para3)
Cons: gonna get after market scales....


Any of you have a decent amount of use experience with these two gems?
 
The Sage 5 I received wasn't drop free. Even after adjusting the pivot, it wouldn't drop free anywhere close to a PM2 or Para 3 without a substantial amount of blade play. This was a real bummer to me considering that is kind of like 70% of the glory of the compression lock IMO. But I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't tempted to pick up another Sage 5 in the near future. Not sure if the particular action in the one I received is more or less consistent for the model.
 
Humm thats a bummer... have you tried polishing the washer on a strop? It helps the "break in" somewhat.
 
I ended up selling it. I probably didn't want to do that due to warranty issues, but for what it's worth, I opened and closed it a metric **** ton of times and the action never really got better for me. But awesome knife other than that. It may have just been the one I got. If I were to buy an S30V knife right now it would probably be that. I think the lack of free dropping action killed the Bugout for me more than it did the Sage 5. But once again, may have just been the one I received.
 
I have both and love both. To be honest, I truly don't get the big deal about free dropping blades. Some of my PM2's are free dropping, some are not. One of my Para 3's is, the others are not. My Sage 5 is not. However, with the ones that are not free dropping, a slight flick is all that's needed to close them.

The Sage 5 is great for me at work. It's not as "knifey" as the Para 3 is. I work in a conservative environment, so using a knife for EDC is foreign to a lot of folks here. That said, I've used my Sage 5 for slicing apples, opening boxes, etc. at work without issue.

Both the Sage 5 and the Para 3 are great knives. The Para 3 is probably more popular due to the relationship it has with the ever so popular PM2. Plus, it has options as far as scales and steel (S30V & S110V), while the Sage 5 has none. But the Sage 5 is great right out of the box. It's a classy knife that can be put to some serious use, just as much as the Para 3, but is equally at home in an office setting. Plus, the deep carry wire clip makes it carry more discretely as well.

You can't go wrong with either. If you're a fan of Spyderco and the compression lock, you'll most likely own both at some point. Any other questions for an owner of both, feel free to ask.
 
Can't speak for the PM3(never had one), but I liked my Sage 5 a lot. Quality and fit and finish was extraordinary. That was my first Taichung Spyderco and suffice to say it made me a believer. The only knife that ever bested it in that department would be the CruWear/Carbon fiber Manix 2 exclusive.

I did end up trading it because I really didn't carry it all that much. It just reminded me of a gentleman's knife that was a bit too large, and overall too damn pretty to use it like an average knife, haha. It was a definite slicer, though. Cut through cardboard like it was paper.

Mine didn't free drop until I adjusted the pivot(I gave it 3 months before I tweaked it a bit), and even then it was a bit stiff(no blade play though).
 
Of the two the Sage 5 has the better fit in the hand (for me), and seems better proportioned as compared to the Para 3
 
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