PM2 Steel Showdown: r/knives Debates S45VN, MagnaCut, CruWear and Maxamet for a First Paramilitary 2
The Spyderco Paramilitary 2 is the most recommended serious EDC knife of the last decade, which means every generation of new buyers eventually hits the same wall: which steel version do I buy? One r/knives member arrived at that wall this week, announcing he was getting a PM2 for EDC and general tasks and laying out the full menu of options — S45VN, MagnaCut, CruWear, S110V, SPY27, S35VN, and Maxamet. He admitted he is not super knowledgeable about steels, and the thread that followed turned into exactly the crash course he needed.
The answers sorted themselves into a surprisingly clean hierarchy. For a first PM2 that will do a bit of everything, the consensus was S45VN: Spyderco's current workhorse stainless is corrosion-resistant, tough enough for daily abuse, easy to sharpen, and holds an edge respectably. MagnaCut got the enthusiast endorsement — it has redefined the all-rounder category with its combination of toughness, corrosion resistance, and edge retention, and the PM2 was one of the first platforms to adopt it widely. CruWear emerged as the choice for hard users who value toughness over stainless properties, with several owners describing it as the steel that made them stop worrying about chipping.
The specialized picks got honest warnings. Maxamet holds an edge longer than almost anything on the market, but it is also brittle enough to chip on hard impacts and miserable to sharpen without diamond abrasives — a poor first-knife steel. S110V sits in a similar camp: phenomenal edge retention, finicky maintenance. SPY27 and S35VN were described as perfectly fine older-school choices, with SPY27 offering a slight edge-retention bump over its predecessor. The pattern in the comments was clear: for a first PM2, pick the steel that matches how you will actually use the knife, not the one with the most impressive spec sheet.
The thread is a useful window into how the knife community thinks about steel in 2026. The old one-size-fits-all advice is gone; buyers now weigh corrosion resistance, toughness, edge retention, and sharpening difficulty as separate axes, and makers respond with a widening steel menu. For a new PM2 owner, that menu is a gift — and the comments make it legible.
Whatever steel you choose, the PM2 platform will reward you — head to the thread to see the full breakdown before you order.