I've always been a bit disappointed with my G10 para 3 due to a mediocre clip and an oversized misplace lanyard hole. In this version they fixed these issues with a nice deep carry wire clip and better placement. I might switch my S110V blade into this knife, we'll see. I have never used BD1N steel long-term, but I believe it will be at least as good as VG10. I've never given a Spyderco knife 5 starts until this one. There are a lot of choices for knives in this size range, but I would recommend this one if you want a compression lock.