People still like Benchmade?

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ThePeacent
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#41

Post by ThePeacent »

I wonder if we'll see any important changes in the near future
:confused:

https://knifenews.com/benchmade-founder ... president/
JD Spydo
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#42

Post by JD Spydo »

There was one model that Benchmade had about 2007-2008 I think it was. It was called the RUKUS and I believe it was model 610 if my memory is not short circuited :o But the RUKUS was only avialable in S30V (not one of my favorite steels :( ) so I passed on it. But I did like that particular design and I think they eventually did a little version of the RUKUS as well.

Also at one time it seemed like 75% of their folders were designed by Warren Osbourne. I have nothing against the man and I've actually met him before but to me his designs are as boring as watching grass grow :rolleyes: Also their lack of blade steel selections really puts them at a disadvantage IMO.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#43

Post by vivi »

I had a Rukus at one point. It was a really nice design.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#44

Post by JD Spydo »

I just found a really old Benchmade catalog from back in the mid 90s. There is a model that even most Benchmade fans may not be aware of. It was called the Kodiak Skinner. It kind of reminds me of one of the great G-Sakai hunting knives that Spyderco sold in it's early days. But this Kodiak Skinner is truly one awesome looking hunting folder. It actually reminds me somewhat of Spyderco's Slysz Bowie of a few years back.
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SpyderEdgeForever
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#45

Post by SpyderEdgeForever »

Again, not attempting to violate the rule about not disparaging other companies,and this is not an attack on their product choices. But it just seems to me that it would be good if Benchmade would keep reasonably priced lines like Spyderco does, more economical ones that are still decent quality blades and handles and locks, but, that are in a lower price range. They used to do that.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#46

Post by JD Spydo »

SpyderEdgeForever wrote:
Fri Nov 09, 2018 8:56 pm
Again, not attempting to violate the rule about not disparaging other companies,and this is not an attack on their product choices. But it just seems to me that it would be good if Benchmade would keep reasonably priced lines like Spyderco does, more economical ones that are still decent quality blades and handles and locks, but, that are in a lower price range. They used to do that.
That is a good point>> because it has always griped me that BM won't do Sprint Runs of older/classic models. The BM models of the mid to late 90s were my ultimate BM favorites>> especially the model 640 Boguszewski Spike model :cool:
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knivesandbooks
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#47

Post by knivesandbooks »

These were cool but didn't last long.

https://www.bladehq.com/item--Benchmade ... ife--21344
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#48

Post by mad german »

I'm down to my last Benchmade, a North Fork. I've had many different Benchmades over the years, but what aggravates me the most about their knives is the pivot. When you finally get it adjusted to the sweet spot of smooth action and no blade play, unless you loctite it, it won't stay that way. Also, on many of the BM knives I've had, the fine line between smooth opening & no blade play vs stiff action seems to be 1/1,000,000 of a turn of the pivot screw.

I do like some of their designs, the 943 and 710 come to mind. However, I doubt I'll own another one. The only reason I'm keeping the North Fork is because it was a gift from my wife.
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SpyderEdgeForever
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#49

Post by SpyderEdgeForever »

mad german, would you like to see a line of Benchmade knives similiar to the old Ascent and Eclipse folders?
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Crux
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#50

Post by Crux »

I don't own a BM as I don't care for them. I do know many people love and swear by them, and that they are great knives.
Can you find it and can it cut? :eek:
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#51

Post by mad german »

SpyderEdgeForever wrote:
Mon Nov 12, 2018 1:55 pm
mad german, would you like to see a line of Benchmade knives similiar to the old Ascent and Eclipse folders?
I’m not familiar with those.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#52

Post by SG89 »

I have 1 benchmade, a bugout, I really love it. However, I'm not drawn to their designs like I am to spyderco
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#53

Post by BornIn1500 »

The Mini Crooked River is the best looking knife on the market right now, IMO. Really wish I had the $200 for it.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#54

Post by Midnightrider »

I own a few, my favorite is their CQC7. It is just perfect for what it is. Can't remember exactly when I bought it, either late 1980s or early 1990s.

Seems to me they started to try to be a design house and when they started going tip up only I lost interest. I recently bought a NOS Presidio auto and I am pretty disappointed with the action. Lately aside from the Presidio I have not bought any more Benchmades and there is really not much in their catalog I'm interested in. I may pick up a Pagan if I get a good price, but other than that... I am a lot happier with Spydercos. Seems to me Spyderco also puts out a lot of wacky stuff but they have some real back to basics timeless stuff like the Military (current favorite), P4 etc. that have great materials but also handle great and are extremely useful all around.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#55

Post by agony »

I haven't posted to this forum in a long time, as I've been away from Spydercos since around 2005 or so. But now I'm back as I'm finally getting my first spydie in over a decade, a PM2.
Anyway, I love my Benchmades. I probably have 200+ knives from them. However my love affair seems to have waned since the mid-2000's. I really loved the classic benchmades like the 710, the 690, and all of the Snody designs, but I really love the Ares most of all.
It seems their QC went downhill for a spell, which may have turned off a lot of potential buyers.
I'm a long-time active member on their forum, but the traffic there is minimal at best. It seems that the majority of the newer and younger folk recently attracted to their knives are much more active on Facebook instead of on traditional forums like this.
Seems like every year there's only two or three Benchmades that catch my eye. And for a while I stopped buying any of their new knives.
However as of late, they have been coming out with some great knives. The Bugout is fantastic, as is the Fact.
The AXIS lock is still IMHO the best lock ever devised. I do look forward to testing the compression lock when the PM2 arrives. I do have a Superhawk but it's a safe queen.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#56

Post by knivesandbooks »

Am thinking about that Hidden Canyon
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#57

Post by cbrstar »

Being a Canadian and with knives getting harder to buy every day, I wanted to finally buy a Spyderco and a Benchmade...I've ended up buying 6 Spyderco's and 0 Benchmades.

Here's my feelings/experience with benchmade.

Quality control issues. When I went to the store to try them out I found just about every knife had blade play, some where even up and down. The only one that didn't was the gripitllian, which ironically was the cheapest and seemed to also have the nicest opening action.
The store clerk tried to tell me the pivots just need tightening but I later found out this is a common issue with BM and they are having QC issues with the axis lock.
As a Canadian I don't want to send in my brand new knife for warranty as there's a chance I may not get it back.

The designs to me look kind of dated. Years ago when I first learned about Benchmade they had designs like the Axis Flipper, or precinct which I really liked. I just find knives like the Grizzly ridge not my cup of tea. (It reminded me of a Gerber to be honest) and the plastic doesn't feel nice like FRN. Unfortunately the flipper isn't available where I live.

The knife that I actually wanted to buy was the bugout, as pics and reviews made it sound amazing. The first thing that kinda irked me is the olive/green one is somehow $30 more. But the main disappointment is it just didn't give me that sturdy feeling I was looking for in a knife. The almost non-existent scales make the handle feel bendy IMHO. The knife I chose over it was the PM2. It was the same price of the bugout, same steel, but nice g10 sales and IMHO I prefer the compression lock. It just feels solid and dependable.

Now don't get me wrong BM is an awesome knife and I would buy one on sale. But for me they just aren't anywhere as attractive as Spyderco.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#58

Post by asdfghjkl »

JD Spydo wrote:
Fri Oct 26, 2018 6:37 am
One thing I've always found to be strange about Benchmade is that they literally passed up a great opportunity that Spyderco in turn truly capitalized on it. Benchmade actually did a blade with H-1 way before Spyderco launched their H-1 Salt Series. Way back around late 2001 Benchmade came out with a dive knife model "100S-H20" which was indeed made with H-1 blade steel. I bought one of those BM 100S-H20 models at the 2002 BLADE show and I owned it for a long time before I ended up trading it. But Benchmade did a really strange thing when they only made that model for about a year with H-1 and then for some really strange reason they switched to X-15 TN stainless over H-1 :confused:

It wasn't too awful long after that when Spyderco released the TASMAN and Atlantic Salt along with some others out of the H-1 Salt Series. Also it didn't take Spyderco long to realize that H-1 made great blade steel for Spyderedges. To this day it just baffles me to no end why BM passed up on what could have been a flagship line of blades for them. Whereas Spyderco is actually the company that made H-1 blades really famous. And what's weird about all that is very few BM collector's I've spoke to ever knew that BM model with H-1 even existed. It is so interesting that one company seemed to fail badly with H-1 blade steel while the other company made a complete series of successful knives from it :confused: ???

I have one of the H-1 100Sh20 knives still. I bought it in 2003 from a knife shop where I was stationed. I remember the salesmen kept talking about the steel being rust proof, I was like "oh thats good" and it lived on my backpack for about...oh...since 2003 until about two years ago. I became a commercial diver in 2009 and began using Spyderco knives for that. I never put two and two together though until about 3 months ago that the H-1 steel that my benchmade was made from was the same H-1 steel of my spyderco's. I am ultra stoked about it now. Still wear it everyday, but i'm replacing it with the Spyderco Waterway since my knife is super irreplaceable.
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NYLife
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#59

Post by NYLife »

My first somewhat nice folder was Benchmade mini-griptilian and I still have it. It is great knife overall, but after I got my PM2 and yes there is a size difference, but Benchmade just feels like a toy now, both have the same steel, but somehow Spyderco just warms my heart more then the Benchmade does.
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Re: People still like Benchmade?

#60

Post by Doc Dan »

I bought a Benchmade Stryker about 2011. It is an assisted knife in D2. I thumbed open the blade one, and then twice and the blade flew across the room. Yep. But they fixed it. They had forgotten to lock tite and tighten the pivot. Generally I like BM knives, but their steels in the past have been kind of soft, it seems to me. My biggest complaint is that they are way over sold into this blade to handle ratio nonsense so the handles of their knives are always a bit short for my hand. That was a major reason for me switching to Spyderco, by the way.

The story above, while true, has not been typical in my experience. I have a number of their knives and they have been good, stout users (just a tad soft on the steel, perhaps).
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