484 Nakamura?

blades&wrenches

blades&wrenches

Joined
Jan 11, 2014
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Thinking about picking one up but wondering if it's worth it's price tag? It's smaller than I carry for a primary, so it would be a backup and casual dress knife. What are your opinions? Is it comfortable in hand? Any nitpicks?

Thanks in advance!
 
I handled one yesterday at my local outdoor store, and I was not too impressed. The grooves on the handle did not fit me very well at all. My 300sn was the same, so I ground out the grooves on the handle and it works out better. I wasn't going to buy this knife KNOWING I would have to modify it. I'm sure other's have complete opposite opinions though. It's a nice knife, just not my cup of tea.
 
The minute I got mine in hand I knew it wasn't for me. The biggest gripe was its thickness for such a small folder. Obviously it's a good seller and plenty of members like it but it wasn't for me.
 
I love mine. Perfect size for EDC and fits my hand well. It feels like a beefy little folder because of the handle width, but it's not all that bulky to prevent you from carrying it. Mine came hair popping sharp out of the box, but my only gripe was that the pivot would work it's way loose after a few openings and closings and the blade wasn't centred when closed. The loose pivot was fixed with some blue Loctite, but the off centre blade was a minor aesthetic annoyance. It doesn't affect the knife's cutting ability, but when you spend that kind of money on an American made knife, you expect better attention to detail. I've bought $30 CRKTs that were perfectly centred out of the box. You would think Benchmade could do better. I was able to centre the blade on my own, which for some reason wasn't easy on this particular model, but aside from that I really like this little knife.


 
I bought the new 484-1 about a month ago. I've been carrying it almost every day in addition to a few other EDCs. I have somewhat mixed feelings about this knife....

I really like the looks, the overall aesthetics and the quality of the handle and blade materials.

I like the smooth action of the blade... the distance from the thumb stud to the pivot point makes for a nice easy flick to open. Axis locks makes it just as smooth and fast to close as well.

That's all I like. The ergonomics do not work for me. The grooves in the handle fit my wife's hand but not mine. If there were 3 finger grooves instead of four it would be much better for me. This is a small knife that I would call 3 1/2 finger size...but there are 4 finger grooves permanently keeping my fingers from holding the knife naturally.

That said, I don't need a full-fisted hammer grip to use a small knife for light duty so I deal with this knife not feeling right in my hand when I just want it to look good in a pair of jeans. Not unlike the other pretty things in life I'm willing to put up with just because they're pretty (my wife is a good example ;) ).

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If I hold the knife in my hand naturally and just open my fingers you can see how the grooves do not fit my hand. I wear a size L glove but would say I have medium-large hands, not really large.
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TheGearGuy said:
If I hold the knife in my hand naturally and just open my fingers you can see how the grooves do not fit my hand. I wear a size L glove but would say I have medium-large hands, not really large.
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It appears it was designed with medium to small hands in mind. I definitely don't have large hands...medium to medium-small so it may fit me better. Like I said, I'll just have to hold it first.

Thanks to all for the input so far.
 
It seems to either fit your hand, or it doesn't. I like mine, and I have medium hands, but not thick fingers. It is a bit on the short side. It's also thick and heavy for a knife its size. I was lured-in by the M390 blade, but I end up carrying the 940 more often.
 
I wish BM would stop putting finger grooves on their blades. I can't seem to adjust to any of them.

The 484 just didn't feel good in my hand. The Rift, Contego and 808 all have a hump in the handle that hits my pinky and crates a hotspot.

Good thing there are options out there.
 
- Fits my small hands perfectly.
- Utilitarian, stylish, pretty original.
- A little heavier than it needs to be for its size (full steel liners are unnecessary IMO).
 
I had a 300sn and the groove spacing was comfortable for me. I ended up getting rid of it bc the curvature of the spine was too extreme for my liking and my pinky felt out of place. How does handle size and groove spacing of the 484 compare to the 300sn?
 
To each his own, I prefer a 3" blade for standard EDC and something bigger if needed like camping or hunting, but I have to say my 484 is a solid knife, its absolutely the smoothest of all my Benchmades, M390 has worked great so far. I do agree its a little heavy for its size and the scales could have been a little slimmer and still have a shallow grove pattern. Last thing for potential buyers the reason for the weight is the full length steel liners that are not skeletonized, but the benefit would be in strength if you are a hard user.
 
Love my 484-1 fits my hand pretty good but I do have small to medium hands . I think this is a knife you definitely need to put in your hand to see if it fits . If it does I think your going to love it as do I .Another option is the 940-1 which I also have and that would accommodate most size hands and it's another keeper . These two are some of my favorites and there super light yet feel solid ,tight lock up and blades pretty much dead center.




 
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