531-1901

Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
831
Just going to leave this here:
Limited edition international exclusive, 300 piece run.

wH3v1xv.jpg
 
This one looks nice, but those doggone awful thumbstuds are still hanging on to this model, I see! Ugh

Nice grind, red g10, and the 535's (short) deep carry clip, though :thumbsup:
 
The regular 531 is $180 - $190 so this isn't too crazy more expensive for the steel I suppose. However, I'm happy with my plain 531 as it is.
 
The below the 'Made in USA' icon in the upper left corner of the product image, it says 'with Swedish blade steel'. Is that a mistake?

EDIT: Yes it must be
 
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Bought it as a novelty thing, to celebrate getting a new job. Ended up loving it far more then expected. Going to put a proper edge on it later tonight. The price was also pretty good for what you're getting. It went for 20 bucks more then a vanilla 940 and I love me some thin light s90v which I luckily have quite some experience sharpening with.
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940(+1)

My impressions of the bugout were pretty good but when I take the pricing of upgraded scales into account it comes in the same ballpark as this LE pardue, so I just went for it and I think this might become a user after all as it has a lot going for it.
Looks stellar, weight is pretty spot on, the action is oddly satisfying and different from any other bm I own.

Lest I forget, I specifically asked the retailer to check the blade for even bevels and good centering and they (retailer and Benchmade I reckon) delivered on both points. Thought I'd include this positive feedback among the flood of posts criticizing bm for it (rightly so ofc) to let people know it is possible!

The edge is sharp enough to cut paper but it's struggling, but I was going to run it through progressions on them edge pro diamond matrix stones anyway which I bought specifically for steels like s90v and the likes (very much worth the investment!)

I'm pretty happy with it and it'll probably be carried more then my bugout, yet it won't be replacing any main edc I use in my work/outdoors environment but I didn't buy it to that effect. Very nice and light secondary knife when you don't need a 940 with a slab of S90V or a cruwear pm2 which are my most reached for all-situation-carry.
 
suUNFwM.jpg


Bought it as a novelty thing, to celebrate getting a new job. Ended up loving it far more then expected. Going to put a proper edge on it later tonight. The price was also pretty good for what you're getting. It went for 20 bucks more then a vanilla 940 and I love me some thin light s90v which I luckily have quite some experience sharpening with.
aynfrX2.jpg
940(+1)

My impressions of the bugout were pretty good but when I take the pricing of upgraded scales into account it comes in the same ballpark as this LE pardue, so I just went for it and I think this might become a user after all as it has a lot going for it.
Looks stellar, weight is pretty spot on, the action is oddly satisfying and different from any other bm I own.

Lest I forget, I specifically asked the retailer to check the blade for even bevels and good centering and they (retailer and Benchmade I reckon) delivered on both points. Thought I'd include this positive feedback among the flood of posts criticizing bm for it (rightly so ofc) to let people know it is possible!

The edge is sharp enough to cut paper but it's struggling, but I was going to run it through progressions on them edge pro diamond matrix stones anyway which I bought specifically for steels like s90v and the likes (very much worth the investment!)

I'm pretty happy with it and it'll probably be carried more then my bugout, yet it won't be replacing any main edc I use in my work/outdoors environment but I didn't buy it to that effect. Very nice and light secondary knife when you don't need a 940 with a slab of S90V or a cruwear pm2 which are my most reached for all-situation-carry.

I picked one up the day it dropped at a certain Canadian retailer, and I've been loving it so far! Thin blade and thin in the pocket, extremely light, nice red G10 vs the plastic handles in the Bugout, and S90V to boot. All, like you mentioned, for hardly more than a standard 940!
 
I picked one up the day it dropped at a certain Canadian retailer, and I've been loving it so far! Thin blade and thin in the pocket, extremely light, nice red G10 vs the plastic handles in the Bugout, and S90V to boot. All, like you mentioned, for hardly more than a standard 940!
The action is also surprisingly snappy!

I tried to take a clip of the action but it didn't work out as intended at first.

Sorry for the bad lighting, hope this clip is better.

(best with sound)

What's also pretty crazy is (now that we're making comparisons to the 940 anyway) that the pardue offers about the same amount of cutting length as a 940
Haha! I'm happy I caught wind of this thread and sorted by new at my local retailer at the right time! I would have definitely slept on the release and this knife in general were it not for these 2 lucky events, it's definitely one of those knives you don't really appreciate for what they really are till you have it in your hands!
 
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suUNFwM.jpg


Bought it as a novelty thing, to celebrate getting a new job. Ended up loving it far more then expected. Going to put a proper edge on it later tonight. The price was also pretty good for what you're getting. It went for 20 bucks more then a vanilla 940 and I love me some thin light s90v which I luckily have quite some experience sharpening with.
aynfrX2.jpg
940(+1)

My impressions of the bugout were pretty good but when I take the pricing of upgraded scales into account it comes in the same ballpark as this LE pardue, so I just went for it and I think this might become a user after all as it has a lot going for it.
Looks stellar, weight is pretty spot on, the action is oddly satisfying and different from any other bm I own.

Lest I forget, I specifically asked the retailer to check the blade for even bevels and good centering and they (retailer and Benchmade I reckon) delivered on both points. Thought I'd include this positive feedback among the flood of posts criticizing bm for it (rightly so ofc) to let people know it is possible!

The edge is sharp enough to cut paper but it's struggling, but I was going to run it through progressions on them edge pro diamond matrix stones anyway which I bought specifically for steels like s90v and the likes (very much worth the investment!)

I'm pretty happy with it and it'll probably be carried more then my bugout, yet it won't be replacing any main edc I use in my work/outdoors environment but I didn't buy it to that effect. Very nice and light secondary knife when you don't need a 940 with a slab of S90V or a cruwear pm2 which are my most reached for all-situation-carry.
suUNFwM.jpg


Bought it as a novelty thing, to celebrate getting a new job. Ended up loving it far more then expected. Going to put a proper edge on it later tonight. The price was also pretty good for what you're getting. It went for 20 bucks more then a vanilla 940 and I love me some thin light s90v which I luckily have quite some experience sharpening with.
aynfrX2.jpg
940(+1)

My impressions of the bugout were pretty good but when I take the pricing of upgraded scales into account it comes in the same ballpark as this LE pardue, so I just went for it and I think this might become a user after all as it has a lot going for it.
Looks stellar, weight is pretty spot on, the action is oddly satisfying and different from any other bm I own.

Lest I forget, I specifically asked the retailer to check the blade for even bevels and good centering and they (retailer and Benchmade I reckon) delivered on both points. Thought I'd include this positive feedback among the flood of posts criticizing bm for it (rightly so ofc) to let people know it is possible!

The edge is sharp enough to cut paper but it's struggling, but I was going to run it through progressions on them edge pro diamond matrix stones anyway which I bought specifically for steels like s90v and the likes (very much worth the investment!)

I'm pretty happy with it and it'll probably be carried more then my bugout, yet it won't be replacing any main edc I use in my work/outdoors environment but I didn't buy it to that effect. Very nice and light secondary knife when you don't need a 940 with a slab of S90V or a cruwear pm2 which are my most reached for all-situation-carry.


That's a great looking knife! Hard to replace a 940 or PM2 but this has great color and steel for the collection. Love s90! Congrats!
 
Now I'm jealous. The red is stunning. I love my standard 531. It's my summertime light cargo shorts knife. The red handle (and high end steel) make it even better. I'll be watching to see if it's offered in the USA.
 
Now I'm jealous. The red is stunning. I love my standard 531. It's my summertime light cargo shorts knife. The red handle (and high end steel) make it even better. I'll be watching to see if it's offered in the USA.
I can see why you love it! I actually think Benchmade priced these little ones very well. There's definitely great value for money here. I am going to clean the inner working out tomorrow and smoothen it all out with some lube and I expect this little bugger to fire out there. Perhaps I lucked out or perhaps it's the model's workings, but after playing around with the pivot just now it already nearly free drops with a slightly tight pivot and no play. Which is rarely the case when it comes from the factory in my experience. I end up balancing between over tightening the blade or overcompensating by allowing a loose pivot with ever so slight a bit of play but with smooth action throughout. Then I cave and open it, polish the washers a bit and applying proper amounts of lube to get that sweet spot locked in. If my findings are correct this one won't need any of that and save for some cleaning and lube and tighten it back up.

I also like how the blade jumps open even if you flick it softly past the detent. I'm pretty sweet about this guy, I'll probably end up with a 154 version too. This one is hitting a lot of spots the bugout didn't really do for me, hope it keeps on giving!
 
Now I'm jealous. The red is stunning. I love my standard 531. It's my summertime light cargo shorts knife. The red handle (and high end steel) make it even better. I'll be watching to see if it's offered in the USA.
There's one up for sale in the For Sale section.
 
I can see why you love it! I actually think Benchmade priced these little ones very well. There's definitely great value for money here. I am going to clean the inner working out tomorrow and smoothen it all out with some lube and I expect this little bugger to fire out there. Perhaps I lucked out or perhaps it's the model's workings, but after playing around with the pivot just now it already nearly free drops with a slightly tight pivot and no play. Which is rarely the case when it comes from the factory in my experience. I end up balancing between over tightening the blade or overcompensating by allowing a loose pivot with ever so slight a bit of play but with smooth action throughout. Then I cave and open it, polish the washers a bit and applying proper amounts of lube to get that sweet spot locked in. If my findings are correct this one won't need any of that and save for some cleaning and lube and tighten it back up.

I also like how the blade jumps open even if you flick it softly past the detent. I'm pretty sweet about this guy, I'll probably end up with a 154 version too. This one is hitting a lot of spots the bugout didn't really do for me, hope it keeps on giving!
I set up my standard 531 for zero play, which gives it "Sebenza" smoothness, not "drop closed on my fingers" smoothness. It is a knife I only occasionally carry and I prefer it to feel as much like my usual EDC CRK and Spyderco pieces as possible.
 
I just tuned up two 531's (one for me, one for my brother). I carry mine pretty frequently and the pivot screw on mine was loose so it had some side to side play. After a light polish on the washers and a little oil, I easily tuned the action to have a smooth and easy opening with no blade play in either knife. I did use some blue loctite on the pivots.

I'm a huge fan of this model and I think S90V makes a lot of sense for this knife, it's a pure slicer!
 
So I see. It's nice but not that nice. I'll leave it for someone willing to pay the flipper price.

I like the handle shape and blade of the 531 but I thought it was way overpriced but that seems to be the going price of the limited editions. More than double the cost of a normal 531.

I spent some time tonight tuning a brand new 551 I got yesterday. Still not great but I'm hoping the brass washers break in. There's almost no in between easy open/close and lockup with blade play. The washers have wear on the outer edge on one side only. I installed the stamped edges out towards the frame thinking it might help but not really. I got a new 556 a couple of day prior and that is smooth and perfect. Both have S30V blades.
 
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