781 Anthem US Only?

[Chariotz4]

There aren't too many places North of the border where one is able to find a large selection of Benchmade knives for sale. I've been patiently waiting to see newer Benchmade offerings make their way up here and I've been pleasantly surprised when only a little while after their announcement and release in the U.S. (relatively quickly anyhow) that the 319 Proper (both versions) as well as the new 535 Bugout have found their way to one of my preferred retailers of choice up here in Canada.

However, given that these new arrivals had gotten here, it struck me as odd that the Anthem still had yet to make its way to Canada. Wanting to scratch the itch that was accompanying this curiosity, I sent an email this morning to this preferred retailer of mine, asking if/when they were expecting to see the Anthem arrive.

While I received a quick response later this afternoon, the message was anything but optimistic, and was rather dissapointing to read. It read that Benchmade WILL NOT be selling the Anthem outside of the U.S.A. or shipping it to retailers outside of the U.S.A. because they have a policy of (over)tightening the pivots of all their folders that are destined for international addresses/retailers (presumably to have a better chance of clearing customs at various borders) and they found it wasn't possible to do this on the Anthem without damaging the knife.

So on the small off-chance that there is some sort of misunderstanding or miscommunication regarding this being the case, can anyone support/confirm/deny this (perhaps Benchmade )?

 

[Mike Large]

I'm a bit confused? A pivot has to be over tightened depending on where its shipped? Pure confusion?

 

[luke86]

I had assumed this about the pivot and everyone seemed to think I was crazy. Glad to know I'm not.

 

[Codswallop]

Yes Canada does not allow I believe the verbage is gravity knives. Since axis locks can fall open with little to no effort they don't get through customs. So to avoid the issue and to ensure a pass through inspections benchmade overtightens the pivots to all Canada shipments.

 

[Benchmade]

Unfortunately this is correct. We can't tighten down the pivots on the 781 without damaging the blade/bearings. We can't ship to Canada with a free falling blade.

 

[Chariotz4]

Yes Canada does not allow I believe the verbage is gravity knives. Since axis locks can fall open with little to no effort they don't get through customs. So to avoid the issue and to ensure a pass through inspections benchmade overtightens the pivots to all Canada shipments.

Pretty much exactly this. My understanding is as follows: the free action inherent to the axis lock design that when (if pivot tension is adjusted properly), engaging the axis lock allows for the blade to fall freely open and lock into place, would potentially make make all axis lock Benchmade knives illegal in Canada because as per the Canadian Criminal code (this is directly copy-pasted from the Criminal Code off the Canadian equivalent of the Justice Department's website found under section 84(1) about prohibited weapons):

prohibited weapon means

• (a) a knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife, or
  
  
• (b) any weapon, other than a firearm, that is prescribed to be a prohibited weapon; (arme prohibée)

Being able to acquire the ability to possess prohibited weapons/firearms is impossible for the vast majority of our population. And since the Axis Lock is located on the knife handle and not the blade... hence the over-tightening policy from Benchmade to allow their knives (in essence to become two-handed openers from the factory) to cross the Northern border (among others I can only assume).

Going back to my original post, I was just wondering if us Canucks are indeed unable to purchase the 781 because of this snafu regarding Benchmade's ability to tighten the pivots on this model without damaging it for international distributors/sales.

Edit: Thanks for the clarification Jimmy Benchmade (sad as I am to hear it )