Hello I was wondering if someone could post a comparison photo with a 810 contego and a full size griptillian. I carry a full size grip every day and am think about the contego but would like to see some comparison photos. I have carried my full size grip for 6 years now and it is showing quite a bit of wear. Thinking I may want something a little bigger.
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810 vs 551
- Thread starter bersa380
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I own a 551 and owned an 810.
To me, the 810 is a great candidate when you want a knife you can use really hard at a size approaching that of some smaller fixed blades, and a steel that can hold up to that sort of work. For that, the 810 is hard to beat. The blade grind yields a very strong edge, strong blade, and strong tip, but with good performance for lighter tasks as well. The CPM-M4 steel gets a lot of praise for edge retention, but I think the toughness is an even more important feature on this sort of knife. CPM-M4 is much tougher than most other common folding knife steels, and it is Benchmade's toughest steel by a pretty wide margin. The edge retention is excellent, although to my understanding not as great as the M390 version (which trades some toughness for better edge retention and fantastic corrosion resistance.) I think Benchmade's choice of M4 for the Contego is a much more appropriate steel than any of their other offerings. The handle is also really good for using for extended periods and reducing usage fatigue. The downsides of course are the larger size, greater weight, and some people find the handles to be a little aggressive on pockets and skin.
The 551 is much lighter and is still plenty capable (although I would not personally push a Grip as hard as I would a Contego in some situations personally). The blade is a more traditional drop point versus the 'Reverse Tanto' found on the 810 (and 940 and 950). Some like it more, and some less. I like it less. The handle is good, but not is ergonomic as the 810, and not nearly as well-balanced IMO. The base 551 in 154CM is very good steel. However, it's really not comparable to M4 in regards to wear resistance and toughness and depending on what you are going with the knife, CPM-M4 could be a much better option. Another plus to the Grip is the ability to buy the same knife in two different sizes, which is useful for many people wanting a standard platform and having different options for different scenarios (it's like having a Glock 17 as a duty weapon and a Glock 19 or 26 for off-duty carry).
With all that said, I rarely carry a 551 because I think the RSK-MK1 (Ritter Griptilian) is a much better knife in many different ways and so the Ritter is the Grip that does in my pocket. Still, I rarely even carry that as I find all of these too large for most of my own usage.
To me, the 810 is a great candidate when you want a knife you can use really hard at a size approaching that of some smaller fixed blades, and a steel that can hold up to that sort of work. For that, the 810 is hard to beat. The blade grind yields a very strong edge, strong blade, and strong tip, but with good performance for lighter tasks as well. The CPM-M4 steel gets a lot of praise for edge retention, but I think the toughness is an even more important feature on this sort of knife. CPM-M4 is much tougher than most other common folding knife steels, and it is Benchmade's toughest steel by a pretty wide margin. The edge retention is excellent, although to my understanding not as great as the M390 version (which trades some toughness for better edge retention and fantastic corrosion resistance.) I think Benchmade's choice of M4 for the Contego is a much more appropriate steel than any of their other offerings. The handle is also really good for using for extended periods and reducing usage fatigue. The downsides of course are the larger size, greater weight, and some people find the handles to be a little aggressive on pockets and skin.
The 551 is much lighter and is still plenty capable (although I would not personally push a Grip as hard as I would a Contego in some situations personally). The blade is a more traditional drop point versus the 'Reverse Tanto' found on the 810 (and 940 and 950). Some like it more, and some less. I like it less. The handle is good, but not is ergonomic as the 810, and not nearly as well-balanced IMO. The base 551 in 154CM is very good steel. However, it's really not comparable to M4 in regards to wear resistance and toughness and depending on what you are going with the knife, CPM-M4 could be a much better option. Another plus to the Grip is the ability to buy the same knife in two different sizes, which is useful for many people wanting a standard platform and having different options for different scenarios (it's like having a Glock 17 as a duty weapon and a Glock 19 or 26 for off-duty carry).
With all that said, I rarely carry a 551 because I think the RSK-MK1 (Ritter Griptilian) is a much better knife in many different ways and so the Ritter is the Grip that does in my pocket. Still, I rarely even carry that as I find all of these too large for most of my own usage.
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I own both. The Contego is definitely huge, so if you have no issues with office related issues or concerns of whipping out a large heavy duty knife, that would be the one to go with. The 551 is a more reasonably sized knife, it is certainly lighter and carries a bit easier and feels a little better in the hand. Both good choices.
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The Griptilian is a pocket knife, whereas the 810 is a pocket tool. The 810 really is a beast, one of the best releases ever from BM IMHO. I absolutely love my 810 and have beating the hell out of mine all week while packing and moving my machine shop.
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Check out the 940-1. I am loving mine. Great reverse tanto blade like the contego, but light like a 530.
If you haven't already, you may want to check out the 950 Rift. It has a very similar blade to the 810, but is a little smaller (kind of the size right between the 551 and the 810). The only downside is they do not make the (production) 950 Rift in CPM-M4 or M390, and those two steels are a big reason the 810 is such a great knife given both are speciality steels with properties that often make them better candidates for heavier usage than the other standard steels Benchmade uses.
If you are using a knife in a fashion in which toughness is very important, M4 is a great option. If you are going to be frequently cutting abrasive materials such as cardboard, certain silicon material, rope, plastics, etc., M390 has a big advantage over most steels because it not only has unusually good edge retention, but it is a spectacular performer when cutting abrasive materials in which it's performance is even more pronounced. Where as cardboard quickly dulls most knife blades, M390 resists the edge deformation from cardboard unusually well. If I had to guess, I would say I can cut at least 4 times the amount of cardboard with my M390 707 than I can my 154CM 707 (and the M390 707 has a much thinner edge), so the real-world performance of this steel is very pronounced. Both M390 and M4 are great steels for supporting a thin edge.
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My grip basically gets no pocket time because of my love for the 810. I have quite a few blades, but one of my 810's generally ends up in my pocket. Although, now that the temps are rising and I'm wearing shorts I've found that half of my shorts dont have pockets deep enough for the Contego. I bought a couple new knives to solve that problem. I try to wear my shorts with deep pockets as often as possible. I love the size and agressive jimping, but I am taller than the average man and I have huge hands so I'm sure that helps.
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The production 810 is always coated, either in black Cerakote or clear Cerakote. Benchmade won't release CPM-M4 without a coating due to it being a tool steel that can rust. The satin blade is the Knifeworks exclusive 810-1401 in M390 steel.
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Here is a bad but inclusive photo of the Rift, Contego, and Grip's for size and blade. Nothing like the Contego for the really tough jobs.
That said I carry the Grip combo as my work knife and the 710 d2 gets the call most of the other time.
Hope this helps, Frank.
The M390 is non-coated. M390 has some of the best corrosion resistance in town.
The M4 version is coated using Cerakote, which is different from most of Benchmade's coatings in color and design. It is a huge help in reducing corrosion on M4. However, the edge itself is still prone to corrosion given the edge is not coated. I've not personally had a lot of issues with M4 corroding and I treat it about the same as most of my carbon steels (wash off with water immediately after usage cutting materials known to expedite oxidation of metals, immediately dry, coat with Eezox if seeing an extremely harsh environment). It's a reasonably tough coating, but like most coatings currently used on knives, it does wear over time. Theoretically, even as the coating visually wears, the blade should still have some degree of protection from the Cerakote. I say 'theoretically' as I have not used it enough in person to say this for certain.
IMHO there is no corrosion problem with the M4. I live on the coast and just keep the blade clean and dry after use with no problems, just like all of my "rust prone" steels. The BM Cerakote is not durable. Mine was all scratched and chipped just from cutting heavy gauge cardboard. DLC is much more durable. I have not had any DLC knives show significant wear on the coating. It would be nice if the M4 came with no coating or even better with DLC.
Have you found that as the Cerakote has worn that it still provides some degree of corrosion resistance? In theory, I believe it should but theory doesn't always mean in-practice. I agree a true DLC would be much more desirable over virtually anything else short of a few boron coatings, which we will probably never seen on knife blades.
I love my 810 contego, but I must say that I think the scales may be a bit too aggressive for edc. For super hard use, 810>551, for edc I would pick the 551 if I could only have one.
The 810 fits the whole 1st and second kind of cool for me though. While 154cm is great steel, the m4 is real hard to beat.
You could always pull off the pocket clip, and take some high grip sandpaper to the scales like I did. It won't alter the look, but will save you some pants.
The 810 fits the whole 1st and second kind of cool for me though. While 154cm is great steel, the m4 is real hard to beat.
You could always pull off the pocket clip, and take some high grip sandpaper to the scales like I did. It won't alter the look, but will save you some pants.