The 960 is a nice gents knife for some, but with the blade at 3.25" it may be bigger than Tim wants - it's damn near the size of the 690 that's too big for him.
The 14210 and the 440 (and teh 707, 705, and 525) are 3" blades - nice knives, but it sounds like you want something smaller.
The 330 series is, in my Benchmade-loving opinion, not one of their better knives. But they are gent-y. I'd recommend the AG Russell 332 version, if you were going to get something in this line.
In really small, there's the 2" blade benchmite - cute, but not terribly ergonomic. That may not be a setback to you in a gent. On a budget, the Benchmade NRA Mini-Steigerwalt is a neat little lockback.
In my opinion, in Benchmade blades under 3", you have 3 excellent choices, all of them out of production
, but not that hard to find.
The 850/855/856 series. The 850, in ivory micarta with rainbow titanium bolsters, is gorgeous and expensive. The 855 and 856 are aluminum and G10 scales, with a number of limited runs in different colors (and a couple in D2 steel.) Excellent ergonomics, very cutty blade. Linerlock.
The 450 Park Avenue - all Bob Terzuola, all the time.
The smallest of the three, and the one that looks and feels most like a traditional gent. Chain lanyard and lapel hook, no clip. Linerlock.
The 770/771/773 series - the smallest Axis lock ever, available in two different flavors of carbon fibre, several colors of aluminum, and a limited edition in green and black G10 with a polished D2 blade - that one is my personal gents carry piece. Sexy as hell - you want a Benchmade, don't you want an Axis?
