- Joined
- Feb 16, 2010
- Messages
- 471
The regulars here no doubt already know all about this knife. But for those who might not be familiar with it, I just wanted to share some info on this knife: the Benchmade 960 Osborne.
I've found that when I wanted to carry a knife in my dockers, slacks, or a suit that many fine, capable folder knives with 3" blades just felt a little bit too heavy and bulky. And from an EDC knife, I don't have much need for a knife which is suitable for "heavy" use. (Honestly, about all I use knives for anyway is opening boxes, packaging, cutting tape, plastic, starting open an orange, etc.) So a medium to light duty knife will do about all I need done in the way of cutting anyway. Certainly a $25 economy knife would meet my needs, but I still wanted a fine knife with certain qualities, like axis locking mechanism, high grade steel which can hold an edge well, but still small, very thin, very light weight.
I knew I really liked Benchmade operating quality and the axis lock, so I set out to find a Benchmade axis knife which is very thin, very lightweight, relatively small but with a full 3" blade, and good steel. Here's what I wound up with: just 4.2" long closed, only .37" thick, just 2.3 oz.
The knife is no longer a current model, but I found a good BM dealer (Wesson Hardware in Wesson, MS) on eBay where I picked this up for $129 including shipping. Took two days to get to me in Washington State.
It arrived today and I'm very happy with it. Blade was perfectly centered and fairly sharp, but a little work with my IdaHone ceramics really crisped it up beautifully. Fit, finish, operation is really fine as you would expect from BM.
It meets my light duty EDC needs perfectly. Tip-up carry - nice! Super slim and feather weight at only 2.3 oz., this little knife (but with 3.1" blade) carries in slacks effortlessly... I don't even know I'm carrying it. D2 steel should hold an edge quite well. With the smooth aluminum & G10 scales, I don't think it's going to tear up pockets much either. The handle is aluminum with slim, partial-length stainless steel liners. No doubt that's why this little gem only weighs 2.3 oz. Purple anodized titanium back spacer is kind of a whimsical, cool touch too.
Anyway... just wanted to share this with those who might be looking for such a knife, but are not aware of the 960. Though the knife is discontinued, there are still some new ones in the pipeline. Mostly red, but I did find a stash of the silver models, which was the color I wanted.
Thanks for looking.
I've found that when I wanted to carry a knife in my dockers, slacks, or a suit that many fine, capable folder knives with 3" blades just felt a little bit too heavy and bulky. And from an EDC knife, I don't have much need for a knife which is suitable for "heavy" use. (Honestly, about all I use knives for anyway is opening boxes, packaging, cutting tape, plastic, starting open an orange, etc.) So a medium to light duty knife will do about all I need done in the way of cutting anyway. Certainly a $25 economy knife would meet my needs, but I still wanted a fine knife with certain qualities, like axis locking mechanism, high grade steel which can hold an edge well, but still small, very thin, very light weight.
I knew I really liked Benchmade operating quality and the axis lock, so I set out to find a Benchmade axis knife which is very thin, very lightweight, relatively small but with a full 3" blade, and good steel. Here's what I wound up with: just 4.2" long closed, only .37" thick, just 2.3 oz.
The knife is no longer a current model, but I found a good BM dealer (Wesson Hardware in Wesson, MS) on eBay where I picked this up for $129 including shipping. Took two days to get to me in Washington State.
It arrived today and I'm very happy with it. Blade was perfectly centered and fairly sharp, but a little work with my IdaHone ceramics really crisped it up beautifully. Fit, finish, operation is really fine as you would expect from BM.
It meets my light duty EDC needs perfectly. Tip-up carry - nice! Super slim and feather weight at only 2.3 oz., this little knife (but with 3.1" blade) carries in slacks effortlessly... I don't even know I'm carrying it. D2 steel should hold an edge quite well. With the smooth aluminum & G10 scales, I don't think it's going to tear up pockets much either. The handle is aluminum with slim, partial-length stainless steel liners. No doubt that's why this little gem only weighs 2.3 oz. Purple anodized titanium back spacer is kind of a whimsical, cool touch too.
Anyway... just wanted to share this with those who might be looking for such a knife, but are not aware of the 960. Though the knife is discontinued, there are still some new ones in the pipeline. Mostly red, but I did find a stash of the silver models, which was the color I wanted.
Thanks for looking.
Last edited:
In fact, all but the 943 and Leek in my household (not counting my old CRKTs) shown in this pic were brought to my attention in the last week or two through the kind people of this forum.