Advice on Next Knife?

clanderson

clanderson

Joined
Dec 18, 2012
Messages
90
Every day for almost ten years, I've carried my Benchmade 943. I've gone through several pocket clips and a replacement blade. It's served me beautifully, and I've found the Axis lock to be the safest and most convenient deployment mechanisms I've ever experienced (though the S30V/heat treat leaves something to be desired).

But now I have the itch.

Would you ladies and gentleman kindly assist me in discovering some similarly shaped blades? I'm a little behind the trends :).

Thanks!



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What's your budget? Maybe try something from Spyderco this time around. If the budget allows, the Chapman Lake CLK-2D I have is very nice and shares similar line. Chris Reeve Sebenza, so on and so forth.

Budget is needed

Chapman Lake: Top

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Yea, you might be in for some sticker shock at Benchmade's current pricing. One thing to be aware of is that the patent on the AXIS lock has expired, so there are other manufacturers offering it now; Namely Hogue if you want to stay US made. They make a model called the Deka that might be somewhat similar in shape and seems to be well liked (I have no experience with it).
 
I have a hard time justifying Benchmade's pricing these days. The Deka is a nice knife, but I'm not a fan of the crazy thin blade stock. I guess if I were in your shoes, I'd just bank a couple hundred more and buy a MagnaCut Sebenza.
 
Another vote for the Hogue Deka. Clip-point blade is about as close to the 943 as you're going to get.

The Crooked River is a possible alternative, if you want to stick to Benchmade.
 
I started off loving the axis lock but once I experienced liner/frame locks amongst others I no longer prefer the axis lock. I’d recommend whatever route ya go to try a new style of lock. Not that there’s anything wrong with the axis lock though.
 
Kettleman said:
A pj magnacut 31 is 500.
Click to expand...

And it doesn't have an Axis-style lock.

We all understand the "more than the sum of it's parts" quality of Chris Reeve's work. The OP asked for "similarly shaped blades", which implies to me, long-clip style knives, and the Umnumzaan is... kinda clip-point, but I would still describe it as a modified harpoon.
 
Shorttime said:
And it doesn't have an Axis-style lock.

We all understand the "more than the sum of it's parts" quality of Chris Reeve's work. The OP asked for "similarly shaped blades", which implies to me, long-clip style knives, and the Umnumzaan is... kinda clip-point, but I would still describe it as a modified harpoon.
Click to expand...
Yep, beautiful knife, build quality is fantastic, everything about it oozes quality. But as mitchnola mitchnola would agree, a VECP is what you really need!
 
Ozmose said:
I have a hard time justifying Benchmade's pricing these days. The Deka is a nice knife, but I'm not a fan of the crazy thin blade stock. I guess if I were in your shoes, I'd just bank a couple hundred more and buy a MagnaCut Sebenza.
Click to expand...

The thin blade stock is part of what makes it good. Same goes for the TRM Atom mentioned by mmmotorcycle mmmotorcycle . Frankly, I wish more modern folders would use thinner blade stock.

I get that a thick bar of steel feels sturdy but what are we actually doing with our pocket folders? How often do we use them for a task wherein the difference in strength between 0.10", 0.125", etc. becomes crucial? (Like some of the arguments about lock strength, I always wonder what tasks live between the failure points of different lock types and why people think those are appropriate tasks for a folding knife in the first place.)

I use my EDC folders to cut things. For cuts that pass the height of the blade through a medium, that means dragging a wedge behind the edge. A thinner wedge tends to work better there. While there may be situations in which you want a wider wedge, it just doesn't seem to come up for me in the context of an EDC folder.
 
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