Alternative to Benchmade?

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SALTY said:
Depends on what you looking for in a knife and what your intended uses are. Though I may get flamed for saying this here, many knives, and varied price points are capable of performing tasks in a very similar fashion - think cutting food, rope, cardboard, opening shipping boxes containing new knives ... you know, the regular EDC stuff we use knives for.

Some steels hold and edge longer and require less frequent touching up. Some are more corrosion resistant than others (H1 versus 1095) while some are more forgiving of abuse and less prone to chipping. Some are tough to sharpen with normal stones or ceramics.

Then, there is the whole fit, finish and pride of ownership thing. My FRN handle Cold Steel Voyagers provide great function based value but pocket jewelry they are not. The more knives I have used, owned and evaluated - the more I realize that after a certain point, additional cost is not linear with additional performance, reliability, function or durability.

I'm sorry if I failed to make specific recommendations to you but my (folder) users have settled on Cold Steel, Emerson, Spyderco, ZT and Benchmade - the latter being crossed off my list ... not because of anything wrong with the knives, but because of the company. In that vein, there are other knives that are seemingly fine as a product, but, being a personal item as they are (especially to us here at BF) I just cannot support certain companies. Benchmade just got added to that thankfully short list.
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Speaking of Cold Steel I just wish they weren't so set on putting a hollow grind on their tantos. I'd love to get the big Recon 1 and then send it to Razor Edge knives for a regrind (to a zero edge) but.........I can't, because it is hollow ground.

I don't like hollow grinds on a "Hard Use" knife anyway as I don't think it makes sense from a long term-use (think resharpening/reprofiling) standpoint either.
 
K.O.D. said:
Thanks, it's a phenomenal pill cutter. Use it for that mostly.

LOL. I have one pill, unscored, that I have to cut in half. Positioning the knife edge correctly, lightly tapping with a hammer, and looking for the pill half that has gone into orbit is a
humbling experience.
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So after reading this thread I went in the opposite direction. I own over two dozen spydercos and have stayed fairly loyal to the brand. Today I went to my local gun and knife store and purchased my first Benchmade- a Bugout. Seems like a nice light weight knife. I for one appreciate what Benchmade did. I don't see it as a "fiasco" in any way.
 
I have no problem with the whole turning in guns etc, if you don't want them. But don't dismantle/melt them down or whatever. Sell them to local stores. I know people want to "get guns off the street" but there are plenty of people out there, law abiding citizen's with proper permits who would buy it.
 
So, here are a few actual bm alternatives:

Buck - uses a lot of s30v just like bm, and frankly much better pricing, classic all around
Kershaw USA - the designs they make locally are great
 
drfoil said:
So after reading this thread I went in the opposite direction. I own over two dozen spydercos and have stayed fairly loyal to the brand. Today I went to my local gun and knife store and purchased my first Benchmade- a Bugout. Seems like a nice light weight knife. I for one appreciate what Benchmade did. I don't see it as a "fiasco" in any way.
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The gun destruction while I don't care for it, isn't the worst part of it, Benchmade gave money to gun grabbing politicians. If you're aren't a gun person, or aren't worried about your 2nd amendment rights, that is ok, but I've gotta follow my heart and move away from Benchmade.
 
for-um-me said:
The gun destruction while I don't care for it, isn't the worst part of it, Benchmade gave money to gun grabbing politicians. If you're aren't a gun person, or aren't worried about your 2nd amendment rights, that is ok, but I've gotta follow my heart and move away from Benchmade.
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Wonder what other knife companies give money to? Did you ever look into other brands? None of that should even matter to pro gun people anyways in reality. But passionate gun people will follow what everyone else does or say.
 
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K.O.D. said:
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Just a few options...
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You know Benchmade will grind up your gun for you... for free!
 
for-um-me said:
The gun destruction while I don't care for it, isn't the worst part of it, Benchmade gave money to gun grabbing politicians. If you're aren't a gun person, or aren't worried about your 2nd amendment rights, that is ok, but I've gotta follow my heart and move away from Benchmade.
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Welcome to the forum. I see you signed up today. Been noticing a lot of that in the course of this phony scandal.
Follow your heart. In addition to Benchmade: Hinderer, CRK, and a small number of 100% USA-made custom makers are currently producing quality products -however their personal political leanings have not yet been fully investigated by internet basement cowboys and Russian trolls. So ymmv.
 
for-um-me said:
The gun destruction while I don't care for it, isn't the worst part of it, Benchmade gave money to gun grabbing politicians. If you're aren't a gun person, or aren't worried about your 2nd amendment rights, that is ok, but I've gotta follow my heart and move away from Benchmade.
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another-bill said:
You know Benchmade will grind up your gun for you... for free!
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Though I like (liked) their knives - no more of my money will go to Benchmade.
 
Way too many excellent brands to name. But ZT, Spyderco, Kershaw, and Chris Reeve come to mind.
 
falar said:
Russian trolls? I don't get it.
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You don't get it because they have already gotten to you. That's what happens when you sleep without your foil hat. The conspiracy is real. Benchmade is sending our guns to Putin to use against us in the end times. I know it's true, I read it on the internet.
 
IMO Benchmade is still a great company and you should just wait and maybe forgive them. Nobody is perfect.

But I get that you are upset right now so here are some ideas:

1. Hogue Knives. I think you will become happy here. They come from building pistol grips - IMO you cannot go more pro second amendment in the knife world. And their knives are great! They have a whole lot of new knives this year featuring their version of the AXIS lock. Take a look at the new Doug Ritter Hogue collaboration. e.g. great bang for buck and very close to Benchmade IMO.

2. Spyderco. I already read that you do not like them but if you like a sturdy EDC you should handle a Para Military 2 before you say no. The PM2 is one of those knives I'd carry as my EDC if it was legal here. Probably the #1 for me.

3. Zero Tolerance. A lot of great knives at good price points. The 0640 is my favorite ATM.

4. Emerson. Some say they are too expensive for the quality but a lot of professionals love them. IMO there are still some models that are great as an EDC. Check out the A100 for example!

5. Other great US-Brands: Protech, Microtech, Budget: Steel Will, Kershaws (US-Made Kershaws are really cool at their pricepoint IMO).

IDK if you want to consider foreign brands but if you do you should check out:

6. Lionsteel. Great design and some pretty individual high end knives. IMO these can be good EDCs: KUR, Ti-Spine, TRE, ROK (SR-Series for heavy duty tasks)

7. FOX Knives. The FX-528 TUR Folder is a superb EDC. One of the best VOX designs right now IMO.

8. Extrema Ratio. Another controversial company (some call them the Italian Emerson). However, the BF2-Line has some a really potent strong but easy to carry EDCs and a lot of military personal love / learn to love them. And rightfully so. They are really tough and still pretty good slicers and good to carry due to their slim design.

The brands 6-8 are from Italy.
 
I personally have no qualms buying overseas companies. Made in the USA is not a guarantee of quality. A lot of times it's more of snow "assembled" here, but using foreign and domestic parts. However, I don't blame the people doing the work. Everyone makes mistakes. But when a company lowers qc requirements and raises prices, one gets pissed.

I had many issues with Benchmade, and haven't owned one in over 4 years. This just compounds my issues.

As an avid shooter this annoys me, but I wasn't gonna buy any of their products anyway.
 
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