American Knife of the Year - Benchmade Narrows

From a design perspective, how thin is too thin to compromise the integrity of the blade (based upon the materials used)?
 
shinyedges said:
The knife is over priced, and I'm not broke. Funny, if people think the knife is overpriced they must be broke? Dude clearly doesn't know the dwellers on this forum. What an ignorant statement.

Many of us can and do drop 500 to 1500 on fixed blades regularly. Have 10 to 20k in knives bumbled together unorganized in a storage bin and yet we're broke. Some of us significantly more $ sitting in knives too.

What a joke.
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If someone has $20k worth of knives though, is that person really shopping on “value” anymore? I doubt it. In which case, the price of the Narrows is irrelevant. The only question becomes “is it both good and interesting?”
 
mak1277 said:
If someone has $20k worth of knives though, is that person really shopping on “value” anymore? I doubt it. In which case, the price of the Narrows is irrelevant. The only question becomes “is it both good and interesting?”
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I can't speak for everyone, but I have a fair sum of money in knives literally sitting in a storage bin. Despite that fact, I'll still look at a knife and determine if it's overpriced for what it is. Just because people buy things and have money, doesn't mean they'll buy anything.

I guess the answer is maybe? Yes? And it depends...
 
While I agree the narrows seems a little over priced but I don’t see the same reaction to designer knives made over seas going in the same price range. Especially considering the profit margins are probably greater for those guys than what benchmade is making here in the US.
 
When I bought the Narrows, I had not handled one and did not know what to expect. I could only hope it would feel "quality" like my CRK and Hinderer or Spartan knives for a similar price.

It arrived and I had mixed feelings. It felt light and flimsy at first, and not substantial and "expensive". In materials alone it should be cheaper, using half as much metal as my Hinderer, Spartan or CRK knives. I am not sure I would beat on it like I can with those others, and I'm going to let some of those YouTube cowboys hogtie and torture them to see what they can do. Hopefully, if it's anything like the Shootout it will survive a lot.

There are a lot of Pros. The Ti's finish feels like a higher quality, but pretty thin and yet does not flex at all like a grivory bugout; and the blade is not as meaty as the others, but the profile is very slicey and it has a fantastically sharp edge. The low profile axis lock is easier to reverse flick without stopping the blade by accidentally touching the cross-bar lock with my index finger while reverse flicking. The new axis lock aka cross bar lock is also easier to operate with one finger instead of sometimes needing two. The short deep carry pocket clip is great as well.

The biggest con, other than price, is that while the outside edges of the scales are nicely chamfered and smooth the inside edges of the scales are sharper and slightly irritating when using a tight grip on the handle. It's also easy to nest the butt of the knife too deep into the heel of your hand, and have the tip of the blade pinch/cut the meat of your palm when closing it by gravity and letting it fall shut.

I price it at $400 or less based on the M390 Aluminum Bugout being about $290, while this is using more costly and larger scales, with a new design that cost them extra money to develop. I do not think it's a bad knife. It's a bad value. But if you want the features it offers, and you can afford it, then you have to give up an extra $120-$150 that could have bought you moar stuff.

I've put in my pocket today - wearing lightweight Duluth Dry on the Fly shorts, that flex and get weighed down by heavy knives.

Benchmade Narrows.jpg
 
shinyedges said:
The knife is over priced, and I'm not broke. Funny, if people think the knife is overpriced they must be broke? Dude clearly doesn't know the dwellers on this forum. What an ignorant statement.

Many of us can and do drop 500 to 1500 on fixed blades regularly. Have 10 to 20k in knives bumbled together unorganized in a storage bin and yet we're broke. Some of us significantly more $ sitting in knives too.

What a joke.
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I’m broke because I regularly drop to much money on knives.
 
Floatingby said:
Much less? The msrp on that one is 20 buck higher than the narrow...(I'll probably have my throat cut for saying this, but it's gigantically worst value imo, I mean, a regular, made in Taiwan linerlock for 600 buck? Talk about a spider tax).
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If you're paying MSRP for a production knife, candidly, you're not buying from the right place. 🤷
 
Another Shepherd said:
There is at least one local store that sells knives at MSRP, including Benchmade, Kershaw, and a few other well-known brands.
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My local Bass Pro Shop used to sell knives WAY above what anyone who knows anything about knives would pay. Now this was Years ago, and I remember them having $20-$30 Kershaws (like the RJ, the Cryo, Leeks, Blurs) for easily DOUBLE what you can buy them for online at the big knife stores. I don’t even bother to look anymore when I’m there, or close by….
Was that the store? Lol
 
mc5aw said:
From a design perspective, how thin is too thin to compromise the integrity of the blade (based upon the materials used)?
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Depends on what you’re doing with it. Thinner will be better for cutting softer materials, anything in general really, except wood or self defense purposes. Hopefully they went a little higher than the “normal” 59-60 with the HRC, which is what most would want in a thin slicer blade like this, since it likely won’t be doing any really hard work.. it’s more of an office carry than an outdoor hard use knife. Not my style personally, but if it were, I’d be looking at a TRM Atom/Neutron 2, not this.
 
tony281sc2 said:
My local Bass Pro Shop used to sell knives WAY above what anyone who knows anything about knives would pay. Now this was Years ago, and I remember them having $20-$30 Kershaws (like the RJ, the Cryo, Leeks, Blurs) for easily DOUBLE what you can buy them for online at the big knife stores. I don’t even bother to look anymore when I’m there, or close by….
Was that the store? Lol
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It's just a local sporting goods store, not a chain.

There are two new Lawful Defense stores I have not been to yet. The other gun stores in the area do not carry knives or maybe have half a dozen that look previously owned.

The stores where I usually buy knives sell at MAP or lower.
 
mak1277 said:
If someone has $20k worth of knives though, is that person really shopping on “value” anymore? I doubt it. In which case, the price of the Narrows is irrelevant. The only question becomes “is it both good and interesting?”
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I have friends who are millionaires but still picky about what they spend money on. So just because you have and spend money, doesn't mean you necessarily want to waste it needlessly.
 
unwisefool said:
I have friends who are millionaires but still picky about what they spend money on. So just because you have and spend money, doesn't mean you necessarily want to waste it needlessly.
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I’m not talking about wasting money. Buying something you don’t like is wasting money. But if you’re rich and you don’t hesitate to spend a lot on knives, then buying something you like, but that might be slightly overpriced, isn’t going to be an issue.

I guess what I’m saying is that there’s a difference between being picky about what you spend on and nickel & diming every purchase.
 
mak1277 said:
I’m not talking about wasting money. Buying something you don’t like is wasting money. But if you’re rich and you don’t hesitate to spend a lot on knives, then buying something you like, but that might be slightly overpriced, isn’t going to be an issue.

I guess what I’m saying is that there’s a difference between being picky about what you spend on and nickel & diming every purchase.
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You don’t get rich by writing a lot of checks.
 
The market is the final arbiter of the worth of a product.
I could scream from the rooftop that a Rolex Submariner is not worth a penny more than 2k for example , and I could be objectively right, but as long as people pay 15+k for these things then I am dead wrong.
We all have our idea on the worth of a product, but in the end, the question is: does it sell, and at what price if it does?
So I'll be following the Narrow, because I am curious from a marketing perspective.
 
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