American Knife of the Year - Benchmade Narrows

I dont even find the knife visually appealing let alone the high price tag. Its an easy pass for me. Some may like it and thats cool, just not for me.

Id like to have a Bailout, and I like the shot show orange one but again your looking at $270 - $300.

Price is too high for what you get in my opinion.
 
Spyerdco's Manix lock has this shape. It looks like the springs are improved.


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Despite the price I like the design. I would prefer a more interesting steel than 20CV, especially I such a thin blade. They are using Magnacut now and that seems like a better option here.
 
At this price point, I personally want something that is not only well built and functional but also aesthetically appealing and beautiful. I think DocJekl DocJekl just got the Narrows along with an inlaid iMamba, which is roughly the same price. I’d be curious as to his side by side views.

I find the iMamba to be beautiful and would much prefer something like that to the Narrows which is…not attractive.
 
King of the Cheese said:
I wish they’d bring back the anthem at this point if this is the future of things.
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LOL! I said the same sentence in my head at the top of this thread.... just substituting "Mini AFCK" for "anthem"

If I got 500 to burn and am yearning for something thinner than my usual carry, I'll get a Glock 48.

Congrats to BM on the award though.
 
Chronovore said:
Maybe it will be a boner for years to come, like Crystal Pepsi.
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I liked Crystal Pepsi. Then again I was in high school and liked partially serrated tantos.

At $500, most people are looking for some sort of exclusivity--limited production, limited availability, something to make it special or unique. $500 for a knife I can find at my local store can be a bit much to swallow.

Is a $500 knife worth it is far to subjective. The two knives I have in that price range have superior edge retention to any of my "production" knives, and the fit and finish is also better. Benchmade is a company that already has a reputation for spotty quality control, and unless they have some way of proving "improved" qc, I don't see many buying this.

All of the above does not even mention that I find the knife unattractive, hideous even.
 
It's a knife I'm very curious about. Being this Thin should feel great for everyday carry. In this regard, my favorite so far has been cold steel code 4. I will buy to see if that will change.
 
mak1277 said:
At this price point, I personally want something that is not only well built and functional but also aesthetically appealing and beautiful. I think DocJekl DocJekl just got the Narrows along with an inlaid iMamba, which is roughly the same price. I’d be curious as to his side by side views.

I find the iMamba to be beautiful and would much prefer something like that to the Narrows which is…not attractive.
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My new iMamba in blue kudu bone inlay (or plane Jane) is worth every penny! As for the Benchmade Narrows, I got the Narrows for $472 after using some kniferewards and it is still a little underwhelming for that price.

Don't get me wrong, it is NOT a bad knife - it has a good sized blade, and a slick bearing action, in M390 with Ti, with a more ergonomic axis-lock, with the right shape and length pocket clip, blue highlights, and it's under 2.5oz and a 1/4" thick. There are a lot of good things to say about it.

But it doesn't stand out as anything but an ultralight and thin full size knife that's good for carrying in basketball shorts. It's like Benchmade NASA-fied the knife to make it ultralight and quirky for it's size, but didn't work on making it look special and attractive. It's a tool and not also doubling as a piece of art like many of my other knives.

It should have been a sub $400 knife; and if I could open my even lighter and cheaper CRK Mnandi one handed that would make a better basketball shorts knife than the Narrows, if not for the worry of trashing that beauty when it falls out of the pocket when I'm active.

If you told me I could only buy one or the other but not both, I would buy the iMamba, even if it cost much more.

If my Benchmade Narrows and my Lime Green TRM Atom were both the same $250 price, I am not 100% sure which one I would take although I'd lean more towards the Narrows as the G10 Atom feels slightly flimsy. But at MSRP the Atom wins again, even at $380 for an Atom with Ti scales which is only $150 less than a Narrows at current market price of $522.

As a matter of fact, my Ti Atom is in my right back pocket and the Narrows is still in the box...
 
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Just got my new Narrows and my first impression is perfection. Compared to what I have spent on other knives it is worth every penny.

I have no desire to convince anyone here to agree with me, but there is a reason it won American Knife of the Year(and I don't think it has anything to do with free lunches:rolleyes:).
 
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Sibyrnes said:
Just got my new Narrows and my first impression is perfection. Compared to what I have spent on other knives it is worth every penny.

I have no desire to convince anyone here to agree with me, but there is a reason it won American Knife of the Year(and I don't think it has anything to do with free lunches:rolleyes:).
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Like I said above, "Don't get me wrong, it is NOT a bad knife - it has a good sized blade, and a slick bearing action, in M390 with Ti, with a more ergonomic axis-lock, with the right shape and length pocket clip, blue highlights, and it's under 2.5oz and a 1/4" thick. There are a lot of good things to say about it."

But I wouldn't call it perfection. It's just a nice "ultralight full-size knife" when normally that phrase is an oxymoron. And that is why I think it won the award.

IF I keep this knife, I will see if one of my LynchNW Ti pocket clips fits the knife and order a blue one. I believe the hardware is made of Titanium, except for the pocket clip. I will probably test it with a magnet tomorrow (or today when I wake up).
 
It's funny, this thread is about the American Made Knife of the year, and plenty of peple have railed against it, but nobody has presented an alternative in six pages of discussion. What else should have won the American Made Knife of the Year? Keep in mind, it has to be a production knife that was released this year.
 
Silent H said:
It's funny, this thread is about the American Made Knife of the year, and plenty of peple have railed against it, but nobody has presented an alternative in six pages of discussion. What else should have won the American Made Knife of the Year? Keep in mind, it has to be a production knife that was released this year.
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Pssh, easy peezy. Military 2 is releasing this year.
 
Silent H said:
It's funny, this thread is about the American Made Knife of the year, and plenty of peple have railed against it, but nobody has presented an alternative in six pages of discussion. What else should have won the American Made Knife of the Year? Keep in mind, it has to be a production knife that was released this year.
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So your defense of a knife is a mention of lack of competition? We don’t have to AGREE with the Bladeshow ivory tower. We CAN disagree on the selection. It is permitted.
 
King of the Cheese said:
We CAN disagree on the selection. It is permitted.
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I just asked everyone who disagreed what their pick would have been. I specifically invited more disagreement.

I never defended the pick in this thread, all I've done is compare it to another poorly received and overpriced knife, and asked what other knife people would have chosen.
 
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