American Knife of the Year - Benchmade Narrows

Some people like a big chonker like a Chaves Ultramar, and some need something very light and thin like the Narrows, but most are happy with something in between. I don't have ANY other knives that are full size with a 3.5" blade that are as light and thin as my Narrows - I think that is the target audience, as light and thin and strong as possible for the big size (i.e. they hate the bugout with grivory scales as too flimsy, and/or feel the G10 Atom is not tough enough either, etc).

In my case, for a similar size and still somewhat lightweight and thin, I would prefer to carry (1) my Shirogorov NeOn NL or HatiOn Zero for a similar price, or (2) my TRM Atom for less, or (3) my Herman Sting for more money. When it comes to a light and thin full size knife, those are all are a similar size but they're not nearly as narrow and light as the Narrows. Only if thickness and weight matters would I pick the Narrows over the others.

I just have to decide if it's worth keeping, or returning for a refund. It's not a bad knife, it's just underwhelming for the price. The refund could pay for a good portion of my new Herman Sting that just arrived.
 
In 24 hours, nobody has proposed an alternative that meets the criteria. The only one that was mentioned won last year.

I think that says more about the sad state of American production knives than anything else.
 
Silent H said:
In 24 hours, nobody has proposed an alternative that meets the criteria. The only one that was mentioned won last year.

I think that says more about the sad state of American production knives than anything else.
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Yeah the industry needs to be more innovative about recycling mid 90's designs ;-)

How do most knife nerds really feel about innovation? See the Sebenza 31 vs 21 saga for what happens when you change a framelock point of contact. People would pay $2k for a CRK Sebenza 21 re-released in Magnacut. There wouldy be fist-fights, especially if it had some "art" on it. Hell make 100 of them and put a special stamp on it and people would mortgage their homes to get one.

What knife nerds really want are old designs in new materials. It's a timeless recipe (see Spyderco).
 
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Silent H said:
In 24 hours, nobody has proposed an alternative that meets the criteria. The only one that was mentioned won last year.

I think that says more about the sad state of American production knives than anything else.
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I don’t think anyone in this thread has suggested it didn’t deserve the award.
 
I’d like to officially change the title of this thread to the Benchmade Narrows winner of “The most overpriced knife of the year”. Maybe I’ll start a new thread with a poll!!! What else is in the running for most overpriced knife of the year?
 
The new Benchmade Narrows looks cool and I do like a nice, slickey knife, but at that price it's going to have to contend with other knives to get bought. Unless I have a laser focus on a particular knife, when they get more expensive I'm going to be taking a look around at what else is available for that price. It's definitely got a Cold Steel Code 4 vibe going for it, but without the backlock.
 
Silent H said:
Are we reading the same thread?
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Everyone is saying it’s overpriced, not that it’s unworthy of the award. I assume the award doesn’t consider “value” and only looks at the qualities of the knife.

realistically, I just don’t think many people care about the award so it makes sense that nobody is really talking about that part.
 
The Grendels said:
It's definitely got a Cold Steel Code 4 vibe going for it, but without the backlock.
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Yep, and you can get all 3, plus add a BM Bugout for when you need/want an ultralight option, AND get get a fair bit of change leftover, for the price of the Narrow.

As a user knife, the Narrow doesn't make much sense economically. And as a collector, "safe queen" item, I don't think it's all that attractive or special looking. Time will tell, of course, but I don't think it will sell all that much.
 
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For most of my needs, this knife would be too flimsy. For $500, I think the sales will be very modest.
 
DocJekl said:
Some people like a big chonker like a Chaves Ultramar, and some need something very light and thin like the Narrows, but most are happy with something in between. I don't have ANY other knives that are full size with a 3.5" blade that are as light and thin as my Narrows - I think that is the target audience, as light and thin and strong as possible for the big size (i.e. they hate the bugout with grivory scales as too flimsy, and/or feel the G10 Atom is not tough enough either, etc).

In my case, for a similar size and still somewhat lightweight and thin, I would prefer to carry (1) my Shirogorov NeOn NL or HatiOn Zero for a similar price, or (2) my TRM Atom for less, or (3) my Herman Sting for more money. When it comes to a light and thin full size knife, those are all are a similar size but they're not nearly as narrow and light as the Narrows. Only if thickness and weight matters would I pick the Narrows over the others.

I just have to decide if it's worth keeping, or returning for a refund. It's not a bad knife, it's just underwhelming for the price. The refund could pay for a good portion of my new Herman Sting that just arrived.
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I’d hang onto your BM Narrows…BNIB. In a couple years it may go the way of the Anthem and you will get double the MSRP from the Bm fans. 😱
 
I bet Benchmade was probably watching the recent secondary market sales of the Anthem (which is going for $450-$600) and thought the market could handle a $500 price tag. What they forgot is that the Anthem was priced too aggressively when they were still producing them and they were just sitting on dealer shelves so they discontinued the Anthem. Does anyone recall the original retail price of the Anthem? Was it around $400?
 
John Phillips said:
I bet Benchmade was probably watching the recent secondary market sales of the Anthem (which is going for $450-$600) and thought the market could handle a $500 price tag. What they forgot is that the Anthem was priced too aggressively when they were still producing them and they were just sitting on dealer shelves so they discontinued the Anthem. Does anyone recall the original retail price of the Anthem? Was it around $400?
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According to BladeHQ website, msrp was 525 and street price was 446. But it was an integral, those are rare and far between and when you add the axis lock it's a population of 1; oh, and it looked the part.
The Narrow has a msrp of 580, street of 522, so more money, and, maybe it's just me but it doesn't look all that special to warrant that price.
 
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mak1277 said:
Everyone is saying it’s overpriced, not that it’s unworthy of the award. I assume the award doesn’t consider “value” and only looks at the qualities of the knife.

realistically, I just don’t think many people care about the award so it makes sense that nobody is really talking about that part.
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Ok, just to clarify - I will say that the only award this thing deserves is the "Overpriced Joke of the Year Award", and 99.99% of the potential market is thinking the same, even if they don't explicitly post that in this thread.
👍
 
Reswob said:
Ok, just to clarify - I will say that the only award this thing deserves is the "Overpriced Joke of the Year Award", and 99.99% of the potential market is thinking the same, even if they don't explicitly post that in this thread.
👍
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"Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man."
-J.Lebowski

It is the highest form of hypocrisy for people on Blade Forum to complain about pricing. If you're not carrying a Mora, you overpaid.

(Psssst. Ain't nobody in this thread carrying a Mora)
 
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While I appreciate the innovation of the Narrows for moving away from Omega Springs, I have personally discovered that thin knives are not very comfortable for me to use. As someone with large hands, I prefer the feel of a slightly thicker knife in my hand. In fact, I believe that thicker knives offer ergonomic advantages for everyone. Thin knives tend to feel flat and lack the satisfying grip that thicker knives provide. Giggity.
 
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