I'm still just getting to know the "in's and out's" of knives, so I consider myself a knife idiot, but I thought I'd share my initial impressions of my Benchmade Axis Lock knives I recently purchased.
The 710 (satin finish/plain edge) came first. I paid about $105 for it from knifecenter.com. Service was fast as usual. Anyways, I really loved this knife when I first saw it. It was way bigger than the Delica I've been carrying for many years, or even the AFCK and Emerson Raven I owned for all of a few weeks last year. The handle felt comfortable except for the thumb ramp which, for me, felt like it was placed too far back on the handle. The blade is very robust and mine is super sharp. The grind lines seem even and overall the knife has a good look and feel to it. The slight recurve to the blade makes it a great cutter. However, the more I carried and used the knife, the more I realized it was just too big for what I need a folding knife to be.
So, yesterday I'm walking through a knife shop I'd never been to before and I finally see one of these model 730s everyone talks about. I hadn't been real impressed with the pictures I'd seen and felt I had no need for a purple knife. Well, long story short, I try a few out at the store, the guy knocks down the price from $160 to $130 (I know I can get them cheaper online, but the guy was really helpful) and I find myself out the door with a brand new 730 (satin finish/plain edge). Thank you VISA. Mine is labeled as "First Production Run 0388/1000" with 154CM steel. The blade locks up tight and the action is SMOOTH. I know some of you kept telling me that the 730 was much smoother than the 710 and I figured yeah, whatever. Holy crap! The thing is like silk. It is far smoother than my 710 and is much easier to open and close. I also like the blade shape. It would appear to be a better piercer than the 710 due to the slightly thinner blade (I think). It's also a much better size for me. With the 710 it was love at first sight but the love faded everyday. With the 730, it's the opposite. I didn't care for it at first, but everytime I pick it up I like it more and more. The handle is wonderful. The purple/maroon and black color scheme is actually quite attractive and the swell of the handles really fills my smaller hands nicely.
For me, the bottom line is that the 710 is a great outdoors/camping/hunting folder. It is very robust and strong. But for the urban area where I live/attend class/work, it's just too big and menacing looking. The 730 with it's slightly shorter blade and colorful handles make it an outstanding urban blade. It can pass itself off as an unassuming utility knife at the hospital where I work while still being big and strong enough to fill the defense role nicely.
If you've been considering buying either one of these, do it, I guarantee you won't be dissappointed.
Now I wish Benchmade would come out with a sub3" version of the 730 for those trips to Seattle, Chicago, and airline flights.
And thanks to those of you that recommended the 730 to me in previous posts (Five-O and Nightglock).
The 710 (satin finish/plain edge) came first. I paid about $105 for it from knifecenter.com. Service was fast as usual. Anyways, I really loved this knife when I first saw it. It was way bigger than the Delica I've been carrying for many years, or even the AFCK and Emerson Raven I owned for all of a few weeks last year. The handle felt comfortable except for the thumb ramp which, for me, felt like it was placed too far back on the handle. The blade is very robust and mine is super sharp. The grind lines seem even and overall the knife has a good look and feel to it. The slight recurve to the blade makes it a great cutter. However, the more I carried and used the knife, the more I realized it was just too big for what I need a folding knife to be.
So, yesterday I'm walking through a knife shop I'd never been to before and I finally see one of these model 730s everyone talks about. I hadn't been real impressed with the pictures I'd seen and felt I had no need for a purple knife. Well, long story short, I try a few out at the store, the guy knocks down the price from $160 to $130 (I know I can get them cheaper online, but the guy was really helpful) and I find myself out the door with a brand new 730 (satin finish/plain edge). Thank you VISA. Mine is labeled as "First Production Run 0388/1000" with 154CM steel. The blade locks up tight and the action is SMOOTH. I know some of you kept telling me that the 730 was much smoother than the 710 and I figured yeah, whatever. Holy crap! The thing is like silk. It is far smoother than my 710 and is much easier to open and close. I also like the blade shape. It would appear to be a better piercer than the 710 due to the slightly thinner blade (I think). It's also a much better size for me. With the 710 it was love at first sight but the love faded everyday. With the 730, it's the opposite. I didn't care for it at first, but everytime I pick it up I like it more and more. The handle is wonderful. The purple/maroon and black color scheme is actually quite attractive and the swell of the handles really fills my smaller hands nicely.
For me, the bottom line is that the 710 is a great outdoors/camping/hunting folder. It is very robust and strong. But for the urban area where I live/attend class/work, it's just too big and menacing looking. The 730 with it's slightly shorter blade and colorful handles make it an outstanding urban blade. It can pass itself off as an unassuming utility knife at the hospital where I work while still being big and strong enough to fill the defense role nicely.
If you've been considering buying either one of these, do it, I guarantee you won't be dissappointed.
Now I wish Benchmade would come out with a sub3" version of the 730 for those trips to Seattle, Chicago, and airline flights.
And thanks to those of you that recommended the 730 to me in previous posts (Five-O and Nightglock).
