anyone have a fixed blade contego yet?

nemesis

nemesis

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Nov 5, 2005
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Just curious if anyone has a fixed contego yet? If so what do you think of it, some pictures would be awesome too if anyone has one
 
I was interested until I saw they strayed away from M4 and went with S30V.
 
I am going to get one anyway, would just like to see a picture or two of one in the wild, I'm leaning towards the plain satin model
 
nemesis said:
I am going to get one anyway, would just like to see a picture or two of one in the wild, I'm leaning towards the plain satin model
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I have that model and just got it a few weeks ago, its an excellent blade. Yeah its no m4, but s30v is still a great steel.
 
Jastab said:
I have that model and just got it a few weeks ago, its an excellent blade. Yeah its no m4, but s30v is still a great steel.
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Glad to hear that you like it, have you had a chance to use it much?
 
Moved my mini-review from an earlier thread to this one and posted pictures per request.

After looking the 183 over there is both positive and negative points.

Positive:
- Beautiful shaped and balanced blade - perfect length for a woods knife.
- Blade is mildly stonewashed. Not anywhere near as much as a "Ritter" blade - it is hardly noticeable.
- Blade is really stout, and is sharp with an even edge-grind on both sides.
- The handle is G10 and nicely shaped (except for the negatives listed below).
- It could be used to dress and skin larger animals. For Deer using a forward hold with the thumb on the thick flattened spine it could actually work well for skinning. However, there is other knives that would work better.

Negative:
- The handles hump at the center-bottom is not comfortable when holding in some ways. It is most comfortable with a forward hold. I have average size hands (size 5 gloves).
- I would prefer the smooth G10 had a little more texture for an outdoor knife, but it is still OK.
- The Kydex Sheath has two square "mounds" that a regular belt passes through (one for regular height and the other for higher carry) but since they are hard they will probably dig into your hip/side making it uncomfortable. Also both "mounds" have a large opening that is covered by the belt, but the one not used will expose the blade to water/sweat/mud/dirt and are too high up on the sheath to allow water drainage. All the pictures I've seen of the sheath show the side without the "mounds" so it was a surprise to see them. Two Molle clips (short and long) is included.

So overall, I'd say Benchmade designed it as a tactical knife and I'm sure it is great for that purpose, but for those that want a little "cool" with their outdoor/camping knife it could also be used for either purpose.


Addendum: I experimented with the included "long" Molle clip and it can be threaded vertically through both plastic mounds so it forms a loop that will allow a larger belt to be used. It's still not a very good way, terrible actually to attach the sheath to a belt. I am leaning toward buying a kydex sheath for both my 183 and Bushcrafter from "Godspeed Tactical". To me the best sheath is Ballistic Nylon because the safety strap they use (like on a leather sheath) provides more confidence in retaining the knife. It seems like Kydex is taking over the sheath industry.


Edit: Reposted slightly larger pictures and to say that if you lay the 183 on top of the 810-1401 Contego they are virtually identical in shape and size except the 183 doesn't have the jimping on the bottom, the blade is .008-thousands thicker and has been extended at the rear one-inch.


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Harris2, thanks for the pictures andoverview. The pictures I have found on websites selling it don't do it justice. It just moved up a spot or two on my wishlist
 
Without the coating or partial serrations, that is an attractive knife.

How small are the screws that hold the handle slabs on? It could just be the size of the knife messing with me, but they look TINY.
 
Cypress:

I measured the screw head diameter and they are the same size as the ones used on Benchmade's 581/586/556 models. I didn't remove and measure the thread diameter or pitch since they use locktite.
 
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I just took out my contego to wear it today, and the sheaths belt loops are too small!! They are a tiny slot that only a dress belt could pass. I wear a mission belt, and its average height of about 1.25" and the slot on the sheath is .75-.875"

A reall bummer as there is no other way to attach it to my belt.
I will say benchmade does good quality kydex sheaths, with shitty carrying options. My 375 adamas is a back pocket carry like my contego will be today.
 
I picked up a fixed Contego (satin, plain edge) today at the Dallas gun show. Fantastic looking knife and it feels great in the hand. Like some of the other posters, I'm not a huge fan of the sheath. I'll probably find someone to make a kydex sheath for it.
 
Jastab and others,

The 183 has the first Kydex sheath I have owned, so I may be wrong about this but frustration with the sheath led to some experimenting with the included "long" Molle clip. If you thread it vertically through both plastic mounds it will form a loop that will allow a larger belt to be used for regular camping/backpacking carry. It's still not a very good method for this type of carry, but it does work. I'm sure it was primarily designed for ballistic/tactical vest carry and the mounting system it uses. However, it would have been nice if the sheath had been designed to also allow proper carry using an ordinary larger belt for the campers and backpackers too.

If anyone out there uses a kydex sheath and is familiar with the carry/mounting method Benchmade is using please explain it to us so we can all become Kydex connoisseurs.

Pictures to better illustrate what I discussed above:

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Toyz said:
I was interested until I saw they strayed away from M4 and went with S30V.
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That is disappointing to me too. I regret selling my Nimravus in M2 and a Fixed Contego in M4 would be a good replacement.
 
Those are some tiny screws on the handles for a fixed blade. Hard to tell may just be the photos but I prefer a fixed blade with more belly.
 
That sheath isn't kydex...it's injection molded. Do not decry kydex based on the monstrosity they shipped, since it's a different material.

Knife looks great though! I'd like to handle one.
 
OK, now I'm confused! :confused: Copied directly from Benchmades Website:

Blade Length: 4.97"
Blade Thickness: 0.164"
Handle Thickness: 0.620"
Blade Material: S30V Premium Stainless Steel
Blade Hardness: 58-60HRC
Blade Style: Reverse Tanto
Weight: 7.14oz.
Pocket Clip: No Clip
Lock Mechanism: Fixed
Overall Length: 10.18"
Sheath Material: Multi-Position Molded Kydex w/ Adjustable Detent
Class: Black
 
M4 is the perfect steel for a small fixed blade in my opinion. They really dropped the ball on this one. S30V is one of my least favorite steels because every one I've owned has chipped under mild use. I will not be buying this.
 
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