I've never owned a knife with an M4 blade as I prefer stainless and like M390 as my high-end steel. Have you had any Benchmades with S30V chip? Were they older or newer models? My understanding is that the heat treatment is key to S30V's strength versus brittleness and was told Benchmade has made great strides in their current heat treatment process. I read somewhere that early production Benchmade S30V blades did have some brittleness, but it is no longer an issue. I hope it's true because I own the Benchmade 183, 162, and several Ritter models that use S30V and haven't had any of them chip yet.
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anyone have a fixed blade contego yet?
- Thread starter nemesis
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I've never owned a knife with an M4 blade as I prefer stainless and like M390 as my high-end steel. Have you had any Benchmades with S30V chip? Were they older or newer models? My understanding is that the heat treatment is key to S30V's strength versus brittleness and was told Benchmade has made great strides in their current heat treatment process. I read somewhere that early production Benchmade S30V blades did have some brittleness, but it is no longer an issue. I hope it's true because I own the Benchmade 183, 162, and several Ritter models that use S30V and haven't had any of them chip yet.
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- Nov 27, 2012
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M4's edge holding is comparable to M390, with a slight edge going to M390 in my experience. I've had benchmades and ZTs in S30V chip on me. It was made at least three years ago.
M4 is perfect for small fixed knives in my opinion because the toughness is more necessary as they are used for harsher jobs, but still need to have good wear resistance that may not be necessary in a big chopper. Unfortunately, I don't own a small fixed blade in M4 because not many are made :grumpy:. I have several M4 folders though. I live on the coast and am on the water often and have not had issues with rust. I do oil them though.
M4 is perfect for small fixed knives in my opinion because the toughness is more necessary as they are used for harsher jobs, but still need to have good wear resistance that may not be necessary in a big chopper. Unfortunately, I don't own a small fixed blade in M4 because not many are made :grumpy:. I have several M4 folders though. I live on the coast and am on the water often and have not had issues with rust. I do oil them though.
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OK, now I'm 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
Common manufacturer statement. I build kydex sheaths and holsters.....that's not kydex. You can tell by the dome over the handle, the ramp on the body of the sheath, the belt attachment molded in, and the Benchmade logo...that's injection molded, not kydex.
I felt the same way about the fixed blade as I did the folder, I really like the look, and the blade shape considering the rift is one of my favs, but not the function of the handle shape. To me it really limited the comfort of various hand positions. I also thought it was overpriced for S30V but that applies to just about every BM now, for their pricing it's not out of line now that the nimravus is $185-200