Hey guys, I just received my 710 today and wanted to know what NOT to do. Should I not play with it and flick it open and closed? Is the swing open method okay or should I stick to the stuff to not damage it? Thanks.
Well, why would you want to deliberately damage you new knife?
Are you performing a limit-test?
Honestly, you should avoid playing with your knife in general, as all action wears on the tool. That said, all Benchmades are warrantied for life against "manufacturer defects" which includes catastrophic failure during normal use. They are warrantied because they are built to handle the "use" you describe. So
use our knife appropriately and don't worry.
Use the thumbstud to open it. Don’t wrist snap it open, it doesn’t open any faster and it’s hard on the stop pin. (This is true for any folder)
Flicking it open via the thumbstud can be as hard on the stop-pin as a wrist-flick, it all depends on how much force you employ. The same is true for the reverse action (i.e. closing the knife onto the internal stop-pin).
However, openning any knife via a wrist-flick is inherently more dangerous due to user error wherein the knife can escape the hand and become a projectile! Folding knives have the studs/holes/nicks/flippers/etc. for a reason.
That said, I commonly both open and close my axis knives by disengaging the lock-bar and giving a
slight flick such that the knife meets either stop-pin with minimal force. With practice, one becomes increasingly proficient at this.
I had a small griptillian that failed within a couple weeks because I was constantly flicking it open and closed. My problem was that I was doing it a 100 times in a row and I think the spring finally got warm enough to just snap. I know this is mostly my fault but I didn't see it coming.
I might be a rare breed, but i've been reluctant to use my other griptillian and buying another BM because of it...
Um, yeah, have you tried decaf? Maybe ditch the Redbull? They are knives, not toys... To each his own, I guess, but I would recommend that you not get another knife of
any kind. You know you can wear out a back-lock spring and slip-joint as well? That said, spring failure should be covered under warranty - did you get it replaced?
Opening it a zillion times is fine and won't cause a failure. It's the wrist-flicking that simply beats the crap out of all of the metal parts. 
