Benchmade Bailouts and Bugouts

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Mikel_24 said:
Quick question, what where you doing with your knife that caused that flex you are mentioning? I am not talking about the "weak feel", I am talking about true flexing of the knife. I understand you are referring to the pivot area (blade to handle junction).

Mikel
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Hi Mikel,
It wasn’t through use, but as many knife buyers do I grab the blade and handle and attempt to flex the knife... and the bugout flexes very easily. I’m not saying it’s justified from a practical use perspective, but it doesn’t inspire confidence... much like the argument around “does centered matter if it doesn’t rub the scales”.
Basically, if I had to subject the knife to extreme use in some scenario, the grivory left me skeptical.. but this aluminum M4 has me saying “bring it on”.
 
CVamberbonehead said:
$212?!?!?! Holy cow! I thought the standard series was overpriced but thats crazy. That knife does look awesome though lol
Anyway, I hate the flexible handles of the grivory models. It isnt exactly confidence inspiring.... More than anything though I hate how thin they are, just uncomfortable to use except as a letter opener. Like a blade sandwiched between 2 pieces of paper.
Also, someone said the griptilian line is similar but....not really. The grips have steel liners, full liners on the mini and partial liners on the full size. They also have much larger FRN scales that are less flexible. They feel better in use and they dont flex like the bugout. I would say theyre much stronger, though I havent done experiments or anything.
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I meant in terms of the durability of the material itself. They've been using it a long time. But yes, the grips just plain and simple have more grivory.
 
The stock Bugout scales were fine to me, but I've grown to love plastic handles. I did upgrade to G-10 handle slabs (the ones sold by KSF) and they're an improvement in terms of stiffness and not feeling as cheap, but for practical use purposes I was fine with the stock handle setup.
 
Still don't get the "flex" complaint. I mean how tight do you all squeeze your handles while using your knife? Sounds like a death grip squeeze. Yes, they flex but not that much!
 
I think the Bugout's best attribute is the blade-to-weight ratio, it's got a full size blade and still manages to just disappear in a pocket because of how light it is. You can't really buy such a lightweight knife and expect the handle to be completely rigid, and when I was trying mine out I never noticed any flex in the handle doing normal EDC knife things. My Bugout ultimately lost the battle of lightweight folders to my Native LW but not because of any handle issues, and it was still probably the nicest knife for its weight that I've ever owned; any handle flex seems trivial compared to the rest of its qualities.
 
I bought the original Bugout for $113 during a members' sale at REI. I knew about the Grivory grips and didn't think it would be an issue. At the time, I didn't know that BM had a newer version of the knife, the 535-2 with "CF Elite" grips. When I got my earlier version, there were a couple of other issues with it that I didn't want to mess with and returned it. A few days later I learned they had this newer version with stiffer scales and took a flier on it for the same price. Love it! This one is actually lighter than the original and is now part of my daily carry. It's not designed to be a heavy duty knife but more of a hiker/backpacker blade for lighter duty tasks. I don't care for metal scales and I'm not one to spend money on aftermarket scales in any event. The new version of this knife checks pretty much all my boxes.
 
fatBatman said:
Hi Mikel,
It wasn’t through use, but as many knife buyers do I grab the blade and handle and attempt to flex the knife... and the bugout flexes very easily. I’m not saying it’s justified from a practical use perspective, but it doesn’t inspire confidence... much like the argument around “does centered matter if it doesn’t rub the scales”.
Basically, if I had to subject the knife to extreme use in some scenario, the grivory left me skeptical.. but this aluminum M4 has me saying “bring it on”.
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I saw the Cold Steel video someone posted and read your post, but didn't get arround to reply. They do seem flimsy if your metric is to squeeze them together, other than that it windstood a fair amount of weight before failing. And don't forget that force was exerted in order to test the lock (closing force). Given the shape of the handle I am sure it could windstand even more weight the other way (which mimics the forces created when actually cutting something).

I think that, again, it is a matter of what the knife will be used for.

I don't own a Bugout but seems that it is aimed to provide a a fair sized blade in a light package. I am one of those who actually CARE about weight. The ligther, the better. The ligther my items are, the more I can carry for the same weight and or the less weight I will carry while enjoying the same number of items. Here is about 144€, I may get one one day (still have plenty of lightweight knives for hiking, climbing, etc.)

Mikel
 
I've been pleased with my Bugout. I should add though, that I bought it with the express intent of putting micarta scales on it and I never even carried it with the plastic to the best of my recollection. Does it flex? Hell, I don't know. I never considered trying and I don't intend to. I cut things with it. In that capacity, and in that of a lightweight knife it has served me well. Being a lightweight knife it often finds it's way into my pocket as an around the house knife, which leads to it getting plenty of use, and I must say I like the knife.

As for the mini? Honestly I don't get it. The Bugout is a small knife already and I can't imagine handling it and wanting something smaller. Nothing against those who like it, and I appreciate us all having options, just not my thing. Perhaps I have yet to be enlightened, so I preserve my right to change my opinion on this in the future ;).

I found the new Bailout intriguing upon first sight. First of all it looks cool and gives me that "I want that knife" feeling. I dig the OD aluminum scales and I think they have the possibility of looking cool when well worn as well. So far, however, I just haven't found an intended use for a spot in my rotation to justify picking it up at the price. Plus there have just been other knives that I want more. If it were a touch cheaper I would likely have picked it up on impulse by now, and I can certainly see myself grabbing one at some point.


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Knives&Lint said:
I've been pleased with my Bugout. I should add though, that I bought it with the express intent of putting micarta scales on it and I never even carried it with the plastic to the best of my recollection. Does it flex? Hell, I don't know. I never considered trying and I don't intend to. I cut things with it. In that capacity, and in that of a lightweight knife it has served me well. Being a lightweight knife it often finds it's way into my pocket as an around the house knife, which leads to it getting plenty of use, and I must say I like the knife.

As for the mini? Honestly I don't get it. The Bugout is a small knife already and I can't imagine handling it and wanting something smaller. Nothing against those who like it, and I appreciate us all having options, just not my thing. Perhaps I have yet to be enlightened, so I preserve my right to change my opinion on this in the future ;).

I found the new Bailout intriguing upon first sight. First of all it looks cool and gives me that "I want that knife" feeling. I dig the OD aluminum scales and I think they have the possibility of looking cool when well worn as well. So far, however, I just haven't found an intended use for a spot in my rotation to justify picking it up at the price. Plus there have just been other knives that I want more. If it were a touch cheaper I would likely have picked it up on impulse by now, and I can certainly see myself grabbing one at some point.


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Who did those scales? I'm happy with my G-10 scales, but I love micarta and those look great.
 
evilgreg said:
Who did those scales? I'm happy with my G-10 scales, but I love micarta and those look great.
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Thanks! They are Allen Putman scales. I didn't but them from his site but from one of the usual dealers (I can't remember which).
 
I love my Bugout. Easily my most carried knife. I did put some Aimfront Aluminum scales on it but that's just because I like to customize things. In the 8 months I had mine stock I never felt like the knife would fail through a daily task and honestly if they had called the Bugout something like "city knife" or something I don't think this would have ever been an issue people brought up.
 
ktataragasi said:
I love my Bugout. Easily my most carried knife. I did put some Aimfront Aluminum scales on it but that's just because I like to customize things. In the 8 months I had mine stock I never felt like the knife would fail through a daily task and honestly if they had called the Bugout something like "city knife" or something I don't think this would have ever been an issue people brought up.
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My understanding of the reason for this knife (I own the 535-2 version) is for hiking and backpacking ounce counters. It's main uses would be food prep, feather sticks, and other similar lighter duty tasks. It's not something one would want to use for, say, batoning (but I wouldn't use most folders, at least of the ones I own) for that task anyway; that's a fixed blade use IMO. Good point about the name along the lines of City Knife. Calling it the Bugout has an implication that this would be a good choice for an emergency evacuation. It wouldn't be my choice for that but I carry mine daily along with the Executive SAK (which sees far more use).
 
fatBatman said:
View attachment 1342982 Hey everyone,

I recall all the hype around the weight of the bugout when it was launched, and over time the releases of the bailout and mini bugout followed.

My chief complaint about these extreme weight-reduced knives has been the flex and generally weak feel to the pivot due to the scale material.

I tried the bugout and this flex caused me to sell it. The bailout looked like an appealing blade shape to me, but same scale material caused me to skip it.

A week ago I noticed the M4 bailout in aluminum, and past experience with AWT scales being favorable for reduced weight and good strength led me to purchase it. I’ve been carrying it for about a week now and while I feel the knife is high on the price side, it carries well, there is absolutely zero flex or play, and the cerakote M4 tanto is a huge plus. It seems maybe Benchmade heard the complaints about flex and said “cool, here’s aluminum, and a glass breaker in case you get your car stuck upside down in a ditch or need to pull someone out of a flaming vehicle, we good now?” I mean, what’s a “BAILout” knife without the ability to break windows?

My question to all of you is, what are some of your thoughts on the bugout/bailout line? How do you like the mini bugout? Any issues with heavy use? Have any of you played around with aftermarket scales? What have you found to be your perfect bugout/bailout recipe?

I’m starting to consider adding a bugout with aftermarket scales to the rotation.

Thanks
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I really want the new Bailout. I’m a big Tanto guy.. But I’m wanting to see if they’ll release it with black alum scales and I’m sold. I’m also not a fan of the grivory scales.
 
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PB3366 said:
If only it had black aluminum scales :(
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I like black too but most of my knives are black so this was a refreshing change up for me.
But if there’s anything certain in the knife world: “Black scales” means “more sales”. Just ask spyderco.
 
fishface5 said:
I think the OEM "cf elite" scales are supposed to be less flexy? CSG CSG did you notice that?
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Yes, they are considerably less flexy by, I would guess, about half. I could squeeze the original so the scales would touch. I can get about halfway there with this version.

I returned the original version that I'd gotten during an REI sale, less because of the flex than I got one that should have been B stock. I far prefer the 535-2 version. I have ZERO interest in metal scales and I don't customize my knives; I want them right (for me) out of the box.
 
I passed on the bugout the first time around. It also felt weak and cheap to me. But I finally bought one and it’s now one of my favorites.
Here’s a good video for you. This guy beats on his bugout pretty good.
 
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