Bench Mark and Bear & Son...

Orion

Orion

Joined
Oct 4, 1998
Messages
529
OK, so what is the relationship between these two companies? They make the same exact knives but put them out under different names... Is one a subsidiary of the other? What am I missing here?
 
They are $10 to $30 knives, so they are probably mass produced overseas somewhere and different brand names get slapped on. My rule of thumb is to avoid knives that cost less than a steak does
 
unwisefool said:
They are $10 to $30 knives, so they are probably mass produced overseas somewhere and different brand names get slapped on. My rule of thumb is to avoid knives that cost less than a steak does
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I just bought a nice Swedish knife for $8.99, about half the price of a lutefisk dinner. There are plenty of good knives that don’t cost a lot of money.
 
Not sure.

Bench Mark has some history of being its own brand at it’s inception, with being sold to Gerber later on, and having ties to Blackie Collins.

Bear and Sons are their own brand that in 2015 started making knives for Remington, and have a couple of lines, including Bear Ops.

Are you seeing knives that look exactly the same?
 
Henry Beige said:
I just bought a nice Swedish knife for $8.99, about half the price of a lutefisk dinner. There are plenty of good knives that don’t cost a lot of money.
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Does anyone actually like lutefisk? I grew up eating it every Thanksgiving (my paternal great-grandfather was Norwegian). It was one of those required foods that no one enjoyed. When my great grandma passed, the tradition stopped. Both my grandma and mom refused to make it.

Anyway, I'm not familiar with benchmark, but I know a bit about bear and son. I had a client who worked for them a long time until they laid off a bunch of people.

They seem a bit overpriced, but it looks like most of their stuff is made in the USA. I must say their designs are not the most original.
 
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I'm not sure what their relationship is. I do go to the Bear&Son knife sale once a year at their company around Thanksgiving and they always have some other brands on the last couple of tables that are not of their making. I did ask a lady at the sale if Benchmark was part of Bear and she told me no they just bring them in to have some less expensive items.
 
Back in the early 80's Benchmark was the manufacturer of the original Rolox knife.

The Rolox was expensive for its time and I remember they were close to $100 back then.
When I was a teen, I was looking at them at a mall kiosk and the dealer wouldn't even let me handle it.

Gerber bought the brand in the 90's and made a less expensive version, the Rolox II. It was designed by the late Blackie Collins.

I don't know who owns the brand today, but Bear makes Benchmark branded butterfly knives for them.

Here's my Rolox II, the sheath has a pocket clip and opens the blade as you pull the knife out.

rolox2b.jpg
 
Actually for the money, they make pretty good stuff, especially for beaters. I saw them on line and bought one of each because I was curious. They aren't very expensive. The blades have a slightly different grind but not enough to make a difference. The handles are identical (even the color). Looks like they came from the same factory. I have no problem with the quality I was just wondering if they were produced by the same company. I will see if I can find links to both of them. I could take a pic of both of them together but it would be easier to find a link...
 
I have a Bear & Sons sodbuster, bought it out of curiosity for around $50 I think. Good steel whatever it is, holds a good edge. Overall construction is pretty crude though. I keep it as a loaner.
 
Unfortunately B&S is hit or miss and I really want to support them ( small US company in Alabama).

I've got one of their folding hunters and it's an excellent knife. Holds an edge , fit and finish is very good.
Also got one of their Bradley butterfly knives and that one is good too ( although some owners have had issues).

But some of their Remington slipjoints and swinguards are not as good as when Camillus was making them.
 
JPD1998 said:
Back in the early 80's Benchmark was the manufacturer of the original Rolox knife.

The Rolox was expensive for its time and I remember they were close to $100 back then.
When I was a teen, I was looking at them at a mall kiosk and the dealer wouldn't even let me handle it.

Gerber bought the brand in the 90's and made a less expensive version, the Rolox II. It was designed by the late Blackie Collins.

I don't know who owns the brand today, but Bear makes Benchmark branded butterfly knives for them.

Here's my Rolox II, the sheath has a pocket clip and opens the blade as you pull the knife out.

View attachment 1391429
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I have a couple of the original pre-Goober Rolox knives from Benchmark. They are incredibly good knives, but not the most practical. You can open with one hand but you must close with two. They can be opened as fast as a flipper, but are slow to put away. Beautiful knives. One has wooden scales that are nicely figured and the other has stag scales (it is a first run). They were very expensive.
 
DocT said:
I have a couple of the original pre-Goober Rolox knives from Benchmark. They are incredibly good knives, but not the most practical. You can open with one hand but you must close with two. They can be opened as fast as a flipper, but are slow to put away. Beautiful knives. One has wooden scales that are nicely figured and the other has stag scales (it is a first run). They were very expensive.
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I remember lusting over them in a display case and when I asked to see one, the dealer said " those are $100" and ignored me. I was earning about $150 a week back then.
But yes they are beautiful knives.
 
Henry Beige said:
I just bought a nice Swedish knife for $8.99, about half the price of a lutefisk dinner. There are plenty of good knives that don’t cost a lot of money.
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I'm sorry I can't get past the lutefisk comment, that stuff is one of the few foods that makes me gag just thinking about it. :confused:
 
I have a bear ops rancor 2, it's an excellent knife !!
USA made, s30v steel, great action.

Not sure about the relationship with those makers, but I really like that knife.
 
unwisefool said:
I'm sorry I can't get past the lutefisk comment, that stuff is one of the few foods that makes me gag just thinking about it. :confused:
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There’s a picky eater in every crowd. My post wasn’t about lutefisk.
 
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unwisefool said:
I'm sorry I can't get past the lutefisk comment, that stuff is one of the few foods that makes me gag just thinking about it. :confused:
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As mentioned in my above post, I concur. You couldn't buy me a lutefisk dinner. If I had to choose between lutefisk and the guillotine, I think I'd have to say the latter.

F430wpc.jpg
 
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Henry Beige said:
There’s a picky eater in every crowd. My post wasn’t about lutefisk.
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You are correct, it was not. I guess it really depends on your definition of "good". I'm guessing mine might be skewed higher than yours. So if you think a $9 knife is good, that's fine. I wouldn't waste the time looking at it, but that's my personal preference.
 
I have actually seen some good knives that were not expensive, though rarely. Even the Mora only runs $12-$16 and the Opinel is inexpensive, as well. Some traditionals are better than Case that are really inexpensive. I've got an Outdoor Edge Wedge that is the best neck knife I have used and I do not have to worry if I lose it. There are people that skin deer with them. It is not the price that makes a knife good. I wouldn't give a dollar for some of the high end knives I've seen. Rather, it is the quality of the materials, design, and workmanship that make a knife good.
 
I have quite a few knives over the $300 range and my 2 favorite hunting knives is either a Buck 110 or the B&S folding hunter mentioned above (total cost less than $100)

My wife carries an Opinel #8 or a Douk Douk, she has no interest in high dollar knives, only knives that work.
 
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