Benchmade 551 Griptilian still in Production?

[Zenturio]

Hello everyone, I wanted to ask if the 551 is still produced? Are there going on changes with this particular model (steel, available bladeshapes and grip colors,...)?

Thanks and BR
Oliver

 

[colin.p]

Hmm...I don't see any mention of any Grip's mini or otherwise on the website. But then again, they still make mention of the 943 and it was discontinued last year (or maybe the year before?). I guess keeping the website accurate and up to date isn't a priority for them.

edit: I was wrong, the Griptillian is listed, but out of stock. Interestingly, it didn't appear under the EDC category but did under Tactical. I never thought my 551 would be a tactical knife.

 

[mrfields]

edit: I was wrong, the Griptillian is listed, but out of stock. Interestingly, it didn't appear under the EDC category but did under Tactical. I never thought my 551 would be a tactical knife.

yeah i saw that too. it seems like a strange time for them to discontinue a model, they usually do so around the beginning of the year. & considering they just updated the blade steel a few years ago i don’t see an upgrade in the works. it’s strange

 

[colin.p]

yeah i saw that too. it seems like a strange time for them to discontinue a model, they usually do so around the beginning of the year. & considering they just updated the blade steel a few years ago i don’t see an upgrade in the works. it’s strange

Yes it is indeed strange, unless of course things are not going well for Benchmade. I know that they had alienated quite a few people in the past with their practices, creating a lot of haters (on this forum as an example).

I do hope that they are able to weather the storm and come out alright, but I think the last couple of years has put a lot of companies (here as well as globally) in a rather precarious situation.
However it is rather moot (for me) as my knife buying days are pretty well over and I will enjoy what I have even though most of what I do have is rarely used anyway.