benchmade 551 or benchmade 550

S

sealsniper467

Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
6
yeah so wich one is better, there both about the same price.Any help or advise would appreciated.
aslo what is a good affordable knife sharpening system maybe a regular lanksy system (the non diamond one) or a spyderco sharp maker? :confused:
 
In which regard? I prefer holes for openers but others may like studs.

Doesn´t the search function work? There must be a lot of posts considering your two questions.

Have you ever tried sharpening?

The most affordable "system" is freehand. Any other system costs more. Try it, it is easier than someone would expect at first.

For little edge maintance a ceramic crock stick works great. Guess you will get them in any store.
 
I don't like the beveled oval hole on Benchmades because my thumb slips off of it too often.
So I prefer the 551 for the thumbstuds.
 
I prefer the modified drop point on the 551 to the modified sheepsfoot on the 550. For me it is a more useful all around blade. I really like mine and it's with me constantly.
 
You'll want to consider blade shape and opening method. I like the 551 because I like thumbstuds better. I like the 550 because I like the modified sheepsfoot.
 
I have both in the minigrip form.

I prefer the blade shape of the 550 (I believe, the spyderhole one). However, the thumbstud, in my opinion, is quite superior to this oval-hole. It's fine for one hand opening, but I find it much more difficult to thumb-flick like a spyderhole or thumbstud. This isn't really a problem, as if you want to flick an axis lock knife anyway, you don't even really need to touch the blade, just something to consider.

They're essentially equals...but if they had used the round spyderhole, I would give it to the 550.
 
ok thnks for the replies, im going with 551 , seems that my thumb would slip from the holes.And yes i have sharpened many knives but just couldnt get it really shaving sharp,( like a brand new quality knife)
 
As far as sharpening, get ahold of a Norton India stone with a fine side and practice on old kitchen knives or garage utility blades. Once you get the hang of sharpening with a flat stone, you'll be confident enough to sharpen on anything!
 
hole/stud doesn't matter with an axis lock, just pull back on the lockbar and flick. You don't even need to pull back the lockbar, really.
 
Any of the Grips will serve you well, hole or stud. And yes you will want/need to learn how to sharpen. I like the DMT diamond stones and the Norton stone just mentioned in above post. The Spyderco Sharpmaker is nice also for maintaining a sharp edge but if you need to reprofile it is not the way to go.
 
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