Preface: Never saw much talk about the 581 on the general board, so I had intended to take some outdoor photos (cuz indoor photos be fugly) for those who hadn't seen it yet. Not realizing (till now) there's already been a couple reviews of it on here already. Decisions, decisions. But I decided, "aah, what the hell, more the merrier"
Have had the knife a few days now. It arrived with a weird grind (edge wise) I didn't like. Sharp on one side, dull on the other. So I re-profiled it with the Edge Pro system to 15º per side. Factory edge was something weird like 20/25 - took awhile to get both edges on par and to 15º. After I got it scary sharp I took it outside and annihilated some branches I found on the ground. Taking great pains to essentially ruin my freshly scraped and polished scary sharp edge. It held up ok. But after I was done molesting the hell out of the edge with multiple hard old dried out branches and softer wet branches, It wouldn't shave my arm hair much at all. Few quick passes on my Sharpmaker it shaves hair with ease. So given the ease at which my edge was restored to more than adequate sharpness, I'm far from being malcontent. I'm absolutely fine with the steel's performance.
Fit and finish, I'll be honest. It's not quite up to Spyderco's Taiwan level. The spine of the blade had a small nicks (more felt then seen) that surprised me. But we're talking on a nit picky level here, not like poor QC or anything. The blade is also not perfectly centered. But again, it's about 1-1.5 thickness of a human hair off. Nothing to cry about, just something noticeable. Bottom line, the little FnF imperfections are not a big deal. On the other hand, you have to look at the overall cost of 205 dollars. I expect a little better then this from BM. I'd still rate the 581 a 9/10 for FnF tho.
Unlike Nutnfancy, when I test for blade play I hold closer to the tip of the blade, not as close to the tang as possible. Pretty useless, imo. That being said, there was a little side to side blade play. After tightening the pivot a bit the blade did lose a little smoothness, but that's the tradeoff when you want zero blade play on a folder. And truth be told, for how much I tightened the pivot, it should have been a lot less smoother opening then it is. So that deserves a bit of praise. The spring being used for the assisted opening mechanism is no pansy either. That's for damn sure. I literally keep checking the stop pin for dents, it slams into it so hard. Out of the box it had the biggest "wow!" factor of all assisted openers I've tried to date. Impressive.
I love G10, especially the wood grain looking stuff. Albeit subtle in this instance, it's still very attractive looking. Love it. My father complained it was too smooth, but I like it just fine.
I wish the bolsters were a little less "aluminum" looking, perhaps anodized with a smokey or bluish look. Or hey how about Titanium bolsters ??? Not sure why a knife in this price range lacks titanium bolsters. Then again, do I really care all that much ? Naah.
That's about all I have to say about the BM 581. Other than, it's a solid knife and well worth checkin out.
Unfortunately, I never thought to photograph the wood I was carving the other day, so if you were expecting "in use" photos, I apologize. These are clear, nice photos. But admittedly, a bit boring. If it's warmer outside tomorrow ( yeah yeah, what a wuss) I'll take some photos of the knife being used for those who prefer those types over the "poser" ones below.
Have had the knife a few days now. It arrived with a weird grind (edge wise) I didn't like. Sharp on one side, dull on the other. So I re-profiled it with the Edge Pro system to 15º per side. Factory edge was something weird like 20/25 - took awhile to get both edges on par and to 15º. After I got it scary sharp I took it outside and annihilated some branches I found on the ground. Taking great pains to essentially ruin my freshly scraped and polished scary sharp edge. It held up ok. But after I was done molesting the hell out of the edge with multiple hard old dried out branches and softer wet branches, It wouldn't shave my arm hair much at all. Few quick passes on my Sharpmaker it shaves hair with ease. So given the ease at which my edge was restored to more than adequate sharpness, I'm far from being malcontent. I'm absolutely fine with the steel's performance.
Fit and finish, I'll be honest. It's not quite up to Spyderco's Taiwan level. The spine of the blade had a small nicks (more felt then seen) that surprised me. But we're talking on a nit picky level here, not like poor QC or anything. The blade is also not perfectly centered. But again, it's about 1-1.5 thickness of a human hair off. Nothing to cry about, just something noticeable. Bottom line, the little FnF imperfections are not a big deal. On the other hand, you have to look at the overall cost of 205 dollars. I expect a little better then this from BM. I'd still rate the 581 a 9/10 for FnF tho.
Unlike Nutnfancy, when I test for blade play I hold closer to the tip of the blade, not as close to the tang as possible. Pretty useless, imo. That being said, there was a little side to side blade play. After tightening the pivot a bit the blade did lose a little smoothness, but that's the tradeoff when you want zero blade play on a folder. And truth be told, for how much I tightened the pivot, it should have been a lot less smoother opening then it is. So that deserves a bit of praise. The spring being used for the assisted opening mechanism is no pansy either. That's for damn sure. I literally keep checking the stop pin for dents, it slams into it so hard. Out of the box it had the biggest "wow!" factor of all assisted openers I've tried to date. Impressive.
I love G10, especially the wood grain looking stuff. Albeit subtle in this instance, it's still very attractive looking. Love it. My father complained it was too smooth, but I like it just fine.
I wish the bolsters were a little less "aluminum" looking, perhaps anodized with a smokey or bluish look. Or hey how about Titanium bolsters ??? Not sure why a knife in this price range lacks titanium bolsters. Then again, do I really care all that much ? Naah.
That's about all I have to say about the BM 581. Other than, it's a solid knife and well worth checkin out.
Unfortunately, I never thought to photograph the wood I was carving the other day, so if you were expecting "in use" photos, I apologize. These are clear, nice photos. But admittedly, a bit boring. If it's warmer outside tomorrow ( yeah yeah, what a wuss) I'll take some photos of the knife being used for those who prefer those types over the "poser" ones below.
Last edited:
. The spring doesn't seem as strong because the blade is heavier, but pushing the knife closed will immediately show which spring is stronger.
.