I received this knife as a passaround and I am quite happy I got in on this one. I have considered purchasing a 710 for a long time, but have not because I have not been able to really handle this model. I have a number of Benchmades and have been satisfied overall with most of them, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.
Having had the knife now for several days, it becomes apparent why this is considered one of the classics. The ergonomics are extremely good, especially for a flat handled knife. The handle is large enough to get a good grip in any hold, yet not too large. The G10 is textured well enough to give good grip in most situations, but shouldnt bother your hand unless you are doing some real extended cutting chore. The clip gets in the way a little, but they almost all do.
The Axis Lock works well, as all of my Axis locks do. It feels like the omega springs in this model are stiffer than others, which may be since this knife is larger than my others.
The blade shape is excellent for all purpose use, enough of a point to be useful and enough curve for slicing ability. In my mind, this is a general purpose shape, which makes it good for most uses, but it does not excel at any specific use, which is what I would prefer in this type of knife.
There are several things I would change if I could. First, I would flat grind the blade instead of saber grinding it. In a folding knife, the thickness of the blade (.114, measured, not just from the website) gives sufficient strength for my needs to not require the additional steel of a saber grind. I would get rid of the swedge, I dont believe it really adds anything to the knife. I would also grind the primary bevel thinner, maybe to 0.020 behind the edge, no more. I would also grind the secondary bevels to no more than 35-38 included angle. This seems to be normal for Benchmade as all the knives I have from them are ground too thick for my taste. The advantage to this is that it leaves enough steel in the blade to put a good convex edge on it, which I prefer anyway.
Other than that, I really like this knife. I will most likely end up selling a couple of other large folders I have and get one of these.
I certainly appreciate the chance to spend some time with this knife.
Richard
Having had the knife now for several days, it becomes apparent why this is considered one of the classics. The ergonomics are extremely good, especially for a flat handled knife. The handle is large enough to get a good grip in any hold, yet not too large. The G10 is textured well enough to give good grip in most situations, but shouldnt bother your hand unless you are doing some real extended cutting chore. The clip gets in the way a little, but they almost all do.
The Axis Lock works well, as all of my Axis locks do. It feels like the omega springs in this model are stiffer than others, which may be since this knife is larger than my others.
The blade shape is excellent for all purpose use, enough of a point to be useful and enough curve for slicing ability. In my mind, this is a general purpose shape, which makes it good for most uses, but it does not excel at any specific use, which is what I would prefer in this type of knife.
There are several things I would change if I could. First, I would flat grind the blade instead of saber grinding it. In a folding knife, the thickness of the blade (.114, measured, not just from the website) gives sufficient strength for my needs to not require the additional steel of a saber grind. I would get rid of the swedge, I dont believe it really adds anything to the knife. I would also grind the primary bevel thinner, maybe to 0.020 behind the edge, no more. I would also grind the secondary bevels to no more than 35-38 included angle. This seems to be normal for Benchmade as all the knives I have from them are ground too thick for my taste. The advantage to this is that it leaves enough steel in the blade to put a good convex edge on it, which I prefer anyway.
Other than that, I really like this knife. I will most likely end up selling a couple of other large folders I have and get one of these.
I certainly appreciate the chance to spend some time with this knife.
Richard
