Hey guys, I still relatively new to the knife using and collecting, but I picked up a knife that I feel is particularily impressive. I'm a bit of a BM collector because I really like their styles and build quality is pretty good, but this one stands out even more to me because it is so well put together and a joy to use. The Mini-Onslaught is a lot of knife for the money, and it oozes quality and refinement for a knife I picked up for 120 dollars.
Sorry to everyone for the lack of pictures, I might be able to put some up later, but for now, this is going to be a text review.
Stats:: These are directly taken off of BM's website
Blade Length: 3.45 inches
Blade Thickness: .114 inches
Blade Material: 154CM
Blade Style: Modified Clip-point
Handle Length: 4.43
Handle Material: Black G10
Liners: 420J (Skeletonized)
Weight: 3.90 oz.
Designer: Bob Lum
Quality: First off, like all the other BM knives I own, the quality of this knife is good. The G10 handles are nicely contoured, the black liners are not chipped or scratched from the factory, and the knife was just very clean from the factory. I'm not super picky about having a centered blade, but this came perfectly centered with the pivot point at the perfect place for my use. The G10 scales are smooth but not slick and this keeps the knife from ripping up pockets. Personally, the biggest reason why I feel like this is a quality knife is because of how smoothly the knife opens and closes. There is no grittiness or catching in the pivot throughout the entire opening of the blade, and this is one of the few knives I can open both slowly and quickly without any hangups.
Design: This knife has a very nice curved handle, which really helps my hand grip it tight in any position I've tried. Like mentioned, it has smooth G10 but this does not make the Mini-Onslaught overly slippery in any way, even when my hands were a bit wet. The Axis lock is, as always, very easy to use and the knife can be flicked open and closed without any change in grip. The modified clip point blade has a lot of belly and from my basic use up to this point cuts very well. Some people might think the blade tip is a bit thin and to be honest, compared to my other knives it is slightly thinner, but since I use my knives for cutting things I have no problem with the tip and the general profile of the blade makes it cut through everyday things very effectively. One thing that is extremely well designed in my opinion is the location of the thumbhole. I usually do not like most thumbhole designs because I have to change my grip in order to fully open the blade, and I cannot get enough torque out of my thumb to flick open most Spyderco knives, but on the Mini-Onslaught the location is perfect. Part of the thumbhole is actually slightly under the liners, but since it is so close to the knife body, I can flick open the knife, or ease it open slowly extremely easily without any change in grip.
Blade: The blade works out very well for me at this point due to the shape and length. Since I primarily live in a city with a 3.5 inch blade limit, the full size Onslaught was too big and the Mini-Onslaught was the perfect size with the 3.45 inch blade. It works very well for both push and pull cuts and seems to cut most everyday materials such as plastic wrap and paper just fine. I have not tested on anything extreme yet and do not plan to, since I don't really need to use a folding knife to cut up extreme amounts of cardboard or to baton wood. Like I mentioned in the previous section, the blade tip is slightly thin compared to most of my other knives but since I do not abuse my knives and use them to cut, I have no problem with the thinness. The blade is flat ground with a swedge and since it is also thin, it cuts better than my BM 520 Presidio. The only problem I have faced with this knife is the factory grind. Like many other people on the forums, most of my Benchmades come with not very sharp grinds and although it will shave arm hair, I have to be pretty dedicated and pushy in order to shave hair. I will end up sharpening the blade soon, but since I am not too good at it and because this is a nice knife, I will have a local knifestore owner sharpen it up with an Edgepro. Finally, it seems like BM's 154CM is pretty wear resistant, and for what I do it keeps sharp enough for long periods of time. In comparison my Kershaw Skyline has 14C28N Sandvik steel, which is extremely easy to sharpen and get shaving sharp, but it seems to dull quickly for me.
Personal Opinion: This has become my new EDC knife because of the build quality, ease of use, and amazing ergonomics. Out of all my knives, this Mini-Onslaught is one of the few that seems like it was designed and fit just for my hand. The smooth G10 scales just feel right and work well, and even look cool too
. The blade is easy to deploy and retract after use and there is no play in any direction at all, making me feel even more secure while using it. The Axis lock is as always, awesome to use and on this knife, feels even more secure due to the short travel of the bar and consistent and audible click as it locks up tight. Due to restrictions in my home town, I have to carry clipped so that I am not concealing the knife, and the pocket clip works extremely well. It is a shiny silver clip with enough tension to keep it on my pants, but not enough to pull up my pants as I pull out my knife. In combination with the smooth G10 scales and nice clip, the knife will slip in and out of your pocket without destroying your pants, while having enough retention to keep the knife from slipping out every time you sit down.
The only downsides I see to this knife are the clip point blade and thin tip. Personally I don't usually use knives around non-knife people unless I really have to cut something, but I've already got comments from some friends who think the knife looks "scary" (although personally, this is one of the few clip point style knives I love). The thin tip, although not a problem for me, seems like something that would keep some people from buying this knife as a hard use knife. I would consider this knife a medium duty knife, which is tough enough for most everything, but shouldn't be abused or used as a prybar like many people who expect tactical looking knives to perform. The pivot is certainly beefy enough with large phosphor bronze washers to prevent play.
Finally, all the reasons above are why this knife is my current favorite EDC. This is not because it is my newest knife (although that might have a little to do with it). Like mentioned before, it performs extremely well for me, is easy to carry, looks nice, feels nice, and exudes an air of quality that just draws me to this knife every day I have to pick one. If I were to pick one knife to carry for a month, I would pick this knife hands down. In comparison, if I knew I was going somewhere shady and might need a knife for self defense (or in my case, mostly just self reassurance 
), I would carry my BM 520 Presidio, which to me is a hard use knife, but it is heavy in comparison, not as refined, and just straight up destroys my pockets. Up to this point though, I just love the feel of the Mini-Onslaught and think Benchmade hit a home run with this design and the way it was implemented. I'm just extremely sad that Bob Lum is deceased, because if his input and design could produce such a refined production knife, I really wonder what his customs must be like. Kudos to Benchmade for working with Bob Lum to bring this spectacular design to the market (hopefully they bring back Bob Lum's Dejavoo and Mini-Dejavoo, some of the smoothest and well made liner locks I've ever handled, although I wouldn't mind an Axis lock version ).
Hey, for anyone still with me at this point, thanks for reading. I know I was rambling a bit, but this was my first review and hopefully I get better as time goes on. As always, these are my opinions on a knife you may necessarily not love as much as I do, so I recommend hitting up your local knife store to handle one, you may be suprised like I was .
Thanks a lot for reading.
Edit: Totally forgot due to my ramblings, but if you have any specific questions on the knife, just let me know and I'll help you out. I know I sound like a fanboy after this review, but I want to help make sure you get all questions answered so that you buy a knife that you really think is worth it. Thanks.
Sorry to everyone for the lack of pictures, I might be able to put some up later, but for now, this is going to be a text review.
Stats:: These are directly taken off of BM's website
Blade Length: 3.45 inches
Blade Thickness: .114 inches
Blade Material: 154CM
Blade Style: Modified Clip-point
Handle Length: 4.43
Handle Material: Black G10
Liners: 420J (Skeletonized)
Weight: 3.90 oz.
Designer: Bob Lum
Quality: First off, like all the other BM knives I own, the quality of this knife is good. The G10 handles are nicely contoured, the black liners are not chipped or scratched from the factory, and the knife was just very clean from the factory. I'm not super picky about having a centered blade, but this came perfectly centered with the pivot point at the perfect place for my use. The G10 scales are smooth but not slick and this keeps the knife from ripping up pockets. Personally, the biggest reason why I feel like this is a quality knife is because of how smoothly the knife opens and closes. There is no grittiness or catching in the pivot throughout the entire opening of the blade, and this is one of the few knives I can open both slowly and quickly without any hangups.
Design: This knife has a very nice curved handle, which really helps my hand grip it tight in any position I've tried. Like mentioned, it has smooth G10 but this does not make the Mini-Onslaught overly slippery in any way, even when my hands were a bit wet. The Axis lock is, as always, very easy to use and the knife can be flicked open and closed without any change in grip. The modified clip point blade has a lot of belly and from my basic use up to this point cuts very well. Some people might think the blade tip is a bit thin and to be honest, compared to my other knives it is slightly thinner, but since I use my knives for cutting things I have no problem with the tip and the general profile of the blade makes it cut through everyday things very effectively. One thing that is extremely well designed in my opinion is the location of the thumbhole. I usually do not like most thumbhole designs because I have to change my grip in order to fully open the blade, and I cannot get enough torque out of my thumb to flick open most Spyderco knives, but on the Mini-Onslaught the location is perfect. Part of the thumbhole is actually slightly under the liners, but since it is so close to the knife body, I can flick open the knife, or ease it open slowly extremely easily without any change in grip.
Blade: The blade works out very well for me at this point due to the shape and length. Since I primarily live in a city with a 3.5 inch blade limit, the full size Onslaught was too big and the Mini-Onslaught was the perfect size with the 3.45 inch blade. It works very well for both push and pull cuts and seems to cut most everyday materials such as plastic wrap and paper just fine. I have not tested on anything extreme yet and do not plan to, since I don't really need to use a folding knife to cut up extreme amounts of cardboard or to baton wood. Like I mentioned in the previous section, the blade tip is slightly thin compared to most of my other knives but since I do not abuse my knives and use them to cut, I have no problem with the thinness. The blade is flat ground with a swedge and since it is also thin, it cuts better than my BM 520 Presidio. The only problem I have faced with this knife is the factory grind. Like many other people on the forums, most of my Benchmades come with not very sharp grinds and although it will shave arm hair, I have to be pretty dedicated and pushy in order to shave hair. I will end up sharpening the blade soon, but since I am not too good at it and because this is a nice knife, I will have a local knifestore owner sharpen it up with an Edgepro. Finally, it seems like BM's 154CM is pretty wear resistant, and for what I do it keeps sharp enough for long periods of time. In comparison my Kershaw Skyline has 14C28N Sandvik steel, which is extremely easy to sharpen and get shaving sharp, but it seems to dull quickly for me.
Personal Opinion: This has become my new EDC knife because of the build quality, ease of use, and amazing ergonomics. Out of all my knives, this Mini-Onslaught is one of the few that seems like it was designed and fit just for my hand. The smooth G10 scales just feel right and work well, and even look cool too
. The blade is easy to deploy and retract after use and there is no play in any direction at all, making me feel even more secure while using it. The Axis lock is as always, awesome to use and on this knife, feels even more secure due to the short travel of the bar and consistent and audible click as it locks up tight. Due to restrictions in my home town, I have to carry clipped so that I am not concealing the knife, and the pocket clip works extremely well. It is a shiny silver clip with enough tension to keep it on my pants, but not enough to pull up my pants as I pull out my knife. In combination with the smooth G10 scales and nice clip, the knife will slip in and out of your pocket without destroying your pants, while having enough retention to keep the knife from slipping out every time you sit down. The only downsides I see to this knife are the clip point blade and thin tip. Personally I don't usually use knives around non-knife people unless I really have to cut something, but I've already got comments from some friends who think the knife looks "scary" (although personally, this is one of the few clip point style knives I love
). The thin tip, although not a problem for me, seems like something that would keep some people from buying this knife as a hard use knife. I would consider this knife a medium duty knife, which is tough enough for most everything, but shouldn't be abused or used as a prybar like many people who expect tactical looking knives to perform. The pivot is certainly beefy enough with large phosphor bronze washers to prevent play. Finally, all the reasons above are why this knife is my current favorite EDC. This is not because it is my newest knife (although that might have a little to do with it
). Like mentioned before, it performs extremely well for me, is easy to carry, looks nice, feels nice, and exudes an air of quality that just draws me to this knife every day I have to pick one. If I were to pick one knife to carry for a month, I would pick this knife hands down. In comparison, if I knew I was going somewhere shady and might need a knife for self defense (or in my case, mostly just self reassurance ), I would carry my BM 520 Presidio, which to me is a hard use knife, but it is heavy in comparison, not as refined, and just straight up destroys my pockets. Up to this point though, I just love the feel of the Mini-Onslaught and think Benchmade hit a home run with this design and the way it was implemented. I'm just extremely sad that Bob Lum is deceased, because if his input and design could produce such a refined production knife, I really wonder what his customs must be like. Kudos to Benchmade for working with Bob Lum to bring this spectacular design to the market (hopefully they bring back Bob Lum's Dejavoo and Mini-Dejavoo, some of the smoothest and well made liner locks I've ever handled, although I wouldn't mind an Axis lock version ). Hey, for anyone still with me at this point, thanks for reading. I know I was rambling a bit, but this was my first review and hopefully I get better as time goes on
. As always, these are my opinions on a knife you may necessarily not love as much as I do, so I recommend hitting up your local knife store to handle one, you may be suprised like I was . Thanks a lot for reading.
Edit: Totally forgot due to my ramblings, but if you have any specific questions on the knife, just let me know and I'll help you out. I know I sound like a fanboy after this review, but I want to help make sure you get all questions answered so that you buy a knife that you really think is worth it. Thanks.
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