Benchmade 810 Contego

Cypress

Cypress

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Jun 22, 2009
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In the ever-expanding category of "large folders" I definitely had some choices, but I chose the Contego based on the CPM M4 blade. I don't have any experience with this steel yet, and thought what better way to send my old Benchmade 520 into retirement.





When I went into my local knife dealer, we had an 810 vs 275 discussion, and came to the conclusion that the 810 is a better cutter IF you can handle the ergos. In the store... I couldn't. Handling the 810 with bare hands was awful. I'm not sure what Benchmade was thinking when they designed the handle... I could see it being comfortable to a lobster, but not human hands.

I bought it anyways.

A bench grinder and some 150 sandpaper sorted out the first "nub" on each bit of jimping on the exposed liner, and then rounded the entire edge of the G-10 slabs. I also took some of the sting out of the "jimping" on the backpacer. After 20 minutes, I no longer had a crustacean knife.

Before use, I like to sharpen my knives. This allows me to check the manufacturer's edge for precision, but mainly, it (almost) guarantees edge consistency between all of my knives. This ends up placing performance emphasis mostly on blade steel. Once the 810 had the edge, I noticed that even though I finished it on a fine stone, the edge felt VERY grabby. The reprofiling of the already decent edge bevel was actually surprisingly easy for a blade rated at 62-64 HRC.

Satisfied with the edge, I went into the woods to abuse the knife. Something I noticed right away: The blade is heavy! Most Axis Lock knives can be flung out by holding the Axis bar down and turning your wrist. The blade on the 810 is heavy enough to overcome the Axis tension! One solid flick of the wrist sends the blade open with a hearty THWACK. Due to this heft, chopping is decent (for a folder).

The curvature on the spine stemming from the reverse tanto blade allowed me to place my other hand on the back of the blade and push through a surprising amount of wood in one go. I decided batonning would be the most likely use with this blade, so I gave the spine a few good whacks with the handle of my Busse. This chipped the cerakote on the spine down to the blade steel, which was somewhat unexpected!



Even more unexpected was the front-to-back blade play I noticed a bit later. After further inspection, I noticed that the batonning (or something) slightly damaged the liners where the engaged Axis bar sits. If you look closely at the liners in these pictures, you can see the bulged material...





The blade play is slight, but noticable if you know knives. This won't prevent me from using the knife, but I will definitely be dropping this one off at the factory next time I drive up to Portland.

It should be noted that the edge was exactly as sharp after the chopping/slicing/batonning as it was fresh off of the strop. As a knife, I'm "meh" about this one, but the steel is beyond impressive. If Spyderco ever made the Paramilitary 2 with CPM M4, I'd never need to buy another knife!

Too long; Didn't read version:

Pros:

CPM M4 steel is amazing
Blade shape is conducive to working
Smoooooth pivot
Grippy grip is grippy

Cons:

Grippy grips are only comfortable if your hands are made of silicon carbide
Handle shape is awkward, but can be tolerated
Axis lock could be beefed up on a knife of this size/intended use, and it shows
Blade coating is rubbish, but this is typical of Benchmades

 
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My 810 has been a constant companion for several months.

I like your review, there's some good stuff in there, but I disagree with some of it. My hands are somewhat calloused as I work with them a lot, and the scales don't bother me at all. The jimping is somewhat ridiculous though.

I'm not going to touch the batoning thing other than to say that all batoning with a folding knife should be done with the lock disengaged. No lock that I'm aware of has been designed with batoning in mind.

I will completely agree with you about their M4 though. I found it incredibly easy to reprofile to 28° inclusive. I used a 120 grit Edge Pro stone followed by a 1500 grit ceramic. This was when I got it. I haven't had to touch it up at all... BKC M4 is insane.

IMAG0959_zps17f28265.jpg


Anyway, thanks for the review. Everyone should play with one of these. If you can deal with the ergos, it's an incredible knife imo. :)
 
Strigamort said:
I'm not going to touch the batoning thing other than to say that all batoning with a folding knife should be done with the lock disengaged. No lock that I'm aware of has been designed with batoning in mind.
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NOW you tell me. Where were you 3 days ago when I had this all planned out?! I totally agree with everyone needing to check this knife out. If you can tolerate the ergos, you won't find a better blade. For a sub-$200 knife, it is pretty darn impressive.

This M4 is as close to a "set and forget" steel as I've ever seen. I can't believe how well it holds an edge. I can detect ZERO loss of sharpness since the last swipe of the strop.
 
I actually think it has great ergos for its intended use. Its black class, so the possibility of self defense is in mind. Im no expert on blade fighting, but this grip LOCKS to your hand, in a forward grip. A little rough to bare hands. but not terrible. If gloved, this knife is glued to you better than any other folder I've handled.

I also think it looks cool, and slices well. it has a nice high grind.
 
Has anyone done a glassbreaking test with one of these? I checked youtube, and the closest I could find was the Triage on a bottle. I'm sure the Contego works just as well, but a Snapple bottle is hardly the same as a tempered glass car side window.
 
Planterz said:
Has anyone done a glassbreaking test with one of these? I checked youtube, and the closest I could find was the Triage on a bottle. I'm sure the Contego works just as well, but a Snapple bottle is hardly the same as a tempered glass car side window.
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I've smashed a side window with the Triage. The glassbreakers on the Triage and Contego are identical, so I'm sure the Contegos would work just as well.
 
The 810 is a unique looking knife and I definitely want to get to try out BM's M4...

Nice review Cypress!
 
Now I understand why they recommend when you baton with an Axis lock, you leave the blade unlocked and baton on the blade only. That is unfortunate what happened to your new knife. I just have to ask.... Why baton with a folder?? NOT being a troll, please don't take offense, but it just seems like an unintended use for a folder.

I also have that same knife. I really dig the ergos, and the steel. I have M4 from Spyderco and BM. IMO, it is fantastic. Really like it.

Thanks for your time and for posting this. I guess you at least found"The edge" of what she'll take.
 
I was batonning as a means of pushing the limits of the knife. If I was stuck in the woods with only the 810, I need to know what it can do. This run was purely experimental, as I have choppers.

I was also curious at to what the intended use of this knife was. Too big for EDC (for a Cypress), so I was considering the 810 to be a possible replacement for a small fixed blade such as the Nimravus.
 
I've broken a piece of glass with it. No tempered glass but glass nevertheless. I will say that glass doesn't just crumble at the sight of a breaker. It does take a little effort.

I understand the concept of testing equipment, however, I believe we could have told you, definitively, that your action was ill conceived. Some would question your intention of asking BKC to warrant a product that was tested to failure. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with them fixing it for free so long as they understand what happened.
 
Right on. I understand and respect that. Plus, you're a grown man, and you can do whatever the heck you want with your knife. I was just curious. Thank you for responding and saying "because I wanted to know". Always good for us to know where the edge is. Then we can make a decision. :-)
 
I tend to be the guy that finds the wrong way to do most things. It's why I don't skydive :)

If Benchmade doesn't warranty it, I'm cool with that. I went above and beyond what could ever be expected from a folder. Besides, the knife is still fully functional. Who knows... Having the dented liner may provide a secure pocket for the Axis bar to sit in, making the knife even safer :D
 
I love mine. That much CPM-M4 at the price I paid was too good a deal to skip. I agree that the jimping is at a pretty silly level, especially considering how grippy the shaped handle and contoured scales are to begin with, but I don't find it obnoxious to use.

The one thing I would change if I could, though, is the shape of the hump in the middle of the handle. I think it would have been more comfortable if the round cut-out at the top of the handle weren't so deep (leaving the handle with a little less curvy a finger-side to grip). I suppose I could have someone make custom scales that didn't dip in as far, but the simpler solution will be to just grind down a bit of the pointed hump in the middle of the handles. At some point I may give that a try.

And as Strigamort has already ably covered, if you really have to baton with a folder for some reason, do it with the knife unlocked or you may . . . damage your lock ;)

Great knife, though. Look at that hunk of M4:

VCLcfEf.jpg
 
I'm really on the fence for this as my first benchmade, i want to try M4 and will probably make different scales but the ergos look like they may fit odd even with different scales
 
yoko said:
I'm really on the fence for this as my first benchmade, i want to try M4 and will probably make different scales but the ergos look like they may fit odd even with different scales
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The ergonomics ARE funky for sure. I think it boils down to your tolerance for funk. :D

I'm not that picky about ergos, especially on a knife that is (otherwise) this good. I can absolutely see some not liking it though. I just choose to be picky about knives like my Sebenzas or Striders, but not with a knife that serves me as well as the Conte.

The truth is that I absolutely carry the 810 any time I'm going out at night or when the need for a very quick and dependable opening, large chunk of really sharp steel might be needed which is often.

Cypress, your logic is good. We're on the same page. ;)
 
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