- Joined
- Jul 22, 2009
- Messages
- 11,409
Just got this baby in today. This is my first Benchmade Gold Class knife. I also believe that this is their lowest priced Gold Class folder, so it lacks the flashy looks and damascus.
Out of box sharpness was pretty good. It's actually sharp for one(paper slicing). Though I don't care too much about that, as I immediately took it to my Work Sharp and put a mirror edge on it. One thing I absolutely love is the M390 steel. Right off the belts I was able to pop the hairs off my leg without getting near the skin. It seems to take a keen edge with frightening ease. I honestly felt I was cheating given how little effort it took and that the angle was fairly steep at about 20 degrees per side.
This knife is exceptionally light for a folder of its size(3.8 oz). Kinda makes my Sebenza and R.J. Martin Overkill feel like bricks. The thumbstud is somewhat pointed like the Sebenza, though not as much. However, placement of the stud kind of limits you to only flicking it open. Though unlike the Sebenza, there is a torx indent on the opposite side so you can remove the stud when sharpening(which I didn't do).
This is an assisted opening knife. One thing I checked for was titanium. I didn't find any mention of titanium from any source, though I found it odd that a stainless liner would be anodized blue(never seen it before). So using a magnet, I found that the liner is indeed titanium, and the backspacer was stainless steel coated with what looks to be DLC. Benchmade's site states that the clip is DLC coated with aluminum handles, carbon fiber, and nickel plated hardware. That made it sound like the aluminum was nickel plated. However, given how smooth the aluminum felt(frictionless surface), the high gloss of the clip, and the "stickiness" of the clip(kind of like the feel of a plastic protective film on the screen of an iPhone), I would say that the clip is nickel plated and the aluminum coated with DLC.
An interesting part of the design is that the liners themselves seem to be part of the spring that propels the blade out. Rather than use a torsion bar like Kershaw AO knives or the 583 Barrage, the liner itself is cut out to provide spring tension sort of like how the Nirk Tighe is cut out so that the frame itself is the spring to lock the blade in place. That certainly seems a lot longer lasting than a single spring. The liner itself seems to be well built and has none of the stickiness that Emerson knives usually have, which to me is a good sign of minimal wear. The lockbar also seems to be adjustable like the 755 MPR, so it would seem that lockup can be adjusted for a longer life.
I only did some light cutting during the day(mostly just a mango for dessert). My first impression is that the blade is pretty thin. It seems to be the same thickness as my 710, but just "feels" thinner, probably because the blade is wider. Zero blade play in any direction. The blade is slightly off-center, maybe by about half a millimeter. Doesn't bother me though. The contoured carbon fiber provides good grip when holding the knife(not to mention it looks awesome).
My only complaint is that the clip is tip down carry only. When pulling the knife out of your pocket, it feels a bit like grabbing a wet bar of soap since the DLC coated aluminum is frictionless and hard to get a grip on, though the clip itself is much easier to grab. If it was tip up carry, I could easily grab the carbon fiber to pull it out of the pocket. Though I will say that, going into the pocket, this knife is very smooth. Could be a bit TOO smooth though, so I wouldn't turn upside down or run with it(deep pocket clip helps a bit though).
All-in-all, I feel like I got what I paid for. Not exactly a "flashy" knife, though not quite a workhorse either if the thin blade is any indication. More of a gentlemen's EDC meant to impress only the user. The appeal is in the feel of the knife. The appearance itself is very subtle and wouldn't hold a candle to a damascus knife with plain jane handles(like the new 525-111 mini-Presidio).
Out of box sharpness was pretty good. It's actually sharp for one(paper slicing). Though I don't care too much about that, as I immediately took it to my Work Sharp and put a mirror edge on it. One thing I absolutely love is the M390 steel. Right off the belts I was able to pop the hairs off my leg without getting near the skin. It seems to take a keen edge with frightening ease. I honestly felt I was cheating given how little effort it took and that the angle was fairly steep at about 20 degrees per side.
This knife is exceptionally light for a folder of its size(3.8 oz). Kinda makes my Sebenza and R.J. Martin Overkill feel like bricks. The thumbstud is somewhat pointed like the Sebenza, though not as much. However, placement of the stud kind of limits you to only flicking it open. Though unlike the Sebenza, there is a torx indent on the opposite side so you can remove the stud when sharpening(which I didn't do).
This is an assisted opening knife. One thing I checked for was titanium. I didn't find any mention of titanium from any source, though I found it odd that a stainless liner would be anodized blue(never seen it before). So using a magnet, I found that the liner is indeed titanium, and the backspacer was stainless steel coated with what looks to be DLC. Benchmade's site states that the clip is DLC coated with aluminum handles, carbon fiber, and nickel plated hardware. That made it sound like the aluminum was nickel plated. However, given how smooth the aluminum felt(frictionless surface), the high gloss of the clip, and the "stickiness" of the clip(kind of like the feel of a plastic protective film on the screen of an iPhone), I would say that the clip is nickel plated and the aluminum coated with DLC.
An interesting part of the design is that the liners themselves seem to be part of the spring that propels the blade out. Rather than use a torsion bar like Kershaw AO knives or the 583 Barrage, the liner itself is cut out to provide spring tension sort of like how the Nirk Tighe is cut out so that the frame itself is the spring to lock the blade in place. That certainly seems a lot longer lasting than a single spring. The liner itself seems to be well built and has none of the stickiness that Emerson knives usually have, which to me is a good sign of minimal wear. The lockbar also seems to be adjustable like the 755 MPR, so it would seem that lockup can be adjusted for a longer life.
I only did some light cutting during the day(mostly just a mango for dessert). My first impression is that the blade is pretty thin. It seems to be the same thickness as my 710, but just "feels" thinner, probably because the blade is wider. Zero blade play in any direction. The blade is slightly off-center, maybe by about half a millimeter. Doesn't bother me though. The contoured carbon fiber provides good grip when holding the knife(not to mention it looks awesome).
My only complaint is that the clip is tip down carry only. When pulling the knife out of your pocket, it feels a bit like grabbing a wet bar of soap since the DLC coated aluminum is frictionless and hard to get a grip on, though the clip itself is much easier to grab. If it was tip up carry, I could easily grab the carbon fiber to pull it out of the pocket. Though I will say that, going into the pocket, this knife is very smooth. Could be a bit TOO smooth though, so I wouldn't turn upside down or run with it(deep pocket clip helps a bit though).
All-in-all, I feel like I got what I paid for. Not exactly a "flashy" knife, though not quite a workhorse either if the thin blade is any indication. More of a gentlemen's EDC meant to impress only the user. The appeal is in the feel of the knife. The appearance itself is very subtle and wouldn't hold a candle to a damascus knife with plain jane handles(like the new 525-111 mini-Presidio).
