Benchmade 940 owners--can I pick your brains?

H

heekma

Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
226
Howdy folks,

First things first, I like beefy folders. For Benchmades that means the Mini Rukus, Presidio, Bone collector, Resistor, etc. I actually like a little heft and weight as well. Weighty and Beefy the 940 ain't.

Thing is I work in an office environment and to be damned honest about it I mostly use my pocket knife to open the little mylar bags of coffee that otherwise go off like a grenade if you try to tear them open by hand or opening boxes, cutting tape, etc.

I realize the 940 is tailor made for uses like this. For the 940 owners, is the knife's relatively dimunitive stature more than made up for by the utility?

I'd hate to spend $150 and find it's just a little too elegant for my tastes.

Any insights would be appreciated,

Heekma
 
Why not jut buy a Kershaw Leek in D2 and save that $100 for something else?

I have a 943 (drop point), it is no doubt a beautiful knife. I do not carry, nor use it for anything. More of a collectors piece for me I guess. It can certainly handle a variety of tasks, but for me I'd rather use something a little more substantial at the office. Delica ZDP or the D2 Leek for instance. Just a thought.
 
While not beefy, this knife is not what I would call diminutive. I too like substantial blades, and that said, I really like my 940-801. It's perfect for an office environment IMHO.
 
Yep. I carry my 940 at work in an office environment. While I consider it a perfect "gentlemen's knife", its a real work horse with good blade geometry and strong lock.
 
Whoa!
Stop that delusion right there.
The 940 would be a great lightweight backpacking knife.
I'm in a construction trade and use knives all the time. It does fine on the job.
Benchmade spit out a champ with the 940, IMO.
The 940 is a very good knife. It's not a pry bar, but it's not weak in any way.
At first I didn't like it.
It's in the top five for me at the moment.
 
saw the tip bust off one working in the factory once lol, but then agin the guy should not have been using it as a pry bar to remove a vacume plate on one of our big big saws.
 
I EDC'd a 940 for 5 years straight - EDC'd it and no other knife for 5 years straight. You definitely underestimate this knife. And, you don't have to spend $150... they sell on the exchange here for around a $100.

:thumbup:
 
RevDevil said:
Why not jut buy a Kershaw Leek in D2 and save that $100 for something else?

I have a 943 (drop point), it is no doubt a beautiful knife. I do not carry, nor use it for anything. More of a collectors piece for me I guess. It can certainly handle a variety of tasks, but for me I'd rather use something a little more substantial at the office. Delica ZDP or the D2 Leek for instance. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

How are two smaller knives "more substantial"? Considering the Leek has a needle thin tip and the Delica has a short blade length....I'd say the longer bladed 940 with the thick reverse tanto tip is much more substantial. Just my opinion.
 
i've been edc'ing mine for about 8 years now, great knife. i still haven't had to so much as tighten the pivot. still rock solid.
the one on top. it's set up for left-hand carry now.
l_b32d6a5b80b6c7090d114ff965e8164c.jpg
 
RevDevil said:
Why not jut buy a Kershaw Leek in D2 and save that $100 for something else?

I have a 943 (drop point), it is no doubt a beautiful knife. I do not carry, nor use it for anything. More of a collectors piece for me I guess. It can certainly handle a variety of tasks, but for me I'd rather use something a little more substantial at the office. Delica ZDP or the D2 Leek for instance. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

I have a 943 and a 940. I've carried the 943 for over 5 years.

You wouldn't think that a different blade style would change the knife as much as it does, but get both in hand and you will see. The 940 is a completely different feeling knife to the 943.
 
I didn't say the knife is bad or even mediocre by any means. Just offering an opinion that may not go with the general grain.

tjsulli790 said:
How are two smaller knives "more substantial"? Considering the Leek has a needle thin tip and the Delica has a short blade length....I'd say the longer bladed 940 with the thick reverse tanto tip is much more substantial. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Call me crazy, having an extra $100 in my pocket is more substantial... For general slicing, ZDP-189 might be considered more substantial than S30V. In my useage, it certainly is. I get what your saying, it's always good to have options.

Cynic2701 said:
I have a 943 and a 940. I've carried the 943
for over 5 years.

You wouldn't think that a different blade style would change the knife as much as it does, but get both in hand and you will see. The 940 is a completely different feeling knife to the 943.
Click to expand...
I own a Rift 950 (I love Warren Osbornes' design style), I know what you mean. I'm just a drop point junkie. ;)
 
I believe Benchmade 943s, like my 941, have clip point blades rather than drop point.

I EDC my 940 and 941 on a regular basis. Although I consider them small knives, my non-knife friends think they are large.
 
I have had 2 940's and they rock. Good blade to handle ratio. Long thic blade 3.4" long and cool - a classic!

930399470_kSTwC-L.jpg


930399525_Y33D5-L.jpg
 
the 940 is plenty sturdy (so is the 943) so it is really an issue of whether you find it attractive or not. If you don't dig the design there are many other good office knives.the thing about the 940 series is that it is a lot of knife in a small elegant but sturdy package. Some other slim but sturdy one-hand-opening office knives in the specified price range include:
Al Mar falcon http://images.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/almar/images/AM1003BMT.jpg
BM Nagara http://images.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/harley-davidson/images/BMHK13740.jpg and many others http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/bnchmd/indexfolder.html
CRKT Ripple and Eros http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/s... CODEdatarq=crt&wsDESCRIPTIONdatarq=ken onion (actually CRKT has many options you could look at)
KaBar Dozier is a great value! http://images.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/kbar/images/KA4062CB.jpg
Kershaw - many options http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/kershaw/
SOG Twitch http://images.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/sog/images/twi201.jpg
Spyderco, so many options . . .http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/spyderc/
Timberline Wall Street http://images.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/timberline/images/wallstreetg.jpg
 
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Thanks for all the replies folks, much appreciated. I handled a 940 for the first time several months ago and was astonished by how light it was.

I'd just gotten a ZT 0300 and a Strider SMF among others and the 940 seemed like a lot of money for something so exceedingly light. Kind of like a bag of chips only half full--where's the rest of the chips?

I was immediately drawn to the overall design, very striking and unusual, but it just felt like an expensive toy after using the ZT and SMF for a while.

Comparing these knives is like comparing chalk and cheese, I know, but it was still my initial response.

After reading everyone's comments I'll be stopping by the shop Saturday and have another hard look at the 940.

Rev:

I have a Leek and it's one of my all-time favorites, but I have bratwursts for fingers so the Leek's slender scales and liner lock can be difficult for me to manipulate.

Best,

Heekma
 
If you like the 940 but want something with a little more heft, I would strongly suggest taking a look at the 950. I have two and one of them always seems to find its way into my pocket over all of my other knives.
 
99% of the time I'm carrying either a Caly 3 in CF/ZDP-189 or my 940D2CF. I've never felt "underknifed" carrying either. Granted I'm not chopping branches or deanimating zombies, but it's more than enough for what I encounter in the city, and I don't work in an office. Certainly it's thin and light, but it's not insubstantial either. Hardly "dimunitive". I'd reserve that term for the 705/707, 77X, or 960...and even then that's pushing the definition.

If you want something similar to the 940, check out the 930 Kulgera. Apart from a very slight recurve the 930's edge follows the same profile despite the different blade style. Blade thickness is the same, but the 930 has thicker, more substantial (very slightly heavier) handles.
 
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