Benchmade 940TI-401

[cleancutguy]

Greetings,
I recently purchased a Benchmade 940TI-401 which is a limited number run. The knife is #1 of 75 made. It is a two tone titanium handle with a damascus steel blade. The questions I have is when was the knife manufactured and what was the approximent retail value at the time of sale. The knife seems very rare and would like any input if possible. Thanks to the forum!

 

[ralph.merlino]

A friend of mine just asked me about that knife today. He wanted to know if I new where he could find one. It seems that he lost out on one on EBay, is sold for $260.00

 

[jki]

I have one of these also. It is from a run in late 2004, made for knife retailer members of the National Independent Cutlery Association. They sold out rather quickly due to the very limited numbers produced. A plain, S30V blade steel version was made at the same time in an edition size of 125 pieces. If I recall correctly, the damasteel blade is 400 layers and was produced in Austria. These knives are not serialized; all of them are stamped "1 of 75, or 1 of 125".

Here is a copy of a post I made at the time they were produced (November 2004):

"Yes, the new 940ti-400 is a special run sold through NICA dealers (brick and mortar) only. Details are in the NICA advertisement in the new issue of BLADE Magazine on page 14. The two tone titanium handle (polished flats and blasted contours) is a handle finish unique to these NICA knives only. There are 125 pieces (all of which are marked "1 of 125") of the S30V blade version, and 75 pieces of the same two tone handle but with damasteel blade. Prices are $249/$399 respectively."

 

[cleancutguy]

Thanks for the info. I have been doing some background on the knife and your info matches what i'm finding after contacting Benchmade and members of NICA. Interesting thing is after the purchase at auction, a couple of gentleman that were part of this auction offered me upwards of $800.00 for the knife. Looks like I have a keeper for awhile. I will be posting photos for the forum to see. Thanks again!