- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
- Messages
- 163
The Benchmade 943 is a manual action folding knife with a blade length of 3.4" and an overall length (opened blade + handle) of 7.87". Despite the long blade, it weighs a svelte 2.9oz. The "straight clip point" blade is made from the stellar S30V steel.
The 943 comes with a relatively straight edge (it's not a wharncliffe, but there's not much recurve either), which makes sharpening easy but it doesn't have as much belly as I'd prefer. The blade is pretty slender with a high flat ground profile, which makes it well-suited to everyday carry and utility work. Very sharp pointy tip, which is useful for detail work and digging out splinters, but is also somewhat delicate, so it might break off if you drop the knife or try to use it as a prybar. If you stick to using your knife as a knife though, it should be totally fine. It came "utility sharp" out of the box, but the edge geometry was a bit out of whack. From the factory, my 943's edge was ground to about 50 degrees inclusive, so I couldn't get it very sharp on my Spyderco Sharpmaker. This issue with edge geometry seems to be a well-documented problem with many Benchmades. After buying the diamond rods for the sharpmaker, I reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees, and it's exactly as sharp as I want it.
This knife is EXTREMELY well-balanced. The blade flies out of the handle with a nudge on the thumb stud, yet the in-handle retention is excellent. As it is a manual-action knife, you also have the option of slowly deploying the blade (if you don't want to scare the non-knife people), which is equally easy to accomplish one-handed. Out-of-box, blade lockup was outstanding; like a bank vault, absolutely no wiggle in any direction. However, after flipping the knife open and closed about a dozen times, the pivot screw started backing out. It probably moved back less than [ of a turn, but the side-to-side blade movement at this point was noticeable. A drop of blue loctite inside the pivot screw threads solved the problem, but it would be nice if it didn't have any issues out of box, especially for a $150 knife.
The sculpted black anodized aluminum handles are very comfortable in pocket and in hand, and serve to keep the overall weight down. However, they have a slight chalky texture that you'll either love or hate. They do a pretty good job of maintaining grip, but they certainly aren't the same grippiness as good textured G-10 or Spyderco's bi-directional FRN. Also, while sharpening the 943, I managed to gouge the aluminum handle closest to the ceramic rods pretty nastily. This was my carelessness, but be aware that the aluminum will show scratches and wear. The pocket clip is fairly low-profile and appears to be of identical design to the Griptilian family clips. Tip-up only (which I prefer anyway on non-flipper knives) and repositionable for left- or right-side carry. The clip tension and the moderate grippiness of the aluminum handles are a perfect balance: the knife retains extremely well in my jeans, and does not appear to be wearing out the clothing material. However, it appears that the standard clip has a painted black finish, which started to chip within the first month I carried the knife. Upon my request, Benchmade sent me a replacement "split arrow" black oxide clip, which shows much less wear.
Apart from just the functional aspects, it's worth mentioning that the Benchmade 940-series are very good-looking knives. The blue titanium backspacer is absolutely gorgeous against the black handles, and the overall lines on the knife are very smooth and simple. You need to hold one to really appreciate the aesthetics of the 940 series.
I generally do not carry knives with blades over three inches (I have fairly small hands). However, the 943 fits me well and doesn't look like I'm wielding a dagger. The slender handle and low-profile blade design make carrying a large knife practical and relatively non-threatening. While not in the same class of comfort as the Kershaw Packrat, the 943 just feels solid and capable. Granted, I would not baton wood with this blade, but that's not what the 943 is meant to do. Overall: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
The 943 comes with a relatively straight edge (it's not a wharncliffe, but there's not much recurve either), which makes sharpening easy but it doesn't have as much belly as I'd prefer. The blade is pretty slender with a high flat ground profile, which makes it well-suited to everyday carry and utility work. Very sharp pointy tip, which is useful for detail work and digging out splinters, but is also somewhat delicate, so it might break off if you drop the knife or try to use it as a prybar. If you stick to using your knife as a knife though, it should be totally fine. It came "utility sharp" out of the box, but the edge geometry was a bit out of whack. From the factory, my 943's edge was ground to about 50 degrees inclusive, so I couldn't get it very sharp on my Spyderco Sharpmaker. This issue with edge geometry seems to be a well-documented problem with many Benchmades. After buying the diamond rods for the sharpmaker, I reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees, and it's exactly as sharp as I want it.
This knife is EXTREMELY well-balanced. The blade flies out of the handle with a nudge on the thumb stud, yet the in-handle retention is excellent. As it is a manual-action knife, you also have the option of slowly deploying the blade (if you don't want to scare the non-knife people), which is equally easy to accomplish one-handed. Out-of-box, blade lockup was outstanding; like a bank vault, absolutely no wiggle in any direction. However, after flipping the knife open and closed about a dozen times, the pivot screw started backing out. It probably moved back less than [ of a turn, but the side-to-side blade movement at this point was noticeable. A drop of blue loctite inside the pivot screw threads solved the problem, but it would be nice if it didn't have any issues out of box, especially for a $150 knife.
The sculpted black anodized aluminum handles are very comfortable in pocket and in hand, and serve to keep the overall weight down. However, they have a slight chalky texture that you'll either love or hate. They do a pretty good job of maintaining grip, but they certainly aren't the same grippiness as good textured G-10 or Spyderco's bi-directional FRN. Also, while sharpening the 943, I managed to gouge the aluminum handle closest to the ceramic rods pretty nastily. This was my carelessness, but be aware that the aluminum will show scratches and wear. The pocket clip is fairly low-profile and appears to be of identical design to the Griptilian family clips. Tip-up only (which I prefer anyway on non-flipper knives) and repositionable for left- or right-side carry. The clip tension and the moderate grippiness of the aluminum handles are a perfect balance: the knife retains extremely well in my jeans, and does not appear to be wearing out the clothing material. However, it appears that the standard clip has a painted black finish, which started to chip within the first month I carried the knife. Upon my request, Benchmade sent me a replacement "split arrow" black oxide clip, which shows much less wear.
Apart from just the functional aspects, it's worth mentioning that the Benchmade 940-series are very good-looking knives. The blue titanium backspacer is absolutely gorgeous against the black handles, and the overall lines on the knife are very smooth and simple. You need to hold one to really appreciate the aesthetics of the 940 series.
I generally do not carry knives with blades over three inches (I have fairly small hands). However, the 943 fits me well and doesn't look like I'm wielding a dagger. The slender handle and low-profile blade design make carrying a large knife practical and relatively non-threatening. While not in the same class of comfort as the Kershaw Packrat, the 943 just feels solid and capable. Granted, I would not baton wood with this blade, but that's not what the 943 is meant to do. Overall: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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