benchmade ally?

A

army4ever

Joined
Dec 9, 2007
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im looking for some info and thoughts on the benchmade ally. i tried searching but cant find anything, can someone shed some light on this mean looking knife
 
knivesandguns said:
It's the HK ally, I actually thought it looked kinda interesting, but I probably wouldn't buy it
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thats what i was thinkin till i saw the weak blade with the thumhole that is to large to keep the blade from bending and being combo edge is kinda lame
 
Well, since that's the knife, I've got mine right here.

The HK Ally is a tough little knife and the blade will not bend. It's all metal with a decent framelock. The clip looks strange at first, ut it works well. The handle isn't shaped badly, but I need to pull out that window-breaker at the butt to be comfortable using it. I palm small knives, and that steel point hurts.

(I just tried to remove it but it's too shallow to grip with pliers.
I may have to use a diamond file to smooth the point off.)

It is too small for ordinary use for me but the size is an advantage a a backup or light carry, in which case the serrations are an advantage, making it more flexible for rough work that its short blade might not handle otherwise.
 
I have had the knife for a short time but sold it because as a leftie i always wished a changebale clip.

The knife cuts everything easily. Fingerthick branches were no problem. For taht size a lot of cutting power. Solid by One piece handel construction but the clip and screws are somehow soft.

The glas breaker wasn´t tested. Most of the time it didn´t disturbed.

For righties a strong small knife for a small fee.
 
It's part of my EDC rotation and generally speaking I like it. Here's a mini review:

Good:
  1. Light weight, just under 3 Oz.
  2. Very thin. Without the clip it's about 30% thicker than my SAK Bantam Alox.
  3. Window breaker tip. It's the only sub 3 Oz knife with this feature.
  4. Frame lock.
  5. Blade is relatively thick (3/32") for its weight.
  6. Torx bolt construction. You can take it apart.
  7. Decent choil and thumb jimping.
  8. Pocket clip is strong but not too much so.
  9. Tip-up carry, made possible by decent ball detent.
  10. Huge lanyard hole.
  11. Length is just under 3". Legal in most places.
Neutral:
  1. Thumb hole. It is large compared to the width of the blade, but the blade thickness compensates for it. It's fine as long as I don't use it as a pry bar.
  2. AUS8 steel. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.
  3. The style is definitely tactical, but the form does follow the function.
Bad:
  1. Serrations. I don't care for it.
  2. Finish on the lanyard hole is rough.
  3. The entire thing is coated in simple black paint.
  4. Blade is loose out of the box, and it would actually hit the frame when I tap on it. After I tightened the pivot, it still has a very slight play.
  5. While the clip is removable, it attaches only at that spot.
  6. It doesn't come very sharp out of the box. It's sharp enough to cut plastic clamshell packaging, but definitely not for shaving.

Other thoughts:
When I take the $25 price into consideration, it's not a bad knife. In my opinion, this knife is designed as a back up tactical folder. It's light enough to be carried all day long, short enough to be completely legal in most places, thin enough to disappear into shirt pocket, cheap enough to ditch or surrender, yet sturdy enough for most purposes and can even break windows.
 
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The large thumb hole works nicely to stick the tip of your index finger through. A great grip for cutting open boxes. :)
 
Carbide tip is werry fragile. I broke mine ,accidently,when cutting glass.
By the way Ally is cute little knife IME. Not super cutter nor super ergonomics but fair for the price and blade is not weakend with hole that much.I will keep mine.
 
with the glassbreaker...is it really needed? wouldnt a knife tip to the same thing to automotive glass
 
army4ever said:
with the glassbreaker...is it really needed? wouldnt a knife tip to the same thing to automotive glass
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Most knife tips aren't strong nor hard enough to break glass, and unless your folder has a very positive guard or deep finger grooves, hitting such a hard object can make your hand slip forward (into the blade!).

When you look at any of those glass breakers, you can see that the tip is pointy yet "fat". They're also made of carbides much harder than knife steel.
 
so if i took my 154 cm hk14200 and stabbed a piece of tempered glass with the tip the tip would just bend or mushroom kinda like the receiving end of a chisel and the glass wouldnt break?
 
article isnt available anymore but from what i took from the comments is it is possible to break a side window of a vehicle with the tip of a knife?
 
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