Benchmade boycott?

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So I was reading over on EDC forums and I stumbled upon this post:

"I recently purchased a benchmade mini griptillan and I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. I have never been this excited for a knife. Yesterday I was browsing online and I came across this website: http://www.assistedknife.com/index.cfm/fa/categories.main/parentcat/29189
It claims that benchmade steals knife designs and uses other unethical business practices. I was wondering what the opinions of the edc forum members were on this issue.
I personally have no problem with benchmade and am giddy with anticipation for my mini grip but I haven't gotten a chance to research the matter in depth."

Has anybody else heard about this?
 
They're ethical enough.

Don't base your opinions on what the internet says. You'll get pissed off over nothing.:)
 
Never heard of this nonsense. I remember a little something about the Spydie hole but that was along time ago.
 
As the others have said, Ryan, Benchmade is on the up-and-up as far as I can tell. They make good stuff too! :)
 
Yeah yeah and people hate Walmart, Microsoft, Exxon, etc.. too. When a company reaches a certain level of success it is bound to make enemies in some fashion.
 
First I've heard of it but then again I don't go out of my way to keep up with gossip. As far as stealing designs, look at all of the knife makers who supply designs for Benchmade. I am currently carrying a 275 Adamas and clearly see the Sibert design logo on the blade. As far as stealing from Spyderco???
Everything I have ever purchased from BM has been top notch and a great value for the money.
 
The Roadside Imports guy? Haha, what a joke. He got mad because Benchmade sued him for selling knock off Benchmade 42 Balisongs. He is just a sore loser, that's all.
 
Holy crap he went all out! Still trying to figure out the link at the bottom saying Willie Nelson boycotts Benchmade.
 
I don't know...there do seem to be a lot of similarities between Benchmades and other knives. All the ones I've seen have sharp tips and sharp edges. Many have sharp little jigs and jags on the back part of the blades (called "serrations" by other companies). Many have suspicious holes in the frames like other knives, thumb studs and "tanto" blades stolen directly from Cold Steel. And YES, some folders sport opening holes in the blades like Spyderco.

I'll tell you, these knives are ALL obvious knock-offs of other knives! In my opinion, every, single feature used by this manufacturer has been shamelessly ripped-off from other knives, some going back hundreds if not thousands of years! Others more recent. Frame locks, linerlocks, lockbacks! This company steals everything!

Buy Benchmades and you're only encouraging such brazen, contumelious behavior.

That's my take!

.
 
Sigh, do a search on this guy and you'll soon realize hes a bit of a raving lunatic. ENjoy your new knife, benchmade makes some great knives.
 
Credit should be given to where credit is due. Chris Reeve invented the framelock formally called Reeve Integral Lock, BM calls it the monolock. Just because a patent expires does not mean you should rename it and pretend you made it.
 
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richardtran said:
Credit should be given to where credit is due. Chris Reeve invented the framelock formally called Reeve Integral Lock, BM calls it the monolock. Just because a patent expires does not mean you should rename it and pretend you made it.
Click to expand...

I would agree, but let's not act like we all haven't called it a framelock at one point or another also. They just wanted to give it a name to give it some flair of their own, but I don't see anything saying they invented it. The knife community is full of that kind of sharing, which IMO is a good thing. Every company has brought stuff to the table, and today's knives are a combination of past and present innovation.

I mean look at Spyderco's new flipper. They weren't the first to put out a ball bearing pivot flipper with a RIL (Monolock:D Sorry, couldn't resist), but it's fine, right? Competition breeds success. And we the community benefit from this success.
 
This again?

Johnathan Benson, the owner of Roadsideimports/Assistedknives, was sued by Benchmade because he was selling a knockoff Benchmite that not only falsely claimed that it was made in the USA, but used the word "Benchmite", which is trademarked by Benchmade. That prompted his whole "boycott" campaign.

To realize how insane this guy is, just look at his arguments. He makes claims that Benchmade steals designs. Yet when you look at the crap he sells, a very large portion of it is knockoffs. He tried to get BM in trouble because he thought they made an imported automatic knife (importation of autos is illegal), but the knife in question wasn't an auto. Again, look at his inventory. It's largely illegally imported autos and balisongs. His latest endeavor is the FU42, an illegally imported, illegally marked, modified Benchmade 42 clone. The guy has a beef with BM because he lost thousands in his lawsuit(s) with BM over his Benchmite knockoffs that he claims he made only a few dollars profit on.

His business practices are extremely shady. He sells autos and balis to countries where they're illegal. he sells complete junk, then tells you "tough crap" when you complain. He was banned her for shitting on the BF community and his customers. He's a liar, scam artist, and a thief. And quite insane.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/572798-Assistedknife-com
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/729617-Benchmade-Boycott
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-with-Roadside-Imports?p=9004712#post9004712
 
richardtran said:
Credit should be given to where credit is due. Chris Reeve invented the framelock formally called Reeve Integral Lock, BM calls it the monolock. Just because a patent expires does not mean you should rename it and pretend you made it.
Click to expand...

Get your facts straight. Chris Reeve developed the integral framelock based on Michael Walker's liner lock, which wasn't exactly a new invention either (slipjoints with linerlocks go back many decades). The integral lock was never patented. CR decided to share it with the world instead. Benchmade calls it the Monolock. So what? They name all their locks, whether original or not. Many, many companies don't give CR the name recognition for the framelock. In fact, the only ones (that I can think of) that specifically name CR are Spyderco and A.G. Russell.

Johnathan Benson wasn't even talking about the framelock in his ignorant rants about Benchmade. His accusations of theft on Benchmade's part were about the opening hole from Spyderco and the mechanism in the Infidel automatic. Regarding the Spyderco hole, this came about because of the BM630/635 Skirmish. Neil Blackwood, the designer of the Skirmish, used Spyderco's trademark round opening hole (something any custom knife maker can do for a very small tribute amount), so when Benchmade created a production version, they reused the round opening whole. Of course, there was a big controversy over the whole/hole thing, but it was resolved, and Benchmade is now allowed to use the trademark Spyderco round opening hole. Regarding the Infidel automatic, it was JB's claim that they stole the design from Microtech (*insert ironic snicker*), but the design for D/A OTF automatics has existed for decades.

Again, you have to realize the irony of Johnathan Benson making any claims whatsoever about anybody stealing anything, when he's not only a purveyor of knockoffs, but also a knockoff "artist" himself.
 
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