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Benchmade...Buyer's remorse or am I not really in love.

Bigfatts said:
Sometimes some knives just don't do it for some people. And with everyone's varying tastes that is to be expected. I've even experienced this myself with different cult following knives: ZT, Spyderco, CRK. Different strokes for different folks is all it is.
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I find that I have phases, too. There was a time that almost every knife I owned was a Spyderco knife. Now I own zero. Then it was Hogue, and then none. Then flippers, then none, then flippers again.

Never had a Benchmade phase, though. I carried a 530 for a couple weeks and lost all interest in it rapidly. Had a 581 for a hot minute before I sold it to a friend. Given current market prices, I don't know if I will ever have such a phase.

I think the reason the pricing change always gets brought up is foremost that it's fairly recent and quite noticeable, and secondly that it ties directly into the value of a knife - which is often a major consideration and relevant to most discussions.

A year ago, people would have said "you're comparing a $50 knife to a $150 knife." Now it's "You're comparing a $80 knife to a $120 knife". ZT goes down, Benchmade and Spyderco go up. The latter two have surrendered all hope of being #1 by shooting themselves in the foot entirely unnecessarily, and at no profit to them (they still sell the knives to dealers at the same price, but require the dealers to charge more.)

In this case, the price changes how much someone is likely to appreciate a knife. For $50, a grip is a very fine knife. For $80, it starts to be just an okay knife. I'll bet that, had the OP paid the older prices, the Grip would be much less of a disappointment.
 
Benchmade makes some great knives but I'm not fond of the Griptilian at all either. Major snoozefest to me.
 
Find a way to hold a Ritter Grip with g10 or micarta handles... its a fantastic step up from the basic griptilian, if you want to love Benchmade.
 
There is a reason there are many styles out there. I like my mini grip but not so much the full size. I'm currently suffering from Utilitac II fever so it's the knife dujour for now. I also like my ZT350. No rhyme or reason to what trips ones fancy.
 
RedLynx said:
Since I'm not familiar with a lot that goes on in economics I'll ask for clarification.

Does this mean that for example [x online site] has to set a particular price asked for by the manufacturer which is now closer to MSRP and thus on resellers you don't get "as good a deal" as you might be used to?
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Rather than repeat everything and start the discussion all over again, I'll refer you to this thread where the issue is discussed in quite a bit of detail.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1140401-Fixed-pricing
 
I also don't care forthe plastic handles of the grip series, but the G10 ones, Jesus Christ on a cracker those are sweet!
 
The only benchmades that I actually liked was the 940 and 710. The rest are just mehh.. for me. The grip is a popular model and liked by many. I'm sure you can still get some of your money back on it.
 
Comeuppance said:
I find that I have phases, too. There was a time that almost every knife I owned was a Spyderco knife. Now I own zero. Then it was Hogue, and then none. Then flippers, then none, then flippers again.

Never had a Benchmade phase, though. I carried a 530 for a couple weeks and lost all interest in it rapidly. Had a 581 for a hot minute before I sold it to a friend. Given current market prices, I don't know if I will ever have such a phase.

I think the reason the pricing change always gets brought up is foremost that it's fairly recent and quite noticeable, and secondly that it ties directly into the value of a knife - which is often a major consideration and relevant to most discussions.

A year ago, people would have said "you're comparing a $50 knife to a $150 knife." Now it's "You're comparing a $80 knife to a $120 knife". ZT goes down, Benchmade and Spyderco go up. The latter two have surrendered all hope of being #1 by shooting themselves in the foot entirely unnecessarily, and at no profit to them (they still sell the knives to dealers at the same price, but require the dealers to charge more.)

In this case, the price changes how much someone is likely to appreciate a knife. For $50, a grip is a very fine knife. For $80, it starts to be just an okay knife. I'll bet that, had the OP paid the older prices, the Grip would be much less of a disappointment.
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Just one quick point of fact, ZT and Benchmade are the ones with MAP pricing. It's not something that Spyderco does.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Just one quick point of fact, ZT and Benchmade are the ones with MAP pricing. It's not something that Spyderco does.
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I was talking more about de facto pricing as opposed to MAP pricing with ZT, honestly. MAP has raised prices on BM knives on the secondary market, but ZTs are going for extremely good prices these days. 0801s going for 140-160, 0566s going for 100-120, 0300/0301s going for 200-225... Whereas Benchmade knives are noticeably more expensive these days.

Spyderco's overall prices certainly seem to have gone up at almost every dealer. Maybe they're just actually charging the dealers more?
 
Comeuppance said:
I was talking more about de facto pricing as opposed to MAP pricing with ZT, honestly. MAP has raised prices on BM knives on the secondary market, but ZTs are going for extremely good prices these days. 0801s going for 140-160, 0566s going for 100-120, 0300/0301s going for 200-225... Whereas Benchmade knives are noticeably more expensive these days.

Spyderco's overall prices certainly seem to have gone up at almost every dealer. Maybe they're just actually charging the dealers more?
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I believe Mr. Glesser has stated that they have a set percentage profit on each knife, so they just add whatever percentage on to dealer price above the cost to produce the item. Honestly, the only Spyderco I've noticed really go up in price is the Para 2 and I think that's just because it's still only available in limited quantities. I haven't noticed much of a price hike on their other models.
 
I know a few that started with benchmade and evolved to quality knives once they started researching.

I sharpen a few benchmades fpr my LEO customers, and when I show them the spyderco or sebenza, they look at their knives like it's disposable. They start asking questions haha 'so what's good?'
 
HwangJino said:
I know a few that started with benchmade and evolved to quality knives once they started researching.

I sharpen a few benchmades fpr my LEO customers, and when I show them the spyderco or sebenza, they look at their knives like it's disposable. They start asking questions haha 'so what's good?'
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That somewhat surprises me, to be honest. Obviously, CRK is a huge step up, but I don't really think my Spydies have any particular edge on my Benchmades when it comes to quality. The 710 remains one of my all time favorites.
 
here is the the thing man, you cant weigh the merits of any knife company on a single model. IMHO the griptilian in all its variations is not really the pinnacle of benchmade quality or design. Its a workhorse. An ergonomic cost effective USA made knife that appeals to the masses for EDC that can easily be replaced. IMHO its the tenacious (spyderco) or the Blur (Kershaw) of the benchmade line. I really like benchmade knives but I must admit lately they have been leaving a bit to be desired in the fit and finish department. But I have been experiencing a drop in fit and finish across the board of all companies lately. As far as what your missing? I dont really think anything. You simply didnt get the right benchmade for you. Given your a fan of the 0550 it would seem to me like you like overbuilt heavy duty folders. In that realm the grip will always fall short of the expectations you might have. I would recommend checking out the adamas and the MPR. They both seem to have a bit more meat on the bone. And even though the MPR is short its a tank.
 
But its funny, they tried selling me on the benchmades like they were the cream of the crop.
 
Comeuppance said:
I find that I have phases, too. There was a time that almost every knife I owned was a Spyderco knife. Now I own zero. Then it was Hogue, and then none. Then flippers, then none, then flippers again.

Never had a Benchmade phase, though. I carried a 530 for a couple weeks and lost all interest in it rapidly. Had a 581 for a hot minute before I sold it to a friend. Given current market prices, I don't know if I will ever have such a phase.

I think the reason the pricing change always gets brought up is foremost that it's fairly recent and quite noticeable, and secondly that it ties directly into the value of a knife - which is often a major consideration and relevant to most discussions.

A year ago, people would have said "you're comparing a $50 knife to a $150 knife." Now it's "You're comparing a $80 knife to a $120 knife". ZT goes down, Benchmade and Spyderco go up. The latter two have surrendered all hope of being #1 by shooting themselves in the foot entirely unnecessarily, and at no profit to them (they still sell the knives to dealers at the same price, but require the dealers to charge more.)

In this case, the price changes how much someone is likely to appreciate a knife. For $50, a grip is a very fine knife. For $80, it starts to be just an okay knife. I'll bet that, had the OP paid the older prices, the Grip would be much less of a disappointment.
Click to expand...

The price for the standard full size Griptilian is 97.75 plus shipping. Hmmm. And I m a Griptilian fan and carry one occasionally. Very sturdy work knife despite its light weight which is a plus.
 
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