Benchmade Contego thoughts?

Steel130 said:
How much more severe would you say, versus the Manix?
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Sorry that I didn't respond sooner. But I have never held a Manix 2. The jimping on the Contego isn't just on the thumb ramp. There is jimping all over the knife, on almost every area that your hand comes in contact with. It's very rough and pointy.
 
Playing with my Contego right now, and just don't see how the jimping could be considered overly aggressive at all. Sure, there's a lot of it, spread all over the liners, but it's all nicely rounded. Same for the G10, it's heavily textured, but by no means sharp. My wife, who has very slender hands, is of the opinion that it's not very pretty, but is perfectly comfortable.
 
Riley Nye,
Where did you get your information for this quote?:

"The HT they've used on the M4 for the 810 is far superior to the M4 on the LFTI. "

I have read reports the early runs of the Lfti were soft, are there different heat treats between the models? Confused.

-edit: BM's website lists the 760LFTi at 60-62 whereas the Contego is at 62-64, learn something new every day
 
knife2Agunfight said:
Sorry that I didn't respond sooner. But I have never held a Manix 2. The jimping on the Contego isn't just on the thumb ramp. There is jimping all over the knife, on almost every area that your hand comes in contact with. It's very rough and pointy.
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The Manixes have jimping all over the handle as well.

I'd be curious for an answer to this also since I only have a Manix 2 XL, which I like the jimping of but some say is too rough, and am interested in the Contego.
 
My LFTI is definitely softer than my Spydie Gayle Bradley and Gayle Bradley Air. Kinda bummed me out, but I really like the feel of the LFTI... thinking about getting it hollow ground and retempered - better suited for my work. It seems to me (no expert, but get tons of cut time at work) that BM goes softer than Spyderco or Kershaw/ZT in all the knives and steels I've tried. My BM's dull quicker, but tend to roll instead of chip under hard use. The LFTI M4 temper is what held me back on the Contego purchase for a while, but I finally got one today. We shall see how it fares on the job. The jimping seems quite appropriate for a work knife and doesn't bother me in the least, but I have blue collar hands. The ergs on the 710 seem better to me than the 810, but I like the 810's blade a lot more. The contego seems to be a great knife. Not too sure how much I like the 'pencil neck' feel with the front fingers... wish the whole handle was more uniform.
 
I just received mine yesterday!! Didn't expect it to be that long, it's longer than my 520 Presidio. Feels great in your hands though the handle scales are a little rough.

I bought the 810 because I liked the blade design on my 940-121 but I didn't want to use it too often, so I bought the 810!!

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I've been carrying the contego every day for over 6 months and I think it's just about the perfect folder. I've actually sold all of my other folders.

What I love most about it is that it's probably the strongest production folder on the market while also being slim, comfortable, light weight, and a good slicer. The high hardness M4 is awesome and only needs to be touched up every few weeks. I've only done a full sharpening one time.

The contego Is basically a folder that can be used like a fixed blade. I've put mine through some very hard cutting tasks an it always comes out unscathed. When you factor in the price there isn't a better folder on the market.

And I've extensively carried most of the big time production blades out there including the Spyderco Millie, para2, manix
2, Delica, ZT 0551, 0560, 301, Benchmade bedlam, 710, SOG tomcat, and trident.

I think the next best thing is the BM 710 in M390
 
Both are outstanding knives and superb values at the $120-$150ish price range (each can be found for less if you look hard).

Between the 710 and 810, I prefer the BM 710. The ergonomics, slicing, and overall blade shape is much more useful than the 810. The 810 is significantly heavier but does carry well for a knife of its size in the pocket. Similarly, the 710 carries lighter than most 3.5" knives, possesses a sleek and relatively people friendly appearance, and doesn't have hot spots for extended use.

Unfortunately, the 810 is excessively jimped and somewhat uncomfortable to use over long periods of time. It is a real shame that BM responded to a small segment of knife users who seem to prefer knives to be jimped more aggressively than handguns. The excessive jimping keeps me from carrying the 810 on days when I will be performing extensive cutting tasks. The 710 is a thousand times more comfortable for cutting tasks than the 810.

Regardless, there are not better knives on the market in that price range, and the only production folders that rival each in performance, fit and finish, and value would be the Gayle Bradley, Sebenza, and customs. I'd take both over far more expensive knives by Hinderer, Strider, and Microtech.
 
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It's a very nice knife if you take a dremel and sandpaper to the handle. I don't know why it has all that jimping, I can't think of any tools or weapons that do. Ratchets, hammers, shovels, axes, drivers, pry bars, pistols, shotguns, rifles, not really anything I've carried or used was designed to irritate quite like this. After smoothing the G10 and removing the jimping that sits too proud of the scales, and rounding off the point in the middle of the handle where the semi-circle ends, it is pretty nice in the hand.
 
I love the blade geometry, M4 steel and the glass breaker. All three when combined with the axis lock make for a wicked little (or not so little) pocket companion. The thing is, I find the ergos to be exceptionally strange. If you choke back on the handle like you were going to do some chopping, everything feels great. If I grip the knife as I normally would, I find that my index and middle fingers are a bit crowded. That's strange when you consider the fact that I have these thin alien like fingers! I find that the jimping hurts my hands, especially the side of my index finger when held with a firm working grip. That said, I don't feel as if the jimping really serves it's intended purpose. I suspect that everything might be different if wearing a glove. Anyway, I'd like to eventually deepen the choil slightly to provide extra room for my index finger as well as sand down the jimping in certain spots. Just too dumb and lazy to do so at this point.
 
Hardheart, would you be kind enough to post a photo of your custom work? I've been wanting to break out the dremel on mine as well and am curious to see your results.
 
I want one... I preder it over the smaller Rift. I'd like to pick up an M4 710 before it though.
 
the handle bothered me at first, but I guess I've gotten used to it, Some people said the knife was down right painful to use, I disagree, It did cause a little discomfort at first, but I guess I got used to it. I also work with steel for a living, so my hands are pretty tough. I'm gonna say that If you have a desk job or your hands haven't seen much manual labor the 810 might give you some problems, but nothing downright painful, I put my 810 up for sale awhile back and am so glad it never sold, now i love the knife.
 
Steel130 said:
I have heard a couple of people state that the jimping on the liners is pretty sharp. Anyone else had this problem? A few pictures never hurt either haha.
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it is, and i sanded mine down, and it is still pretty sharp, YMMV

to me the contego is a knife that looks better on paper than in real life, i dont dislike it necessarily, but it doesn't find its way into my pocket that often
 
I've been looking for one of these on the secondary (trade) market and they seem to go about as fast as other sought after knives. In that sense they seem to be a fairly safe buy if you want to try one.
 
KalEl said:
I've been carrying the contego every day for over 6 months and I think it's just about the perfect folder. I've actually sold all of my other folders.

What I love most about it is that it's probably the strongest production folder on the market while also being slim, comfortable, light weight, and a good slicer. The high hardness M4 is awesome and only needs to be touched up every few weeks. I've only done a full sharpening one time.

The contego Is basically a folder that can be used like a fixed blade. I've put mine through some very hard cutting tasks an it always comes out unscathed. When you factor in the price there isn't a better folder on the market.

And I've extensively carried most of the big time production blades out there including the Spyderco Millie, para2, manix
2, Delica, ZT 0551, 0560, 301, Benchmade bedlam, 710, SOG tomcat, and trident.

I think the next best thing is the BM 710 in M390
Click to expand...

The fact that you sold all of your other folders really says a lot.

I owned a 710 not too long ago and I liked the knife overall, but little things bothered me. 1: the smoothness of the G10 scales- too smooth IMO. Could get custom scales made for it but I digress. 2: D2 steel. It was my first experience with D2 and I had heard that the steel was prone to rust. Living as close as I do to the ocean it was always in the back of my mind whenever I carried it.
The 810 seems to have a solution to those problems: super grippy G10 (from what i've read on here) and a coating on the M4 steel to help prevent rust issues. I will probably still put a layer of oil along the edge but its nice to have that coating. May have to try one of these out.
 
this thread made me cave! ordered with bk coating, not usually my style but looks right on that blade.
 
I also was on the fence about the Contego, it seems to be a polarizing knife (it's either your style or it's not). My buddy at the local knife store had been raving about it since it came out. He carries it nearly every day (this is a guy with a couple hundred knives) and declares it the best production folder on the market. I kept kind of shrugging him off due to my interest in other styles of folders, but eventually I started to get interested in this knife. The features all screamed quality and forethought and the idea of it grew on me. We got a big tax refund this year and with my toy money portion of it I decided to go for it and try to Contego. I am so happy I did! It carries like a knife 60% it's size and the jimping IS sharp, make no mistake, but if you're like me and only pull out your knife on occasion to use for a few seconds to cut something it doesn't cause pain but rather locks the knife into your hand for the task from deployment to re-pocketing. If I was going to be whittling or preparing a meal this knife would not be my first choice, but for an EDC with the option of being an emergency or self defense option I could not imagine a better knife (unless they release a SLIGHTLY smaller Contego :D):

417bbe02-8d42-47fa-b88e-356c7dd919ec_zpseb83ca05.jpg
 
I want one. I haven't bought one yet because I'm waiting for other LE models and trying to buy certain folders and fixed blades this year. But I think that I will be picking one up as soon as I know if I'm getting a tax refund or not. The gray cerakote makes the blade look like it has a bead blasted finish. Not sure what version to pick.
 
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