Benchmade? Done? Late to the Party

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I was considering buying a few benchmade knives before I figured out what thier political stance was, and their deal with the police to destroy firearms... then I did my own research and saw tons of complaint about CV thier quality. So, I'm glad I never fell for any benchmade hype. I'll keep my ZT 0350 thanks.
 
I don't like Benchmade more or less after this incident. Maybe it's because I am no US citizen but IMO this issue has been blown out of proportion.

My thoughts on the "destroying guns" thingy: They have good relationship with the local PD. I don't see how this is an issue. These guns' fate was sealed before. If BM wouldn't have helped them out they would have rolled them with a bulldozer or similar. According to BM's statement they are supporting local law enforcement and the 2nd amendment. When you take a look at their history and their portfolio there can be little doubt they are (2/3 of their knives are aimed at either "tactical" or hunting use). BM claim that they have contributed to shooting sport and pro gun organizations with millions of $ in the past and I have no reason to doubt that as well.

An other issue people have is that they support Democratic politicians. You might say that the USA are a democracy and one should therefore respect other people's political views, but I get that this is a pretty sensitive topic among gun owners.
However, even though BM has supported solely Democratic politicians since 2010 (before that they also supported Republicans) under all these Democratic politicians apparently only was one that qualified as an anti gun politician. You might say that one is one too much and that they certainly made a mistake hiring this (apparently "too liberal") lobbying group but it makes sense to support the party that is more likely to win (in Oregon the Democrats) if you want a certain proposition to have success (and remember that they supported a law that could help knife owners).

All in all I think that Benchmade has explained why they did what they did and that people should give them another chance. Their knives are still a great USA made product Americans can and should be proud of.
 
Not done at all. I have a Presidio 2 on the way, so ill be sure to let you guys know how i like it.
 
Ronnie, do you dig into the political leanings behind all of the products you purchase?

Ton of movie stars contribute to organizations that are anti-2nd amendment.

Whole bunch of companies contribute (and mightily) to politicians with anti gun agendas.

How about buying stuff from China? They certainly aren't on board with protecting the 2nd.

Just wondering how many folks are just jumping on the hype train, and how many actually have a doctrine they use.

Cuz if you want to boycott anything/anyone who is willing to toss the 2A from the Constitution, the list is pretty big.
 
I'm impressed that this thread has not devolved into red-vs-blue or right-v-left. It's interesting that it always seems to play on the news as such a polarizing topic. I'm not american, so I have no skin in the game, but I'll offer 1 insight which seems to be true:

It's not so much anti-2a vs pro-2a, as much as the perception. It's interesting to note that the 'reasonable' rules surrounding this topic have 70%+ of americans in agreement: ie - do background checks to prohibit criminals & people with mental issues, AND, (this one is maybe not such a high % but still seems the majority): don't allow regular people to have fully automatic weapons; it's just asking for trouble. Just like you'd probably not want to have everyone owning their own bazooka or cruise missile.

Somehow, the crazyness happens around these 2 issues, which should _not_ be a problem, but the pro-vs-anti 2a is so entrenched that somehow they end up fighting on this proxy of issues?? (I still don't quite understand it, since, it seems there really is agreement on those points above)

Anyway, good job on keeping respect around this topic
 
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While posts of them destroying guns on social media gained a lot of sensational attention, this wasn't the issue for me. It's hard to blame them for accepting a contract to destroy something that is going to be destroyed anyway. The issue is that this sparked interest into their company politics. That uncovered the political donations.

I know this thread is probably going to get shut down for "politics" but the following point is worth understanding. If the thing in question involves the application of real force against people who are a part of this community, then it isn't "just politics". We can quibble about the extent to which the individual politicians receiving these donations have pushed for that force. The fact is that their party en masse is publicly pledged to applying that force.

Now, discussions of knife rights and developments in the political battle for knife rights have seemed welcome here. Some people believe that gun and knife rights are totally unrelated but both are tools. The ownership and ability to carry these tools are both in question. Depending on where in this country your feet are touching the ground, you may or may not be facing serious violence on the part of the government depending on what you have in your pocket. "Violence" in this context can include all sorts of things such as being arrested, imprisoned, or fined; losing your property or even other rights depending on how your case is processed. This is why gun owners and others who are sensitive to these issues have a serious problem when a company who markets to us gives money to that end.
 
I’m a Canadian, so the political stance of an American company doesn’t sway me from buying them.
I like buying American and Canadian made knives and look there first before seeing if what I want is made elsewhere.

There’s no harm in having a different opinion, and choosing what you want (voting with your wallet) but I don’t have to tell people my political views on why. That’s just me ;)
 
Hale Storm said:
Mods, I think this is in the wrong spot. Please move if it is.

I'm late to this party. I missed most of the Benchmade issue (fiasco) back earlier in the year and wasn't up to speed until recently when I offered for sale a user Barrage at a ridiculous price and no one jumped. I was then lead to the Benchmade issue.

After reading many posts and opinions here and elsewhere, I'm now here. I copied this post since it summed up my own opinion of the matter but revised it some to state my actual feelings.

"I think this is the concerning part. The campaign contributions information is far more damning, and telling of an organizations priorities. The fact that they cut up a couple guns at the request of LE, honestly doesn’t really concern me. That happens sometimes, and the LE agency in Oregon City, Oregon is bound by state law or litigation from selling/auctioning them. However, the sticking point, if you will, against Benchmade, is their several years of 100% campaign contributions to anti gun democrats. It’s not like they even tried to make it even, or even selected moderate dems. Those campaign contributions are absolutely unforgivable, and frankly downright disgusting. The modern far left swing of the democrat party should concern far more than just gun owners. Why? Because if they think the democrats won’t come for knives one day, they’re wrong".

I have 3 sons. One is a Maritime Enforcement Officer in the Coast Guard, one is a Seattle P.D. officer, and one is a firefighter. To say I'm supportive of law and order, military, and first responders, is an understatement. I'm also a fervent 2A supporter and believer.

Having said all that, I have some Benchmades that were gifted to me by these sons of mine that I just can't seem to part with. I buy, sell, and trade knivesall the time, but never those that were gifted to me by my family and friends. Just my own rule. Buying more Benchmades? I'm not sure yet, not likely, but right now, I'm not too happy with the "head in the sand" approach that Benchmade has taken so far and see no new BM's in my future. Eveidently, BM has no plans to address the issue since it hasn't happened yet and this was months ago.

I realize we're just one forum (albeit very diverse, informed, and huge by shear numbers of members). So here are my questions for the members here.

Is Benchmade done? Are they done for us, meaning most on our forum have decided that Benchmade is no longer a viable option based on their political leanings to anti-gun candidates? Are we boycotting them?
Is it that BM could care less about what we think and it won't affect their business enough for them to worry about it? Will this blow over and BM be right back where they were as a knife company? Has it already blown over?
Up until now I was a huge BM fan and own several BM knives. I've even had great experiences with their customer service and used to recommend their products to anyone and everyone.

I'm just curious where everyone's thoughts are since it's been over half a year since all this happened.
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I feel the same as I did six months ago. I don’t give a shit. Good for Benchmade. Also Democrats should be capitalized when referring to the party. I can’t speak for everyone here but I think most are democrats.
 
I personally don't think that benchmade saw the destruction of confiscated guns on behalf of the local police force as a political statement. I think perhaps they learned a valuable lesson about the preferred media spin though.
It went from "Great local knife company helps local police destroy guns used in crime!" To "Benchmade knife company supports nationwide gun bans!"
Unfortunate, but they should have known better.

I guess that's what you get for trusting "D"emocrats. ;)
 
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Velitrius said:
Ronnie, do you dig into the political leanings behind all of the products you purchase?

Ton of movie stars contribute to organizations that are anti-2nd amendment.

Whole bunch of companies contribute (and mightily) to politicians with anti gun agendas.

How about buying stuff from China? They certainly aren't on board with protecting the 2nd.

Just wondering how many folks are just jumping on the hype train, and how many actually have a doctrine they use.

Cuz if you want to boycott anything/anyone who is willing to toss the 2A from the Constitution, the list is pretty big.
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I don't dig necessarily. My life is too busy for that. But as one poster said, if you're going to throw your company in the political arena, (which I disagree with) and then it's publicized, then you suffer the consequences, good or bad.
 
My main problem with Benchmade at this point is their stupid ass price points...perfect example is their new OTF they just released.

Then we have 42 different colors of every damn knife with the same steel.

I owned about 60 Benchmades...I decided to expand my coverage of brands I have so I sold about 25 of them to pay for 4Runner mods and a couple other brands.
 
drfoil said:
I feel the same as I did six months ago. I don’t give a shit. Good for Benchmade. Also Democrats should be capitalized when referring to the party. I can’t speak for everyone here but I think most are democrats.
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Interesting response. I won't capitalize the d in democrats much the same way an atheist wouldn't worry about capitalizing the g in the word God. Most could care less about my opinion anyway.I would disagree about most here being democrats but I don't give a shit and would rather not know.
For what it's worth, I live in Texas. We just passed a new knife law last year. It says essentially, that there are no knife laws here anymore. We're free to carry what you want, where you want, when you want, and how you want.
 
OP, for the ones you have already I'd never think of parting with them as they were kind and thoughtful gifts. Good kids you have! They are still good quality knives.

Besides having issues with everything already discussed with Benchmade's involvement, I also have a serious lack of interest in any current designs that they have.
 
halflife78 said:
My main problem with Benchmade at this point is their stupid ass price points...perfect example is their new OTF they just released.

Then we have 42 different colors of every damn knife with the same steel.

I owned about 60 Benchmades...I decided to expand my coverage of brands I have so I sold about 25 of them to pay for 4Runner mods and a couple other brands.
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I agree on the 42 colors with the same steel. The beauty of some Spyderco's is the sprint runs and blade swap capabilities. I love my Franken Spydie with blue G10 and M390.
 
First and foremost, Benchmade is a company trying to stay in business. Political donations are a standard part of being in business. Politicians and their rulings can make or break a company. So it behooves a company to curry favor. (The company I work for hires lobbyists to promote their agendas and comes very close to demanding that employees donate to the cause.)

That being said, if in order to sway the people who can make or break the business they have to donate to some politicians who do not match other parts of Benchmades agendas, then that is pretty much going to happen. Stay in business first. Then you can drive the rest of your agendas.
 
now it’s been a while since all this went down but i do recall that the donations made were not from benchmade as a company but from les and his wife. private individuals. who have as much of a right to donate to whoever they want as the rest of us do.

last i checked it’s still illegal for a company to donate directly to individual candidates. they would have to make donations to a political action group. so benchmade as a company could not have made these donations.

and while i am generally pro 2a, neither party fully supports my beliefs on all issues. furthermore, i’m even more pro staying out of others private lives & hoping they’d do the same for me.

as far as quality & such is concerned, i have around a dozen bms and not an issue with one of them. bought some in local stores, a some from an online dealer in the great state of louisiana, and a few second hand. none of them have had any qc issues.
 
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