Benchmade Gold Class

[asdf12345]

How do you feel about Benchmade's gold class line? Which ones do you own and are you happy with them? Do they represent mostly "collector's items" or are they also engineered for better performance through tighter tolerances, better factory edge, etc.?

 

[osta.doc]

I don't own one. But, I'd love to have the Gold Class 210 with the CPM M4 blade. It's AWESOME!!!!

But they want 500.00 for one I saw on the used market, and that's not gonna happen......for sure.

 

[Wolverine666]

I have only handled one gold class in person and it had a blade that was severely off center. I'm sure it could have been caught and remedied before it left the factory. But it wasn't. For over $500 these people should at least make sure the blade is centered. I think these GC knives are waaaay overpriced. Pretty silly IMO.

 

[GhostAlpha0]

I have a 940-121. For me the 940 is a knife I want to collect all variations of that I can (except for serrated or combo edge variations). It's also a gold class that doesn't get too high I price -- they seem to go for around $400 consistently and that's well within the range I'm willing to pay for a limited edition production knife. I'm very happy with the knife for what I paid for it. I feel like it's not just a safe queen, the blade steel (cpm m4 vs s30v) and handle material (titanium/cf vs aluminum) are both upgrades over the standard 940 and I didn't have to pay so much for it that I wouldn't carry it.

Just today I ordered a 710-142 so this will be my second gold class BM. This one was at the top end of what I want to pay for a production folder but again both the blade (Damascus vs d2) and handle material (cf vs g10) are both upgrades over the standard 710. I'm pretty excited about this one. It'll be my first BM with a Damascus blade.

I do like the idea of limited edition and collectible knives but I generally want to use the knives I buy. The 710-142 might fall more in that collectible category than the 940-121 but so far I haven't yet bought a knife that I'd say I wouldn't ever carry.

 

[RamZar]

I recently got a Benchmade Gold Class 556-141 Mini-Griptilian. MSRP was $650 with a MAP of $552.50. I managed to get mine for $506 and I'm totally blown away at how good it is in terms of material, design, quality and fit & finish. It's a flawless specimen.

Once you add up the DLC coated crowned CPM-M4 (62-64 HRC) blade, anodized titanium handles with blue twill G10 inlays and blue anodized titanium barrel spacers and thumb lugs you'll see that if you did that to a stock Mini-Grip it adds up.

 

[mqqn]

I recently got a Benchmade Gold Class 556-141 Mini-Griptilian. MSRP was $650 with a MAP of $552.50. I managed to get mine for $506 and I'm totally blown away at how good it is in terms of material, design, quality and fit & finish. It's a flawless specimen.

Once you add up the DLC coated crowned CPM-M4 (62-64 HRC) blade, anodized titanium handles with blue twill G10 inlays and blue anodized titanium barrel spacers and thumb lugs you'll see that if you did that to a stock Mini-Grip it adds up.

Sounds awesome - I have never held one of those - but I would love to some day - I like Benchmade, they make a quality knife.


best

mqqn

 

[GhostAlpha0]

I recently got a Benchmade Gold Class 556-141 Mini-Griptilian. MSRP was $650 with a MAP of $552.50. I managed to get mine for $506 and I'm totally blown away at how good it is in terms of material, design, quality and fit & finish. It's a flawless specimen.

Once you add up the DLC coated crowned CPM-M4 (62-64 HRC) blade, anodized titanium handles with blue twill G10 inlays and blue anodized titanium barrel spacers and thumb lugs you'll see that if you did that to a stock Mini-Grip it adds up.

Very nice. I looked at those for a long time when they were still easily available and wanted one but didn't end up pulling the trigger because the mini grip is just too small for me. I prefer larger knives and the 940 is the smallest I'd carry. It really is a beautiful knife.