Benchmade Griptilian vs Spyderco

R

RafaelHerschel

Joined
Jun 19, 2010
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252
I bought a Benchmade Griptilian 551 yesterday and so far I’m pretty impressed. A great knife!

A short impression (not a review, I haven’t really used the knife yet):

The Griptilian is very well constructed. Between the blade and the metal liners of the handle are large washers (they appear to be bronze).

As expected the AXIS lock provides smooth action and the option of closing the knife with one hand. The rather large handle provides excellent grip.

The downside of the large and bulky handle: it’s not that comfortable in the pocket of my jeans. For EDC I would choose a handle with a flatter profile. Because of the rather aggressive textures on the handle, the handle might be less comfortable during continuous use.

The blade has a decent finish, but not as nice as some other knives within the same price range. Unlike the Mini Grip that I own, the knife was very sharp out of the box. The Mini Grip had a decent edge, but was not shaving sharp.

Overall I still have a slight preference for the Spyderco Endura. The flatter profile and the comfortable handle make it in my opinion better suited for EDC.

Comparing a few knives to the Griptilian made me reassess the Spyderco Tenacious. It really offers outstanding value for money. I’m not a huge fan of the steel (8Cr13MoV) but it’s perfectly adequate for a quality knife.

I really like the ergonomics of it (very comfortable) and the fact that it has a full flat grind. It offers real competition for knives around the $ 100,- mark for half the price.

Rafael
 
I have a grip and my buddy has a tenacious...though I love my grip, that tenacious for ~$40 is ridiculous...great knife!
 
I'm a Grip fan, especially the Mini Grip. But for the money, the Tenacious is a GREAT deal. I like almost everything about the Grip, except for the scales, they just look and feel cheap to me. If BM would make them out of G10, they would have a "homerun".
 
HuntersHikes said:
I have a grip and my buddy has a tenacious...though I love my grip, that tenacious for ~$40 is ridiculous...great knife!
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i agree...if i could legally carry my tenacious it would get so much more pocket time! and it can be had for like $31 shipped
 
I have a Persistence and in another thread, mentioned that I was thinking of a Delica and a Mini Grip. Went with the Delica, as I too prefer a thinner handle and the scales on the Grips are kinda not to my liking. Love, just love, the Axis lock

Now to figure out how to close the Delica one handed.

Not to say that a Mini Grip would not be in my future
 
LawyerSam said:
Now to figure out how to close the Delica one handed.
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Easy. Hold the knife with your index finger right at the front (too far back and the knife will bite you) and your thumb on the lock release. Depress the lock release and give the knife a quick downward flick. The blade will half close and the unsharpened ricasso will bump into your index finger and stop. Then shift your grip and close the knife the rest of the way.

Works for Endura and lots of other lockback knives too. Just double check that the ricasso or finger choil on that knife protects your finger before doing it.
 
At my opinion, Griptilian can be compared with Stretch (VG-10 and FRN), not Endura. Endura is a biggest knife what both Grip and Stretch, Manix II etc.

And I can't choose one of them :) Tenacious is a great knife, but if You look on Vex, Tenacious would lost its shine :)
 
futz said:
Easy. Hold the knife with your index finger right at the front (too far back and the knife will bite you) and your thumb on the lock release. Depress the lock release and give the knife a quick downward flick. The blade will half close and the unsharpened ricasso will bump into your index finger and stop. Then shift your grip and close the knife the rest of the way.

Works for Endura and lots of other lockback knives too. Just double check that the ricasso or finger choil on that knife protects your finger before doing it.
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That works. I cheat. I push with my thumb on the lock and push the back of the blade against my leg. After the blade is half closed I turn the knife in my hand and use my thumb to close the blade.

It’s weird, I never noticed that I closed my knives that way until somebody pointed it out to me.

I was genuinely puzzled when somebody asked me how I closed my Delica with one hand.

Rafael
 
Don't have a delica or endura, but with my Native I often close it differently than I usually see mentioned. At work I do the same leg push as you described, and with the substantial choil you can also let gravity drop it about 90°, and continue closing. But my most often used method goes like this.
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disregard the sticky tape residue on the blade :p

now that I think about it, I close my large Goddard the same way, which is much longer than the Native. Though comparing the backlock to spyderhole distance, the Native's is actually slightly farther apart....
 
goodeyesniper said:
Don't have a delica or endura, but with my Native I often close it differently than I usually see mentioned. At work I do the same leg push as you described, and with the substantial choil you can also let gravity drop it about 90°, and continue closing. But my most often used method goes like this.


disregard the sticky tape residue on the blade :p

now that I think about it, I close my large Goddard the same way, which is much longer than the Native. Though comparing the backlock to spyderhole distance, the Native's is actually slightly farther apart....
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This how I close all my spyderco lockbacks(all I have are spydies :D).
 
My wife loves her mini grip and 530. I don't own any axis lock knives. IIRC, the only one I owned was a 722 almost 10 years ago. I only own one Spyderco, a waved and double edged Police G10.
 
you cant compare a griptilian to a teniacous, different price points, the griptilian is more comparable to the spyderco endura 4, and in my opinion it out spydercoed spyderco, the 550hg is better edc than the endura, and dont ever try and take apart an endura 4, impossible to put back together, the 550 is eaiser to maintain.
 
dallasdeadeye said:
you cant compare a griptilian to a teniacous, different price points, the griptilian is more comparable to the spyderco endura 4, and in my opinion it out spydercoed spyderco, the 550hg is better edc than the endura, and dont ever try and take apart an endura 4, impossible to put back together, the 550 is eaiser to maintain.
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Sure you can. The persistence compares pretty closely to that of a mini grip. Only differance is a hugely inflated price tag for 154CM steel. The persistence has superior handle scales, ergos, and overall F&F. I dont even carry my mini grip anymore and the only reason I dont sell it off is because I absolutely love the axis lock and its fun to play with.
 
I would put lots of things down to personal preference.

The big Grip is often compared to both Stretch and Endura. Here, several things matter: colour, FRN texture ( I prefer Spyderco's), steel (too close to call for me) lock (most people prefer axis, but midlock is my fave, and I like the closing bias it provides) blade grind and ergos.
 
I currently have a D2 griptilian and a waved endura. I strongly prefer the griptilian but I will admit the endura has been being carried a lot recently, though I think that is due to the wave.
 
I have a D2 Mini Grip and a FFG Delica. For me at least, the Delica totally dominates my carry rotation. It just carries so well. My second most carried knife is a Persistence. This is all pending because I have a Sage 1 on the way and I hear they are great for EDCing.
 
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