Benchmade: Griptillian or Mini-Griptillian?

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sadf

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Aug 10, 2004
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Right now I'm working in a bad part of town, so I'm looking for something to carry as both a utility piece and to potentially save my ass.

After reading through a great many threads and reviews on knives in my price range, I settled between either a Benchmade or a Spyderco. A trip to a local shop struck the Spyderco off the list for me as I find them too difficult to open quickly. My thumb and fingers are somewhat short for the size of my hand, which made the Spyderco's opening system feel clumsy and slow to me. No shops in town sell Benchmade, so I haven't had a chance to actually hold and try one, though after trying a few other brands in store I found that the thumb-stud opening system works best overall. Going off what I've read, the Benchmade company seems to be my safest bet with both excellent quality products and a strong support system for them. I also like the idea of the AXIS lock as a smooth opening blade that won't close on me is, well, ideal.

So now I come to the question. After pricing various models and reading reviews, the Griptillian comes out on top. Since I am not able to handle them before purchase however, I am unsure on which size to go with. For my intended purpose, light utility and defense, both blade sizes seem adequate. What concerns me is the opening and balance of the blades as the Mini-Griptillian looks to be a great deal more balanced as well as smoother to open judging from the movies on Benchmade's site.

If anyone who has had experience with both, or either, of these models could help me out with an opinion, I'd be grateful. Keeping in mind that while I would prefer a larger blade, ease of opening and balance are far more important than half an inch. Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
I have both.
I like the mini for day to day use & office carry, as it is not too big to get me in trouble.

I carry the full size grip when home & wearing jeans or want a bigger blade.

I don't use the thumb stud or hole, I just pull back on the axis button to to open or close the knife.

I would go with the better steels of the exclusives, cabellas http://www.cabelas.com has both sizes in D2 for about $75. and Doug Ritter RSK Mk1
http://www.aeromedix.com/index.php?...mrsk&_sessid=eb4793729cd696b89e16f1d3d6934615 has just the full sized version in CPM S30V
 
"I'm looking for something to carry as both a utility piece and to potentially save my ass"...

Get the 551 Griptilian.
 
sadf said:
What concerns me is the opening and balance of the blades as the Mini-Griptillian looks to be a great deal more balanced as well as smoother to open judging from the movies on Benchmade's site.
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I've got both and haven't found this to be the case. When I'm sure I won't be driving into a state that has a "no more than 3 inch" rule I always take my 551. I haven't found either to be better balanced or smoother opening. They're both great knives.
 
I should mention I live in Canada so blade size isn't an issue legally. Which is odd, considering our normal laws on weapons.


Anyway, from watching the videos on Benchmade's site the 551 looks like it requires two motions to fully open. In a knife that I may need to draw and open quite quickly, that's a fatal flaw. Having not truly handled it however, I don't know if that's normal or just for the site demo. I've also heard that the mini is a more sturdy knife but again, have no personal experience to back that claim.


Edit to add: uncleknife, I've been considering the D2 tool steel version, but considering the light duty use the knife would recieve, I'll only go that route if I can't find it a good bit cheaper elsewhere.
 
If you think you may need the knife for self defense purposes take a look at the BM 805 TSEK AXIS. You get a blade that's a half inch longer than the griptilian with the axis lock and thumb stud. It's a benchmade so you know the quality is excellent. Although I don't have one, a good friend of mine has worn one for several years and he swears by that knife and uses it often.
 
Knight939 said:
If you think you may need the knife for self defense purposes take a look at the BM 805 TSEK AXIS. You get a blade that's a half inch longer than the griptilian with the axis lock and thumb stud. It's a benchmade so you know the quality is excellent. Although I don't have one, a good friend of mine has worn one for several years and he swears by that knife and uses it often.
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I'd have suggested that one, as the 805 is my FAVORITE folder, but it wasn't one of his two listed choices, and it costs quite a bit more money than either Griptilian.
 
get the full-size 551. i recently acquired a minigip 555 and it's my utility knife off the jobsite since it's small enough and green enough not to be as alarming as my Pacific Salt. i think the mini is too small for your needs. could you get both and return the one that you felt was inadequate?

compo.jpg


here's the mini-grip compared to the 10400 pika (similar to the full-size grip in blade/handle length) i think the extra handle length of the full size grip would seem to be what you needed. (hell, you could always just get a full-size and a mini-pika for the price of one of the grips :D )
 
Until I lost it, my favorite EDC...comes out quick & can do "pop" (ala Brownie) with it after some practice. A solid knife...want to get another soon.
 
Well I went to the shop today to take one last look at other knives.

The CKRT knives felt, well, cheap. The blades, handles and actions all felt somewhat shoddy so I steered myself away from them. The Cold Steel knives were just terrible. They opened, locked and closed very badly. Despite my past experience with being unable to quickly open the Spyderco knives I'd tried, I took out a Spyderco Wegner.

And fell in love.

It just felt so much more solid than any other folder I've used. I'm not sure if it's the heavier blade or the angle of the grip and opening hole, but it opens easily and fast. There's also zero play in the blade and the liner lock, something I've never much liked, feels very solid and engages well every time. The blade is so much better than any of the other knives I tried out. I know the knife's intended purpose isn't defense or even light daily use, but the size grip and blade all suit my need well.

The Spyderco was also well out of my price range normally, but they hadn't been selling well at my local shop so I got it for $150 out the door. In Canada. Which is what a Griptillian, a knife I've never actually held, would have cost me after taxes and shipping.

All in all, I'm very happy with this purchase. I just wanted to thank you all again for the information shared here. While I may some day pick up a Benchmade, right now the Spyderco simply made more sense since I was able to try before buying and find that it's really an excellent knife.

Thanks again.
 
If you want your Spydie to open super fast, do what Spoonrobot did and put a ziptie in the hole. I did this with my Endura. It's open as soon as it's out of the pocket, like with the Emerson wave feature.
 
Keith Mayton said:
If you want your Spydie to open super fast, do what Spoonrobot did and put a ziptie in the hole. I did this with my Endura. It's open as soon as it's out of the pocket, like with the Emerson wave feature.
Click to expand...

How exactly does this work?
 
Congratulations on your new fine knife. Too bad they don't make these any more (but you can get the updated version by Bladetech, in S30V steel).
As for the ziptie thing, I'd forget about it. Shortly, you'll be able to deploy your Wegner faster than an auto, you'll see :)
 
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