Benchmade Have Redeemed Themselves

Ken44 said:
I think Benchmade is a great company, and they've always had great designs. There CS is also top notch.
I love their quality Carbon Fiber(they don't layer a very thin strip over G-10), but wish they would offer more knives with it.

I really wish I hadn't missed the CF mini Onslaught with satin blade, as the price on the aftermarket has gotten to high for me.

They do discontinue models often, but that can be a good thing at times. I decided to get rid of three this year, two had been carried, and I got more than I paid for them.
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My (used to be) local shop still has a few left at normal pricing. PM me if you'd like to know where. :)
 
Does benchmade have any production folders in M390? I'd love a mini-grip with the hole in M390.
 
BM now has a section of their site where you can custom-order a Grip or mini. Don't know about M390, but your best bet there is to contact them directly.

There is also a lot of aftermarket support for BM's, especially the Grips. They're sort of the Honda Accord of the knife world, and a lot of people have put a lot of time into modding them, so if you don't like it, you can fix it, and if you screw it up, you can still fix it.
 
Styg said:
Does benchmade have any production folders in M390? I'd love a mini-grip with the hole in M390.
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BM 710, Barrage 581, Shoki 480-1, MPR Shane Sibert - that is what I think is available right now.
 
I certainly hope it is true that Benchmade has changed their ways.

Initially I wanted to love BM, but got annoyed with a lot of their rather pompous ways of doing business (IMHO), but mostly due to their awful, almost non-existent, QC.

Because of their poor QC, I resolved to not purchase another BM knife unless I could handle it first.
Except for Blade, that opportunity doesn't come up much since there are virtually no decent knife shops in Atlanta.

I was told at Blade last year that Benchmade has totally revised their QC process. I sincerely hope that is the case. Maybe I can return to picking up a BM now and then, they do make some very appealing designs.
 
Alann45 said:
I certainly hope it is true that Benchmade has changed their ways.

Initially I wanted to love BM, but got annoyed with a lot of their rather pompous ways of doing business (IMHO), but mostly due to their awful, almost non-existent, QC.

Because of their poor QC, I resolved to not purchase another BM knife unless I could handle it first.
Except for Blade, that opportunity doesn't come up much since there are virtually no decent knife shops in Atlanta.

I was told at Blade last year that Benchmade has totally revised their QC process. I sincerely hope that is the case. Maybe I can return to picking up a BM now and then, they do make some very appealing designs.
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Someone else said something similar to me recently and I believe it's true. I can tell a big difference of late. We dont have any good knife shops here in Columbia, SC either. I'm surprised ATL doesn't, though. I've still never been to SMKW in TN. I want to make a pilgrimage one year. ;)
 
I recently ordered a Benchmade Shoki 480-1 (currently out of stock in a few places online).
It has a M390 blade, however it came with the infamous nak-lock offcentering. This particular knife's blade hits the liner locks when locking.

Other than that, no real complaints, it's a fine knife I will just need to send it back for fixing since I don't want to get rid of it.
 
Sulaco said:
Someone else said something similar to me recently and I believe it's true. I can tell a big difference of late.
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Thats really good to hear. Maybe I can return to considering Benchmades, which would be nice.
I'm willing to overlook the other annoying things they do if they get the QC right. ;)

We dont have any good knife shops here in Columbia, SC either. I'm surprised ATL doesn't, though.
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It surprises me too as huge as the Atlanta metro area is.
There are a couple of Case dealers and you can find a few stores that carry some other brands, but not in any great depth.

It's crossed my mind to try and get some guys together to open one. Be worth something to me to just have a place to hang out. :D
One major problem is Atlanta is a STRONGLY price driven market in almost every area. Most folks will not pay list, or even near list for anything.

We do have a good number of gun/knife shows and thank goodness we are blessed with Blade each year.
 
My most carried knife is a BM Griptilian. However, I have not been happy with BM quality in the past. I could tell of the horrors, but I will say that they did work with me. I think what is most irritating to me is that, they are better than what they put out, and they know it. My latest purchase was a 810 Contego and I am happy with it. I consider myself lucky to have received it that way and it shouldn't be like that when you pay that kind of money for a knife.
 
Of all the Benchmades ived owned, ive only had one lemon, a Griptilian H20. The blade on that, was so off-center, that it rubbed the liner. Nevertheless, i still kept it, as it had no influence on function whatsoever and it was meant to be used. If i was buying a expensive safe-queen, id have returned it.

All my other Benchmades (Triage, Sequel, Rift, Stryker, Presidio) have been great. The edges have been very obstuse on some of them, but i dont consider that a QC problem. Thats just the way they do their grinds. It makes for a tougher edge, and you can always reprofile it yourself later.

Ive been very happy with Benchmades, so no complaints from here.
 
I've never had any issues with any Benchmade knives. I think the Adamas is one of the best production folders out there for the money. I'm thinking about getting the auto version too.
 
I have a 180 and a 375, and I love them. But Benchmade annoys me. They've discontinued some of their best knives, like the 180, the 151 (Griptilian Fixed Blade), the 190 (Drop Point Hunter), the 201 (Activator), the 145 (Nimravus Cub), and a few others.
 
I have about 20 Benchmades,never had a problem with any of them,not a big fan of the plastic handles(add bulk to the knife),their customer service is awesome.
 
I've had a couple of issues, one was with a gold class grip - major QC issues.
In general, BM's come in good shape. I pretty much expect the blade to not be centered, but I always operate on my knives when I get them.
The 581 Barrage I just got is perfect. Contego has no issues. The 275 Adamas is great, but the blade is way off center.
BM's tend to be pretty nice for production knives. A bit pricey, but they have some excellent designs.
I'll never buy a gold class again. Nothing wrong with the blue and black classes.
 
For all the people that say BM are over priced, are you basing that on MAPP pricing? The price that Benchmade requires dealers advertise? Or is it based on the actual price that a knife can be bought for?
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
For all the people that say BM are over priced, are you basing that on MAPP pricing? The price that Benchmade requires dealers advertise? Or is it based on the actual price that a knife can be bought for?
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Actual price knife can be bought for online with the BM discount they offer. It may not be fair, but I use the Spyderco Gayle Bradley as my reference for a good value. Haven't met a BM than has met this price/quality/value, yet. I really like some of my BM's... they should be a little cheaper for the softer steels and QC issues that I've encountered, IMHO.
I'm not bashing BM, my opinion is intended to be constructive criticism only. I realize that production knives aren't perfect and I don't expect perfection, but wish the price would reflect it a bit more.
I'll always be a BM customer.:thumbup:
 
Wet Noodle said:
Actual price knife can be bought for online with the BM discount they offer. It may not be fair, but I use the Spyderco Gayle Bradley as my reference for a good value. Haven't met a BM than has met this price/quality/value, yet. I really like some of my BM's... they should be a little cheaper for the softer steels and QC issues that I've encountered, IMHO.
I'm not bashing BM, my opinion is intended to be constructive criticism only. I realize that production knives aren't perfect and I don't expect perfection, but wish the price would reflect it a bit more.
I'll always be a BM customer.:thumbup:
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Yeah... using the Spyderco Gayle Bradley as a baseline seems a bit unfair. ;)
I'd be very interested to hear of other knives that offer the same value for money.
 
I've never had any QC issues with my Benchmade knives (of course I haven't purchase any new ones in the last two years). I'm not a big fan of FRN or Zytel handles, but that's just a personal choice and doesn't discount the durability of the materials. I'm glad to hear that any issues of quality are being addressed.
 
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