Benchmade HK 14210 AXIS Snody..best EDC this hunters ever carried...Pics/review

M

mystro

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
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I have carried a lot of EDC but I may have found THE best for my needs as a hunter/outdoorsman. I generally dont like to carry big heavy knives in the woods. During Bow season and rifle season for whitetail deer, I have found a blade size of 3" to be more than enough for field dressing and skinning game up to the size of deer and black bear. I have a designated knife for the task but more often than not, my EDC has to fit the job as well. After looking over the Benchmade specs, I found under the HK label a amazing EDC. The HK AXIS 14210 Snody design. Blade is stone washed 154cmss with heavy gimping on the blade, blade size is 2.95", thickness .115", weight 3.08oz, 3.85"closed, 6.80"open. G-10 handle with hollowed out SS liners. This knife is like a higher end mini griptilian but with G-10, gimping and better blade design.
The blade design is a " modified drop point with recurve". The cool thing about this blade design is its actual cutting surface. It is sharpened all the way to the handle. It actually has more cutting surface than knifes I have with 3.5" blades. Handle is a piller design which means blood and guts are easily washed away. Clip is mounted high on the G10 handle. I love the knife. Check it out. It flys under the radar in the HK Benchmade label.

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I find it is a little too small for me personally but I love it's bigger brother the 14205. The bigger one also doesn't have any recurve to the blade which I like better as well. Other than that they are identical other than size. I wouldn't mind picking up another one as a back up.
 
Thanks guys. You hear very little about this series of knife , the 14205 or the 14210. Both seem to have it all in the performance,features, light weight dept. I plan on butchering a deer this year with it just to see how it preforms under hard usage. The jimping is so good and the handle is so contorted correctly, bearing down is easy on hard chores. The 14210 feels like a bigger knife in the hand than what the specs read, built like a tank without the weight. Its that good of a design. I cant recomend it enough. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Mine came with gritty action, a gritty Axis lock that almost completely prevents a one finger unlock, blade was not nearly centered, and the blade was dull as a rock. It's also significantly heavier than a mini-grip, making a pocket clip sag your pocket on anything but stiff denim.

The knife is a beauty, and some of the kinks have worked themselves out, but I heard warnings about the axis lock on this model before I purchased and I feel I should have better heeded them. Mine goes back in the mail tomorrow.

I still really like this knife and I am not ruling out owning one in the future. I think if I would have had better luck in what I got, I'd be really loving this knife.
 
SpookyKG said:
Mine came with gritty action, a gritty Axis lock that almost completely prevents a one finger unlock, blade was not nearly centered, and the blade was dull as a rock. It's also significantly heavier than a mini-grip, making a pocket clip sag your pocket on anything but stiff denim.

The knife is a beauty, and some of the kinks have worked themselves out, but I heard warnings about the axis lock on this model before I purchased and I feel I should have better heeded them. Mine goes back in the mail tomorrow.

I still really like this knife and I am not ruling out owning one in the future. I think if I would have had better luck in what I got, I'd be really loving this knife.
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That is strange to hear because it used to be that you read how great the H&K models were and how they seemed to be made a little better than the standard Benchmade. Mine is flawless and with it's thicker blade stock it has a heavier blade that just flies open. I don't think a smoother pivot could be made. I have owned close to 30 Benchmade knives with most being AXIS locks and currently have around 15 AXIS lock knives and I can't find anything to complain about other than a slightly off center blade. They are made just as well as any other brand I own. Sorry to hear yours had problems but I wouldn't hold it against them because it is not normal.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
...Sorry to hear yours had problems but I wouldn't hold it against them because it is not normal.
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Definitely not normal. I've had half a dozen 14210s from the first intro batch to a fairly recent batch. I did have to send my current one in for blade centering, but it came back 100% and has held up ever since. It's one of the knives in my EDC rotation and it is truly a gem. I also have a 14205 with flawless F&F right from the box. Both are outstanding knives. Along with the Bone Collectors, they are my fav BM products from the current lineup.
 
There's no doubt it's a sweet knife, but I would not want to be using one of my Axis lock Benchmades field dressing a deer... I can't imagine it's possible to get ALL the gunk out from the recesses where the springs are, etc..

If I have to use a folder on a deer, it's a slippie or lock back.

Thanks for the nice review and great photos!

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
In my top 3 EDC blades of all time. Yet to find anything I don't like about this knife and I actually have large hands.
 
My action was a bit stff out of the box but a slight tweak with a torx and a bit of G96 gun oil and the action couldn't be faster. I open and close the knife just for fun infront of the TV.:D The weight of this model feels about perfect to me. I have lighter knives but they feel kinda cheap and none have G10 or liners in them. As far as Organic matter (like blood), it comes out of knives easier than you think. Over the years I have found soaking a knife in Dawn dish soap for 30 minutes will totally dissolve any trace of organic matter inside the knife. I have a SOG that went through 15-20 deer and you would say it was still new. The pillar design is even more open than the SOG and a air compressor should be great for normal monthly cleaning. It was a big selling point for me with the HK Axis line. I also noticed that the blade fits to the very end of the handle (length wise) when closed. No waisted space inside the knife at all. :thumbup:
 
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I have also used AXIS lock knives to clean mainly deer, hogs, and alligators without a lot of problems. They clean up nicely with some soap and warm water.
 
I like the looks of everything, except is that a recurve at the butt of the blade?
 
KennyB said:
I like the looks of everything, except is that a recurve at the butt of the blade?
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There is a very slight one on the 14210. The 14205 has a nice straight edge. I don't like recurves either, but this one is so slight that it doesn't really cause any sharpening difficulties, especially if you're using a Sharpmaker.
 
Damnit! Now I need to buy a 205!

I want to thank each of you for making me do this.
 
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