Benchmade: Overall impressions please

[MTHall720]

First let me say I am not trying to stir up anyone,but I would like to hear your thoughts on Benchmade for quality, customer service, and Value for cost. I have just recently got a Benchmade and have sent it for service. I will give an update when it comes back.

OK. Let's hear from you about the Benchmade experience.

 

[neuron]

I haven't ever had to send in one of my Benchmades for service, so I can't comment on that aspect of the company. But as far as quality, I'd say Benchmade is *generally* very good. I say "generally" because, although the quality on the vast majority of Benchmades I've bought has been excellent, their QC folks also seem a little more prone to letting some real lemons slip through than the QC folks at, say, Kershaw or Spyderco. As for value, if you get their knives at one of the places that sells them below MAAP, I think their value is very good. The price are generally comparable to Spydercos with similar features/materials (again, this only applies if you get Benchmades at one of the places that sells them below MAAP).

 

[Cynic2701]

I can't comment on customer service, but I can comment on having owned and used several BM's for a couple years.

Quality control is hit or miss with nearly every knife manufacturer, including BM. I've had horribly ground blades on a few BM's, Spyderco's, a Kershaw, a Busse, and a SOG. The grinding for the edge is one thing (you can always re-bevel or re-sharpen it yourself anyways), but the grinding for the profile of the blade is another thing entirely. The grind on my 940 and Military are literally diagonal, making the edge of the knife crooked rather than straight.

Value for the cost is a rather absurd judgment to make. There are only a very instances of a knife model that have been made by different manufacturers. IIRC BM made a few Emerson knives back in the 90's, and today they are generally thought to be of slightly higher quality; ESEE had knives made by Ontario until they broke away, and now ESEE's are considered greater quality than Ontario. In determining value of a knife that is only made by BM, the distinctions become much less clear. Yes, Spyderco or Kershaw may make a knife with similar materials at a higher or lower cost, but then you are comparing different knives to different knives. To be honest I've been completely satisfied with the majority of the BM's I own/have owned.

The 943 is a great knife, and within it's price range I think that there are few knives that can compete with it. The Sage I and II are frequently compared to the 94x series, but if you compare their volumetric measurements it becomes clear which series will win out. Various arguments may be made for ergonomics, but their refutation will lay in the fact that ergonomics are completely subjective--don't let someone else tell you whether or not a knife is ergonomic before you even get it in your hand.

Like Neuron said, you can frequently get BM's through dealers at significant discounts from MSRP.

 

[SpartanSaint]

Customer service is fantastic. i've never heard of a knife slipping through qc twice. that said its been 50-50 as far as first run through qc. un even edges, dull as sh*t, uncentered, etc etc

i can't let that knock them though as i get their knives at well below msrp, and have been nothing but pleased. just an extra hoop to jump through if you get a bad apple, but near as i figure none of the other main production knife companies make designs i much care for.

only thing they've truly got going against them in my eyes is they don't compete with the level of quality i see in my sebenza, and thats an awfully high standard to try to hold them to

 

[moxie]

I have a 940, a gift from my son. I generally buy for myself at a price point or two lower, being pretty cheap. It's a very nice knife. Very sharp. Just about flawless build quality. Of course I can say that about several Kershaws and CRKTs I own too.

 

[MTHall720]

Thanks for everyone's input. This does help. I will give an update when I get my knife back. At this point I am pretty much of a mind to just do what I have been doing so far -- getting knives which appeal to me and hoping each turns out to be a good choice. I have seen a lot of people who tend to aim for collections of certain brands. I was just trying to see if there is one particular brand where I can expect nearly 100% of the time to be happy with quality and service both, but that is probably not realistic.

 

[RevDevil]

First let me say I am not trying to stir up anyone,but I would like to hear your thoughts on Benchmade for quality, customer service, and Value for cost. I have just recently got a Benchmade and have sent it for service. I will give an update when it comes back.

OK. Let's hear from you about the Benchmade experience.

If you try searching the forums for this topic, you can find out all sorts of information pertinent to quality, fit and finish, customer service, etc. There are people that have previously posted on those topics that may not want to do it again for the 3rd or 4th time. You will find that some people love the overall quality, fit and finish, customer service, etc and nother whom will have nothing but bad things to say about them and their knives. It's a mixed bag, as is most knife companies. They all have their heroes and villains. This is one of a few topics that have been beaten to death and can easily stir the pot in a negative direction quickly, just sayin...

 

[Cynic2701]

=I was just trying to see if there is one particular brand where I can expect nearly 100% of the time to be happy with quality and service both, but that is probably not realistic.

Chris Reeve Knives is the first brand that comes to mind. You can also expect to pay for the level of quality that you get. And their price level is several steps above run of the mill BM's.

 

[AK-U]

Well I just bought my first benchmade a little before christmas a 551. I was dissaointed to say the least the knife was like sand paper and the blade touchs the scale when close and opened. It has blade play that can't be removed alot of blade play. But oh well I'll leave it in my truck in case I need a knife.

 

[swamp]

I think they are pretty good. I have about 10 short reviews on Benchmades on youtube under "sevenedges knives"

 

[swamp]

Chris Reeve Knives is the first brand that comes to mind. You can also expect to pay for the level of quality that you get. And their price level is several steps above run of the mill BM's.

He is 100% correct.

 

[mystro]

Benchmade (blue/black class) and ZT are about equal in quality from all that I have own. I would give them a 96% grade scale. Hogue knives beat them both in quality build and finishing work like grinds and details.

 

[Tsujigiri]

All production companies slip up sometimes. Benchmade is generally good in my experience, and their customer service is pretty good, too (They've sent free clips and repaired knives perfectly). I've seen that the main weakness of Benchmade is their blades. For some reason, they can't seem to grind them evenly, both on the edge and all around.

 

[RevDevil]

All production companies slip up sometimes. Benchmade is generally good in my experience, and their customer service is pretty good, too (They've sent free clips and repaired knives perfectly). I've seen that the main weakness of Benchmade is their blades. For some reason, they can't seem to grind them evenly, both on the edge and all around.

I think the 60 degree cutting edge in a deliberate move on their part. I agree that appearance wise, sometimes they look like they haven't even been touched by a grinder. I guess they prefer that we sharpen them on the Edge Pro ourselves.

 

[Dorito Monk]

I've only bought one so far, a 520 Presidio, and I was pretty disappointed with it.

I found that their customer service/warranty department was definitely top notch and took care of problems very effectively and quickly (It would have been easier if they had just sent me the friggin' parts like Kershaw does and let me do it myself, but noooo, that would void the warranty...).

At the same time, I was a little ticked that I had to deal with their warranty department twice in about a month's time for broken omega springs (one broke, sent it in, got it back, then the other spring broke the same week I got it back). That was the major problem, but the knife had a bunch of up-and-down bladeplay that couldn't be fixed, which was a bit disappointing for such an expensive knife.

The flaws I encountered might have been total flukes, because some folks have great experiences with their benchmades, but I'm a little wary about buying a second one after that...

Value-wise, I can reasonably expect to get better fit/finish and tighter tolerances from a 30$ Kershaw or 20$ Victorinox than I got with that 150+$ Presidio. For the price of that knife, the flaws were pretty obvious.

 

[Appletz]

But as far as quality, I'd say Benchmade is *generally* very good. I say "generally" because, although the quality on the vast majority of Benchmades I've bought has been excellent, their QC folks also seem a little more prone to letting some real lemons slip through than the QC folks at, say, Kershaw or Spyderco.

This pretty much nailed it. I find myself being much more wary when buying a Benchmade than I am with most other big-name production brands. To be honest, they are slowly falling out of favor with me. I love some of their designs, but I don't trust them in the same way I do Kershaw, Spyderco, and Cold Steel. The quality control and general fit are just more consistent with the latter brands in my experience.

 

[Belly]

I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with them. I love their designs and the Axis lock, and I love their knives....when they get them right. The problem is they don't get them right at least 50% of the time. I am picky though. I expect zero vertical and zero horizontal blade play, centered blades, fairly even grinds, and scales that match the liners. I can tell you that literally 50% of the Benchmade knives that I try to purchase do not meet my criteria. I have found that I must handle the knife in person before buying. This stinks because it eliminates the ability to buy via the net. I frequently hear about people on this site having zero problems with many of their knives, but that is not my experience and I have been buying for over 12 years. Now with all this said, I have over 20 Benchmades. Some are not quite up to my standards, some I have sent back for warranty work, and some are just right. I have a tough time because really want to buy them, but they very often stay at the store due to shoddy workmanship.

 

[Siggyhk]

My experiences with both Benchmade knives and customer service leave me with little, if any, desire to have anything else in my pocket.

 

[CARRERA50]

Not as good as they used to be. My old AFCK and CQC7B examples are nearly perfect, as is my full size RitterGrip. The newer ones I have handled are
hit or miss in the sharpness and quality departments; blade centering and grind symmetry are issues that were never a previous issue. Still like them,
though, just seems the brand is in decline.

 

[DougB2]

The only Benchmade I have that wasn't real good on fit was an AFCK that I bought more than 10 years ago. The blade rubs against the liner when opening and closing, wearing the black coating off. My 551H2O Griptilian (orange scales, X-15TI blade) wasn't up to the usual sharpness and the action leaves something to be desired. I have a few Al Mar knives and I haven't seen what all the fuss is about. My SERE 2000 wouldn't close after whittling a point on a stick because the liner got stuck. Benchmade works just as well for a lot less money. As for sharpness, Benchmades are good, but I have a couple of Spydercos that were absolutely scary sharp out of the box.