I’ll try my best. The knife has some pocket patina, but what I tried to capture was there new, out of box, not previously returned, from a brick & mortar. Note that I looked over three samples. The sum total of QC between the samples was about the same, with any given knife better in some areas and worse in others.
Show side G10 blemish/dent just behind the axis lock.
Inconsistent/shallow G10 texture through the mid portion of show scale. Note the comparison clip side is even and well done. It’s not a lighting effect.
Centering: acceptable now after a visit to oregon and some home tinkering, maybe 60/40? Was 70/30 (at best) when new.
The grind was a bit uneven when new and got a little too wide at the belly (since reground by me so can’t photograph). It was sharp but looked like it was sharpened on a 120 grit belt without finishing. Most Benchmades I’ve handled look this way.
Action & bladeplay can’t be photographed. I had to choose between the two when new; no amount of “micro adjustment” got the bladeplay out. Now with LOTS of tinkering and brake in, it’s got an ok (not great) action with just a bit of side to side, acceptable by my standards but definately not exemplary.
Oh, and the trip back to Oregon was for a broken omega spring about a month after purchase.
I carry it and use it, perhaps even more so because of it’s flaws. I bought it with eyes wide open because I wanted a user, and I wanted to sample the Benchmade experience. I can’t deny that for a street price of $170 the QC was lacking...maybe even WTF? lacking at that price, depending on one’s perspective. Is it an outlier? If so, the other two I checked out in store were as well. Just a bad run? Perhaps. I have no way of knowing. Maybe
that is the BM experience I needed to have.
I haven’t bought a second Benchmade. I like the Valet, but the action on the one I handled in store sucked. I like the mini Crooked River a lot, but the wood scales weren’t fit well enough for the price. Both had grinds unbefitting of a premium knife. The Anthem I tried dropped like a guillotine but somehow also felt gritty and the blade was off center.
Benchmade has GREAT GREAT GREAT designs. Pitty they can’t
consistently turn it into a product that’s worth asking price (MAP). I’ve said this on other threads; if we as a community are accepting of uneven grinds, inconsistent G10, and blade play, that is exactly what the manufacturers will give us.