Benchmade Quality Control...

[rustyspike]

Ordered a standard Grip Serrated Tanto. The lock was stiff. not right. Sent it back to BladeHG and got the G10 model.Love it. Some times stuff comes out of the factory and it not right. Just make sure you buy from a reputable dealer. The exchange went perfect.

Rich K.

 

[rustyspike]

Benchmade is hit and miss in my experience. They’ve been consistently inconsistent with their QC, with some models being perfect in every example (never held an Adamas that wasn’t buttery smooth with perfect lockup) and some that are a gamble (Griptilian and 940 centering, pivot, and/or lockup issues are not particularly rare in my experience.)

My advice? Find a local store and see if they’ll let you pick one out. Alternatively, contact an online dealer and ask them (nicely!) to find one that is free of issues. They can be excellent knives when everything is dialed in correctly.

I got the 550-1 its real nice.

 

[vwb563]

My latest purchase, a 531 Bugout was perfect in every way. I've owned many Benchmades over the years and never had any problems with them. I will also add that their customer service is outstanding! If you need a clip or screws just one phone call and the parts will be on the way with no charge.

 

[BD_01]

One thing that I see other people frequently say that drives me nuts is "it's not a big deal, but a knife that costs $xx shouldn't have this issue out of the box". I don't believe that anything is ever 100% perfect and it is unreasonable to assume that something should be, just based on the price.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the premise you put forth. A manufacturer will only produce the degree of quality expected by the consumer. If as a community we’re satisfied with $200 knives that have blade play or blemished G-10 or uneven grinds, that is precisely what we will get. (This concept transcends the manufacturer in question)

ETA: @Mo2, you nailed it with your post above.

 

[whp]

I wholeheartedly disagree with the premise you put forth. A manufacturer will only produce the degree of quality expected by the consumer. If as a community we’re satisfied with $200 knives that have blade play or blemished G-10 or uneven grinds, that is precisely what we will get. (This concept transcends the manufacturer in question)

ETA: @Mo2, you nailed it with your post above.

Completely agree.
With my personal history with Benchmade, about 20 folders, I would be sure about the return policy of a vendor before buying a new Benchmade. Several problems with lockup in the past.

 

[ChazzyP]

I've owned over 30 Benchmades, still have about two dozen, and haven't experienced but one major or incorrectable flaw. I've received a few with slightly off-centered blades--some of these from the secondary market--and was able to correct all but one fairly easily. That one was a 940-1 that had what seemed to be a crooked blade (I've heard that BM had some warping issues with S90V during heat-treat) that couldn't be brought to center. I sold it with full disclosure.

Otherwise, I've had no issues with blade play--zero with vertical and the little bit of side-to-side I ran into came after adjustment and was easily correctable after break-in. No broken Omega springs. No really uneven grinds (maybe a mm or so off at the swedge). BMKs sharpened edges used to be kinda poor, but they've improved greatly in the last year or so.

I certainly won't dispute those who've received new knives with flaws. Perhaps my experience is better as I buy more knives on the secondary market than new and knives bought off the Exchange come "pre-screened". It strikes me, from accounts I've read, that BMK did go through a period of releasing some knives whose F&F and general quality of workmanship was sub-standard, though it also seems as if they have emerged from that period with greatly improved QC. Any brand-new Benchmade I've bought in the last year or so has been just top notch every regard.

 

[Adam Timmins]

I wholeheartedly disagree with the premise you put forth. A manufacturer will only produce the degree of quality expected by the consumer. If as a community we’re satisfied with $200 knives that have blade play or blemished G-10 or uneven grinds, that is precisely what we will get. (This concept transcends the manufacturer in question)

ETA: @Mo2, you nailed it with your post above.

What I meant is that if we arbitrarily designate some dollar value as the limit and expect any knife costing more than that to be absolutely perfect in every conceivable way, we just end up being disappointed and thinking that the entire company is bad. I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect a $200 knife to be functional and not have stripped screws, blades rubbing the liners, parts that don't fit together, etc. However, I don't think that any mass produced product can ever be 100% perfect 100% of the time, regardless of the price. It seems unreasonable to hold any manufacturer to that standard.

Also, how do we set the $ limit for perfection? Most people outside of the knife enthusiast community think that anything over $20-30 is too expensive.

 

[marrenmiller]

I've had a good number of issues with the 6 or Benchmades I've owned, including poor edge grinds, uncentered blades, blades with vertical play, liners shifting within the noryl gtx handles (on a doug ritter grip), and completely unfinished, rough tang grinds (on a custom barrage, no less. They literally send you a video describing the process of finishing the blade tang, yet neglected to do it on mine). I've had duds from a lot of major companies, like Spyderco/Zero Tolerance/Microtech/Cold Steel, but Benchmade has definitely been the worst high end company for me in terms of QC. I won't buy another one unless someone proves to me that the individual knife in question is perfect.

The main issue for me is that Benchmade doesn't seem to regard these as issues. I sent an adamas and a custom barrage back to them with vertical play, told them what the issue was and what caused it, had them confirm that via email, then got the knives back with both vertical play and the pivot tension adjusted wrong on both blades (way too tight on the barrage and way too loose on the adamas). The barrage was also missing the safety switch when it got back. The knives were literally returned back to me worse than when I sent them in.

 

[JimMD]

I admit to being influenced by internet rumors regarding Benchmade QC. I've been collecting knives for less than a year, but I've gone from buying a Spyderco Ladybug for my keychain to awaiting a custom knife from Trevor Burger – much too rapid a change (price-wise) from my wife's perspective. I was impressed with Spyderco knives from the beginning and of course was aware of Benchmade. However, anecdotes about QC issues deterred me. I went to one local dealer, where they showed me a couple of Benchmades that, to me, had problems, and the interactions that day dissuaded from working with that dealer.

I've since discovered a great local store and Benchmade dealer. I'd buy a Benchmade knife from them with confidence, if I were interested. I still use my Chaparral and SpydieChef, but at present I'm not pursuing knives from the big production companies. I wonder what I've missed out on from Benchmade that I would have really liked.

 

[Seadaddy1970]

honestly just curious. not a fanboy of BM.

I’ve purchased three Benchmade Griptilians and three Spyderco Para 2’s during the past six months. The Para’s were completely without defect or problems. No blade play, blades well centered, sharp edges and easy opening and closing . . . no problems, nada. Benchmades were a different story. First one was perfect: G10 scales, black combo edge, love it, one of my favorites. The next one was great too, except that it was stiff as hell. Took me over three hundred openings and closings to break it in. Didn’t want to mess with adjusting the pivot screw and cause another problem. It is fine now, but took a lot of work on my part. The last one I received had noticeable off center blade positioning. Been working with it for hours, made just a little progress, not much. Also, it has the opposite problem than the last. Blade is too loose. Thinking about sending it back to BM customer service for adjustment. I’ve been able to observe Spyderco vs. Benchmade quality control . . . and Spyderco wins easily. I’m not a BM hater, I’m a newbie collector actually. But if you want a side by side fair comparison of two top knife makers . . . you have it.

 

[whp]

Are we doing this AGAIN?!

What?

 

[scottyj]

I have - 2 Adamas's
1 Griptilian
1 HK 14715
1 Crooked River
1 Vallation.
All but the Vallation have blade play. Up, down, left and right. The Crooked River is the worst. The Vallation is rock solid in all directions. I have never had any problems with edges, or blade alignment.

 

[Gravy]

Benchmade QC isn't as bad as forums posts would have you believe. They make fine knives, but when you get a dud its obviously very dissapointing.

That being said, I think almost everything they make is overpriced.

Edited to add:
Currently I own a 940-1702 (pretty much the same as a 940-2) and it's pretty great. I had some horizontal play issues initially but I've since resolved them with lock tight. Nice knife, but $195 for s30v and g10 seems too high for me.

I also have a Custom Mini Crooked River that's also pretty sweet, however they coated the stop pin (why on earth????) and once that coating wears through you will get a slight amount of vertical play. It's not significant, you really wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it, but it's still annoying on a $240 knife.

Lastly, I used to have a 555hg mini grip that was perfect.... until I lost it.

I probably wouldn't own any Benchmade knives if it wasn't for the discount I get through work.