Benchmade Question?

[Airsoftgun99]

Hi, I'm stuck between three-ish Benchmade Knives for my birthday in a month or so. The Adamas, Rift, and Contego are the three knives I'm deciding between. I know the Adamas is heavy, and i will be using this blade for EDC. Weight doesn't bother me. Whats the difference between the steels- D2, M4, and 154CM? Thanks

 

[Cypress]

M4 wins this game by FAR. My Contego has seen some ridiculous abuse, and won't stop cutting. The bad: You may need to sand the handles to make it usable. The Adamas is tough as nails, but is pretty thick in the handle and blade. Not the best slicer. The Rift is neat, and the smaller of the two, but the steel is lacking.

 

[alude904]

i say go with the contego. has better ergonomics, better steel, and just looks better. in the end, they are all great picks and have great steel. i would say go with the adamas because of the d2 and i personally think the traditional drop point blade shape is more practical for every day use but the frame and material are bulky and aren't that great.

 

[Allen R.]

cpm-m4 is going to hold an edge longer than d2 and 154cm , It will take a better edge and hold it longer IMO, I had the 275 and the 810 and some people have problems getting both steels sharp , but IMO it was not a big deal , with M4 taking a little bit more time to get sharp. I love the ergos of the 275, but speaking strictly on cutting performance and steel , the 810 wins IMO. Some people find that the 810 is rough with all the jimping ,and I'll say it's not as comfortable as the 275 to me, but some people claim the 810 is down right painful to use, I wouldn't say it's painful to use , It's just not the most comfortable knife for prolonged use.

 

[addylo]

Check here for a description of the steels.

http://www.benchmade.com/products/materials.aspx

M4 is primarily used for high-speed applications but is now being used in blade steels by several makers. D2 and 154 are similar in overall performance. Both have been around quite a while and are popular with knife makers.

Some consider D2 to be more brittle (i.e. easier to chip) than its counterparts but I've never had any issue with it. As with any steel, the right tempering is a definite factor.

 

[Cereal_killer]

M4 wins this game by FAR. My Contego has seen some ridiculous abuse, and won't stop cutting. The bad: You may need to sand the handles to make it usable. The Adamas is tough as nails, but is pretty thick in the handle and blade. Not the best slicer. The Rift is neat, and the smaller of the two, but the steel is lacking.

There's nothing wrong with 154CM. It's no super steel like M4 nor is it even compariable to D2 (my personal favorite steel) but 154CM is very capable and serves thousands of us very well as a good user steel.

 

[Motivated]

In my regular use. M4 held the best edge but was hard to sharpen. D2 will rust but holds a decent edge but is a little time consuming to sharpen. 154cm imho for edc is the best because its easier to sharpen and holds a decent edge. For regular edc tasks i doubt you will see much a difference in use.

 

[addylo]

In my regular use. M4 held the best edge but was hard to sharpen. D2 will rust but holds a decent edge but is a little time consuming to sharpen. 154cm imho for edc is the best because its easier to sharpen and holds a decent edge. For regular edc tasks i doubt you will see much a difference in use.

100% agree with this.

 

[RamZar]

Also consider the M390 Contego 810-1401 available just this year through KnifeWorks. Great stainless steel on a great knife with smoother and sexier scales. Only $17 more than a regular Contego!

 

[Airsoftgun99]

I'm curious, can I use the Contego as hard as you would with the Adamas?

 

[Motivated]

I'm curious, can I use the Contego as hard as you would with the Adamas?

Imho and i have no proof to back this up but since all of them use the same lock i would say even the hardest use wouldn't break either of them. To break that lock you would be getting into abuse, like batoning cement and using a sledge hammer to tap it through.

The contengo is a hard use knife i haven't owned one but held it and its a thick heavy and has a very secure feeling to it, When i played with the adamas i actually felt like it had more heft then needed for strength.

 

[RamZar]

I'm curious, can I use the Contego as hard as you would with the Adamas?

Contego is a very tough hombre. The glass breaker has had issues in that it cracks sometimes but Benchmade will send you a replacement backspacer. The 810-1401 one does not have the glass breaker.

[video=youtube_share;V5N1dzv-zKI]http://youtu.be/V5N1dzv-zKI[/video]

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Imho and i have no proof to back this up but since all of them use the same lock i would say even the hardest use wouldn't break either of them. To break that lock you would be getting into abuse, like batoning cement and using a sledge hammer to tap it through.

The contengo is a hard use knife i haven't owned one but held it and its a thick heavy and has a very secure feeling to it, When i played with the adamas i actually felt like it had more heft then needed for strength.

Same basic design, however, the Adamas lock is much more beefy.

I'd go with the 810. Definitely tough enough for me, and m4? No brainer. It's not hard at all for me to sharpen. Certainly easier than super high vanadium steels. Probably my favorite beater ever. Well, after I removed the Cerakote.

 

[Firestrike]

There's nothing wrong with 154CM. It's no super steel like M4 nor is it even compariable to D2 (my personal favorite steel) but 154CM is very capable and serves thousands of us very well as a good user steel.

There was a time out there when many of us thought 154cm was the bees knees, it's funny to see how some outright snub the stuff now that some new numbers and letters have joined forces and created the newest supersteel creation.

Me Thinks

Infi=GOOD
VG-10=GOOD
1095 HC=GOOD
Elmax=GOOD
420HC as HT by BOS=STILL GOOD
ADD YOUR OWN COMBO OF LETTERS AND NUMBERS HERE=good

To the OP, man don't let all the fancy names of steel throw you off the ultimate goal, get the one that will fit your hand best, work for your intended cutting application, heck get it cause it looks cool. The steel not so important, chances are you would still like it the same, I use my Leatherman blade (420HC) for more cutting tasks than other knife and it still works just fine.

Cheers and Beers

 

[farokhsidhwa]

Like basically everyone said, M4 is the best so 810. However CPM-M4 is not stainless. There is however an M390 contego which is around the same price.

 

[flarp]

All three of those are excellent blade steels. M4 is more wear-resistant than D2 or 154CM, but has the least corrosion resistance of the three. 154CM is is the only of those three classified as stainless, and Benchmade does a great job with their 154CM. D2 is a good middle-ground between those two - a bit more wear-resistance than 154CM, and more corrosion resistant than M4 (although still not stainless). Here's a graph comparing the three steels.

I've used 154CM and D2 on my Griptilians, and both perform very well for my EDC uses. I've also used M4 on my Contego, and that too has held up very well. Honestly, I would recommend picking the knife design you like best among those three rather than basing the decision on the steel used.

 

[Cypress]

There was a time out there when many of us thought 154cm was the bees knees, it's funny to see how some outright snub the stuff now that some new numbers and letters have joined forces and created the newest supersteel creation.

There's nothing wrong with 154CM. It's no super steel like M4 nor is it even compariable to D2 (my personal favorite steel) but 154CM is very capable and serves thousands of us very well as a good user steel.

To clear things up, I hold NOTHING against 154CM. I adore the stuff, and own several coveted knives in the steel. BUT, compared to M4 and D2, 154CM isn't in the same league. Again, good stuff, but nowhere near the other two options.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

To clarify my pov...

I prefer m4 over the others because it performs better, but more specifically, because it is not stainless.

I dig SS, but I like a bit of character. M4 wins in more ways than 10.

 

[Skimo]

The newer batches of M4 from Benchmade have all been higher hardness than in the past, they nailed it at least on my 950-1201, the heat treat is superb for a long lasting edge especially when you thin it out.

 

[Officer's Match]

I have both an Adamas and a Contego. The Adamas I'll use as is, the Contego I'll modify if I keep it. Definitely prefer the 275's blade shape over the 810.