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Benchmade reliability?

A

Aldebaran

Joined
Sep 18, 2004
Messages
335
I have just about given up on Benchmade. I have purchased three knives, and two have broken within months of new.

The first knife, a Benchmade Pinnacle, developed severe play while open. This happened within months of new. No I did not send it in for repair as I had misplaced my bill and the warranty states that it must accompany the knife for warranty.

The second, A Ritter Grip, had an omega spring break. I complained loudly and Aeromedix offered to pay for the shipping back since it was only a few weeks old. I put an Outdoor Edge Paragee in my pocket and let the Ritter Grip slip from my mind till a few days ago. It still needs to have a new spring but I guess I lost confidence in this being the knife to count on when it broke so easily.

The third is an Ambush. I purchased this one just 2 weeks ago to replace my Paragee that must have fallen out of my pocket somewhere. The indraw spring just quit today. I paid $35 for this knife and have to spend $15 to send it to Benchmade to have it fixed within 2 weeks?

I must make it perfectly clear that I do not abuse my knives, I keep them clean, and I keep them lubricated. They have not been mistreated in any way.

In fairness to Benchmade, I have not yet contacted them about my problems but I plan to as a last resort to see what they will offer to do. Whatever they offer, my confidence in anything Benchmade is basically gone. I buy knives to use them, and when I need them, not have them away for warranty at my expense.

I have a few CRKT knives that have not given me a lick of trouble. Gerber, the same. The Outdoor Edge Paragee was never a problem, never let me down, just it popped out of my pocket somewhere when I was lifting my coat to get to my pockets I guess.

Please forgive me if this just looks like a troll or rant, I am just not very happy right now.

Anybody here have any suggestions about Benchmade or their customer service?

(edited for spelling)
 
I'm not knife expert but the Pinnacles problem seems like it could be fixed by tightening the torx screw for the blade. Don't know about your other problems though, but as of right now I'm happy with my 710HSSR.
 
Benchmade has been 100% flawless for me and my friends IRL. May just be horrible luck...even mighty benchmade makes mistakes too sometimes.
 
Actually, the play in the Pinnacle is not side play, but lock play. The pivot or tang wears very fast causing there to be a gap between the tang of the frame lock and the blade. Oh yes, the very tip of the blade went missing one day on this too. No, I did not use it to pry or drive screws.
 
I've had a Pinnacle for about 5 years, still locks up fine with the lock engaging in almost the same spot as new (and I've flicked it)

Had an Ares for even longer, along with an 806 and a 530-no broken springs.

Also had a mini-ambush for about a year, no problems.

And I hope you aren't putting much oil on your folders (well lubricated), that only asks for problems in the mechanisms.

Sent in a well worn 42s to have the tang pin replaced. I'm the second owner and had no paperwork. Repair is free of charge. But I do have to pay to get the blade replaced on my 806, since I snapped the tip off prying into laminated particle board.
 
OK, I guess from the comments so far that I have had unusually bad luck. I will give Benchmade customer service a go and see what happens.
 
You have had bad luck.

Benchmade knives are very reliable. For you to have better luck with CRKT and Gerber than with BM proves your experience is just a string of flukes.
 
You are correct. This does look like trolling.
If you send send all three knives to Benchmade they will come back in perfect condition.
You don't need a receit, just add what they require for return shipping.
 
Depending on the Pinnacle's problem, it probably won't come back perfect. It's been discontinued a while now and I suspect parts for such are scarce.

That said, the only BM I had a problem with was mini afck. And they fixed it.

Phil
 
Sounds like all the signs are there and the gods have spoken. You need a Spyderco. :D

Seriously BM makes a fine knife. You've just had some $hit luck with three in a row. They are one of the finer quality knife makers in my opinion. I've only bought there 'blue' line of knives and never had a problem with any of them really. I have seen a few omega springs break though. I'd say don't count them out just because you had three bad ones. The only real complaint I have about them is that some of the knives I've bought new were dull when they arrived and the first thing I had to do when I got them was put a decent edge on the blade. Other than that I've been very pleased with them.

STR
 
Aldebaran said:
Oh yes, the very tip of the blade went missing one day on this too. No, I did not use it to pry or drive screws.
Click to expand...

How did the tip go missing?
 
I'm more of a Spyderco guy, but I've had a few Benchmades, and I've never had a problem with any of them.

Just send in the knives and they'll be fixed.
 
I can only conclude thats its bad luck, you're the first person I've heard of to have better results with CRKT and even Gerber.
 
I EDC a Pinnacle and have done so for several years. No problems whatsoever. Lockup is solid, and the lock is in the same place tit was when new.

I suggest you contact Angie at Benchmade; she'll get your knives squared away.
 
Please believe I am not trolling. I am just very frustrated that all all three of the only three Benchmade knives I own have failed in a very short period of time.

DGG: The Pinnacle just started getting loose over time. Just easy cutting use. The Ritter Grip just blew a spring one day while opening it. The Ambush decided to poke me in the side as I was withdrawing it from my pocket, only to find the indraw spring had gone loose and the blade opened up by gravity.

RobbW: I just noticed the very tip missing during one use. I am talking about the last 1/32. It looks like an inclusion in the metal made it weak, but thats just a guess.

katsu and Steveg30: I am not trolling. I specifically admitted that it might look like one, but the failures are real as is my neglecting to contact Benchmade yet. I will tomorrow and hopefully I can get these knives fixed without spending too much.
 
For some reason it depends on where you live and what you have paid for each. Trouble with a benchmade would cause costs around $50,00 per shipping from germany. Exept i take the risk of it getting lost.

Saying that, the german distributor is gentle and the other dealers are so too.

I have had a 806 with a bad blade that chipped pretty easy. This was my first comming out here. Benchmade handled it very well and was very generous because i am out of country.

A 520 was failing spine whacks, but i can´t really tell if they were hard or not. From my actual pint of view i would say they were pretty hard even though my 550 withstand them easily.

Benchmade managed this, no problem.

I get a replacement of a 812 blade wich didn´t took an edge.

I got a 140HS from e+++ where the scales are not fitting perfect, but for the less cost i don´t want a replacement or fixing. Managed it by myself.

I have a 5000A with no problems and the 550 is fine too.

All axis (5 till now) are fine and the settings are perfect.

All you need for an inshipping is to contact BM before and put a little letter into the sendiing to describe the problem.

If sending back would be free of charge it would be easier to buy some more.

Benchmade is my favorite manufacturer and more since i know that you can build and replace an omega spring yourself.

For the sake of reliability it is a good point that you can repair something yourself.
 
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