Benchmade shipping dates?

[cardo]

I pre-ordered, paid in full, (the first time), a Benchmade 162, Bushcrafter, that was supposed to be available by the end of December. Are those ship dates real, or just someone's guess, or to judge demand, or...?

Gpknives.com, (NOT the site I ordered from,) announced that it was here and had some of their own pictures of it, (different than the BM photos that all the pre-order sites are using,) but it was immediately out of stock. Benchmade is showing it backordered, which is the same status it's had since the knife was announced.

Is this usual or a sign of production troubles? (The pictures that gpknives posted showed some discoloration on the handle that I noticed. I couldn't tell if it was the G-10 itself or if there was some powder on it but I thought it strange at the time that didn't find a better sample to photograph.)

I don't know how you all can wait a year for a custom knife; I'd want it now.

Anyway, I have other blades on my 'want list' that I could get now if my money wasn't tied up in what won't even be a '1st production' knife. Any guesses on how long I'll be pacing the floor?

 

[ryxlyx]

I've bot a lot of BM LE's, and this is not unusual-- I think it happens as often as not. Sometimes we find out whazzup, sometimes no-- worst delay (as I recall) was maybe 2/3 months, gen'ly they get things out (that are late) w/in a few weeks. Sometimes one LE that was scheduled to follow another gets made first, I assume cuz of material availability. I doubt you'll be waiting too long.

And it's gen'ly "worth the wait".

 

[sandstruck3]

I preordered mine on 12/11/12 just got it last evening and it is not even a pre or first production knife