Benchmade/Spyderco debate?

An earlier post mentioned Benchmade's "dull edges." Actually, in my experience, that problem ended some time ago. I find my Benchmades in recent years are scary sharp out of the box, among the sharpest. Maybe they instituted a new policy on sharpening...I remember the Benchmade crew had a long-running thread in the BM forum asking what types of edges people wanted back around '99 or so.

I like the knives of both companies, each has something the other hasn't, and also has things that complement each other.

I think the fact we can even have such a discussion like this shows how lucky we are to have this level of knife manufacturers to choose and debate over. A couple of decades ago, such choices and debates would have been the stuff of dreams.

Jim
 
Well, I own 8 Spydercos...no Benchmades. However, some of the BM designs do appeal to me, mainly the 710 model. There are 1 or 2 more I like but I can't think of the model numbers. Both companies seem to make great knives but, Spyderco is my favorite. I feel like a knife without a hole is missing something. Spyderco also does CPM-440V and VG-10, two of my favorite steels. Some, actually quite a few of the BM knives that I've played with were not very sharp. Every Spyderco I see is extremely sharp. Spydercos seem to be more functional while BM goes for looks. Nothing wrong with that though, whatever you like is what you should buy.
 
I prefer Benchmade. The liners on Spyderco's are too thin for my taste, the compression lock pinches, and the hole gives most blades in the lineup a 'me too' look. I've owned a few-Matriarch, Delica, Gunting, Ladybug; and gave a magnesium handled Centofante as a gift, but I stick to my BMs.

Maybe if that Spyderbali ever sees the light of day.
 
I own a number of knives by both Spyderco and Benchmade that I like, but I carry a Spyderco Calypso Jr. as my EDC.
 
well, FWIW, i like BM better. i like the dual liners, though i am sure the single works fine, i just like the duals looks better. and my fav prod model is the AFCK, the axis AFCK is hard to beat imho. i think that BM makes the better tac knives, and spydie the best utility knives. both are good, dont get me wrong. as far as price, look on the for sale forums, i recently got 2 LNIB BM strykers, one a 910 for $60 shipped, and one 910 S-CG chisel grind for $70. and plenty of cheap spydies too. i would have to say that the BM is my fav production knife, spyderco a close second. i also like bigger knives (around a 4" blade) and spyderco really doesnt make a large number of 4" knives (BM has the AFCK/stryker/710/etc, spydie has the police/civilian/millie, and thats about it,most new stuff is shorter, ala the temperance/etc)


greg
 
Even though I prefer Spyderco's, I'd have to admit it is very difficult to compare companies when they both produce such different knives.

Some of the reasons I prefer Spyderco's are:
Spyderco seem to put a more acute primary edge on the blade. I find the edge on BM's can be a bit thick.
Spyderco excell at the full flat grind which is my favourite type.
BM's all look a little samey to me, whereas Spyderco tend to make widely different knives in cost, quality and for different purposes.
Spyderco has a much better line in small, medium/small knives. BM don't seem to have anything in the Calypso Jnr, Salsa, Meerkat, Mouse range.
Spyderco seem to be pioneering the "Little Big Knife" concept. Most companies small knives are often just scaled down versions of their bigger knives. Whereas the Ti Salsa and the Lil' Temperance tend to cut like much bigger knives (I have to keep measuring the blade legnth on the Lil' Temperance to make sure it's not bigger than it is), this is probably due to the curved belly, full flat grind and the large depth of the blade.
 
Even though I refuse to own a Benchmade knife and own all kinds of Spydercos, I'd say truthfully, they are comparable to one another in terms of quality.
 
Originally posted by im2smrt4u
It seems that both Benchmade and Spyderco make top quality blades, but what about the handles?

I just can't seem to get over the fact that the handles on many Spydercos look like what you'd get on a cheap POS knife! OTOH, I love the look and feel of most all of Benchmade's handles.

Am I mistaken? Are the Spyderco handles more durable than they look?
Click to expand...

It seems my question got suck on the bottom of the last page and was overlooked...anyone have any thoughts?
 
Well, the only handles that look even sort of cheap are the zytel ones. Zytel is fine with me though as it is very durable and lightweight. The knives using such handles are really price/performace type knives. A nicer handle would mean a much more expensive knife.

Spyderco's steel and CF handles are also nice but, I really like their G10 models. The BM handles just don't seem as ergonomic for the most part.

Benchmade makes a great product too, however not too many of their models appeal to me. I might go buy a BM just to compare quality.
 
That's what I mean about Spyderco has a big range in styles and prices.
Handles from straight FRN (Delica), (FRN isn't my favourite handle material, but I have come to respect it's abuseability), through G10 without liners (Standard), G10 with liners and SS Spacers (G10 Native), molded G10 with nested liners (Lil' Temperance), straight stainless steel (one retailer does the straight SS handles with laser engraved spider webs), SS with kraton inserts (Pro Grip), mircata (Calypsos), aluminium (Chinese Folder), titanium (Salsa) or carbon fiber (Civilian).

So to say that the handles on Spydercos look like cheep POS, is a bit of a narrow view.

Personally I prefer non molded black G10 with SS bolsters, so it's lucky Spyderco do several models like it.
 
I agree with JamesY, in that I'm glad we have both to choose from. I collected Spydercos pretty hard for over a year, but for the last several months have carried a BM 710. Whenever it needs touching up, I take out my Sharpmaker and it does a great job.
 
To me Benchmade is a winner for sure.
I own couple dozen of them and most likely will own more.
I like BM designes a lot more than Spydies.
M2 and D2 steels that they use in their knives IMHO are one of the best. For some those may not be "the cutting edge", but to me they're working very well :)
I think Axis lock is just a great design.
 
im2smrt4u: you need to handle spydies before you really can comment on them. At first I didn't like spydies because they don't have much looks, but once I got my Endura... well you can see my opinions did a 180. Now looks isn't much of a priority.
As to Zytel - I have plenty of zytel folders and they're great. I've dropped one of them and the corner of the scales hit the ground. It was slightly impacted but nothing else worse. Also Spyderco put some nice texturing, making it grippy when it's slippery.
I've handled Benchmades before, and I like the AFCK handle, but some of them are not very hand friendly, eg my comments on the 942.
 
There's no clean answer on this. I have over 40 knives from the two companies. I'm usually carrying a Benchmade, but last Friday I had to cut some carboard tubing that was that ultra heavy stuff. Took several minutes with a very sharp BM940 to make one cut. I grabbed my Spyderco Endura and made the other 4 cuts in less than 2 minutes. Which is better depends upon the task at hand and the user.
 
Originally posted by calyth
im2smrt4u: you need to handle spydies before you really can comment on them. At first I didn't like spydies because they don't have much looks, but once I got my Endura... well you can see my opinions did a 180. Now looks isn't much of a priority.
As to Zytel - I have plenty of zytel folders and they're great. I've dropped one of them and the corner of the scales hit the ground. It was slightly impacted but nothing else worse. Also Spyderco put some nice texturing, making it grippy when it's slippery.
I've handled Benchmades before, and I like the AFCK handle, but some of them are not very hand friendly, eg my comments on the 942.
Click to expand...

Alright, so even if they don't look the greatest, they still seem to perform well...

I've already decided on buying a BM 806 D2 with plain edge. Now I need to figure out which Spyderco I'll buy! :D

Then I can make the decision for myself! ;)
 
This is a great thread. I think that Spyderco does things better than Benchmade and vise versa. Spyderco in my opinion does not make good liner locks. They seem almost like the locks on clones or cheap imports. Very thin material, poor tang position etc. I would have gotten a TI Lum Tanto, but I've never liked the liner on any of them. It may be plenty strong, but it looks chintzy. Same with the Chinese folder. Where Spyderco Excels is with their G 10 series of clipits. The G 10 Police is great. So is the Harpy and Civilian. Problem is they are lockbacks. They are harder to CLOSE one handed than liner locks. Thats why I prefer liner locks or Axis locks in my EDC. I can open and CLOSE the knife real fast. So here is the break down. The only Spydies I like are lockbacks which I won't carry because they aren't as convienent. That is why I carry Benchmades.

If you like serrations Spyderco all the way. The Spyderedge destroys Benchmades serrations completely.

Benchmades are ridiculously overpriced at MSRP. The 722 Pardue Tanto retails for $180.00. That knife is worth $50.00. That's what I paid for one off of the Forums. No Benchmade is really even worth what dealers charge over the internet. I know they work at margins over cost, so Benchmades cost is too high. I say 1\2 or so of of retail is ok for a Benchmade. Not more though. Spydercos are overpriced too though at MSRP. Just slightly less so than Benchmade.

I would carry and use a Spyderco if they would make a better linerlock knife. A dual liner G 10 Endura with a Spyder edge would do just fine by me. I've asked for it. The answer........NO. So there you go.
 
well from a quick count i think BM is in the lead. and my vote goes to BM. imo BM knives just look better, the designs look better and more elegant, spydercos knives are usually ugly (no offense) however, i believe that spydercos ugliness is due to the fact that they are so practical, spydercos are made to used and they aren't afraid to make a knife ugly cause thats whats required to make it work better. imo also BM knives are more high end then spydercos in general, sure there are some high end spydercos but in general most of the BMs cost more. also BM makes balis which i like very much, and axis lock just kicks ass, to me the debate starts and ends with the axis lock
 
I like the Axis lock too but, Spyderco's compression lock is also a great idea.
 
Quality Control: Spyderco
Design Imagination: Spyderco
Material Choices: Benchmade
Good Business Practices: Spyderco
Timely Product Releases: Benchmade
Use of a Round Hole: Spyderco


Overall - I say Spyderco. However, they consistently shy away from high quality material choices. This may be related to the costs of higher quality control, but I am frequently disappointed by their final decisions for materials that Sal always says were "cost driven".


BTW, a number of Spyderco products are made in the USA.
 
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