benchmade sucks?

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I'll say it here too , Benchmade needs to learn about QC from Kershaw and Spyderco. I've been far less than impressed with the shoddy QC on two of the pricey BM's I have bought over the last five years.

Tostig
 
Poez said:
That is very poor example for what quality means. You probably mistaking quality for something else - for technical complexity and technological innovation, for branding, for marketing budget and market positioning, small-volume bespoke production... I do not know what you actually mean here... That every Ford Taurus is a piece of shait, higly unreliable and falling apart joke of a car... Or that Porshe for 200,000 is more car per buck than Ford Taurus for 25,000? Or what?
You sort of made the quality concept very complicated.
I believe you substitute quality with your own consumer preference and believe that it should be equaly accepted by everybody - not a chance! ;)

P.S. Benchmade makes a number of great knives - the rest are just good ones. If OP does not like all of them - that is his own problem: he is missing a lot, BM missing nothing.
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Of course we can agree to disagree, but that's a perfect example of quality...key word being "example" . It's not set in stone obviously. Take the cars, replace them with watches, guns, knives, whatever floats your boat, the concept remains the same. It has absolutely nothing to do with what I consider quality. No one gives a damn what I think is quality or not. But again, nothing to be gained by preaching to the converted.. :D
 
For me its been opposite. Spyderco needs to learn about QC from BM and Kershaw. Its luck of the draw.... I've sent back 4 spydercos to the factory after getting it NIB. One i sent back 3 times and still have an issue with it. Finally gave up on it.
 
Interesting xmtgx.

It's been a few years since I have bought a Spyderco but my previous ventures were all copacetic. The bulk of my knife purchases the last 6 , 7 years have been Kershaw. I have not had a single Kershaw ( no matter the price or country of origin ) that had an issue , all of them were perfect and ready to go.

I guess a lot of it is luck of the draw.

Tostig
 
Poor fit, great finish
Great steels, poor heat treat
Good looks, poor function.

I stay away from BM like the plague.
 
I have to agree with the OP 100%. I've been collecting knives for almost 15 years, and never in that time have benchmade knives proven to be anything other than shoddy, poorly designed, and uninspiried. This includes the Ares in my pocket, and the Skirmish on my desk.

The pose a serious safety risk to the knife buying public, as they have caused injuries to numerous users who were not paying attention to what they were doing.

I propose everyone should send me their benchmades to prevent them from hurting themselves or damaging their property in the future.
 
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I like to inspect the quality before I purchase anything. If I don't like the quality I don't purchase it.
 
If you're concerned about the price, I propose you aren't shopping at appropriate places. Of the big 3 manufacturers (Spydie, BM, and Kershaw), only my sprint run Manix 2 and my BM Ritter Grip make it into my EDC rotation. I'm planning on getting a ZT to try out, but Kershaw thus far just hasn't done it for me.

I have been disappointed with BM's 154CM; execution is just not as good as Spyderco for that steel. But they do a good job with a variety of other steels. The Monochrome is a great knife, especially for $30, and the H&K 14650 is one of my very favorite small knives. They both take a great edge, and while retention isn't as good as it would be for a premium steel, Benchmade's budget offerings are every bit as good as similarly priced knives from Kershaw, for instance, in my experience. I love their designs. I'm a "simple elegance" kind of guy, and I just think a lot of designs out there have some really funny blade and handle shapes. But design is all in the eye of the beholder. If you like it, get it. If you don't, don't. But if it doesn't suit you, that doesn't mean that the whole company magically sucks. If they sucked, those of us who collect quality knives and spend serious money on them would not be spending our money on their knives. The fact that it's still popular (unlike Gerber) should tell you something.

I do think their gold class is overpriced. I'd rather get a custom, or a semi-custom CRK or Darrel Ralph. Want that Mad Maxx so bad, but I can't justify spending 500+ on a knife right now... Eventually I'll get a Sebenza and find out what all the hype is about as well.
 
themegajosh09 said:
i just think for the cost of their knives there is so many knives out there that are cheaper for the quality. they dont suck as a company but i think there price sucks i believe they could cut the price in half on alot of their knives. i dont believe for the money that you are not getting anything special.
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I think whatever knives you have suck and aren't worth the money themegajosh09.

Do you see the problems with such an obtuse post like you're making? How about some secifics and maybe some models to go along with those complaints?
 
I've only ever bought 1 Benchmade (585 mini barrage), and will not likely buy another. It was north of $100 for the knife and far from worth that. It was the first "good" knife I ever bought. The blade has both up/down left/right play, scales are cheap, steel (154cm) isn't very impressive. The packaging was nice and they do make okay knives, I just can't find the connection between the price they charge and the material they use.
 
JW Knives said:
I've only ever bought 1 Benchmade (585 mini barrage), and will not likely buy another. It was north of $100 for the knife and far from worth that. It was the first "good" knife I ever bought. The blade has both up/down left/right play, scales are cheap, steel (154cm) isn't very impressive. The packaging was nice and they do make okay knives, I just can't find the connection between the price they charge and the material they use.
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You paid MAPP pricing and could of had the knife for under $80 if you shopped around. I'm sure if you bought a Spyderco or Kershaw for 15% off MSRP you would be complaining about the cost and the materials used as well.
 
JW - Your problem is what I'm talking about. I've never had a Kershaw NIB that had any play , at all. Zilch , zero , nada. I cannot say the same thing for
Benchmade.
That does not mean that 'they suck' but it does mean they need to get their ass in gear as far as QC is concerned.

What are the odds , if I have only bought a few BM's over the past seven years and half of those had serious QC issues ? These were not the cheaper models either , one was one of the Osborne models , the other was a recent Lfti. I always equate , or try to , equate price with quality.

That's my two cents.

Tostig
 
I no longer own any Benchmade knives. However, I think their customer service is top notch, I think they offer good value/quality at their price-point, I just don't really care for their knives in general. I suspect that there are Benchmade fans that could say the same about the knives I own. There are plenty of options when it comes to knives, if one brand doesn't suit you, move on already.
 
@Fla It wasn't MAPP pricing, it was from an online retailer. I live in Canada and our prices are always higher than the prices you guys get. This was about 3 years ago and with shipping from B.C it was over 100, just to clarify.
 
One thing I like about benchmade is they dont manufacture in china, that means they know we want American stuff. From an American name! Though the guy on the back of the of the boxes has a french name i think?
This post was not intended to be political.
 
it seems like 50% of people love benchmade and 50% of people hate them.
this is not ment to be a troll post, but i am entitled to my own opinion and that i that benchmade is no good compared to so many other companies.
i have felt of a few benchmades and all of them have play out of the box.
i bough crap knives that dont have play before
it just seems stupid to me to spend 110$ on a benchmade and the grinds be different on both sides and it have side to side play.
i got my spyderco persistance for 25 bucks and it beats most benchmade that iv seen it had no play the fit and finish was perfect it was super sharp right outta the box and it was made in CHINA!
I THINK FOR THE AMOUNT OF MONEY PEOPLE PAY FOR BENCHMADE THEY COULD DO BETTER
all this is my own opinion from my own past experiences so thats fine if you want to call it a troll post and thats fine if you dont like it
 
Basically I mean that, I like the fact that they don't offer a "value" class knife type. (At least anymore). There for, the name Benchmade can easily be associated with "Quality Knife brand" :thumbup:
 
JW Knives said:
I've only ever bought 1 Benchmade (585 mini barrage), and will not likely buy another. It was north of $100 for the knife and far from worth that. It was the first "good" knife I ever bought. The blade has both up/down left/right play, scales are cheap, steel (154cm) isn't very impressive. The packaging was nice and they do make okay knives, I just can't find the connection between the price they charge and the material they use.
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this is almost exactly how i feel. none of it impresses me
 
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