Benchmade vs. Cold Steel and Kershaw

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mthall47

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I've been reading up on various brands, and for me the Benchmade is more
expensive than I have gone in the past. However, my local knife shop guy
says his Benchmade is #1 favorite brand ever for folders. For all of you who
have Benchmade, and other brands, do you feel in general it is true that you
"get what you pay for" and therefore Benchmade is a better quality knife than the Kershaw and Cold Steel folders?

Thanks for the input. :confused:
 
Cold steel, in my opinion, is high quality, Kershaw is decent. Benchmade blows both of them out of the water. Large variety, great warranty, excellent deals. I agree. You cant beat benchmade for value.
 
It wasn't long ago, I was just like you. I was really into knives but had never spent alot on them. Then I bought my first Benchmade. A #555 mini-griptilian. What a knife! Axis lock (hard to beat) and their 440C is quite good. If you can, try one (any one that suits you) and you will not be dissapointed.

* I only have a fixed blade Cold Steel, but have knives from Benchmade and Kershaw and find both to be good examples of different philosophies. * my nod goes to BM.
Hope this helps, Walter
 
BM is in a catagory well above CS or Kershaw. BM's cost more, but you get more.
 
Kershaw - unique designs, but keep an eye on the steel... they tend to use lower-end stuff to cut costs.

Cold Steel - Overhyped, but certain products (Carbon V fixed blades, Voyager folders, among others) are worth the money.

Benchmade - Great materials, fit and finish. Really, like others have said, they're in a different class from Kershaw and CS. You can't go wrong.
 
I have owned knives from all three companies and I will say that Benchmade's are my favorites.

I am not a Cold Steel fan at all, they don't use high end steels and most of there handles are Zytel, which I am not too fond of.

Kershaw has some great designs, due largely in part to Ken Onion. The Boa is one of my alltime favorite folders, good steel, aluminum handles, and the assisted opener. Some of Kershaws lower models don't use, in my opinion, good steels.

Benchmade is tops on my list because of the variety of designs and materials that they use.

Steels - 440C, 154Cm, s30v, D2, M2, ect
Handle materials - G-10, Aluminum, Titanium, Carbon Fiber, Stabalized woods, Noryl GTX, ect.
Locks - AXIS, Liner, Monolock, ect.
Designers - Osborne, Pardue, Snody, Blackwood, Elishwitz, ect.

Benchmade has great fit and finish on their knives and they back it up with a top notch warranty. Lifesharp is another great service that they offer, $5.00 gets your knife resharpened to a like new edge. Benchmade knives are going to be more expenive than the other two companies but you are getting a better quality knife, IMHO. :D

I hope this helps.
 
IMO Spyderco is right up there with Benchmade, at least with their non-plastic handled stuff. Fit, finish and steel are all just as good.
I reccomend you check them out as well.

But Benchmade is nicer than the other two. I had a Kershaw Vapor II first, now I have a Cold Steel Voyager (which I love) but I've also got a Spyderco I carry now and then which is in a class of its own like the BM stuff.

_z
 
I have knives from all three companies.
You always get what you pay for; if you are lucky you will get more.
That applies to Cold Steel's cheapest products the most- handle before you buy if at all possible.
 
Both Kershaw and Cold Steel make some nice products, however I don't consider either of them to be as cutting-edge as Benchmade is these days. BM makes the AXIS lock, and has some great custom-level pieces coming out these days. (Skirmish, the Snody pieces, etc). BM uses top-notch blade and handle materials, where as Cold Steel and Kershaw are mid-range at best. As such, BM's will usually be higher priced in the end, but on most models the money is well-spent and you will notice the "feel" if comparing, say an 806D2 to a CS Voyager. As mentioned, Spyderco is also one to consider, they have some very top-notch pieces out there, like the Manix\ATR\Chinook. BM also makes some lower-priced pieces that would be direct competiton for CS, etc. Especially for first-time knife buyers and such.
 
Couldn't fit all the words in the title line.
What I was trying to ask is if there is a company which you all would consider
better in general than Kershaw, CS, but a little less money than BM?
Have been on the lookout for a large, used BM in good shape but they seem hard to find (like a 3.5-4" blade folder).

Thanks again everyone for all the helpful input.
 
Yeah, what Kaosu04 said... Spyderco. If you're looking for a 3 - 4" blade, you can stay around $60 and still get a knife that'll cut like crazy.
 
Benchmade has some of the best quality even in their "lower end" knives. The Lifesharp service can't be beat for convenience. I've had several other brands through the years but Benchmade is the best.
 
marauder220 said:
Both Kershaw and Cold Steel make some nice products, however I don't consider either of them to be as cutting-edge as Benchmade is these days. BM makes the AXIS lock, and has some great custom-level pieces coming out these days. (Skirmish, the Snody pieces, etc). BM uses top-notch blade and handle materials, where as Cold Steel and Kershaw are mid-range at best.
Click to expand...
Cold Steel only manages to keep up with knockoffs of other companies' innovations, but I have to disagree with you about Kershaw. Have you seen the Kershaw G&G Hawk E.T., Offset, and Spec Bump? The E.T. is truly unlike any other production folder out there. The Offset has a MIM (metal injection molded) 440C blade DLC coated and the new Onion Stud Lock. The Spec Bump also has the Stud Lock but with a DLC coated CPM154 blade and 3D contoured G10 handles.

I think the Stud Lock can stand toe-to-toe with the AXIS Lock in terms of strength, ease of use, simplicity, and security. No other company has so many knives with a vapor-deposited coating (DLC, etc.). No one else is using MIM technology for their blades, and AFAIK Kershaw is the first to use CPM154 in a production knife. They are definitely a company to watch this year.
 
It's difficult to compare companies rather than two particular knives, since many companies have pretty broad ranges these days. However, I do nevertheless have some overall impressions. In general, I'm not a big fan of Cold Steel's folder line, though there is an occasional folder that I like. I don't think of CS's folders in Benchmade's league. Even for lower-end folders, I would pick other options. Kershaw is trying harder and has a broader range of folders, with varying levels of success. For me, Kershaw's biggest disadvantage is their dependence on the liner lock, when there are so many better formats available. Benchmade makes solid mid-range-and-better knives, and is really solid. It's also my favorite along with Spyderco. Spyderco has an even broader range of knives than Benchmade, and competes well with BM on every level IMO. Spyderco takes more risks design-wise, and as a result, may be more hit-and-miss for some people (but perhaps more likely to please those who are drawn to this). Benchmade and Spyderco tend to leapfrog each other for my favorite folder maker; in the past couple of years, I've been finding myself a little more drawn to Spyderco.
 
I've never used or been attracted to cold steel stuff....it just hasn't fit me yet. But I do really like Kershaw. If you shop around and study your knives, you can get a pretty nice knife for very little money from Kershaw.

That said, Benchmade. Benchmade benchmade benchmade, benchmade benchmade.


Benchmade.

Seriously, you're going to get a good knife for a good price from Kershaw, and you're going to get something on par with that deal from Benchmade. How much do you want to spend?

Spyderco does have some great deals going on. VG10 folders for like, 40 bucks street. That's pretty awesome. However, some people (me) have problems with their scales feeling so cheap. But come on, that nice of a blade at that low of a cost, something's got to go. Also, apparently I'm the only one on this board that feels this way, but I find their actions sluggish and hard to flick. Apparently, that's just me though. I personally like the Spydercos that I can't afford 10x as much as their low end stuff. When they DO try and do the hilt nicely, they tend to succeed very well. I also like their overall style better than Benchmade's.

But, I don't have that kind of money. I like benchmade's lowerend stuff more than Spyderco's, period.

Also consider CRKT, which I would say goes inbetween spyderco/benchmade and kershaw, probably closer to the Kershaw side. I have an M16 from them and I absolutely LOVE it. On par with my benchmade that cost nearly 40 dollars more. The liner lock is tough as nails and tested (you can search for my tests here, others have tested their M16s also) and the fit and finish is great. I'm not totally certain, but I think that the M16 in spearpoint may be my favorite looking folder in the world right now. Even though the actual quality is great, you do lose some. The liner lock will never be an axis lock. AUS 8 steel is just not going to go up against D2, VG10 or S30V.

But my point being, CRKT definitely has some stuff inbetween the companies.
 
I have knives from the majority of manufacturers that have been mentioned here and have to say that my Benchmades are the one that i end up using as /my EDC. Syperdco also make a great knife, i love my military, but it will ultimately depend on your personal preferences. Tip up vs. tip down, handle material, blade style and edge type, blade coating, lock type, and price range are just a few of your considerations. Benchmade gets my vote.
 
Don't forget about Spyderco, they have a wide range of knives with varying styles, materials, and costs.
 
oo a toughie. The benchmade axis is very practical, allows the to quickily get my knife open, cut, and then closed again. Faster than any other lock for me (maybe i could learn to do a compression lock that quickily with my right hand...but I am a leftie so usually its the left hand that cuts). The materials are nice and they are good looking knives.

Practicality speaking, I feel that other than easy deployment for light cutting, they come in after Spyderco, the other company I have alot of experience with. Once I am using the knife, the ergonomics and excelent edge geometry of Spyderco is much beter. Basically, I will usually EDC my benchmade 940 because it can take most of my cutting needs, and most of my cuts are simple quick cuts that dont require excelent blade geometry or ergonomics, and the easy deployment is more important to me, the quicker I make the cut the sooner I can get on to what I needed to cut (ie reading the mail i just opened, consuming the food I just opened etc). However, if i am going to be doing anything more serious, like cutting my steak at dinner, slicing veggies, taking down boxes or any other task that involves multiple cuts, I will turn to the spyderco.

I guess it comes down to how much force might be required (thus the comfort of using such force) or how many cuts, if i will be cutting for longer than I will be opening or closing, I would use a spyderco, but if the cut takes less time than deployment I would do the benchmade.

Sorry for rambling, I get a bit loopy at night.
 
Currently, for me, my most used folders are my Spydie Delica and BM 556 Mini-Grip (dropoint/PE). I also have a Vapor II (little one, I think) and a Whirlwind. The Whirlwind is probably closer to a Griptillian (I have the modified sheepsfoot/PE) sizewise. I found that the Vapor II could be pointier (I should actually get around to trying to re-grind that :) ) and the Whirlwind blade shape just didn't do it for me. I use my BM's and Spydies (Delica/Endura/Native III/Paramilitary) very regularly - my Kershaws sit and get occasionally played with and put back. I'm contemplating my next purchase and I'm thinking BM or Spyderco is highly likely (unless I see that new Buck/Strider in Calgary first :D ) I'm actually thinking of getting either a second Delica or second mini-grip - for most of the things that I do, they cover pretty well all daily cutting tasks.

- gord
 
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