Benchmade vs. Spyderco

I say Spyderco is the best, because they are the standard.

I had benchmade with a lockback and disk on the blade for one-hand opening. It was best knife in store after the Al Mars and SOGs, but then the clip-it came out and changed everything. All pocket knives have to live up to Spyderco. Spyderco packed thier knives with features that are now manditory. Benchmade has balisongs, thumbstuds, finger holes, lightwieght handles and pocket clips, but varity can't can't beat beat great design. Spyderco brought us the thumb-hole the pocket-clip the lightwieght handle, the spydy-edge.

The Axis-lock is better than the lockback, But Spyderco has the compression-lock and a new roller-lock to compete.

All in all I feel these two companies are generally equal. They best each other at every turn, but I give credit to Spyderco because they change the knife making industry for the better.
 
I'm a Benchmade man myself. Other than a PSARK and a LaGriffe, it's all I own.
I have no firsthand knowledge of how well a Spyderco performs. They may be excellent knifes. I just think they are about the ugliest knife out there. I know that when it comes to a tool, looks ain't everything, but I just can't bring myself to buy one.

Johnny B.
 
I have owned a couple of Spydercos and a few Benchmades. I seem to like Benchmade designs a little better. Both companies make excellent products.
 
Originally posted by frsty50
...I just think [Spydercos] are about the ugliest knife out there. I know that when it comes to a tool, looks ain't everything, but I just can't bring myself to buy one.

Johnny B.
Click to expand...

LOL! I suppose to outsiders, we Spydiephiles look like owners of Volkswagon Bugs where one asks, "What the Hell kind of beauty do they see in that?" With a blade rigged like a scalene triangle with a big hole in it.

Yeah, I used to think Spydercos looked weird too. Now I think they look distinctive and unique. Ah, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
:D
 
I like them both, but I think Spyderco has more variety.

You can´t go wrong with either company.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
when i first started collecting knives, i always looked at the spydies and was like.. "what does everyone see in these, they're so ugly. benchmade is where its at!"... i picked up my first endura and started carrying it... now i keep trying to switch back over to carry my benchmades, but it just doesn't feel right.

now i see the round hole and funky shapes to be a symbol of quality. benchmades look "prettier" and have cooler shapes and grinds, and in the higher end, comparing say a 940 series and a Lum Tanto, you are getting more techy stuff for your dollar. For me, i'll carry a spyderco, but at home i'll play with my benchmades. Spyderco's beauty lies mainly in its functionality.
 
I'm a big Spyderco fan for many reasons.

I'm not a big Benchmade fan for only a few reasons.

The thing I like about Spyderco is that they have a wide variety of knives and many that serve specific uses with very specific design. From an Economics 101 standpoint Spyderco takes a Micro approach to knife making. Examples would be the Rescue series, Catcherman, Gunting, Ayoob, and many others. Each knife will excel at a lot of knife like tasks but many have very specific uses.

Spyderco also makes, with the exception of a few models, small runs of knives (20,000 instead of 250,000) and are constantly testing the market with new idea's. How many companies would come out with a knife as radical in design as the Gunting, the Temperence, the Ayoob, the Spot etc..

I like their customer service and I like the fact that Sal is a question away in the Spyderco Forum.

Now there are some Spyderco knives that I don't like asthetically or wish they had made a little higher quality so I'm far from a rabid Spyderco fan, but I really like them in general.


I used to be a Benchmade fan. for whatever reason the past few years their designs have not appealed to me, so I don't buy them. Then there was the stretch of a couple of years where their QC was horrible and their customer service was not far behind.

I think Benchmade takes a Macro Economics approach to knifemaking, they make designs that are good at almost any task you throw at them, but few really excel at some more specific tasks. They are also much more conservative in the designs they produce.


All in all I think of Spyderco as a much more exciting knife company to watch, their designs are constantly evolving, they have a great presence in the knife community and they listen to customer suggestions. They produce a quality knife at every price point they have a product in and give you a lot for your money.
 
I think NGK nailed the difference on
the head when mentioning that Spyderco
seems to favor function over form.

I remember my first reaction to seeing
a Spyderco - something like "man, that's
ugly!". But now, after using them
for a while, they're just unbelievable
performers, excellent reliability and
toughness, well priced, etc.

Ugly, but good. I'll take performance
over looks every time.

This is not at all a slam on Benchmade;
rather, I think it's perhaps a common
perception among those who prefer Spydies...
 
I was a Spyder-Man until today when I got the Griptilian 550. This knife is perfect for EDC in NYC or gutting a deer upstate. The handle is solid not like the plastic thin Spydies. I *want* to like Spydies more (I like their logo, blade shape and inventiveness) but this Benchmade Griptilian is a better knife for me.
 
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