I bought a new Benchmade 5500 AUTO MINI today/without even a question about who I am ,or what the intended purpose for the knife was. I noticed in the lit. that came with the knife that they offer "LIFE sharp". I went to the site , and it explains that nobody except armed forces, leo, or emergency personnel should have these and the warranty is void unless you provide proof your in such organization! I would like someone familiar with benchmade to opine
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Benchmade Warranty
- Thread starter skybone
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Masteroffajitas
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Easy there...
I think they do that because they don't want to be sharpening somebody's auto that they shouldn't be allowed to carry or own, and most cases, the only people who can are leos, or military. That's just what I think though, BM makes great knives in my opinion, but I have never had to use thier custumer service.
I think they do that because they don't want to be sharpening somebody's auto that they shouldn't be allowed to carry or own, and most cases, the only people who can are leos, or military. That's just what I think though, BM makes great knives in my opinion, but I have never had to use thier custumer service.
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yup, if you have a dealer send it in for you it will be ok, as for sharpening, you can always learn to sharpen it yourself 
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Send it to me. I will sharpen it for you.....turn around 2 weeks, but that's time well spent.
I love the knife ,and would never "need" or want to send the knife back to have it sharpened. I was pointing out the hypocrisy of the policy. The knife was sold to me without proof of my "Govt" employee status! I have a concealed carry permit ,which I believe covers auto's, I'm going call my friendly Govt. and "try" to find out after the holiday. Thanks for all the help
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Your concealed carry permit does not cover interstate transfers of automatic knives. I also think that it is illegal to ship one through the USPS.
You read this, I am too lazy and I dont care. Axis Locks are faster to open and close anyway.
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/wbardwel/public/nfalist/auto_knives/knife.law.txt
I agree. I have sent back a couple of auto BM's for service thru a dealer.
Here's the deal on the LEO/Military gig at Benchmade:
- You did NOT buy the knife from Benchmade (simply: 1) you didn;t present LEO creds so they wouldn't have sold it to you, 2) they charge MSRP, so obviously not);
- Some dealers will sell autos without proof of LEO/Mil creds (my best bud bought an auto Presidio, against my advice. I didn;t want him to get it not because he's not authorized, but because autos take the fun out of opening and closing a well-made knife, in my opinion
);
- If you want BM's Life Sharp service, you've got to show LEO creds, NOT proof of purchase (they don;t care when, how, or by whom it was purchased, they care only that they're dealing with someone who is an LEO, Military, or otherwise authorized to have that knife under their policy rules;
- Don;t give up. Take it to a dealer like others said OR get an LEO or Military friend to send it in for you (that's what I did in my bud's case - I said "You give this knife to me, free and clear. In about two weeks or so, I'll give it back to you. He did and I did)
- the best thing for any knife owner to do is to get equipment that works for them and learn to sharpen their own knives. It really is a pain paying for shipping the knife to them and then waiting the 2 to 3 weeks it takes (sometimes longer, depending on how busy they are) to get it back to you. Aside from that, I would take rookie4real's offer and send it to him. The turnaround time would almost assuredly be faster.
- Don;t be too quick to badmouth BM or their warranty. I own many of their knives and I've dealt with them enough to respect the company and their product. I think you'll find their knives are cool, well-made, and their company reputable.
- You did NOT buy the knife from Benchmade (simply: 1) you didn;t present LEO creds so they wouldn't have sold it to you, 2) they charge MSRP, so obviously not);
- Some dealers will sell autos without proof of LEO/Mil creds (my best bud bought an auto Presidio, against my advice. I didn;t want him to get it not because he's not authorized, but because autos take the fun out of opening and closing a well-made knife, in my opinion
);- If you want BM's Life Sharp service, you've got to show LEO creds, NOT proof of purchase (they don;t care when, how, or by whom it was purchased, they care only that they're dealing with someone who is an LEO, Military, or otherwise authorized to have that knife under their policy rules;
- Don;t give up. Take it to a dealer like others said OR get an LEO or Military friend to send it in for you (that's what I did in my bud's case - I said "You give this knife to me, free and clear. In about two weeks or so, I'll give it back to you. He did and I did)
- the best thing for any knife owner to do is to get equipment that works for them and learn to sharpen their own knives. It really is a pain paying for shipping the knife to them and then waiting the 2 to 3 weeks it takes (sometimes longer, depending on how busy they are) to get it back to you. Aside from that, I would take rookie4real's offer and send it to him. The turnaround time would almost assuredly be faster.
- Don;t be too quick to badmouth BM or their warranty. I own many of their knives and I've dealt with them enough to respect the company and their product. I think you'll find their knives are cool, well-made, and their company reputable.
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If you are from a legal to carry auto state you can send it in with out a LEO card. Call BM and ask them though before you send it in. I know that if you are from Oregon they let you send it in.
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I don't think it is an issue of whether or not you're allowed to carry in your state. The issue is that according to Federal laws, IIRC, it is illegal to ship automatic knives across state lines to any non-LEO, Armed forces, etc, person. So shipping auto knives back to you from Benchmade would be illegal. I am too lazy to cite the law so look it up yourselves.
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There are actually plenty of states where autos are legal, including Vermont (3" blade cap) and Rhode Island (any blade length)!
This is correct and is why BM wants the creds (and FedEx shipping)
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Is Benchmade's "Life Sharp" service, even part of their warranty?
Or an entirely separate "service" they offer Benchmade owners?
Or an entirely separate "service" they offer Benchmade owners?
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It is, indeed, a separate service.
"Sharpening" is not a service I would ever need, as I have been sharpening knives for a very long time, I even know how to use the primitive old school "wet-rock" prolly should be called "Best-rock"!. I have many hundreds of dollars tied up in sharpening systems (my next will be the Edge pro, only because the guy selling it, makes it look fun!). It's scary, that so many people think it's ok to sell a knife , "No Questions asked" only to start asking questions if warranty work is needed? What if a spring breaks, or the safety fails? This is the first knife of this type i've bought at a brick and morter store,but I have bought several "autos", and assisted opening knives over the years, "all" were delivered here (no signature required). Most replies were "take it to the retailer",but retailers are dropping like flies around here, so that suggestion kinda sux! I will check this farther by ordering at least one more. "All that" about sending an "auto" to a possible civilian don't cut it!
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