BenchMark Knife Info.......

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vetnam

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I am just trying to see if anyone is familiar with BenchMark knives? I have one that has the Blackie Collins Rollock opening system....Rams horn handle any info would be great
 
I am trying to find info about BenchMark knives.Just general info.....it has the rollox opening system designed by Blackie Collins.....it also has Rams Horn handle.It is a beautiful knife.I have owned it for aprox 25 years. Any info would be appreaciated.
 
I am trying to find some info on a BenchMark knife that I have owned for 25 years.......I believe it is a Blackie Collins design....Rollock one hand opener with Rams Horn handle. Just really curious......never seen another one. If anyone has any info would be great.
Thanks
 
Something I found on the web:

"The Rollock was designed by Allen Ellishewitz in the late 90's based on a design by Blackie Collins from 1975 called the Rolox. The Rolox was originally sold by Benchmark as the Rolox knife, and is quite collectable now. Benchmark was producing the Rolox knife up until the company was purchased by Gerber in the early 90's."

It looks like Benchmark made three sizes: the Diamondback, the Sidewinder and the Viper. Another bit of online info:

"The Diamondback is the largest and most sought after of the rolox knives, measuring 7.5 inches open, 4 1/2 inches closed. The blade is 3 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1/8 inch thick."

I'm not sure which of the other two was the smallest or the midsize one.
 
I don't believe Benchmade and Benchmark are the same company, they produce 2 completely different product lines and they really do not even look remotely similar. Maybe if you provided a picture it would be more helpful to identify what you have.

Merged 3 identical threads scattered all over the forums into one.
 
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The Benchmark Rolox were well made knives with premium materials of the day. However, the mechanism was easily contaminated with pocket lint, dust, sand, etc. to the point where it didn't function. IMHO that's the reason they weren't successful.
 
Benchmark was bought out by gerber which became benchmade...the last Benchmark rolox viper was made in '82...still have the receipt from "sharper image".date of order12-29-82 shipped 01-05-83...used it for work because I was able to open it with one hand...was able to put a picture of it on "sks survivors forum" (because when I tried here,I failed)under other weapons...I'm sorry to say,you have to join survivors forum to see picture. I'm gettin to old for this s-it...
 
Flash lite said:
Benchmark was bought out by gerber which became benchmade...the last Benchmark rolox viper was made in '82...still have the receipt from "sharper image".date of order12-29-82 shipped 01-05-83...used it for work because I was able to open it with one hand...was able to put a picture of it on "sks survivors forum" (because when I tried here,I failed)under other weapons...I'm sorry to say,you have to join survivors forum to see picture. I'm gettin to old for this s-
Click to expand...

Gerber did not become Benchmade....
 
Benchmark was owned by Blackie Collins (sometimes known under the nom-de-plume Blackie Sewell back then), it was sold a couple of times, and by the late 70's R B Jenkins Metal Co of Gastonia, NC buys it and holds it for a while. They had some success with the Rolox, and some tactical designs (Ninja, etc....) which got Gerber interested, and they buy the brand in 85. Gerber gets bought by Fiskars in 87, and they really don't know what to do with the Benchmark brand, so they sell it back to Jenkins around 93. Jenkins reintroduces the Rolox, but production and distribution is spotty, especially with all the new tactical knife companies around. Bill Adams of Atlanta Cutlery buys the brand in the early 2000's.

I'm not sure who owns them now, maybe Bud K / Matthews ?

--------------------------------------------

Benchmade was more or less a rebranding of Pacific Cutlery, with the same owners, and many of the same people involved.

You might also see the term "bench made" used before the formation of the actual Benchmade knife co, it was used as a term for handmade knives made by a small shop. It was a common term in the 70's and 80's, but has fallen out of favor, probably because it gets confused with Benchmade now.
 
I'm lousy at researching stuff,but that is what I found about Benchmark...Gerber and Benchmade...didn't mean to step on anyones toes.
 
No disrespect intended, but speaking for myself, you didn't step on anybody's toes, you simply displayed a serious amount of ignorance about this particular topic, especially considering all you had to do was type Benchmade Knife Company in your favorite search engine and very quickly you would have found the history of it, or just gone to Benchmade's website directly and done a bit of browsing, or could have asked about the history right here on Bladeforums...

I couldn't tell you the histories of most other knife companies, and I suspect even other long time knife enthusiasts here could either, but how Benchmade came to exist is one of the better known things. The butterfly knife (balisong) craze of the 1980's made Pacific Cutlery THE premier production company for butterfly knives in the U.S. at the time. After it went out of business, Benchmade was founded and continued the Pacific Cutlery legacy, though it did not produce as many models of butterfly knife, which continues to this day. While they are still popular, they are not as popular as they were back in the 80's and early 90's....
 
Everyone likes pictures:

Benchmark Sidewinder & Diamondback plus paperwork

Recently i acquired two vintage Benchmark Rolox knives; a Diamondback & a Sidewinder. They were made in the early 80's and came in original boxes & paperwork. Here are a few comparison pictures of the two knives and also some pics of the paperwork for future reference. Benchmark Rolox...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
These were very nice knives. They opened one handed and were out-the-front so there was no concern of them closing on your fingers. A very innovative design, although not without its faults.

n2s
 
kwackster said:
Everyone likes pictures:

Benchmark Sidewinder & Diamondback plus paperwork

Recently i acquired two vintage Benchmark Rolox knives; a Diamondback & a Sidewinder. They were made in the early 80's and came in original boxes & paperwork. Here are a few comparison pictures of the two knives and also some pics of the paperwork for future reference. Benchmark Rolox...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
Click to expand...
my benchmark (wood handle}viper has/had a higher serial #...agrussell has it now...goldie didn't wasnt my hen& rooster (hr0004} because is was assembled in toledo,spain...it's a long story and as someone said...i am ignorant to the knife world...
 
I'll have to dig mine out and post a picture later. I still have it with the box, receipt, and sheath. I bought mine in the late 80s from a now defunct gun/knife/outfitter shop. I never carried it much.
 
Hello
I joined the forum simply to add to this conversation. My wife bought me a Final Production Run Rolox in 1993. Today I found another in a gun shop in a small town. After 32 years, i finally have the set i wanted. It came with all the paper work and a great brochure that tells about all the styles of Rolox.
 
KLC17409.jpg

Here’s what it looks like.
 
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