BK17 vs Adamas

[TheMadIndian]

Today I had planned to take the kids out to practice their knife techniques and I read this article about the Benchmade Adamas saying it wouldn't make a good soldier's knife or a survival knife and since I have it and a BK11 in/on my edc bag and those are the things I'm depending on I realized I had never really used it. I know what I can do with an 11 but I never really used the Adamas I just took it for granted after I saw that torture test on youtube years ago. So off we went on a hike to our practice spot, I didn't take a lot of pics as I was trying to focus on the kids plus, I was testing the two knives against each other and I had the dogs with me. I assume the 16 would have been better to pit against the adamas

We started off with a fallen tree across the trail and tried some chopping and batoning to get the branches off to make the tree more manageable to move. The Bk17 did better at chopping but the Adamas excelled at the batoning, the clip point really beat up the baton. I used them both to scrape constrictor vines for their flaky fibrous wood to use in our birds nest. The BK17 did as well making thin feather sticks and curls but took more effort to do so. The BK17 does not strike a fire steel but the Adamas does and really throws sparks (in fairness if i file the top of the 17 like I did for the 11 it would too but this is in stock form)

The heft of the Adamas came into play again cleaning up the sticks of the little branches to use for wrapping the bannock but the 17 did better in getting the bark off but that could be due to I've used side grip with it often so it could have come from technique not sure more time will tell

The bannock didn't turn out as expected I tried something new, whole grain flour instead of all purpose or wheat flour, it didn't go well, I couldn't get the consistency right and it didn't taste good, that's what I get for trying to make perfection healthy

Neither of them liked this stump ;-)

Now I've got a bug in me to do some more comparisons I know its not entirely fair considering the Adamas is almost 3x the cost but I'm quite pleased with the 17 especially at this price point and how well it performs and now I guess I need a 16 ;-) I'm also glad the Adamas is living up to what I expected.

 

[Aias]

Thanks for the write-up and pics--I've always wondered about the Adamas. I like your pack--funny thing is, I have a Maxpdition Falcon with just about the same two attachments on its sides!

 

[SALTY]

Thanks for sharing. Folders have an advantage in that they can be stowed readily and safely single handed and without sight; I know many who routinely perform a re-sheathing of fixed blades single handed and without sight and while I have gingerly done so myself, I would avoid a steady diet of the practice. Other than that folder advantage, i would take a fixed blade every time. The Adamas, great knife though it may be, cannot compare to a Tweener afield - especially if factoring in cost.

Thank you for sharing your comparison and, of course, for the pics.

 

[TheMadIndian]

Thanks for the write-up and pics--I've always wondered about the Adamas. I like your pack--funny thing is, I have a Maxpdition Falcon with just about the same two attachments on its sides!

I just swapped that vanquest bag in for a condor molle gear pouch that was there and before that I had the 5.11 6x10 that was great but no organization, I really like the moab series I have the 10 as well

Thanks for sharing. Folders have an advantage in that they can be stowed readily and safely single handed and without sight; I know many who routinely perform a re-sheathing of fixed blades single handed and without sight and while I have gingerly done so myself, I would avoid a steady diet of the practice. Other than that folder advantage, i would take a fixed blade every time. The Adamas, great knife though it may be, cannot compare to a Tweener afield - especially if factoring in cost.

Thank you for sharing your comparison and, of course, for the pics.

I travel between downstate ny and northern jersey and Adamas rides on the outside of the water bottle, I can't carry one of the tweeners the same way. When I had the 6x10 bag on I used to hide it in between the side bag and main bag, cops around here especially jersey don't like finding knives like the tweeners on you when you're out and about and in the concealed compartment of the moab is the bk11 so I still have a fixed blade with me if the lock ever were to fail on the adamas and price yes its almost 3x, but as long as I'm not in nyc the cops don't care about the adamas and don't see the 11 so that's what's always with me, that bag is more about preparedness and dealing with what situation I happen to find myself in not what I take and go off into the woods with. My go to knives are my 2 and 4 for woods time and the 14 or 11 ride shotgun with the 2