Any opinions on this one? I've heard so much about the Axis lately but not much on this "mono" locker.
Jon
Jon
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,842
Have you tried using the search feature? Pinnacles have been popping up in numerous strings.
These knives are awesome. If the Pinnacle hadn't been announced at exactly the same time as the Axis, it would be dominating Benchmade discussion right now. The knife is awesome. Good strong, sturdy, non-liner-lock lock, nice action & production values, excellent ergonomics, great blade shape for performance. This knife is a serious winner!
Joe
These knives are awesome. If the Pinnacle hadn't been announced at exactly the same time as the Axis, it would be dominating Benchmade discussion right now. The knife is awesome. Good strong, sturdy, non-liner-lock lock, nice action & production values, excellent ergonomics, great blade shape for performance. This knife is a serious winner!
Joe
Have there been any cases of blade wobble or poor lock-up?
In my quest to find the next "utlimate user" I've completely ignored these guys. Mayhap that is a mistake...
Jon
In my quest to find the next "utlimate user" I've completely ignored these guys. Mayhap that is a mistake...
Jon
- Joined
- Feb 20, 1999
- Messages
- 192
I have had a 750SBT for several weeks and it is a daily carry and user.
No blade wobble and a good solid lock up. The only con I can find is it is a bit stiff to open and unlock,but for me that is acceptable in a hard user.
This is an excellent choice for anyone who is not a big fan of the liner lock system.
I have several Benchmade models and this is the best of the lot in my opinion,a real winner at a great price.
------------------
Those who beat their arms into plowshares will plow for those who do not
No blade wobble and a good solid lock up. The only con I can find is it is a bit stiff to open and unlock,but for me that is acceptable in a hard user.
This is an excellent choice for anyone who is not a big fan of the liner lock system.
I have several Benchmade models and this is the best of the lot in my opinion,a real winner at a great price.
------------------
Those who beat their arms into plowshares will plow for those who do not
stjames
Sebenzanista
- Joined
- Oct 26, 1998
- Messages
- 6,465
I received a pre-production Pinnacle today, and have not run it through its paces as of yet, so I will try to limit my comments to fit and finish.
Very good blade size, without too prominent a re-curve. The point is just a bit low, and combined with the top grind and handle curve gives the knife a bit of a downward pointing tip. The top grind flares out rather quickly, but should still aid in piercing an object. The blade has a very slight wobble, but is by far the solidest example of a Pinnacle that I have handled. The thumbstud is not as grabby as I like, but is placed very well for a smooth opening arc. The stud is reversible, but the knife is definitely intended for right hand use, as the locking mechanism would not be practical for one of the sinister mindset.
The edge is not shaving sharp, and even though I purchased it second hand I dont believe that it was used or sharpened. Benchmade offers its Life Sharp service, but the last few knives I purchased from them (an M2 AFCK being the next most recent) have not been sharp out of the box. I consider this a major drawback, as some people purchase even production knives with the intent of collecting and keeping them NIB, and these pristine pieces deserve to be as sharp as any every day working knife. You cant sharpen a blade and call it NIB. When I purchased my first AFCK (now in my brothers hands) it came out of the box hungry to cut. I would not want to use this knife until it has had a proper Rogering.
The handle is quite comfortable, once you take the clip off. This is not just my aversion (loathing? hate? theory that clips are part of a huge conspiracy for us all to lose more, and thus buy more, knives? all right, fear) of clips. The clip is placed for a tip down, deep pocket carry. Thus it is mounted very high on the handle, putting the rather prominent bow directly under your index finger. Not only is this uncomfortable, it prevents your fingers from indexing directly over the lock portion of the handle. One of the many advantages of the integral style of lock is that the harder you grip the handle, the tighter the lock holds in place. Thus the famous white knuckle grip often referred to regarding liner lock failure only improves the integral locks performance. The clip placement on the Pinnacle has effectively removed that feature.
But pull off the clip and the knife has a whole different grip. My fingers index well into the handle, with the thumb landing very naturally onto the ridged portion of the spine. The edges could use a little more rounding, to be picky about it, but otherwise it is a very smooth and useful shape. If the clip were mounted for tip-up carry, it might improve the grip for those that insist on using such a device.
Overall I would consider this a very sturdy and practical piece, and would recommend it to someone looking for a tough working folder, even if they thought it was a little over their price range. For cost and reliability, I believe it ranks with the REKAT Pioneer or the Axis 710, and it is a definite cut above the AFCK or any of the other BM liner locks. From there it would just be a matter of personal taste, unless you are a Spyderco Military man, in which case why are you even reading this thread?
I might not ever put the knife to hard use, as I believe that BM is going to abandon this design in favor of the Axis lock. I don't think it will be extremely collectable (I have #218 of 300 pre-productions, but with 10,000 of these floating around...) but I have started collecting CRK Sebenzas and this will make a nice comparison piece.
The popularity of the Axis and its built in ambidexterity combined with the, presumably, more difficult production process used in an integral lock knife just makes it a better business choice. In the new Benchmade catalog they offer smaller versions of the Nimravus and the 710 Axis, as well as the new Mel Pardue 720 Axis (the one I am holding out for) but only the original Pinnacle design. No left handed Pinnacle, no mini-Pinnacle, no new mono locks of any kind. If the Pinnacle is in next years catalog, it will be because they are still cluttering up the warehouse.
That is too bad, because an affordable production knife of this style is a great asset. I have noticed that CRKT has also released a batch of new knives, but as far as I could tell the S2 was still their only integral lock style knife. Perhaps the time and effort involved in this type of production is too cost prohibitive, especially with the new spring actuated locks offered by BM and REKAT. And no doubt others will follow suit with their own versions of the Axis and Rolling locks.
I suspect that the integral style of lock will remain the domain of custom knife makers and certain high-end knife companies, but not gain widespread use in the production knife industry. Having met the challenge once, however successfully, I think they will quickly abandon the concept in favor of more cost-effective methods.
But I have been wrong before.
------------------
James
Very good blade size, without too prominent a re-curve. The point is just a bit low, and combined with the top grind and handle curve gives the knife a bit of a downward pointing tip. The top grind flares out rather quickly, but should still aid in piercing an object. The blade has a very slight wobble, but is by far the solidest example of a Pinnacle that I have handled. The thumbstud is not as grabby as I like, but is placed very well for a smooth opening arc. The stud is reversible, but the knife is definitely intended for right hand use, as the locking mechanism would not be practical for one of the sinister mindset.
The edge is not shaving sharp, and even though I purchased it second hand I dont believe that it was used or sharpened. Benchmade offers its Life Sharp service, but the last few knives I purchased from them (an M2 AFCK being the next most recent) have not been sharp out of the box. I consider this a major drawback, as some people purchase even production knives with the intent of collecting and keeping them NIB, and these pristine pieces deserve to be as sharp as any every day working knife. You cant sharpen a blade and call it NIB. When I purchased my first AFCK (now in my brothers hands) it came out of the box hungry to cut. I would not want to use this knife until it has had a proper Rogering.
The handle is quite comfortable, once you take the clip off. This is not just my aversion (loathing? hate? theory that clips are part of a huge conspiracy for us all to lose more, and thus buy more, knives? all right, fear) of clips. The clip is placed for a tip down, deep pocket carry. Thus it is mounted very high on the handle, putting the rather prominent bow directly under your index finger. Not only is this uncomfortable, it prevents your fingers from indexing directly over the lock portion of the handle. One of the many advantages of the integral style of lock is that the harder you grip the handle, the tighter the lock holds in place. Thus the famous white knuckle grip often referred to regarding liner lock failure only improves the integral locks performance. The clip placement on the Pinnacle has effectively removed that feature.
But pull off the clip and the knife has a whole different grip. My fingers index well into the handle, with the thumb landing very naturally onto the ridged portion of the spine. The edges could use a little more rounding, to be picky about it, but otherwise it is a very smooth and useful shape. If the clip were mounted for tip-up carry, it might improve the grip for those that insist on using such a device.
Overall I would consider this a very sturdy and practical piece, and would recommend it to someone looking for a tough working folder, even if they thought it was a little over their price range. For cost and reliability, I believe it ranks with the REKAT Pioneer or the Axis 710, and it is a definite cut above the AFCK or any of the other BM liner locks. From there it would just be a matter of personal taste, unless you are a Spyderco Military man, in which case why are you even reading this thread?
I might not ever put the knife to hard use, as I believe that BM is going to abandon this design in favor of the Axis lock. I don't think it will be extremely collectable (I have #218 of 300 pre-productions, but with 10,000 of these floating around...) but I have started collecting CRK Sebenzas and this will make a nice comparison piece.
The popularity of the Axis and its built in ambidexterity combined with the, presumably, more difficult production process used in an integral lock knife just makes it a better business choice. In the new Benchmade catalog they offer smaller versions of the Nimravus and the 710 Axis, as well as the new Mel Pardue 720 Axis (the one I am holding out for) but only the original Pinnacle design. No left handed Pinnacle, no mini-Pinnacle, no new mono locks of any kind. If the Pinnacle is in next years catalog, it will be because they are still cluttering up the warehouse.
That is too bad, because an affordable production knife of this style is a great asset. I have noticed that CRKT has also released a batch of new knives, but as far as I could tell the S2 was still their only integral lock style knife. Perhaps the time and effort involved in this type of production is too cost prohibitive, especially with the new spring actuated locks offered by BM and REKAT. And no doubt others will follow suit with their own versions of the Axis and Rolling locks.
I suspect that the integral style of lock will remain the domain of custom knife makers and certain high-end knife companies, but not gain widespread use in the production knife industry. Having met the challenge once, however successfully, I think they will quickly abandon the concept in favor of more cost-effective methods.
But I have been wrong before.
------------------
James
Thanks for the reviews everyone! Not having handled either (The Blade show in June will be my first chance), I've gotta say it *looks* like the Pinnacle will win out over the Axis as my new "user".
Jon
Jon
I have a Pinnacle and it's one of my favorite knives. It was a little stiff to unlock when I first got it, but it has broken in and now locks up solidly and unlocks smoothly. The tip wasn't as sharp as I would have liked when I first got it, and it took some time to thin out the tip and get it sharp, but the recurve isn't too hard to sharpen with a Sharpmaker.
At the recent SF Bay Area gathering, we compared my Pinnacle with another forum member's. His had a very slight blade wobble, but mine was perfect. I think Benchmade might have had to work the kinks out of the early ones. But I agree with all the good things everyone else has said about this knife, and would highly recommend it.
Alan
At the recent SF Bay Area gathering, we compared my Pinnacle with another forum member's. His had a very slight blade wobble, but mine was perfect. I think Benchmade might have had to work the kinks out of the early ones. But I agree with all the good things everyone else has said about this knife, and would highly recommend it.
Alan
I handled several Sebenzas over the period of a year. I bought a Pinnacle from ABC for $100.00, though. I couldn't justify $300.00 for a work knife that might get lost. It is a little large for what I need, but they don't make a mini. The lockup on mine loosened after a while. I bought a set of torx drivers from Home Depot. Size 5 fits everything except the pivot, which is a 10. If you take it apart you can bend the mono lock a little, and it will tighten up the lockup. You also need to check that the pivot is at the correct tension. Tighten it just enough that it is very difficult to snap it open and it will still open smoothly but have very little play. I bought it mostly for the solid lockup and the decent steel (ATS34). The tip down carry and high mounted clip is a plus. The titanium handle is naturally grippy. I sharpened it without too much trouble using a lansky clamp and DMT stones from the DMT aligner kit. This has proven to be a nice combination. I have a table stand for the lansky that I modified with a drill motor and a file. I extended the section that goes through the hole on the lansky clamp to improve the stability. I have been sharpening knives for about 30 years, and this is my best setup so far.
Danny
Danny
stjames
Sebenzanista
- Joined
- Oct 26, 1998
- Messages
- 6,465
Jeff, I have handled one S2 at a knife show, and did not like the looks or feel of the thing. Very small tang contact, very bad handle to blade ratio. Just plain ugly lines, IMHO. No where close to the Benchmade product, let alone one of the custom or high-end production knives.
------------------
James
------------------
James
I have been using my Pinncle for a few weeks now and have had no lock up problems.I almost did'nt buy one because I could'nt find one with a good lock.Some were loose and some barely engaged the tang.The lock on the one I have now does'nt go over as far as I thought it should but it locks very well and I have alot of confidence in it.It was stiff at first but it has smoothed out.This knife is Solid.One of the things I did was clean out all that factory grease in the pivot with WD40 and now it is much smoother.The machining on the back and thumb ramp provide good traction and the machined G-10 spacer is a good touch too.The other thing I personally like is that it's not black G-10 like every other cool knife out there.I have seen several of these knives with bad lock ups and heard of others too,so if possible I recommend handling some first to make sure you get one that works properly.
scott w
scott w