- Joined
- Jun 14, 2001
- Messages
- 1,256
I received the passaround knife (BM/Doug Ritter Mini-RSK Mk1) on Thursday evening (18 November 2004). I promptly became sick with a viral infection, and so I didn't really get a chance to look over the knife until Saturday afternoon.
First, a link to the knife: http://www.equipped.com/rsk_mk1.htm
Initial impressions: This is one of the best executions I have seen from Benchmade, comparable to if not better than the limited editions that Benchmade produces. The grinds were even and the edge bevels were well-formed and identical on either side, and the blade was centered in the handle with no discernible blade play in either the closed or open position. The knife was not notably sharp, but that is to be expected when participating in a passaround. The knife has held up well so far through whatever paces the previous testers have subjected the knife, with the exception of two small chips in the belly.
By the way, my standard sharpness test is to grab a piece of copy paper (20#), and try to push cut through the paper. If the knife bites the paper and glides through easily, I am satisfied. This knife did bite into the paper, but did not come close to sailing through the paper.
Before proceeding, I touched up the knife on the 40 degree brown rods of the Sharpmaker.
The workout: since this knife is titled as a "survival knife", I decided to head outdoors and try my hand at de-limbing small branches and making spears, as well as using the tip of the knife to "drill" a hole in the branch. I felt that this test would indicate the efficiency of the grind, the strength of the tip, and reveal any "hot spots" in the handle. Of course, this was not a test to extremes for the tip!
I tested the knife on a green branch, a dead branch, and a seasoned hardwood (in that order). The knife performed well on the first two branches. As can be expected, the knife had a harder time with the seasoned hardwood. However, whittling and drilling on all three yielded, in my opinion, satisfactory performance. On the other hand, I developed a blister on my thumb during the roughly thirty minutes of work. That was the only "hot spot" that I noticed.
By now, the knife no longer passed my standard sharpness test, so I decided to see how well the edge came back to life. I used the 30 degree rods of the Sharpmaker, followed by the 40 degree white rods. The knife is fairly sharp now. This speaks well of the edge geometry and the steel, as I obviously only touched up the edge rather than fully resharpened.
Conclusions:
This knife has many positive attributes going for it, namely the exceptional quality, the stout yet efficient blade, high quality steel, and the axis lock. However, at this price point, I find that I do not care for the plastic handles. If Benchmade were to make this a regular production item and bring the price in line with the standard Grips (or in the ballpark), the plastic handles would be more than acceptable. I imagine though, that such a move might bring down the overall quality of the product, as it would no longer be a special run (and perhaps receiving special attention to fit and finish).
Of course, I understand why the price is what it is - but that is a small consolation to my sense of value
Therefore, all those who are considering this knife - please do not read my review as negative - it is purely a personal preference and my own perception of value. This is otherwise an outstanding knife, and one that I may still own if I find it for the right price.
I want to thank Aeromedix and Doug Ritter for the opportunity to try this knife out, as well as to DaveH for getting this passaround started.
Thanks all,
Matthew
First, a link to the knife: http://www.equipped.com/rsk_mk1.htm
Initial impressions: This is one of the best executions I have seen from Benchmade, comparable to if not better than the limited editions that Benchmade produces. The grinds were even and the edge bevels were well-formed and identical on either side, and the blade was centered in the handle with no discernible blade play in either the closed or open position. The knife was not notably sharp, but that is to be expected when participating in a passaround. The knife has held up well so far through whatever paces the previous testers have subjected the knife, with the exception of two small chips in the belly.
By the way, my standard sharpness test is to grab a piece of copy paper (20#), and try to push cut through the paper. If the knife bites the paper and glides through easily, I am satisfied. This knife did bite into the paper, but did not come close to sailing through the paper.
Before proceeding, I touched up the knife on the 40 degree brown rods of the Sharpmaker.
The workout: since this knife is titled as a "survival knife", I decided to head outdoors and try my hand at de-limbing small branches and making spears, as well as using the tip of the knife to "drill" a hole in the branch. I felt that this test would indicate the efficiency of the grind, the strength of the tip, and reveal any "hot spots" in the handle. Of course, this was not a test to extremes for the tip!
I tested the knife on a green branch, a dead branch, and a seasoned hardwood (in that order). The knife performed well on the first two branches. As can be expected, the knife had a harder time with the seasoned hardwood. However, whittling and drilling on all three yielded, in my opinion, satisfactory performance. On the other hand, I developed a blister on my thumb during the roughly thirty minutes of work. That was the only "hot spot" that I noticed.
By now, the knife no longer passed my standard sharpness test, so I decided to see how well the edge came back to life. I used the 30 degree rods of the Sharpmaker, followed by the 40 degree white rods. The knife is fairly sharp now. This speaks well of the edge geometry and the steel, as I obviously only touched up the edge rather than fully resharpened.
Conclusions:
This knife has many positive attributes going for it, namely the exceptional quality, the stout yet efficient blade, high quality steel, and the axis lock. However, at this price point, I find that I do not care for the plastic handles. If Benchmade were to make this a regular production item and bring the price in line with the standard Grips (or in the ballpark), the plastic handles would be more than acceptable. I imagine though, that such a move might bring down the overall quality of the product, as it would no longer be a special run (and perhaps receiving special attention to fit and finish).
Of course, I understand why the price is what it is - but that is a small consolation to my sense of value
Therefore, all those who are considering this knife - please do not read my review as negative - it is purely a personal preference and my own perception of value. This is otherwise an outstanding knife, and one that I may still own if I find it for the right price.
I want to thank Aeromedix and Doug Ritter for the opportunity to try this knife out, as well as to DaveH for getting this passaround started.
Thanks all,
Matthew