BM Mini-Barrage

I've seen that review a couple times. While I don't mind nutnfancy, sometimes he just drives me up a wall to be honest. His surfer dude accent and his referring to himself in the third person all the time is just a bit much. He also tends to ramble on a bit too much for my liking. If it's an item I'm really interested in though, and there aren't too many other videos available for it I'll watch his. I'm sure he's got good intentions and all but he needs to not take himself so seriously.
 
Auto? You mean assisted opening? As far as I know, the Mini-Barrage doesn't come in auto.
Yeh you right, only assisted opening, not auto, thu I sended an email to BM, asking to customize some knives so we can adjust the knife for our needs!
---Roy miller---
 
its new. It is G10 with I believe Aluminum bolsters at the pivot. SO NICE!
 
what got me was when he talked about how they changed the font in the Cold Steel catalog against his liking. I forget which knife but it was the cold steel, possibly the black rhino, and he talked for probably 2 minutes about the catalog. that put me over the edge. when he finally talks about the knife its fine but he needs to cut the time down a bit.
 
Unfortunately if buying a benchmade, you have assume it will have a sub-par edge nowadays, at least i do. That's because of every single benchmade i've had, about 11, 8 of them had bad edges.

As for the mini barrage, it's an excellent compact knife, it comes out real quick and i really like the blade shape. I did like the large barrage better though, but you can't go wrong with the small. It is a little heavier than say a mini griptilian however.

i was also disappointed with the sharpness of my BM out of the box.
 
Most of my Benchmades came with what I would call a 'utility' edge. I suspect such an edge is aimed at the unwashed masses, who may be more likely to roll an edge through carelessness. Let's face it, most of us on the forums will re-profile a factory edge anyway, so I don't really consider the factory edge to be an issue.
 
I bought one for ~$70 at a Portland, OR BiMart when they came out after deliberating and comparing to the 525 and other similarly sized pocket knives. The 585 just seemed to fit my hand well. I prefer the thicker handle (due to the wide steel liners) and it is well contoured. The pocket clip is well sized/placed to fit with your fingers; the clip is a bit too tight, reducing ease of RE-pocketing (esp. with the arrow-head), but it slides out of pocket fine. This isn't a good knife for tight-pockets with other items, given its width. It is fully ambidextrous, ease to open/close one-handed, although as another mentioned it will not flip closed like other axis-lock knives due to the a/o mechanism... (If anyone has experience with a 585 missing the a/o spring, I'd love to know how it handles (might take mine out to try it that way)
... The A/O is impressive! Powerful, instantaneous openning - push the stud, or pull back the bar and flick it open, it SNAPS into place, ready for use. Eyes go wide in envy when I deploy this before colleagues and family - two of my brothers are looking to get them for themselves.
The axis-bar can blocked with a safety-switch, preventing the knife from being opened and also preventing the bar from sliding back when open - locks both open and closed.

I personally prefer blades with a belly this wide. I'd compare the 585 to an Izula and use it for most of the same tasks, indoor and outdoor. The knife was razor-sharp when I purchased it, and has only required light sharpening to keep it that way. I've used it for general cutting (paper, plastic, string, cardboard, meat, fruit, vegetables), carving (wood, meat, fruit, plastic), light prying, etc. The geometry of the tip makes it pretty durable, and the 154cm has held up well. Action is smoother than any knife I've owned (this was my first BM). While I keep an SAK about me nearly always, this is my go-to EDC knife, and it gets used every day. Also, the spine is squared and works well as a firesteel striker, esp. with the blade closed for safety :thumbup:

Downsides/things I'd change:
1) there is no jimping on the knife - I'd prefer some on the spine of the blade somewhere for ease of use.
2) I wish the liners were nested or had radius'd edges around the blade-slot - I use the knife hard enough that that gap gives my hand hot-spots due to the sharp metal.
3) the lanyard-hole is fairly narrow for the 2cm passage.

I took the choil spring out of my 585 and like it a lot better now. It functions just like a standard axis lock. Be careful, the axis assist knives are a little bit of a challenge to get back together, many times more difficult than a standard axis lock. However if you've taken a few knives apart before than it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
 
For $5 more, MSRP, you can get a BM #15030 series mini-Bone Collector - a very similar AXIS Lock less the assist. It also has a thicker blade of D2, jimping on the handle, and an ambidextrous hole in place of the thumb stud. It comes in G10, bi-color G10, and walnut. I love mine... a walnut variant (15030-2 $140 MSRP) - a Christmas gift from my wife. So did she - I had to find her one, too!

Still awaiting a 790 Subrosa less the assist. That thing flings harder than the three AXIS Lock automatics I have; a 5000, 6150, and 9555. Not fond of assist - and I have three auto's... the 6150 was a Christmas '09 gift - the other two had the misfortune of being in a closeout sale <half price... I was doomed! The Bone Collectors make great EDC knives. My poor 710... it's lonely in the case.

As far as sharpness.... no, BM's are not delivered as perfect 'out of the box' as Buck, Kershaw, and Spyderco. The BM's are hand sharpened. My first two, a 551 in 440C and a 201 in D2, needed heat to cut butter. It would be years before I would buy #3 - which was a razor, So were the next two dozen plus I bought! Of course, by then I had learned to finally be able to sharpen double bevels... I had bought a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Odd, I remember my uncle telling me that I should be able to sharpen my own pocket knife if I was going to wear big boy pants. Kind of missed that deadline... I was pushing sixty by the time I got the Sharpmaker... and zipped right past it, too. Seriously, learn to re-edge properly, and you won't fear a dull new edge - or lament over dulling an old edge!

Stainz
 
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