Bradley Knives?

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MatthewSB

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Just stumbled upon a picture of a Bradley Alias, and it looks like a great design.

I've never heard of the brand, just checked out their website, and was looking for feedback from people who've had them before?
 
I've owned the alias 1 and alias 2. They are good knives and use pretty much the same materials as a sebenza but they are nowhere near the overall quality of a sebenza. Bradley has Benchmade manufacture their designs.
 
It's a high quality knife.
A nice titnanium framelock, what you'd expect from Benchmade.

I bought my Alias at a reduced price because it was partially serrated.

Here's a picture of my Alias along side my Sebenza.


 
Bradley cutlery is the house brand of Midwest Gun Exchange or MGE wholesale. They are a knife a gun distributor based in indiana. They came onto the knife scene a number of years ago to because some of them felt certain products while high quality were priced out of most peoples means. They started off with the alias knives to be somewhat competitive to the sebenza in terms of materials. Ti framelock with s30V blade with similar styling cues such as the blue thumb lug and standoffs. Then came the Mayhem butterfly which was basically a balisong version of the alias with curved handles. Then the alias autos and Kimura balisong came. All bradley products are made by benchmade with the exception of the now discontinued Kimura which was ghost built by Kershaw. All of their products seem to be very good quality. Though many would argue that their goal of creating a cheaper sebenza like knife was never fully realized. Its nice and has the same materials but its not a sebenza. Hope that helps.
 
I also am interested in hearing people's opinions about Bradley knives. I have a son named Bradley and he wants one for his collection for obvious reasons. I too heard that these are made by Benchmade. However, I was in a high end gun shop a couple weeks ago that also sold high end knives (randall, crk, customs, etc). The guy in charge of knives told me that was not true. He gave me this long story about how this "rumor" got started about Bradley being made by Benchmade. He was absolutely certain that Bradley makes their own knives and even suggested that Bradley gave some blades to Benchmade, which is how the rumor got started. This guy spoke highly of Bradley, said they are better quality than Benchmade (FYI, he sells both).

On the other hand, many Bradley dealers reference Benchmade in their info on Bradley knives. Bradley's website says nothing about it, only that they are made in USA. I suspect the guy I met in the shop knows less about knives then he lets on but would like to hear from others that know the facts one way or the other.
 
Do the serrations hurt, benefit or are neutral to the fine cutting ability of that Bradley? I was just looking at them over the weekend!
 
cchu518 said:
Do the serrations hurt, benefit or are neutral to the fine cutting ability of that Bradley? I was just looking at them over the weekend!
Click to expand...

My only problem with partially serrated blades is they're a pain to sharpen. I've been using them for years and I find them good for tough cutting like thick rubber or heavy rope. I touch them up on a steel rod and never let them dull too much, but I've used small round ceramic rods too.
For fine cutting I prefer a straight edge, you can still do fine cutting, but you lose half the blade to serrations.
 
I have this one, NIB, purchased at non-discounted price to use as a gift for a relative. Ended up using a different knife for the gift. My mistake. I cannot sell this one as it is 1/2 serrated and they are ignored in the Exchange ads. It's a pretty factory-anodized BLUE, but watch out for resale interest.







 
mwschilling said:
I also am interested in hearing people's opinions about Bradley knives. I have a son named Bradley and he wants one for his collection for obvious reasons. I too heard that these are made by Benchmade. However, I was in a high end gun shop a couple weeks ago that also sold high end knives (randall, crk, customs, etc). The guy in charge of knives told me that was not true. He gave me this long story about how this "rumor" got started about Bradley being made by Benchmade. He was absolutely certain that Bradley makes their own knives and even suggested that Bradley gave some blades to Benchmade, which is how the rumor got started. This guy spoke highly of Bradley, said they are better quality than Benchmade (FYI, he sells both).

On the other hand, many Bradley dealers reference Benchmade in their info on Bradley knives. Bradley's website says nothing about it, only that they are made in USA. I suspect the guy I met in the shop knows less about knives then he lets on but would like to hear from others that know the facts one way or the other.
Click to expand...

Thay guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Bradleys are manufactured by benchmade. I have ordered replacement parts from benchmade for my Bradleys. Most guys who sell knives at brick and mortar stores that are not specifically cutlery stores, don't really know much about blades.
 
Just look at the clip on the bradley its benchmades split arrow that they use on a ton of folders lol you should go back to that dealer and ask him to explain that one :)
 
I've got a Mayhem and it's a very, very nice knife. I'm not really into balisongs, but like this one for the materials and the blade shape. It came in very sharp and moves perfectly for what I use it for. It's not as impressive as a CRK (or even a Southard in my opinion), but it's a real nice knife. I've fiddled with a large Alias and I was very impressed with it. Opened smoothly and didn't stick at all.
 
thanks for clarifying for me. I suspected he was wrong. I will just take note and leave him to his ignorance.
 
I have a large Alias and it's super smooth, really nice for the money.
I've never carried it but have no reason why I wouldn't, it'd make a real nice EDC.
Blade deployment is as fast as they come unassisted.
 
I had a Bradley Alias II awhile back and I really liked it, but it had some issues that needed to be worked out. When I received it the lock was EXTREMELY sticky--almost to the point of not being able to disengage it at all. After working it in it became smooth, but the lockbar creeped over to about 95% engagement within a couple of weeks. I contacted Benchmade (yes, they are absolutely manufactured by Benchmade) and they told me to send it in. Within a week or two I had it back in my hands with a new locking side slab. It was smooth to disengage and had zero bladeplay. However, they re-sharpened it (even though I requested them not to) and the sharpened job was done by a novice--not very pleased about that, but what do you do? Overall, I really like the design and the weight, and the shape, etc and it is a GOOD knife, but it is NOT on par with a Sebenza. That being said, I would still buy another one.
 
I just got a black and blue Alias II today and love it so far. Really smooth opening and the small groove in front of the thumbstud works surprisingly well. Just have to switch out the standard BM clip to something less shiny.

I agree with PURPLEDC and johnnytoxin about the attention to detail compared to the CRKs, my small CF sebenza is in a completely different league.
 
I currently own a Bradley Alias II, and it is a nice knife. The fit and finish on it is fantastic, and I really was impressed with the quality of the knife. The blade deploys fast and smooth, and the blade shape is very practical, the scales look and feel great. The only complaint I have about the knife, is that the lockup on mine is quite sticky, and sometimes I really have to put a bit of effort into disengaging the lockbar. One thing to note is that the Alias II is quite small, I was a little surprised when I got it in over how compact the whole package is. To give you a size comparison, it is almost the same length as a Spyderco Delica 4, but has a much slimmer profile. Overall, I think you'll really like the knife, if not, there's a large following behind the Alias line and I'm sure you could sell/trade it pretty easily. Feel free to email me if you want to ask some questions.

And of course, obligatory oogling pictures:

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I ordered an Alias II and had the exact same thing: EXTREMELY sticky lock, blade way off rubbing the side..etc
I would have given it a second chance but I live overseas and sending it back and forth for warranty issues is going to be a hassle, I just returned it for a refund.
Glad to hear good things about it and I'm sure it was my bas luck I got a lemon.
 
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