- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 9,955
The Axis crosslock was a brilliant invention. Developed by Bill McHenry and Jason Williams in the 1990s, the patent was soon acquired by Benchmade, which introduced the Axis lock in its terrific 710 with D2 steel. I bought one years back and still carry it. My second Axis was a Mini-Rukus in S30V, followed by a couple Griptilians, one in CM-154, the other in D2. All great knives. Never had any Omega springs break, possibly because I lubed them with BreakFree CLP.
Haven’t bought any Benchmades since their prices soared off the planet. Even a plain-Jane Griptilian in S30V goes for $225 Loonies at my fave bricks & mortar shop in Calgary. Then there’s the 250-piece limited edition Gold Class Bugout with titanium frame, gold-plated hardware and gold flake inlays, along with a M390 blade in dual-tone Cerakote and an engraved map of Last Chance Gulch on the back. Just the tool to dig gold nuggets out of the gravel. It goes for $1,200 Canadian, not including the divorce.
The Axis patent expired in 2018 and was soon imitated by dozens of knife makers. The only real surprise is that it took until now for Buck to introduce it on its new Range series, which came out a few months ago. The lightweight Range Pro goes for about $170 Canadian Loonies, if you can find one. None of the local knife shops or Canadian on-line outlets carried the Pro models. I could only find a Range Elite, at around $330 Canadian (ouch!), plus 5% tax. Very slick, though I didn’t care for the aluminum grips, for some irrational reason, or the price, for a rational reason. So I ordered a Range Pro 791 from Buck and had it sent to a US relative to bypass the outrageous Canadian import tax. (It’s not subject to duty if you bring one back, so I picked it up on a recent trip across the line.)
Nicely knurled FRN grip with a quite tight deep-carry clip which fits on either side, inset stainless steel liners. Some folks complain about “plastic” grips, but FRN (Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon) isn’t plastic. FRN is extremely tough, resistant to just about every chemical and relatively inexpensive. If car bodies were made from FRN a lot of body shops would go out of business. The wide, thin blade (.09”), pretty close to a flat grind, came shaving sharp with only a whisker of a burr. A few passes across the DMT took it to hair-splitting sharp. CM-154 is good stuff (ask Emerson), tough, easy to sharpen and takes a very fine edge. The action was a bit stiff despite the bronze washers, but a few drops of BreakFree fixed that. I put a few extra drops along the liner slots to coat the Omega springs. Feels good in the hand, almost disappears in the pocket.
The Range Pro 791 is similar to Benchmade’s Griptilian, but it’s a bit slimmer and easier to pocket. The smaller Mini Range Pro looks darned close to Benchmade’s Bugout. The biggest difference is the price. Buck’s Range line is going to give Benchmade a run for its money.
Haven’t bought any Benchmades since their prices soared off the planet. Even a plain-Jane Griptilian in S30V goes for $225 Loonies at my fave bricks & mortar shop in Calgary. Then there’s the 250-piece limited edition Gold Class Bugout with titanium frame, gold-plated hardware and gold flake inlays, along with a M390 blade in dual-tone Cerakote and an engraved map of Last Chance Gulch on the back. Just the tool to dig gold nuggets out of the gravel. It goes for $1,200 Canadian, not including the divorce.
The Axis patent expired in 2018 and was soon imitated by dozens of knife makers. The only real surprise is that it took until now for Buck to introduce it on its new Range series, which came out a few months ago. The lightweight Range Pro goes for about $170 Canadian Loonies, if you can find one. None of the local knife shops or Canadian on-line outlets carried the Pro models. I could only find a Range Elite, at around $330 Canadian (ouch!), plus 5% tax. Very slick, though I didn’t care for the aluminum grips, for some irrational reason, or the price, for a rational reason. So I ordered a Range Pro 791 from Buck and had it sent to a US relative to bypass the outrageous Canadian import tax. (It’s not subject to duty if you bring one back, so I picked it up on a recent trip across the line.)
Nicely knurled FRN grip with a quite tight deep-carry clip which fits on either side, inset stainless steel liners. Some folks complain about “plastic” grips, but FRN (Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon) isn’t plastic. FRN is extremely tough, resistant to just about every chemical and relatively inexpensive. If car bodies were made from FRN a lot of body shops would go out of business. The wide, thin blade (.09”), pretty close to a flat grind, came shaving sharp with only a whisker of a burr. A few passes across the DMT took it to hair-splitting sharp. CM-154 is good stuff (ask Emerson), tough, easy to sharpen and takes a very fine edge. The action was a bit stiff despite the bronze washers, but a few drops of BreakFree fixed that. I put a few extra drops along the liner slots to coat the Omega springs. Feels good in the hand, almost disappears in the pocket.
The Range Pro 791 is similar to Benchmade’s Griptilian, but it’s a bit slimmer and easier to pocket. The smaller Mini Range Pro looks darned close to Benchmade’s Bugout. The biggest difference is the price. Buck’s Range line is going to give Benchmade a run for its money.
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