Bugout grind change ??

PAULB63

PAULB63

Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
195
To anyone out there who has a Bugout or has had one - Is it me or has Benchmade "modified" the grind of the newer bugouts ?
I have 3 of them a couple of years old ( 1- 20CV , 1 - S30V black blade - 1 S30V satin finish ) , and just purchased a 2nd Blacked out full size one and noticed that the grind as you get towards the back of the blade starts to slightly sweep back up towards the sharpening choil .
Thought maybe it was just me . but for the hell of it I put a micrometer to it and an older one and sure enough there is about a 1mm of difference at the back of the blade .
I then figured it was just the one I happened to buy , but have noticed when I see pics of newer ones being advertised for sale , they appear to also have the same thing going on .
Not a tremendous deal , but I personally wish they had left it alone , unless maybe it's just this latest run of knives or maybe Benchmade is trying to save a little money on steel ???
I know this may be nitpicking - it's really not going to affect the knife's performance - just was wondering if anyone else noticed the same thing .....
 
If you're talking about the grind by the thumbstud, I think it's just production variation in the grinding process. It looks like it's probably tied to the plunge grind being slightly angled relative to the main bevel grind, like the person doing the grinding extended the plunge grind too far and it intersected the main grind higher than it should've.
 
Benchmades grinds in general are just absolute trash. A long while back I had a 940 and a mini grip both came with incredible thick off center crap grinds. Fast forward years later and I purchased a 200 Puukko....same story an uneven thick as frick behind the edge garbage grind. On a 3v 130 dollar knife lol. My 11 dollar Moras have all come ground 1000x better.

Its a shame because Benchmade has really good designs.
 
Dr Rez said:
Benchmades grinds in general are just absolute trash. A long while back I had a 940 and a mini grip both came with incredible thick off center crap grinds. Fast forward years later and I purchased a 200 Puukko....same story an uneven thick as frick behind the edge garbage grind. On a 3v 130 dollar knife lol. My 11 dollar Moras have all come ground 1000x better.

Its a shame because Benchmade has really good designs.
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This was pretty much my experience, as well. I bought several BMs and got tired of paying so much just to get delivered uneven grinds and blade play. The worst example was the Aries, which I wanted very badly at the time. I finally got one, and it arrived with a tip ground completely lopsided. My friend bought a 710 that shipped with the blade literally rattling. I stopped giving them my money after that.

I'm not going to act like I've never gotten a Spyderco with some fit and finish issues, but at least the blades are always ground to cut and the imperfections are not a functional issue.
 
J85909266 said:
This was pretty much my experience, as well. I bought several BMs and got tired of paying so much just to get delivered uneven grinds and blade play. The worst example was the Aries, which I wanted very badly at the time. I finally got one, and it arrived with a tip ground completely lopsided. My friend bought a 710 that shipped with the blade literally rattling. I stopped giving them my money after that.

I'm not going to act like I've never gotten a Spyderco with some fit and finish issues, but at least the blades are always ground to cut and the imperfections are not a functional issue.
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I agree completely with you on the folders. For whatever reason though the fixed blades they make seem really reasonably priced. For instance where else can you get a full size 3v fixed blade heat treated to over 60 for 120-130 bucks...I guess the price you pay though is spending 2 hours or more thinning the whole knife out. If you are willing to work with it though and have diamond stones its worth it imo. Still a shame though. They sell some other s30v and 290v fixed blades for really reasonable prices. Not sure why they are so much less than the insanely overprice folders.

Like how in fuark is a Leuku 3v 5-6 inch fixed blade the same price as a s30v bugout with thin plastic scales......
 
Dr Rez said:
I agree completely with you on the folders. For whatever reason though the fixed blades they make seem really reasonably priced. For instance where else can you get a full size 3v fixed blade heat treated to over 60 for 120-130 bucks...I guess the price you pay though is spending 2 hours or more thinning the whole knife out. If you are willing to work with it though and have diamond stones its worth it imo. Still a shame though. They sell some other s30v and 290v fixed blades for really reasonable prices. Not sure why they are so much less than the insanely overprice folders.

Like how in fuark is a Leuku 3v 5-6 inch fixed blade the same price as a s30v bugout with thin plastic scales......
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I agree that BM does offer a more reasonable value on fixed blades. The only BM I bought that I actually liked was a BM10502 Rant I got my uncle as a gift. I never bought BM fixed blades for myself. If I am going to buy a fixed blade, I typically go the extreme route and buy stuff like ESEE or Busse that I can blast through pretty much anything and not worry about. I'm not a hunter, and I don't live in a state where having a blade swinging on your hip is the best idea.

On the note of sharpening, I agree there as well. Getting a set of good diamond stones and learning how to sharpen really brought into perspective how badly most companies ship their edge geometry. The thing that sold me on Spyderco all those years ago was that up to that point in my life, I had never handled a blade that sharp. I don't care how ugly they are. They fit my hand like a glove and make other knife edges feel like doorstops in comparison. Of course that has changed quite a bit. More companies are shipping knives that can actually cut these days.
 
J85909266 said:
I agree that BM does offer a more reasonable value on fixed blades. The only BM I bought that I actually liked was a BM10502 Rant I got my uncle as a gift. I never bought BM fixed blades for myself. If I am going to buy a fixed blade, I typically go the extreme route and buy stuff like ESEE or Busse that I can blast through pretty much anything and not worry about. I'm not a hunter, and I don't live in a state where having a blade swinging on your hip is the best idea.
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If you are talking Esse or Busses that would mean a2 or 1095 correct? The benchmade 3v even at 60 or 61 hrc is far tougher than either. I think his name is Larin? Goes by knifesteelnerds has an amazing article on toughness of steels. Iv had to read it about 10 times to really understand a lot of it.

Edit:. Typed a3 instead of a2
 
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Dr Rez said:
If you are talking Esse or Busses that would mean a3 or 1095 correct? The benchmade 3v even at 60 or 61 hrc is far tougher than either.
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My ESEE is a 1095 Junglas, yes. I have swung it with impunity at everything I have felt the need to hack apart, and it has not shown any signs of weakness or significant damage. Busse with it's INFI is harder to categorize, but it's the same story. I am not a torcher tester or a steel enthusiast, so the chances of me breaking something designed like a Junglas or Battle Mistress are very low.

I don't mean to give the impression that I do not use them. I wore most of the coating off of my Battle Mistress a long time ago.
 
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