Did benchmade make a plain edge 710d2 with black coating? How is this knife?

[jinuineasn]

I'm trying to purchase the discontinued 710d2 with a black coating. Most of the ones I've seen have the regular satin/silver finish.
I was wondering is the black coating custom?
Or did benchmade offer a black coated 710d2 from the factory?
Any input on this knife?
How is it compared to the 806afck for SD purposes?
Thanks.

 

[orthogonal1]

The 710 is smaller than the 806 (all due to a shorter handle) and it doesn't index in the hand as positively as the 710 lacks the finger groove of the 806.

As for the coated plain edge blade, it may have been for a distributor as I haven't seen any with a D2 blade.

The 710 makes a better EDC IMHO, though.

 

[WadeF]

The 710 is a smaller package than the 806 when closed, but open the 710's blade is just as long (actually slightly longer) than the 806's blade.