Easily cleaned EDC folder?

glock39 · Jul 13, 2015

Greeting, everyone!

Im looking for a new EDC knife. In addition to general urban knife duties, one of the main uses will be cutting food. I've been looking at small fixed blades, but am now considering a folder. So I've got a few questions for you experienced Benchmade owners:

How easy is a Griptilian to clean up if it got covered in chicken grease, or accidentally dropped in BBQ sauce? Do they just rinse off, or do they need to be field stripped? Any rust issues from washing the blade in the sink with dish soap? I know BM makes an H2O model thats supposed to be rust proof. Would that offer any significant advantage over a regular stainless steel model? Any reasonably affordable models other than the Grip that would be easier to clean?

Thanks

btw - Im not especially paranoid about germs. But I know that every year a few people wind up in the hospital with Salmonella. This is usually traced back to someone cutting up some raw chicken, and then using the same knife and/or cutting board to prepare other food. And I once got sick from being dumb enough to use dirty silverware in a cafeteria. So Im a believer in cleaning eating utensils.

And, yes, I know dis-assembly voids the warranty, and Benchmade has a lifetime sharpening service that would include cleaning. But it seems like it would be an advantages if you could field strip it and clean it yourself if you had to.

BMCGear · Jul 13, 2015

For what you describe I would probably lean towards a fixed blade.

Also, as long as you don't send the knife in in parts your warranty will be fine. I know people who have sent Griptilians in with replacement grips on them and BM does the warranty work. They're good people.

glocker199 · Jul 13, 2015

I use my folders for food prep regularly. I wash them with soapy water and a toothbrush, give them a thorough finessing clean water and blow them out with compressed air. I use food grade mineral oil for lube on all my blades.

glock39 · Jul 13, 2015

bluemetalchurch said:
Also, as long as you don't send the knife in in parts your warranty will be fine. I know people who have sent Griptilians in with replacement grips on them and BM does the warranty work. They're good people.

Thanks, that's good to hear. I knew two different people with Mitsubishi cars that took them in for warranty work due to a bad transmission or A/C. The dealers checked the vehicles records, and if the owner had missed any oil changes or tire rotations (nothing to due with the immediate problem), then they would claim the vehicle hadn't been properly maintained and wouldn't honor the warranty! Maybe that was just one dealer being a jerk, but I've learned that written warranties are meaningless if the company doesn't want to stand behind their products. It sounds like BM does want to.

glock39 · Jul 13, 2015

glocker199 said:
I use my folders for food prep regularly. I wash them with soapy water and a toothbrush, give them a thorough finessing clean water and blow them out with compressed air. I use food grade mineral oil for lube on all my blades.

Thanks! Barring the occasional accident, I expect that most of the time it would just be a little juice or mayonnaise on the hinge end of the blade. Does that mostly clean off with a toothbrush, or does it get into the hinge and gum up the action?

RevDevil · Jul 13, 2015

glock39 said:
Thanks, that's good to hear. I knew two different people with Mitsubishi cars that took them in for warranty work due to a bad transmission or A/C. The dealers checked the vehicles records, and if the owner had missed any oil changes or tire rotations (nothing to due with the immediate problem), then they would claim the vehicle hadn't been properly maintained and wouldn't honor the warranty! Maybe that was just one dealer being a jerk, but I've learned that written warranties are meaningless if the company doesn't want to stand behind their products. It sounds like BM does want to.

Nope, it's happened in almost every state. I'm sure thousands of people have gone through that same thing for years.

glock39 · Jul 14, 2015

Policies like that have always seemed financially counter-productive to me, at least in the long run. If you weasel out of honoring a warranty, then the customer will never buy anything from you again. If you go out of your way to honor your warranty, then the same customer will happily pay extra to buy your products again.

RevDevil · Jul 14, 2015

glock39 said:
Policies like that have always seemed financially counter-productive to me, at least in the long run. If you weasel out of honoring a warranty, then the customer will never buy anything from you again. If you go out of your way to honor your warranty, then the same customer will happily pay extra to buy your products again.

That is how it should work, but sometimes the red tape wins and the bean counters are to be appeased.

marthinus · Jul 14, 2015

Warm soapy water works for everything in my opinion.

[video=youtube;c_ha2jwSfQE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ha2jwSfQE[/video]

jpm2 · Jul 14, 2015

glock39 said:
Greeting, everyone!

How easy is a Griptilian to clean up if it got covered in chicken grease, or accidentally dropped in BBQ sauce? Do they just rinse off, or do they need to be field stripped? Any rust issues from washing the blade in the sink with dish soap? I know BM makes an H2O model thats supposed to be rust proof. Would that offer any significant advantage over a regular stainless steel model? Any reasonably affordable models other than the Grip that would be easier to clean?

Thanks

And, yes, I know dis-assembly voids the warranty...

Other than fixed blades, solid liner and solid scaled framelocks/linerlocks will be the easiest.
Not sure about the full sized grip, but the mini grip will be impossible to completely clean without disassembly.
Sometimes pictures speak better than words, so... you decide.

P.S. guess I voided my warranty :cheerful:

:sleeping: :thumbup:

glock39 · Jul 14, 2015

Hmmm. Worse than field stripping a pistol, but I've built a couple of PC's from the motherboard up. So I think I could learn how to. But I definitely wouldn't want to do that every night.

I'm hoping that most of the time it will just be a quick rinse under a faucet, maybe a toothbrush from the outside (as in the video above). But there's always that time when you accidentally drop the knife in the pot.

It looks like BM's at least can be taken apart for cleaning. Some folders are riveted together.

Sigh. There are definite advantages to a fixed blade. But by the time you get a decent sized blade and handle, they don't fit in pockets very well. And I've already got too much stuff hanging off my belt (Leatherman on the weak side, and, err, stuff that needs to be concealed on the strong side).

sinkrate · Jul 14, 2015

Well to me the easiest knife to take apart would be probably the ka-bar dozier, and there's no washer so you dont have to worry about losing it, and all you have to unscrew is a single pivot screw, hope that helps, cheers!
-kev

glock39 · Jul 15, 2015

sinkrate said:
Well to me the easiest knife to take apart would be probably the ka-bar dozier, and there's no washer so you dont have to worry about losing it, and all you have to unscrew is a single pivot screw, hope that helps, cheers!
-kev

Thanks.

Another one I looked at is the Spyderco "Salt" series. They're also washer-less, liner-less and actually made to be corrosion proof. The Salts are riveted construction, so you can't take them apart. But reviewers say they do well just washing them out under a faucet or garden hose.

emmknives · Jul 15, 2015

I like the spyderco tenacious for food prep. decent belly and very easy to take apart and put back together if you have to

vanslem6 · Jul 15, 2015

Meh, Spyderco Pacific Salt. Toss it in the dishwasher.

RevDevil · Jul 16, 2015

Nothing beats a nice fixed blade for ease of maintenance. The HUNT seriea offers some nice choices.

dalefuller · Jul 16, 2015

I also recommend a FB for this. There are quite a few available that can be dropped in a pocket or worn horizontally. If you're set on a folder, though, I'd start by looking for something that's a liner or frame lock (no springs to lose) and maybe a washerless pivot (again, less parts to lose or worry about lining up when reassembling).

To answer your original question, though, Grips and mini-Gs are not hard to d/a for cleaning. Plenty of folks do it. I suspect, though, that marthinus' suggestion is all you'll need even if you do drop it in the BBQ sauce. I used to take a 440C mini-G into the Atlantic when I was swimming and all I ever did was soak it in fresh water at the end of the day and dry it good with canned air. I lubed everything when I got back home after a week at the beach and it never gave me any problems.

glock39 · Jul 16, 2015

RevDevil said:
Nothing beats a nice fixed blade for ease of maintenance. The HUNT seriea offers some nice choices.

You're absolutely right. I've already experimented with a few.

Mora Companion - great table knife, but way too big for pocket carry, and clumsy on the belt in town.

ESEE Izula stainless - wonderful pocket size, but small enough to be awkward as a table knife.

I've considered a Fallkniven WM1, as that's about the limit for some of the pockets I've got. Wish the blade was a tad longer, but then it wouldn't be as pocket friendly. If I didn't already have too much stuff hanging off my belt, the Fallkniven F1 or a HUNT series fixed blade would work.

Hence, if I can make a folder work, it would solve several problems (don't want to flash a pistol while reaching for a knife).

nine4t4 · Jul 17, 2015

Food and EDC? I've got my chef's seal and a penchant for always being equiped. If I may offer my 2 cents.

1) A fixed blade doesn't automatically offer any additional safety (with regards to bacteria). The nooks and crannies that bacteria need are microscopic. The slightest bit of gap (microscopic, remember) in a fixed is all they need. you can easily spray out a griptilian and dunk it in 1:50 bleach to sterilize. Depending on the fixed blade design it may acutally be better to have a folder (you and cycle it and work sanitizer into the bleach solution. For most food contact you don't have to strip it. A dunk in BBQ sauce would merit a full disassemble and clean.

If you go fixed blade consider something like a Candiru or Becker with no scales. Those are as easy to clean as you can ask for. The folders make like more convenient when you aren't using the knife.

2) THE BLADE SHAPE!!!!! Full Flat Grind is preferable if you actually cut food. My Grip is a nice deep sheepsfoot, but with a hollow grind. I would prefer an FFG blade but the griptilian is so good otherwise I let it slide.

3) The blade shape. Fixed or folder you also need something that doesn't have a crazy choil/kick/ricaso/quillon. "Tactical" knives can suck utility-wise. A Ka-Bar is a good knife but my tiny baladeo is more useful for food prep, and the griptilian is a jack of all trades.

4) It's a tool. match the knife to your needs. The world's best screwdriver isn't much use with nails. If you drop stuff in BBQ sauce every few hours then don't get a folder, but the griptilian you mention is so practical overall. Whatever your choice you're going to make a trade off. My Griptilian had NONE of the features I was looking for, but it's a good 8.5 in every catergory. The only way I'll get my perfect knife is to make it myself [I know the spec

]

Capt. Spaulding · Jul 21, 2015

vanslem6 said:
Meh, Spyderco Pacific Salt. Toss it in the dishwasher.

This. ^^^

I would personally not use the dishwasher, but I would suggest a Spyderco with no liners like the Salt line or a Native. They are extremely easy to clean without taking them apart. No liners, no washers. Just a blade and a handle.