Finally got a 940-1601...Or Not :(

[photoman12001]

I've been lusting after one of these since I saw them. Then a Cabela's finally opened near me and after I handled one I knew I wanted it; but $250...ouch. So I started saving my Cabela's card points and luckily visited Cabelas.com a few days ago during one of their 10% days for Cabela's card users. Between that and the points I got it for $154.

It arrived today and the knife did not disappoint (other than screws protruding past the liners inside the knife as with other 940s). However, the packing from Cabela's was terrible. They just threw the box inside of an enormous shipping box with no padding. The Benchmade box opened in transit and everything was scattered inside the shipping box. There are some dings on the wood bolsters. I don't know if it was like that from the factory or not but I'm taking it to my local store for an exchange tomorrow.

I think it's a great looking knife. I would not have paid $250 but I can live with $154. It's just one for the collection.

This is how it arrived...ridiculous.

 

[Idaho RC]

I bought one this month with the 10% Cabela's rebate also. With my Cabela's points, discount and the rebate mine ended up about $100 net. Sweet knife at a great price. My Cabela's 940-1 cost even less with the points and discounts. I love my Cabela's charge card.

 

[BD_01]

photoman12001 That is really a cool looking 940! I didn't know the 1601 existed.
Good lens and lighting in your pic too, btw. Your username seems apt.

 

[photoman12001]

I bought one this month with the 10% Cabela's rebate also. With my Cabela's points, discount and the rebate mine ended up about $100 net. Sweet knife at a great price. My Cabela's 940-1 cost even less with the points and discounts. I love my Cabela's charge card.

It's a great program. I hope the Bass Pro merger doesn't screw it up. I usually use the points for ammo but recently I've bought a couple of knives. The last one was a ZT 0456 for about $130. I actually sold my 940-1 a few weeks ago in anticipation of eventually getting a -1601.

My best purchase was a 1967 Browning Medalist though. I had saved up about $400 worth of points and it was my first points purchase. That got it down to almost half the asking price.

 

[photoman12001]

photoman12001 That is really a cool looking 940! I didn't know the 1601 existed.
Good lens and lighting in your pic too, btw. Your username seems apt.

Thanks, it took a lot of tweaking to get the -1601 and -2 positioned so the blades weren't reflecting so much light that they overexposed or didn't catch enough light and ended up too dark. They still ended up with dark areas near the thumb studs that annoyed me though.

 

[BD_01]

They still ended up with dark areas near the thumb studs that annoyed me though.

Ha! I actually admired that when I first looked at it. I think it adds depth and would've thought it intentional, until you mentioned it.

 

[photoman12001]

Ha! I actually admired that when I first looked at it. I think it adds depth and would've thought it intentional, until you mentioned it.

You're right, it does add some depth. It's actually the camera blocking light from hitting that area because it's in between the lamp and knives. I don't have an ideal lighting setup currently so it takes more fiddling and compromising than normal to get photos done. I need more space...

 

[photoman12001]

Well, it was disappointment day at Cabela's for knives. I exchanged the 940-1601 and inspected the replacement carefully, or so I thought. For some reason I decided to give it another once-over in the parking lot only to discover a crack in the wood bolster. Maybe it was the bright sunlight that made it pop. Even though the first one might have been shipping related, two bad examples was enough to sour me on the knife so I just returned it. The crack made me question long term stability of the wood.

There was a silver lining though. I found a beautiful TC Contender with a great trigger in the Gun Library for $240. It's chambered in 6.5 TCU, which I have no use for, but I have a spare .22WMR barrel that could use a frame. The price seemed more than fair, especially after applying the points that were used on the knife. In fact, after talking to the Library manager, I think it might have been mismarked.

 

[photoman12001]

Well, this is what I ended up with instead of the 940 trio. It wears a .22WMR barrel now rather than the 6.5TCU. The pistol cost the same as the knife so I think it was the smart move.
That -1601 was a beauty but I just wasn't going to hang on to a knife that expensive with glaring quality flaws, especially one dedicated to collecting and photographing.

 

[palonej]

Ugh.
Coming from a BM fan, this shit has got to stop.

 

[Mo2]

i dont think benchmade has quality control at all.