First Benchmade; Worried about Omega Springs

Owned several, flip them often, never had a problem. The warranty is nice, but not a fan of having to send the knife for a couple $ .10 parts i'd rather have the option of buying a few, or getting them to send a couple like KAI does with speedsafe springs.
 
I've had a mini grip on my desk that I compulsively open and close for almost three years now and have yet to have a failure.

The omega springs are a non issue as far as I am concerned.
 
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I do not have as manny as most of the people here but the black blade 710 in the photo was bought when it was introduced many years ago. I may be one of those folks trying to maintain my equilibrium, but I will sit and watch TV and work the axis lock for hours. Bottom line for me is I have never had one spring lock on any of my Benchmade knives. As for what is my best all around knife the Rift is a very good choice and so it the 710 in D2. I like the Contego but I find it is a little big for EDC in other than Jeans for me. That said get what you like as in the end it is your knife and you need to be happy with it.
 
I've owned quite a few with no failures. All the ones I have one have aftermarket grips so Benchmade would not dis a spring failure anyway. I'm ok with making my own spring if one does fail.
 
They can wear out. I had one spring break on my Mini grip about 3 months after I got it. However, sending it back for warranty was painless.
 
tomsch said:
I've owned quite a few with no failures. All the ones I have one have aftermarket grips so Benchmade would not dis a spring failure anyway. I'm ok with making my own spring if one does fail.
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zl1 said:
They can wear out. I had one spring break on my Mini grip about 3 months after I got it. However, sending it back for warranty was painless.
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And that's one of the reason's that I decided to go BM. The warranty is KILLER and unlike other locks this one is easily fixable and super stable.
 
My bro in law has a 14 year old AXIS knife that's he's carried and used all over the world. Still no problems with the springs.
 
I have had a few BM over a 10 yr. period and so has my son. No problems with any of them. As others have mentioned that constant flicking does not help the life of the springs. Constant flicking as hard as you can doesn't help either and its bad manners out in public. Blow the lint and junk out if it gets dirty and you will be good to go.
 
Out of my 8 Benchmades only 1 has had an issue and it was a weak Omega spring on one side causing diagonal iffy lockup and that was when it was new. All others have seen pretty regular use and have had no issues
 
My bm 940 omega spring broke after having it for one year. It snapped when I was admiring the silky smooth action of it like many of us do (aka opening and closing it). The two things that bothered me were: 1) I babied this knife because i liked it so much, so when it broke from just opening and closing it in room temperature conditions I lost my confidence in its durability under outdoor/harsh conditions; 2) When I contacted BM, they wouldn't send me the springs when i asked but instead insisted that I ship the knife to them at my cost. I was tight on money at the time and felt that I did nothing abusive to cause it to break. So my thoughts on their CS is average at best. Since then after the repair, the springs feel a tiny bit thicker/stronger, and i still have love for the knife. Just know that any lock can break, especially little spring wires.
 
When i graduated from highschool i finally plunked down what was to me a large amount of cash on a knife- an RSK Mk1 (ritter grip). That was...7 years ago? It's been my only EDC knife since then an has been utterly used and abused. i'm a habitual "flipper" and i bet the thing has seen tens of thousands of openings and closings. I just picked up a 531 and sent the ritter home for a refresh, but the Omega springs still felt like the day i took it out of the box.
 
Sometimes they break,rarely. I've never had it happen to me. But, IF it does, and that's a big IF, you can send it to Benchmade. They will sharpen, clean, lube,tune-up, and fix your knife. They're great people. All it'd cost you is $5 to cover shipping.
 
I have had two omega springs break (or wear to the point that they don't feel like they are intact) but they were on well worn knives. Omega springs do break, the same as blades get ground down to nubs, back locks wear out, and frame locks move to 100% lockup. The joy of the axis lock is that it has two springs, and only needs one. Benchmade will also replace worn or broken ones with little hassle.

The axis lock sucks to disassemble (compared to simpler locks), but it is a damn solid and reliable design. Don't get caught up with all of the "my spring broke" stories. For every one of those there are 100 "no problems so no need to say anything" stories.
 
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