help me decide on which BM please!!!

Maybe you shouldn't buy any more knives at this store. If they are selling defective merchandise as new, without any warning or discount, they shouldn't be supported.

As far as it bieng a bad batch of knive, well the only way to know for sure would be to ask Spyderco. But it would seem unlikely that this one shop got all of the bad knives Spyderco ever made, in all different models. A blade shouldn't chip cutting newspaper, and I have had no problems with the quality of Spyderco knives, at any price point.
 
Get a BM 910HSSR Stryker in M2 steel and never look back. For EDC, it will handle any task.
 
Another vote for the 720. It has a good, overall blade shape and is very stout and comfortable in the hand. Not to mention the fine Axis lock.:cool:
 
i think i'll give the BM 721 a shot since i like G-10 better. However the knife is a hefty $190 before the 15% tax added on in TO. Ordering from US is expensive too since there are additional charges, shipping charges and tax also. Not to mention BM haveing problems coming here due to our weird blade laws.

Pretty expensive. However I can get a Spyderco Military for $40-50 cheaper. How do the two compare? Millie is larger correct? What about AXIS lock failure? I have heard if your omega springs fail (happens alot lately) you have to send your knife in to get fixed as BM does not mail parts out

Since I'm in Canada and want to avoid the hassle of having to insure and ship my knife back and forth is the AXIS worth the hassle? Or should I settle for a BM liner? Unless the BM liner is really bad I think it seems safer to me than an AXIS. I still don't see how I could avoid accidently disengagin the lock with my thumb the way I hold knives.
 
Originally posted by curious2003

I have heard if your omega springs fail (happens alot lately) you have to send your knife in to get fixed as BM does not mail parts out

Since I'm in Canada and want to avoid the hassle of having to insure and ship my knife back and forth is the AXIS worth the hassle? Or should I settle for a BM liner? Unless the BM liner is really bad I think it seems safer to me than an AXIS. I still don't see how I could avoid accidently disengagin the lock with my thumb the way I hold knives.
Click to expand...

Even with shipping I believe that you can get a BM 720 for waaaaaaaay under $190 (+ 15% tax) off a US website. You would be getting ripped off if you do.

Rather than omega spring failure "happening alot lately" it is so rare as to be almost beyond consideration.

Try running some searches on the reliability of liner locks, and you will find pages of information detailing just what issues they have. Like I said earlier, I have personally never heard of an Axis lock closing at a time that was not desired by the operator due to either mechancical failure or accidental disengagement. You will not find that with linerlocks.
 
Hey, my vote is for the 720. I love it....very sturdy and solid knife. Feels much more substantial in the hand, than my 942.

Hey what store you thinking of buying from in the T-dot?

(I live downtown Toronto)
 
As fishbulb said, there is no problem with the Axis lock in terms of omega-spring failure. Yes, there have been some reported cases of spring failure, but they have been rare in view of the vast number of Axis lock knives in the field.

The Military is a larger knife. It is not, IMHO, as rugged and beefy as the BM 720 but it is a great cutter and slicer. It's kind of an "apples and oranges" kind of thing.

Of the knives you listed as your possible purchases, I'd still go with the 720.
 
Curious, you are just about the only person that I have ever heard of to have those sorts of problems with Spydies. I would second the thoughts of the others who are wondering what that store is doing as I have never heard of Spydies having badly drilled Spyderholes and that sort of thing. It sounds almost as if they have a bunch of counterfeit POS rip-off copies of Spyderco knives that they are selling as the real McCoy. May I suggest that you send the name of the store to Sal Glesser along with your experience with the knives as I am certain that he will want to hear about the situation as he takes his company's reputation very much to heart.

I still maintain that comparing a BM 720 Pardue to a Delica or an Endura is comparing a Bulova Accutron wristwatch to a Timex and is an unfair comparison. When you compare knives in the same price range, whatever the manufacturer, that is a much fairer comparison.
 
As to curious2003's prices, I believe he is quoting Canadian dollars.

Curious2003: where did you buy your Syderco knives that you had problems with? I've bought Spydercos at Al Flaherty's, Europe Bound, and Marathon Sports, and all of them have been good.
Also, which store in Toronto sells the Benchmade 721?
 
AXIS has problems going across the Canadian customs as alot of the time they think it's illegal due to centrifugal force even though canadian stores sell them!

what i will decide between are the 710 and the 721. The 710 cheapest I've seen is 235 bucks canadian. the 721 is only 10-20 bucks cheaper (can't remember) so i do not know which to get. my primary purpose is for a edc for self defense purposes

the 721 is offered at Le Baron's and the 710 at Proedge for those in toronto who wish to know
 
Curious2003: You might want to try S&R Knives, in the Woodbine Mall in Rexdale. S&R prices their knives at around MSRP but they will negotiate. I don't think you'll get a great price from them but maybe you'll get a reasonable price, depending on your definition of reasonable.
 
You seem to be making some progress there Curious.

As several have suggested by now, Online dealers are the way to go with these. I'm assuming the dollars you've spoken of are Canadian dollars, but even then you are going to get a much better range and a much better price, that way. Of course it is nice/not a bad idea if you can handle whichever one beforehand.

My own preferences in BM folders, in some kind of notional order, are:

705
710
941
730

Some things about that:

- there's nothing 'wrong' with the 72x, but I'm more inclined to Drop, Clip and Spear than Bowie. And the 806D2 is a genuine classic, no question - I just prefer the 710 (also a classic IMO) and don't want both. Those I've listed offer a good variety of blade performance and simply appeal to me per se.

- I don't like Aluminium handles. They are cold to the hand, scratch easily, and can get a bit slippy. For a user, G10 is the go, CF after that. Now in the case of the 941 for example, that means I'm referring to limited editions.

- you've asked about steels and the people who've said "none of them are bad and you wont notice THAT much difference", well I agree, to an extent. BUT, it isn't an unnatural tendency, at this kind of level, to want the latest and greatest. Confining myself to steels in the BM Axis range, I'd rate S30V tops, then coated M2, then D2 and 154CM on a kind of par all things considered.

- AXIS is THE go. No better lock in my opinion, considering the overall - ease of opening/closing, strength/security etc. It is MOST unlikely that you'd catch the lock button in use, even in a dire self defence scenario. Possible sure but not at all likely and other locks all have their own foibles in this regard anyway. As for the Omega springs, well if you were Charlton Heston (bless him) stranded on the Planet of the Apes, they might be worry. I don't think the Apes had pianos. As has been said, the knife will still function as before with one broken spring, and is usable even with both broken. In any event, reports of breakage are very infrequent. If it does happen, well BM will fix that in a flash.

- that is a concern about Canadian Customs yes, although I don't think we can be sure about "a lot of the time". The point is, there has been a report of that happening, with a 710. Which I consider bizarre, given it is available in stores there as you say. Two things I can suggest are:

(a) make sure the online dealer is 'understanding', and get them to take care the pivot screw is locked down tight - make it clear;

(b) if Canada is anything like Au, you can send an email, directing Customs to a particular knife, and ask them BEFOREHAND whether there is going to be a problem. In doing that, in your case I'd point out that the knife is locally available. IF they give you the all-clear, you are going to be in a very strong position in the event there's a difficulty down the track.

I'd recommend the 710. That is a great knife - the head of BM's marketing dept EDC. I'm also bearing in mind your self defence concerns. Although for god's sake use your head and your legs, WAAAAY before a knife. You have to realise that once you pull a knife in a situation like that you are making a serious statement and may fare rather badly in what ensues, in more than one possible respect.
 
marty123

I asked S&R for quotes before and in the case of the 710 it was $300 i believe! If they can beat $235 i'll take as I want 710 in M2 if possible as opposed to 154CM.

switched

thanks for the excellent reply. very useful! I would like to try an inline dealer, as of now it doesn't really make a difference as I'm too new at this to be able to notice anything wrong in the first place even with handling the knives! however i am weary of ordering BMs without at least an initial look due to QC problems many have mentioned before. I am able to detect play, fit, and rubbing against liners. Yet I don't really have much choice as I can't see for real most models due to unavilability here and even if they are the pricing is very high.

The 705 is available but seems a tad too small for my tastes.

Yes I would prefer clip point to bowie. Only reason 720/721 was on my list was b/c only large knife offered in BM line around here.

Yes I too prefer G-10 to metal or FRN/Zytel handles. I like the look, feel, weight and resistance to canadian winters.

As for the steel issue, I probably won't notice mush difference anyways but yes I would prefer having the "best" if I can get it. There's no reason to settle for less when better is offered. However, I do not know if the drawbacks of M2/D2 make it less desireable than 154CM however. Is D2 same quality as 440C? In that case most would prefer M2 correct?

I don't know what BMs are offered in s30v but i am waiting for the spyderco paramilitary with G-10, four-way clip ability, s30v and 3.5 blade. How would a compression lock compare to an axis?
 
Okay, well:

- I assume that's a typo and you mean Online dealer. You've had some recommendations already I think. The three which always spring to my mind are:

New Graham
(Mike seems pretty savvy to me. Goes that extra yard, has ultra competitive prices, great range etc)

1SKS
(Spark is of course our beloved board owner, also. Appears to have a peculiar anti-lawyer prejudice, but that's par for the course here. To be serious, he strikes me as being on the ball also - has a good operation etc)

Knife Works
(really good site, indicative of an equally good outfit, which others confirm)

There are other good ones of course. That TDE guy seems pretty decent also, for example.


Bear in mind these are large dealers who MAY not have as much time for you, in consequence. Another idea is to go to a smaller dealer you might be likely to form some kind of a 'stronger' ongoing relationship with (to make it clear, this might also be achievable with the larger ones anyway). Like EDC or American Heritage (for BM's). You'll find these and others here and on KnifeForums say (BladeTrader has a good rep for example), in the dealer pages. The thing is, you have email and a phone. You can get in touch. If you converse for a while, you can satisfy yourself about them and concerning the precise condition of the very knife you would receive, customs concerns, etc.

Also, although BM's have had variable quality in the past, recent reports around the place do suggest quite strongly that BM is really making more of an effort with this now. So to that extent, you can be more confident.


- the 705 is my favourite because I can use it more, given I live in a large Au city, my line of work, and so on. Aside from that though, the 710 appeals to me just as much - that is my Outdoor choice, for a folder. I think the two of them 'go together' somehow anyway.


- Steels are a massive can of worms. I'm out of time now and would only go so far with my thoughts on them anyway, if I can get back. At present, S30V is only available in one AXIS folder - the 921. BUT, there will be a 941 and a 73x in S30V (CF grips) (limited editions) released, soon I think. And more to follow, no doubt.

My suggestion would be the M2 710HS. M2 is TOUGH and BM does it well.

And look at this, if you haven't already -

http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/general/generalpart1.html

Edited to add:

I've just seen MuskyHunter's posts on the 710HS. Given what he has to say and that he is in Canada, that should give you more comfort still.
 
I just bought a 710HS off ebay for 117$ u.s + 9$ shipping

brand new.. took a week to get here, there is a guy on ebay
named bakeymc he is great, he has multiple benchmades on ebay and always has a 710HS on there.


I havent heard of a customs problem with the axis lock, I got a 806D2,735,710HS through customs with no problems.. also got a Cuda Maxx Stilleto through customs, they didnt even open it, if they did I would be in trouble I think because it is designed to open by centrifigul force (after the flipper is pushed down of course).

I also got a Kershaw Rainbow leek, which I dont know why customs didnt stop, the thing is basically an auto..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top