High end opinions wanted

Benchmade has a Custom Shop.
You can order your knife pretty much how you want it.
Are they true custom knives?
 
LLRJ17 said:
What constitutes a custom as compared to a mid-range or "mid-tech"? Choice of materials and finishes? Completely handmade? Small batch and/or non-production build schedules? Superior build quality/specs?

Thanks for your patience with my noob-ness! The depth and breadth of info here is amazing....
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“Mid-tech” generally means “machine made in small batches but some part of manufacturing process involves skilled labor”… usually that is a hand-finished blade… or extra effort spent tuning the action, etc.

“Custom” in the true sense generally means “one off”.. as in “the only one that exists”. A person made the entire knife from start to finish. Hand ground blade, specially made scales and fit/finish all fine-tuned.

Some companies play fast and loose with the word “custom”. “Customized” doesn’t mean “custom”. Some use “custom” to refer to their mid-tech.
 
I'm less fussy about that designation.
If it's not an RPO knife: it's custom...
Keep it simple, and don't get hung up on semantics.
 
LLRJ17 said:
What constitutes a custom as compared to a mid-range or "mid-tech"? Choice of materials and finishes? Completely handmade? Small batch and/or non-production build schedules? Superior build quality/specs?

Thanks for your patience with my noob-ness! The depth and breadth of info here is amazing....
Click to expand...

I consider a one man shop handmade/custom. Curtiss would fall into this category.
If more than one man, I would consider it midtech.
I think the line is getting a bit blurred though as a lot of makers now send out to get their blanks/scales cut.
Also a lot of makers work patterns; models/styles that I would consider semi-custom.
IMO there are two kinds of makers: one that won't stray from a pattern and one that will do anything you want.
If one guy is assembling, I would consider that handmade. If you get to ask for changes, scales, grind etc, I would consider that custom.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
WE makes a great knife but they can’t hold a candle to olamic. My only issue with Olamics are the pocket clips. I also had a rainmaker open in my pocket and slice me up good when I reached in to take it out. The whippersnapper is my favorite but I haven’t seen any sent to distributors in over a year.
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That's not good. How did it happen?

The Whippersnapper caught my eye too. According to Olamic's website:

"The current run of the Whippersnapper is over and we are taking a break from building this variant. This means you cannot order one at this time. However, this design is not going away (we wouldn't do that to you)."
 
Chronovore said:
That's not good. How did it happen?

The Whippersnapper caught my eye too. According to Olamic's website:

"The current run of the Whippersnapper is over and we are taking a break from building this variant. This means you cannot order one at this time. However, this design is not going away (we wouldn't do that to you)."
Click to expand...
The detent was too weak for how long the blade was. It opened a little in my pocket from the pressure of sitting down with the pocket liner pushing on flipper tab. It opened a quarter inch and i jabbed the top into the tip of my finger when I went to pull it out. I’ll never get a rainmaker again.
 
Few years back it was a long time user here - @Bluesbender, I believe was his nick-name. Not sure if he still uses the same nick or if he’s still here.
‘He was posting tons of pictures of his Rockstead, used in construction work daily and the finish and the knife itself was holding very well. As much as they look like safe queens, they are useful knives.
 
High Quality builds are usually a lot more than "just beautiful".
 
I’m in the same boat as the OP. I landed on trying to find a Rockstead Hizen DLC finish. I know the other Rocksteads are too big for what I like to carry and this is a Rockstead I can try out for around $700.
 
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