Hogue making Benchmade clones?

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Random Dan

Random Dan

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So I always felt a little weird about the Hogue Ritter being sold without any mention of Benchmade or Mel Pardue as the designer, but it was partially Doug's design and BM was kinda dickish about cutting production of it, so whatever. I gave Hogue the benefit of the doubt on that and moved on.

Then today I see on knifeworks the "Hogue Trauma", which looks like almost an exact clone of the Benchmade Triage. I really hope this doesn't become a trend of them copying designs.

I'm not trying to start a fight or anything as I know this can be a touchy subject, but if we're gonna call out Ganzo, etc. for cloning I don't think Hogue should get a pass just for being a well-liked US company. They clearly can do better and I think we should encourage them to use their own designs.


HO34776__60963.1622217029.jpg

triage_1000x1000.jpg
 
Well, the patent on the Axis Lock has expired, and if Hogue has an agreement with the designer(s) I don’t see an issue here. If BM licensed some design in perpetuity, I expect they’ll raise a stink. Not really sure how things work between designers and manufacturers so the foregoing is just a guess.

“Unoriginal?” Perhaps. But I don’t think we will have to worry about Hogue’s quality.
 
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Bigbluefish said:
Well, the patent on the Axis Lock has expired, and if Hogue has an agreement with the designer(s) I don’t see an issue here. If BM licensed some design in perpetuity, I expect they’ll raise a stink. Not really sure how things work between designers and manufacturers do the foregoing is just a guess.

“Unoriginal?” Perhaps. But I don’t think we will have to worry about Hogue’s quality.
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Hogue uses better quality blade steel?
 
Bigbluefish said:
Well, the patent on the Axis Lock has expired, and if Hogue has an agreement with the designer(s) I don’t see an issue here. If BM licensed some design in perpetuity, I expect they’ll raise a stink. Not really sure how things work between designers and manufacturers do the foregoing is just a guess.

“Unoriginal?” Perhaps. But I don’t think we will have to worry about Hogue’s quality.
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I think this goes beyond the axis lock. The blade shapes are very similar, as is the handle and overall layout.
I agree with the OP on this.
 
This is a fascinating one, thank you for bringing it up.

I guess on some level one knife with a cross-bar lock + a seatbelt cutter + a blunt/non-existent tip is going to look fairly similar to another knife built with the same design brief -- but the Trauma does seem to go beyond that. There are plenty of other knives out there with seatbelt cutters and a "rescue" theme that don't have a silhouette so similar to the Triage.

Here's a side-by-side video I found interesting:
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Would that be possible that, as for the Griptilian, the designer of this model decided to reach Hogue to make another version of it ?
 
Hogue may well be a “well-liked US company” but this knife is made in China, unlike the Benchmade. (*According to the Knifeworks website.)
 
Was the BM version a Benchmade design or was it a Mel Pardue type of deal where it had a designer and was produced by BM? Just curious because BM has done that in the past where the actual designer moved on but BM kept the rights. The Mini Rukus comes to mind. If the designer moved on and the designer kept the rights to the knife then it's along the same lines as Doug Ritter.

Not that it matters really. This is a blatant copy if I ever saw one.
 
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I could be wrong, but the story I have heard was the opposite. Doug Ritter made several knives for benchmade and they stole the designs from him. Not sure if that knife is one of them. Hopefully someone else has more answers.
 
It has always occurred to me that more people would be up in arms about this were it two different companies. However Hogue being a darling of the hobby vs. the oft hated Benchmade, has created a situation where Hogue gets a pass. The timing of it all came into play as well with the Benchmade drama coming just before the expiration of the AXIS patent. There's also the fact the Hogue has a connection to the firearms industry, and BM pissed off alot of people in that regard. I personally don't really have a dog in this fight, I've just always felt like it would have drawn the ire of more people if it were not Hogue and not Benchmade involved.

With the Ritter grip, however, there's the fact that BM declined to continue the design, giving Mr. Ritter every right to go elsewhere. On that note, Benchmade's timing in relation to the release of the Freek, which has an eerily similar blade shape to the Ritter Grip, never quite sat well with me either.
 
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