How tough is the Benchmade 585 mini Barage?

L

lbw

Joined
May 31, 2009
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60
I thought after seeing way too many pathetic reviews on Youtube I had better put my month old but unused 585 to some stress testing. I did not want to destroy or abuse it, so all of these tests I feel are real world hard use tests. These tests gave me a good idea on how strong this basic low cost (and fun as hell) 585mini is. The only thing done to it was I did tighten the pivot as my dealer and made it quite quick as he thinks I prefer my BMs that way. I don't.
The victim:
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My dealer (and other people) had said to avoid using this knife in cold weather because it can crack. I decided to pop it in the freezer overnight before starting. I hammered on the butt of the blade with a chunck of wood. No cracks even at that extreme of a temp as I smacked it through 10 times in 3/4 inch pine.
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Back in the freezer during lunch and then I hammered it through 3/8 in hard wood ply until I was at the middle of the blade. I tried by twisting to pop the pivot and snap the scales. There was ALOT of flex, but after half a dozen tries, the 585 passed easy. No worries about the scales in sub zero temps.
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I also had done some heavy electrical cord cutting. This was not small gauge. This was heavy duty stuff. I had to hammer on the spine with my trusty chunk 'o wood. I did several cuts with no issues at all and I tried all sections of the blade as well as the tip portion. The pocket clip has become loose and it would seem that a screw is stripped.
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I then went to the tried and true birtch logs and with the help of my chunk of wood I sailed through several chunks with no issues.
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Is was then time for a good old fashioned can opening!
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The last test I did involved all the negative comments about the scales being slick. They were a poor choice from Benchmade in my opinion. I clamped the knife open in my shop vice and I put on a plastic glove. I then dipped my hand in 5w-30 and gripped the knife I did my best to pull my hand off. It came off easy. Very slippery when greasy.
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The screw was not stripped on the clip, it was just in need of a little Blue Loctite. The edge was fine and only snagged a little on a paper test. This knife was not that sharp from BM, so I know that helped it with the can. There is no play either way in the blade, but during the birch split the Axis lock stuck open and I had to whack it to get it closed. That was the one and only issue (not a very serious one) during the tests. The knife has some scratches on the blade now, but is in great shape.
 
Excellent review! :thumbup:

I've got it's bigger cousin, the 580, so this gives me a good look at the 580's potential as well.

Thanks!
 
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Did you have to disassemble the knife to adjust the pivot screw? Anything fly out when the scales were off?
 
I only had to take the one side off and it is very clean under there with no risk of a parts explosion. I would suggest taking the scale off as mine was full of factory lube that was covering the scale and liner. That would be a major dirt/lint magnet and it also smells terrible!
 
I'm a bit confused. You believe the handle to be slippery because you couldn't hold onto it when you were wearing a plastic glove and covered the handles in oil? Doesn't seem a like a valid test to me.

I appreciate your comments, review, and pics - it's good to see it hold up especially after sitting in the freezer.
 
Hi,

I'm not so sure the plastic glove part is really accurate. But yeah, testing for grippiness with oily hands and scales is important to me. There are a lot of knives I won't own or use because they are slippery when used with oily, greasy hands.

Thanks for your review lbw. It's a good test.

dalee
 
Very valid points fellas. I wanted to test the scales and not have my personal skin be a factor. I have some pretty rough skin from gripping barbells all these years, so I wanted the glove to be a universal surface as my hand would have made it easier to grip. I figured some of you dont have rough hands and I had wanted to test the scales and not my palm. I have gotten a couple of emails about it so I think I will re-do it to see. I am willing to run other Benchmades through the same test if I get enough requests.

Thanks for the feedback guys, it was a blast to do the test!

-Dan
 
lbw said:
Very valid points fellas. I wanted to test the scales and not have my personal skin be a factor. I have some pretty rough skin from gripping barbells all these years, so I wanted the glove to be a universal surface as my hand would have made it easier to grip. I figured some of you dont have rough hands and I had wanted to test the scales and not my palm. I have gotten a couple of emails about it so I think I will re-do it to see. I am willing to run other Benchmades through the same test if I get enough requests.

Thanks for the feedback guys, it was a blast to do the test!

-Dan
Click to expand...

It sure does look like fun!

Thanks again for posting the review.
 
My pleasure! thanks again for all you input. In the future I will skip the glove.
 
Great review. The only knives I have done similar use with has been my spyderco Mili and Manix. Both held up fine, I opened cans and batoned a little bit and no play afterwards.

I like'd everything but the grip review but thats hard to test without getting some good ole blood or grime on there and working with it. But good review and runthroug non the less.
 
Exellent review.:thumbup: Great pic's. Looking forward to more in the future.
 
I have noticed some very minor blade play in mine (not side to side but almost like the axis is not locking as tight as it can) since you have taken yours apart I was wondering if there would be any way to correct this on my own. It doesnt pose virtually any problem since the VERY minor motion is stopped by moving the axis lock forward. I would like to avoid sending it in if at all possible...
 
Tighten the pivot a smidge.

I found this cleared up the blade play in a second 585 I bought for my brother in law. I feel that most dealers are loosening up the pivot to gain speed. The Axis lock is self-adjusting like all BMs and it should fix itself. If it isn't, that could be because of a loose pivot.
 
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