I Hate the Mini Grip

Nathan Ihrke

Nathan Ihrke

Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
864
I know so many of you out there love the mini griptillian with its ergonomic handle, axis lock, and blade materials but it is the one knife I own that I absolutely despise. There is blade play, it doesn't hold a good edge, the handle material feels cheap, and the handle itself is really thick. The knife itself has made me lose faith in 154 cm, I haven't bought a knife with that steel since! Am I crazy, picky, or justified?
 
Lol.
I agree with you on many of your points.
I also got rid of my BM Grip a couple of days after purchasing it. Just don't like it, personally. While some people swear by it. Go firgure. :o
 
Didn't your momma teach you not to hate? :o


The Grip isn't my favorite Benchmade but I don't dislike it just sort of neutral on it. I can get my Benchmade 154cm tree topping hairs sharp so that's not an issue. The way the AXIS is designed don't know how it could have play unless the knife is new or the pivot really loose. The FRN feels like any other and is a nature of the material although it is probably one of the most durable put on a knife. The handle is wide but part of the reason it fits the hand well and has such a good grip for some people. Guess it just doesn't all come together for you.
 
I personally HATE BM 154CM, extremely brittle therefore really difficult to sharpen, one single cut thru card board and the hard sharpened edge is gone, totally. With that being said, AXIS lock is one of the strongest lock design and the lock bar will compensate any play as it wears. I bet your pivot must be loose to have any play. The Zytel handle feels cheap, well because there are cheap, yet, extremely durable. I never had a problem with the handle design though
 
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I agree mostly.

Cheap feeling, short handle.

I do like the blade shapes and the lock.

Got rid of my M-G. I might get a large one someday.
 
I don't agree with all your points, but some of them do ring true to me. As much as I like the Axis lock and the high grind, the handle is lacking on a few levels. I rather have a little more added weight and something like the Spyderco FRN handle. A little bit more substantial and pocket friendly. I haven't given my Grips enough pocket time to fairly judge the blade steel. The factory edge sucked on mine with dull and vastly uneven edge grinds. Thanks goodness it's easy to sharpen.
 
The mini grip is okay for me. It's light, so a lot of the time I default to it for EDC. Mine is really worn down right now, and needs to be sharpened up, plus the clip is worn and loose. It does sort of feel akward for me to grip as well I suppose.
 
It was a gift from my dad and I carried it for a long time. TRYING to like it, no matter what though I always wanted to trade it off for another knife. The overall knife to me is just incredibly underwhelming and disgustingly overrated
 
I'm not a fan of any of the Grips but I do however like how Benchmade does their 154cm. I've never had any problems with it.
 
I like all mine, two mini's two full size, but life is too short to carry something you don't like.
Since it was a gift just put it up and find something you will enjoy carrying, you always need a back up anyway. Patrick
 
I think you are allowed to voice your issues with the mini. They are relatively inexpensive, so when you talk about the handle feeling cheap, it is. My large Ritter sounds like a ghetto dice game, what with all of the clicking and clacking going on. That being said, the grips are solidly built and are popular for a reason.

Maybe what you are looking for is a full size Grip. My wife carries a pink mini and she thinks its cute.
 
I was very dissapointed with my grip. Mine came with a dull edge and I had to work too hard to get a nice edge on it. It is still not a good slicer because of the thick blade geometry. I used it to slice a carrot for my daughter and it shot little orange disks pinging around the kitchen. The grip's edge reminds me of the edge on my Estwing hatchet. I bet the blade could take some hard batonning though.
 
LowTEC said:
I personally HATE BM 154CM, extremely brittle therefore really difficult to sharpen, one single cut thru card board and the hard sharpened edge is gone, totally. With that being said, AXIS lock is one of the strongest lock design and the lock bar will compensate any play as it wears. I bet your pivot must be loose to have any play. The Zytel handle feels cheap, well because there are cheap, yet, extremely durable. I never had a problem with the handle design though
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Which knives do you have in 154CM? I have not found it brittle at all? No chipping and not hard to sharpen or lose it's edge with one cut through cardboard. Maybe you had a wire edge if you found it hard to sharpen and dull so easily?
 
I find nothing wrong with the mini-Grip. Sure the handle could be refined, but this is an excellent little edc blade. Mine has solid lock up and BM's 154cm is sufficient.

Throw a set of Wilkins Grips on there and this knife really shines.
 
I personally love my 556, its quickly taking the place of my 710 for EDC. I would say I have medium sized hand so the smaller handle isn't much of an issue for me although I am thinking of making new scales for it out of some G10. There are many knives out there and not everyone is going to like the same thing, but when it comes right down to it the Mini Grips and full sized grips are solid little knives.
 
I do not like the mini either, But, the large is one of my favorites. And I've never had any problem with 154cm either. Gets sharp super fast, and stays there for long time.
 
First, un-screw the pivot screw. Drop blue Loc-Tite on the threads, allow some dry time. Screw the pivot screw back in. Adjust pivot pin screw to desired level of blade action. This alleviates the blade play issue. Tweak as necessary with micro adjustments to the screw. While you have the Loc-Tite out, do all the clip screws too. I have no trouble getting a nice sharp 30 degree edge with my Sharpmaker. It was possible to re-profile with the coarse rods, but it takes longer. After that it's just a matter of touching up as needed. I like the grip personally, I think the scales are as tough as nearly anything else used today. Clever design, IMHO. YMMV.
 
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Tighten the pivot screw that will fix most problems with blade play. Practice sharpening, 154cm holds an amazing edge, not to be rude but maybe its your sharpening thats causing the bad edge. The handle on the mini is a lot thinner than the full size. The handles may feel cheap but it takes a lot to break it. I personally love the griptilian i have a full size and while it may feel thick in your hands it definitely fills my hand perfectly and i love it. The handle to me doesnt feel cheap at all, while its nothing like G10 or something superior it is a very well made handle and if the handle bothers you that much you could always spend a chunk of money to get say wilkins grips or something else.
 
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