Is it just me or is Benchmade really falling behind.

I think maybe they fall behind in the trends department but that's not the worst thing. My dad, who is 61, could not name a brand that makes a titanium frame lock flipper but if you ask him who makes a nice knife...he will say benchmade. I doubt he's heard of any of the steels mentioned here besides 154CM.

I am honestly not super excited by any benchmades that I don't own but my 940-1 is my most carried knife. It would be if the blade was S30v as well.
 
Mike Large said:
I fully agree. I was basically saying I don't really think I noticed these issues Benchmade has as much until I got into CRK is all. Love Benchmade, always will. These things being adressed are a good thing. I wouldn't want to give the impression I'm writing off a Benchmade knife. Simply conversing on my experiences
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I hear you man. I was just trying to imply that I don't feel the two are a fair comparison. I agree you get much tighter tolerances with CRK but that's what you're truly paying for.
 
bluemetalchurch said:
Of course Chris Reeve is better the two are not in the same class. Reeve doesn't put out as many knives as Benchmade and their tolerances are tighter. That's what you're paying for when you buy a CRK. But CRK isn't immune to issues in their production line and when they happen its hard to be as understanding when you just dropped $450 on what you expected to be perfection.
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While I will agree that CRK produces less volume, so they have the opportunity to offer a better eye on their product, I will say one thing about the dollar value.

Some brands that want to reach CRK price points (Benchmade 781), should be willing to give that particular model the attention the price tag demands.

If I have $400+ to drop on a knife, it will likely be a CRK, CPK, Spyderco Nirvana, or (conditionally) a 781.
The only way I would buy a 781 is if I got to handle it in a brick and mortar. That is only due to my questioning of the QC standards. On a knife that regularly sells (new) for $425, that shouldn't be a issue. Nevermind "issue", it shouldn't even be a thought in the head of the consumer...

"Oh man! I just dropped (almost) $500 on this knife and I can't wait to open...
...wait, is this off center?
Is this blade play?
This can't be the knife I ordered... The company would check for stuff like this on a flagship model."

Maybe a base line Griptilian would get one checked out of every 20-30, but for 4x the cost, I would expect every. Single. One. looked over.

You want a knife to compete for CRK funds, at the very least offer CRK QC standards. That is a person's job, not a manufacturing aspect. Not a new milling machine, but a person to go "Yep, that one is ok." or "Nope, that one isn't ok."
 
halden.doerge said:
I'd definitely push back on the idea that this year's lineup of Benchmade's was "boring". Between the 781 Anthem and the 535 Bugout they've put out two of the most interesting and innovative new models in quite a few years. Add to that the number of excellent dealer exclusives of classic models (551, 940, etc) in interesting configurations with premium materials and you've already got a solid years worth of new products in the books.

AND they aren't done yet.
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This. The Presidio II, Anthem, Bugout, Mini Loco, Proper, and all the exclusives this year have made it turn to be a pretty good year overall IMO.
 
NJBillK said:
While I will agree that CRK produces less volume, so they have the opportunity to offer a better eye on their product, I will say one thing about the dollar value.

Some brands that want to reach CRK price points (Benchmade 781), should be willing to give that particular model the attention the price tag demands.

If I have $400+ to drop on a knife, it will likely be a CRK, CPK, Spyderco Nirvana, or (conditionally) a 781.
The only way I would buy a 781 is if I got to handle it in a brick and mortar. That is only due to my questioning of the QC standards. On a knife that regularly sells (new) for $425, that shouldn't be a issue. Nevermind "issue", it shouldn't even be a thought in the head of the consumer...

"Oh man! I just dropped (almost) $500 on this knife and I can't wait to open...
...wait, is this off center?
Is this blade play?
This can't be the knife I ordered... The company would check for stuff like this on a flagship model."

Maybe a base line Griptilian would get one checked out of every 20-30, but for 4x the cost, I would expect every. Single. One. looked over.

You want a knife to compete for CRK funds, at the very least offer CRK QC standards. That is a person's job, not a manufacturing aspect. Not a new milling machine, but a person to go "Yep, that one is ok." or "Nope, that one isn't ok."
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Have a beer, take a load off, buy a CRK or CPK and be happy.

As far as Benchmade, my last little auto was a gem of a knife, the Impel. Well worth what I paid and it was perfect in every way. My sister liked it so much, I felt compelled to give it to her.

The 530 I bought last year was perfect too.
 
brownshoe said:
Have a beer, take a load off, buy a CRK or CPK and be happy.

As far as Benchmade, my last little auto was a gem of a knife, the Impel. Well worth what I paid and it was perfect in every way. My sister liked it so much, I felt compelled to give it to her.

The 530 I bought last year was perfect too.
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I have one of each, thank you.

While I am not saying that I will not buy a Benchmade (quite the opposite if you read the post). I will not do so sight unseen, and that is a shame. That is my point. To charge that much for a roll of the dice is ridiculous.

Considering a Major company feels that $425 is warranted for a knife that will be Just as likely to let the air out of one's sails, as to not...

Yes, Busse does charge $250 and $500 for a literal roll of the dice (with their mystery bag), but the $250 bag is a minimum of $350 value and the $500 is a minumum of an $850 value. If the bag does not contain what you like, you can easily get your money back...

With a 781, you have a fairly high chance (more than should be the case) that your model will come from the factory in less than pristine condition...
How is that possible?
(I understand that perfection is not possible, but I am only being slightly facetious here.)

How can someone feel content with charging that much for a knife that is faulty as it leaves the doors, then relies on the customer to be:
A) ignorant to what attributes of a quality knife make it so
B) not willing to go through the trouble of sending it back and being without their new knife
C) not knowing that centering, and blade play can be considered a warranty justifiable exchange/repair.

This does not sound like a company that should be charging $400+ for a knife...
 
NJBillK said:
While I will agree that CRK produces less volume, so they have the opportunity to offer a better eye on their product, I will say one thing about the dollar value.

Some brands that want to reach CRK price points (Benchmade 781), should be willing to give that particular model the attention the price tag demands.

If I have $400+ to drop on a knife, it will likely be a CRK, CPK, Spyderco Nirvana, or (conditionally) a 781.
The only way I would buy a 781 is if I got to handle it in a brick and mortar. That is only due to my questioning of the QC standards. On a knife that regularly sells (new) for $425, that shouldn't be a issue. Nevermind "issue", it shouldn't even be a thought in the head of the consumer...

"Oh man! I just dropped (almost) $500 on this knife and I can't wait to open...
...wait, is this off center?
Is this blade play?
This can't be the knife I ordered... The company would check for stuff like this on a flagship model."

Maybe a base line Griptilian would get one checked out of every 20-30, but for 4x the cost, I would expect every. Single. One. looked over.

You want a knife to compete for CRK funds, at the very least offer CRK QC standards. That is a person's job, not a manufacturing aspect. Not a new milling machine, but a person to go "Yep, that one is ok." or "Nope, that one isn't ok."
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The Anthem brings two things to the table that CRK doesn't at this point which is an integral frame as well a "better" blade steel. Now, with that being said I do agree that when people get anywhere near CRK money they expect the knife to compete with CRK and I agree for that kind of cash I do expect better fit/finish overall. The Nirvana is an integral with top of the line steel so the two compete nicely. The Anthem has the advantage of being US made if that matters to you.
 
I received my anthem wobbly and off centered. I understand where you are coming for sure, but the anthem is a $250 knife, it truly is. I see Benchmade put out a ti griptilian for $400+. It angers me a bit because it truly is a roll of the dice. I want nothing more than a titanium griptilian but for that price??? No way man. More importantly though, whoever is cool with spending that on a Benchmade more power to them. What ever makes us happy. We spend this on knives... we are all a bit crazy!
 
Mike Large said:
I received my anthem wobbly and off centered. I understand where you are coming for sure, but the anthem is a $250 knife, it truly is. I see Benchmade put out a ti griptilian for $400+. It angers me a bit because it truly is a roll of the dice. I want nothing more than a titanium griptilian but for that price??? No way man. More importantly though, whoever is cool with spending that on a Benchmade more power to them. What ever makes us happy. We spend this on knives... we are all a bit crazy!
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I've held an Anthem in my hand and for me the knife isn't worth the cash. But I also held a Nirvana that same day and will say that if the Nirvana is worth that kind of money, I think the Benchmade is. If I were going to leave with an titanium integral that day it would have been the Anthem. The Anthem that I held was perfect but it didn't scratch my itch enough to throw down the cash. Then again though, I also no longer own CRK's because I decided that for my use and purposes I didn't need a 500 dollar edc.

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Everyone talking about price, the Anthem was $326 this past weekend during the REI friends and family discount. Every Benchmade was 25% off, I grabbed the 940-1702 and the 319 for myself since I have 2 Anthem's already.
 
I hope the sticker on that Anthem blade pictured was temporary. I've seen the residue change the finish where it was applied. As for buying new models, REI has my business. I live about ten minutes from my local store and it's a real blessing to have a location so close. The 319 Proper and the 531-1501 both came from there, and were spot on as far as F&F goes. Not being the type to buy sight unseen due to the problems I've had with my purchases over the last few years, I won't spend my hard earned money based on good faith. Into my early 60's I'm discovering the gift of being selective, and that is a good thing given how many of my knives did, and have gone back for warranty servicing.

Cheers!
Joe
 
halflife78 said:
Everyone talking about price, the Anthem was $326 this past weekend during the REI friends and family discount. Every Benchmade was 25% off, I grabbed the 940-1702 and the 319 for myself since I have 2 Anthem's already.
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I need to pay more attention to REI...
 
bluemetalchurch said:
I hear you man. I was just trying to imply that I don't feel the two are a fair comparison. I agree you get much tighter tolerances with CRK but that's what you're truly paying for.
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Any blade above 100 dollars should get you perfect tolerances.
 
I only have one Benchmade, a Cabela's mini grip with D2, and I love it. I'm more into traditionals so I only have a few moderns to begin with. That being said, I'm not into super steels. I have a some Bucks with s30v, a couple Spydercos with s30v and s35v....so nothing too special. One of the reasons this works for me is because I only have a sharpmaker and I really don't want to upgrade that. My blades get put to work at both my jobs and those steels and my sharpening system go well together.

I'll get to the point of this post....when I saw the North Fork with the wood scales AND s30v I knew this was right in my wheelhouse. As much as I love my traditionals, I have to get one of these. I know they've been out for a while, but they weren't something on my radar so they're still fresh in my view. One of these days I'll grab one, and I'll be pretty happy with the steel choice....
 
Mo2 said:
Do you really believe that?
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The reason that I went with a CRK in general was to get perfection because I hadn't found it in a sub 300 dollar knife. Even with CRK I found the occasional imperfection. No one is truly perfect.
 
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Yo Mama said:
Any blade above 100 dollars should get you perfect tolerances.
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My amount has always been The $300 Mark. Once you've spent 300 you have officially gone DEEP down this rabbit hole. Anything that price or over I've always considered premium and major flaws should be extremely rare, if any at all. My love for Benchmade has made me overlook certain 'fixable by me' flaws I guess. Just my opinion of course.
 
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