Is it just me or is the Anthem not really a looker? Disappointed purchase

BloodyDonnie

BloodyDonnie

Joined
Oct 14, 2017
Messages
276
I just got the Anthem yesterday. Decided on it after watching many reviews on how it was so incredible and Benchmade's best knife. It looks really nice in video and in pictures.

I was concerned of the QC issues but thankfully requesting my dealer to pick a good one worked out and I got one pretty much perfect.

When I received it, I was pretty amazed. The action was probably one of if not the best I've ever experienced. The blade glides back and forth effortlessly.

But the more I played around with it, the more I started to dislike it. The first thing that really ticked me off was the blade finish. It's a stonewash, which I already dont like to begin with. But this was an UGLY stonewash. I have a Kershaw with a stonewash that at least kind of sparkles and reflects hints of blue and gold. But this Anthem stonewash is the most dull boring ugly stonewash I've ever seen. It looks like a rock. And the Benchmade logo on the blade really gets completely hidden in most angles, you're barely able to make it out, which makes it look like there's a logo that's faded.

The handle I actually quite like though. And the clip that so many people complain about, I like it and I think its unique. Goes well with the handle.

But another thing that REALLY ticked me off, was that when you lay the knife down on any platform or table, presentation side up, the tip of the blade TOUCHES THE PLATFORM.

I dont remember the last time i had a knife over $150 with a blade that touches the ground when it is played down. Is it really that hard to develop a design without the blade touching the ground?

Basically every time I lay the knife down, I'm dulling the tip more and more. On a $400USD+ knife???

Last but not least, the more I look at the knife, the more I realize that it's not the most beautiful design. Yes the Chevron pattern on the handle and the bronze is pretty, but the silhouette of this knife isn't really something you would call "beautiful". In my honest opinion, the 940 has a prettier silhouette than this knife. The Crooked River is MILES prettier than this knife.

Also, I'm someone who likes to personalize their knives. I like knives that have lots of parts you can customize. I should have known this before buying the Anthem, but the Anthem is NOT customizing friendly. Because of the integral handle design, your options for color changing and customizing are very limited. My custom crooked river is so much prettier and offers so much more options for self customization.

When buying this knife, I was deciding on a custom mini crooked river damasteel or this Anthem. But since I already have a damasteel full size custom crooked river, I decided to go with the Anthem first, and get the mini CR later. I really made the wrong decision.

Putting this Anthem beside my Damasteel crooked river just makes it pale in comparison20200602_212504.jpg
 
Man I dunno. Looks like an awesome blade to me, albeit overpriced (Just my opinion).

Sorry you don’t like it. What’s the next move? Sell, return, or keep?
 
It's you... but there's a reason there are so many different knives - we don't all like the same things. (As an example, I don't care for the Crooked River, aesthetically...and damasteel doesn't change that)
 
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Hey that's a bummer you're disappointed. I've too found my impressions of a knife from pictures to be a little off from reality from time to time.

BloodyDonnie said:
But another thing that REALLY ticked me off, was that when you lay the knife down on any platform or table, presentation side up, the tip of the blade TOUCHES THE PLATFORM.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but why is this a problem? Is this due to an issue with the grind or centering? Does the blade TOUCH THE PLATFORM when you lay it clip side up instead?
 
The things keeping me away from the Anthem:

  • Bearings
  • The blade shape. The drop point starts at the thumb stud (?!)
  • Many reports of bad centering on a knife that can’t be centered
  • 20CV being run soft as string cheese (57 HRC)
As for the tip thing, I don’t know if we fully understand what’s going on there.
My $500 knife rests nearly on the tip...is this what you’re talking about?

55178894-3933-46EA-87D3-6872F2DFA0B0.jpeg

F7CACC3C-88B4-42F9-A7CA-C4CDA880F7D2.jpeg
 
Cypress said:
The things keeping me away from the Anthem:

  • Bearings
  • The blade shape. The drop point starts at the thumb stud (?!)
  • Many reports of bad centering on a knife that can’t be centered
  • 20CV being run soft as string cheese (57 HRC)
As for the tip thing, I don’t know if we fully understand what’s going on there.
My $500 knife rests nearly on the tip...is this what you’re talking about?

View attachment 1352076

View attachment 1352088
Click to expand...

I agree with the above. I've talked to Cypress Cypress about purchasing this knife because I really like the evolution of the axis lock. I really wish Benchmade would update the Axis and include this in some other designs that aren't integrals. But at the end of the day I don't like bearings, I don't like it's an integral, and the blade shape is odd so it's just not worth me spending my cash.
 
BloodyDonnie said:
But another thing that REALLY ticked me off, was that when you lay the knife down on any platform or table, presentation side up, the tip of the blade TOUCHES THE PLATFORM.

I dont remember the last time i had a knife over $150 with a blade that touches the ground when it is played down. Is it really that hard to develop a design without the blade touching the ground?

Basically every time I lay the knife down, I'm dulling the tip more and more. On a $400USD+ knife???
Click to expand...

This part really confused me. Are you saying that the tip of the blade touches the table when your knife is open and you set it down? (Like Cypress Cypress showed above) Or are you saying when the knife is closed, and you set it down, the tip of the blade touches the inside of the handle scale?

As for the design of the Anthem, I used to really dislike the blade shape, but it's grown on me recently. It seems almost sebenza like to me. I really like the milling on and the shape of the handle, just not the color, so if I ever do get one, I'll probably have it re anodized to another color.
 
Just to make it clear, when the blade is open, when you lay it down presentation side up, the tip of the blade touches the table
 
Silent H said:
I would say 90% (if not more) of knives with pocket clips do that... mainly because of the pocket clip.
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Exactly. I'd rather they design a clip for functionality and not considering if it keeps the tip off the surface :)

I think OP has buyer's remorse, which isn't surprising when spending a lot of money on a knife. When you spend hours looking at a knife online and wondering if you should pull the trigger, you tend to glorify it. Then it arrives and after the initial dopamine rush goes down you realize that you are left with a knife that, bells and whistles aside, revolves solely around the function of cutting materials. That's it, that's all. You can put it in your pocket and take it out and ogle over it, but that's about it. Then time passes and another knife catches your eye and scenario repeats itself.

I first acutely felt this when I bought my CRK Mnandi. I spent a long time obsessing over this knife and when it arrived it was pretty anticlimactic and sort of disappointing. What exactly was I expecting? It was a nice knife but still just a knife. I am glad I am at least a regular knife user, otherwise the compulsion would be very difficult to justify. This is part of the reason why I sort of laugh at the obsession over a blade being off-center by 3/64" or whatever; yes we should get value and quality for our buck, but take a step back and think about what difference that 3/64" off-centering makes on your life and the tool.

Anyway, I'd just return the knife OP. You won't get what you were expecting out of this knife so best to pocket the money or put it to something that will provide more satisfaction.
 
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I always liked the looks of the knife and always wanted to buy one. The knife is just a little to expensive for me though. It sucks you paid that much for it and don't like it. I'm sure you can sell it or trade it for something you really like.
 
Aw I know the feeling: you got a knife everyone else says is nice but you just don't like it so much. I recommend returning it or selling it--the design is just not for you. Half the time we buy knives, it seems all we really wanted is to handle it and play with it a bit, not actually own it.

I never liked the design or price of the Anthem. The blade tip touching the surface wouldn't bother me at all and I like the single piece body, but the handle guard and blade shape never looked good to me. I also dislike the 940, which is extremely popular and similar.
 
It’s too bad you don’t like the knife. They seem to sell quick on the exchange so there is always that route.

The tip touching the table when open seems like a very odd complaint. Seems like a lot of knives would have this issue.
 
From my experience, almost every single premium folder I had all did not have the blade or tip or bevel touching the table. The whole blade is suspended. Every ZT i had; ZT 0452 0460 0462 0470 0620, none of their blades touch the table.

My other Benchmades the Crooked River and the 860 Bedlam I had before, their blades also didnt touch the table.

Besides Emerson knives which is kind of expected for half ass in the luxuries and fit and finish department, Ive never had a folder with a bevel or tip touching the table that costed more than like $170USD.

For me it's a big deal because every time you lay the knife down you're damaging the bevel even if its only a bit.

Update: So I sold that Anthem a few days ago on the canadian exchange forum (im in Canada).

Restarted my search for a different knife in that price range. I just kept stumbling upon pictures of the Anthem again and again and damn it looked good in pictures. The bronze handle is a deep rich colour and you cant tell how ugly the stonewash is. But even though I knew it didnt actually look that good in real life as I just had it in hand still days before, I just couldn't resist taking another chance, browsed online and found a good deal for it at some random local gun shop, and yup, this morning I headed out and picked up another Benchmade Anthem lol

So this Anthem was not as perfect as the first one I got; the fit and finish and quality control on the first Anthem I got was next to perfect. (Except for the tip touching the table, but that applies to all Anthems).

On this new one I got today, the blade was off centered in the tiniest amount. But what really highlighted the off centering was that you can see that bevel grinds were uneven.

The pivot was much harder to adjust and get right compared to the first Anthem, and the counter screw spun with the pivot when adjusting, while the first Anthem had a solid counter screw pivot. And for some reason I feel like the stonewash on the blade of this one is a shade darker than the first Anthem.

But it's actually growing on me. I'm starting to like it more and more.

I think that I was just expecting too much the first time I bought it, because of all the hype and reviews saying how incredible it was.

I'm glad that I gave it a second chance:)
 
BloodyDonnie said:
But another thing that REALLY ticked me off, was that when you lay the knife down on any platform or table, presentation side up, the tip of the blade TOUCHES THE PLATFORM.

I dont remember the last time i had a knife over $150 with a blade that touches the ground when it is played down. Is it really that hard to develop a design without the blade touching the ground?
Click to expand...

I think this critique is one of the strangest critiques of a knife I've ever heard... A knife is made to be used to cut things while you hold it, and a pocket knife also should be somewhat slim and comfortable in the pocket. Generally when I set my pocket knives down after using them, I close them. Sure it'll take another second to open them again, but it's much safer than leaving the blade exposed. And like others have said, most knives will have their tip touch a table when laid presentation side up because of the pocket clip. I just checked several of my knives (BM 940, Hogue mini RSK, and Spyderco PM2 and Spydiechef) and they all do this. If it's really a big deal functionally where you need to keep the knife open when setting it down you could just do it with the presentation side down. Though maybe your dislike of this is that you want to set the knife down, while open, with the presentation side up just to look at it? I don't really see a functional reason to do so where you couldn't set the knife down on the presentation side instead, but maybe that's just me..

Also about the Anthem, I owned one and loved it, though I ended up selling it since I had too many knives. I think it's a really good looking knife, even in person. I like the how the stonewashed blade looks a little dull. Obviously aesthetics are really subjective to each individual, though. Oh and it was the smoothest axis lock I've ever owned, and that's saying something. I'm glad you gave it another shot, I think you'll end up liking it once you carry and use it.
 
The Anthem is probably one of my favorite knives. The buttery smooth action is addicting. Next in line would be the mini CR and the bugout.
 
The Anthem is an amazing knife. So much fun to play with and a gorgeous design. Probably one my top 3 Benchmades of dozens.
 
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