Back in college, I worked an internship near an REI. I had been looking at minimalist hiking and camping gear for a while and decided, after a long day of playing with faulty manufacturing equipment, I would finally commit to buying a decent knife. So I wandered out an hour early and started my stroll down the street. I walked into the REI and made a brief round through the camping gear, to make sure there was nothing I would rather spend my money on. It wasn't long before I found myself in the knife section - peering through the glass cases where I knew they kept the higher quality knives. I handled a few buck knives but wasn't particularly struck with envy.
And then I picked up what was to become my first respectable knife purchase. The benchmade mini-griptillian. I fondled it for a while. Feeling the weight, the oh so smooth (remember, I was new to this) thumbstud deployment, the solid feel of the axis lock as it clicked into place. Oh and the blade. That great combo blade that just seemed so useful at the time. So I signed up for an REI membership (the 20% coupon was available at this time, and I knew I would be back for camping gear) and walked out that day with my new knife. I knew nothing of benchmade, spyderco, kershaw, etc; let alone all of these fabulous custom makers. I just knew the knife felt good. It was small, but it was solid. It saw a lot of use for the next year between jobs and engineering classes. I even managed to etch a small school logo into the handle with a green laser, as a show of school pride.
Add another year, and the knife is gone. I dont know where it went. I have looked everywhere. It didnt fall out of my pocket - that clip was always secure. The most plausible explanation I have found is that I left it in a RAV4 that my wife and I sold in a haste earlier last year. I resorted to rotating between a spyderco centofante and a case sway back jack in cv, but it just wasnt the same. Sure, they both sliced better. I never felt either was capable of what I put that poor benchmade through, though.
But dont fret. I've revisited what I liked, and didn't like, about that fantastic benchmade mini-griptillian. As it turned out, the combo edge was more of a pain for me than it was worth. I can't say I was disappointed with the steel, it held most of its edge for most of the day when I worked it out hard. But it became quite noticeably dull.
Finally, just a week ago, I decided it was time to replace it. I thought of replacing it with another standard mini-griptillian but this time with a full straight blade. Instead, I decided I would spring for the ritter mini-grip. Oh, am I glad I did. What a knife!
Now, if you've read this far, what I need you to do is convince me not to buy custom g10 scales for it haha. According to my wife, I have "spent enough". But as you know, the scales are the only thing lacking in this incredible knife. I cant help but think a set of cuscadi orange g10 scales (for daytime visibility) with a blue glow backspacer (for night time visibility) wouldnt round out this purchase. I've alre
Obligatory (crappy) pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o88wx195k6mekre/Photo1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mofu1j4xe7j2fid/Photo2.jpg
And then I picked up what was to become my first respectable knife purchase. The benchmade mini-griptillian. I fondled it for a while. Feeling the weight, the oh so smooth (remember, I was new to this) thumbstud deployment, the solid feel of the axis lock as it clicked into place. Oh and the blade. That great combo blade that just seemed so useful at the time. So I signed up for an REI membership (the 20% coupon was available at this time, and I knew I would be back for camping gear) and walked out that day with my new knife. I knew nothing of benchmade, spyderco, kershaw, etc; let alone all of these fabulous custom makers. I just knew the knife felt good. It was small, but it was solid. It saw a lot of use for the next year between jobs and engineering classes. I even managed to etch a small school logo into the handle with a green laser, as a show of school pride.
Add another year, and the knife is gone. I dont know where it went. I have looked everywhere. It didnt fall out of my pocket - that clip was always secure. The most plausible explanation I have found is that I left it in a RAV4 that my wife and I sold in a haste earlier last year. I resorted to rotating between a spyderco centofante and a case sway back jack in cv, but it just wasnt the same. Sure, they both sliced better. I never felt either was capable of what I put that poor benchmade through, though.
But dont fret. I've revisited what I liked, and didn't like, about that fantastic benchmade mini-griptillian. As it turned out, the combo edge was more of a pain for me than it was worth. I can't say I was disappointed with the steel, it held most of its edge for most of the day when I worked it out hard. But it became quite noticeably dull.
Finally, just a week ago, I decided it was time to replace it. I thought of replacing it with another standard mini-griptillian but this time with a full straight blade. Instead, I decided I would spring for the ritter mini-grip. Oh, am I glad I did. What a knife!
Now, if you've read this far, what I need you to do is convince me not to buy custom g10 scales for it haha. According to my wife, I have "spent enough". But as you know, the scales are the only thing lacking in this incredible knife. I cant help but think a set of cuscadi orange g10 scales (for daytime visibility) with a blue glow backspacer (for night time visibility) wouldnt round out this purchase. I've alre
Obligatory (crappy) pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o88wx195k6mekre/Photo1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mofu1j4xe7j2fid/Photo2.jpg
