Manix 2 Or Griptillian for edc??

Morkte said:
So thats the only reason people prefer the manix, G10 handles. I handled them both yesterday but couldn't decide which. I guess I'll go back to the knife store and compare them side by side.
Click to expand...

No, not just the G10. It's the overall feel of the knife in my hand. The handle shape, the balance, the blade shape. But, it's all personal preference. For others the Grip might be better.
 
I went with the Manix 2 because I did not like the way the Grip fit in my hands, I did not like the plastic handles, and I much prefer the CBBL over the Axis lock.
 
Some People Don't Like The Feel Of The Grip.
I On The Other Hand Love The Feel Of It.
It's Light Weight, But Very Solid.
It's A Great Knife And They Last For Years.
The Manix 2 Does As Well, But The Grip To Me Is Just As Good.
I Now Have A Benchmade Griptilian 550HG(Which I Would Go For Over The 551MDP).
And I Have An Orange Benchmade Ritter Griptilian 552ORG.
I'm Very Pleased. Also May Be Trading For A Black Benchmade Mini Ritter Griptilian 558.
But I'm Not 100% Sure Yet.

Really You Can't Go Wrong With Either Knife. Eventually.. You'll End Up With Both.
 
I also wouldn't EDC either knife, both are too large for my needs.

The Manix 2 is heavier and much wider closed so takes up more pocket space (why I passed on it), while the Grip is lighter but still thick-handled and the handles on the Grip... I passed on it as well because I couldn't get over that cheap/hollow feeling. Despite such reservations, I've seen many videos demonstrating the lengths one must go to to break a Grip's handle - not as easy as its light weight makes you feel. It's a very tough knife. Based on construction and materials, the Manix handle is inherently more durable, but I found it less comfortable which also means less "grippy". What I mean is that while both handles provide good tactile adhesion, the Grip handle fits/fills my hand better and so requires less force to maintain a secure grip in use. As handles go, that is user-preference so handle them both again if you want to decide based on that.
Finally the locks: there is no comparison to the Axis-lock, imho, and no matter how much the Manix2 wishes it had one it does not. Also, demonstrative tests have determined the Axis lock superior to the CBBL... Neither is the Triad-lock and both work fine under most conditions, but the evidence is there. Also the Axis lock is more user-friendly.

So again, I've passed on both knives but how I compared them was as follows:
Manix 2 - better handle but less comfortable, heavier and more space-consuming, inferior lock, but inspires confidence in hand.
Griptilian - comfortable handle but feels cheap/hollow/weak, lighter, superior lock-mechanism, doesn't inspire confidence the way the Manix 2 does.

My $0.02
 
You might look at the Bone Collector by Benchmade, it's something in the middle of these two and it's a solid, well made slicer. might be just a wee bit more than the Spydeco though.
 
Hands down the Manix2 for me. Much more versatile IMO. You've got the choil and nice grippy g10 at a similar price point. They also recently upgraded the steel to s30v. One point to make is that the manix2's have a much thinner tip than the grips. It pierces real nice but if your the type to be rough on your tips its not going to last long. Get whatever you like best, both are good.
 
Manix 2 - better handle but less comfortable, heavier and more space-consuming, inferior lock, but inspires confidence in hand.
Click to expand...

Just wondering why you think the CBBL is inferior?
 
If it werent for my sebenzas, my mini ritter grip would be the only knife I ever carry. As a user, it is simply perfect. I will admit I've never used a manix though
 
Yo Mama said:
Just wondering why you think the CBBL is inferior?
Click to expand...
It has a greater tendency to disengage under adverse conditions (e.g. over-strike) - this may be a factor of the spring, or the bolt, or even of the tang of the knife itself, but in a side-by-side comparison of a Manix 2 and BM 551, the CBBL failed where the axis did not. *shrug*

Besides that, and this is a side derailment, have any Manix 2 owners ever had the CBBL fail catastrophically (a lemmon, the spring or rod or casement fractures)? If not, then there's no data, but if so I was wondering how easy it may be to fix oneself?
To me, the axis seems a simpler & sturdier design as well as being more user-friendly, and it can be easily modified to never disengage by blocking the lock-bar. To be honest, I like a lot of the Spyderco designs better than Benchmades (so does Benchmade if incorporation of the Spydiehole and leaf blades is anything to judge by), but that axis-lock has no equal I've come across. That said, I've never heard of the sort of catastrophic failure described above in a CBBL whereas I've heard of omega-springs snapping now and then (perhaps due to excessive use since the darn mechanism is so easy to operate).
 
Don't base your opinion on one single video.
 
My manix 2 failed out of the box. I could spine wack it on the palm of my hand and disengage the lock. I couldn't return it so I decided instead of passing it along, which would have been a dick move, i'd open and close the thing a bajillion times until the ball bearing wore in deeper. It was a DLC coated blade so there was extra room for the ball bearing to break in, ie. coating thickness.

After opening and closing it a couple thousand times (ridiculous right) and carving spears with it, I can say it passes a spinewack test on my wooden desk. Nothing violent but sufficient to please me. I think overstrikes prove nothing other than a knife can be broken. If your chopping with a folder and in the process overstriking you should get a fixed blade.

Some advocates of overstrikes admit that its bad for the knife and you should only do it a couple times to see that your knife wont spontaneously fall apart. But how much extreme stress have you already placed on the mechanism that may cause an earlier failure? It proves nothing IMO
 
Not to derail the thread but I have one last comment.

The newer manix2's coming out of Golden have the ball bearing seated deeper in between the tang and handle to prevent slippage. At least the ones I have seen do. Sal or Eric, I cant remember, addressed this in the post with Ankersons destruction test. They said they would be altering the geometry but that it would probably still fail overstrikes.
 
I'm not sure if the full size Grip has thicker plastic than the mini, but my mini lost a portion of it's handle from falling off the table and onto a linoleum floor. Didn't breed much confidence in handle durability in me.
 
Thanks Guys, Much appreciated.
I am just going to go back to the knife store and see whats better in my hand
 
Morkte said:
Why do you prefer the CBBL lock
Click to expand...

There are a couple of things I prefer about the CBBL. They're very much personal-preference kind of things, but here they are:

I have found the CBBL to be much more reliable than the axis lock. I had nothing but problems with the one Axis lock knife I owned - A 520 Presidio. The mechanism would get gummed up like crazy, the knife had up-and-down blade play, and I had to send the knife off three separate times because of problems with the lock (once to the retailer because of pretty bad up-and-down play and twice to Benchmade because the Omega springs both snapped after only a couple of months...it spent more time in transit or getting fixed than actually getting used). That experience pretty much soured my opinion of the Axis lock in general. Plus, while I hear people tout the Axis lock as being the smoothest, easiest lock on the planet and all that, I wasn't impressed with the ease of opening and closing on it, especially while wearing gloves. I found it to be about as easy to operate as your average lockback - nothing special, and sometimes pretty awkward.

I haven't had any problems to date with the CBBL, on the other hand. I used and abused my first Manix 2 pretty hard in the time I had it and didn't have any problems with the lock getting gummed up or obstructed by sand or lint, failing, or wearing out in any way. My BD30P sprint run Manix has been caked in Quikcrete, filled with drywall dust, and every other damn thing and I haven't had any problems with it either. Plus, all of my Manix 2s except for the XL model I just bought have been exceptionally smooth and easy to operate with gloved hands.

In Before axis lock fanboy whining.
 
for EDC purposes, i prefer knives under 4.5oz. a regular manix2 is 5oz and in this aspect, i would take the benchmade over the manix2.

if you consider the manix2 sprint run models (4.25oz) against the benchmade griptillian for EDC, for me it would be a toss-up, both designs are excellent.

p.s. i EDC'd my benchmade 550 yesterday and i'll be EDC'ing my M4 manix2 today :)
 
I own both knives. Both are good. The Manix 2 is a little more of a heavy duty knife and heavier. I carry my Griptilian more than my Manix. Like CubistHamster said, the AXIS lock is a lot of fun to play with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top