My BM Sibert MPR: A Tale of Two Standards

Well, mine came without any flaws, as did every other benchmade I own. But, Im not about to say benchmade doesnt make mistakes.

I dont understand why one would write off a whole company because of one bad knife, which very likely would be replaced with a perfect one. Mistakes happen, thats why they are called mistakes.

Benchmade is a big company with time under its belt, so its pretty safe to assume bad QC isnt the norm, or they wouldnt be selling the types of knives at the prices they sell.
 
gundude73 said:
thanks for the sharpness gauge, yeah that has been my experience as of yet. havnt gotten a sharp benchmade. i must have some bad luck :eek: ;)
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I've heard of Benchmades not coming sharp from the factory........ I had a Kulgera for awhile and it was shaving sharp....I now have a 2550 Mini-Reflex and it came hair popping sharp..... I guess it's hit and miss. Granted both of the knives were bought years ago....
 
jakeyjake4528 said:
Well, mine came without any flaws, as did every other benchmade I own. But, Im not about to say benchmade doesnt make mistakes.

I dont understand why one would write off a whole company because of one bad knife, which very likely would be replaced with a perfect one. Mistakes happen, thats why they are called mistakes.

Benchmade is a big company with time under its belt, so its pretty safe to assume bad QC isnt the norm, or they wouldnt be selling the types of knives at the prices they sell.
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To be clear, I'm not writing off BM. I don't doubt that they'd make things right if I sent in my MPR for repair. I just decided not to do that because I don't particularly like the design, so I'd rather have my $150 than a factory-fresh MPR.

BM isn't my favorite maker, but I do like them and applaud their generally strong quality (despite the disappointing experience I had with my MPR).
 
Sounds like buyers remorse played just as large of a role as any imperfections for some buyers. Just because you get something and figure out you don't like the design as much as you thought you would doesn't mean there is some huge problem with the company. I hope if it is returned to the store it is in like new condition so that they don't have to take a loss because someone was being anal about flaws so they could return the knife because they didn't like it after they used it for a week. Except for the pictures in the first post I haven't seen any other documentation of a problem with this model.

I think a lot of people need to buy in person, find a store that will hand pick the knife, or not be bothered by a minor imperfection. I'm not saying that is what happened here, but it sounds like it could have played a part, and I bet it happens all to often in these days of online sales.
 
TaTaToothy said:
To be clear, I'm not writing off BM. I don't doubt that they'd make things right if I sent in my MPR for repair. I just decided not to do that because I don't particularly like the design, so I'd rather have my $150 than a factory-fresh MPR.

BM isn't my favorite maker, but I do like them and applaud their generally strong quality (despite the disappointing experience I had with my MPR).
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Once again - can you let me know where to get them for $150?

If you don't want to write the dealer's name in public, please feel free to drop me an email :)

Blessings,

Keno
 
richardallen said:
Once again - can you let me know where to get them for $150?

If you don't want to write the dealer's name in public, please feel free to drop me an email :)

Blessings,

Keno
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knifeworks. Many other online vendors have a similar price if you call them. They have to advertise $200 per Benchmade's pricing policy but they don't have to sell them for that. Most dealers know that they won't sell well at the higher prices and will sell them cheaper to move them, you just have to contact them to find out what that price is.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Sounds like buyers remorse played just as large of a role as any imperfections for some buyers. Just because you get something and figure out you don't like the design as much as you thought you would doesn't mean there is some huge problem with the company. I hope if it is returned to the store it is in like new condition so that they don't have to take a loss because someone was being anal about flaws so they could return the knife because they didn't like it after they used it for a week. Except for the pictures in the first post I haven't seen any other documentation of a problem with this model.

I think a lot of people need to buy in person, find a store that will hand pick the knife, or not be bothered by a minor imperfection. I'm not saying that is what happened here, but it sounds like it could have played a part, and I bet it happens all to often in these days of online sales.
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Again, I'm not saying there is a huge problem with the company. My knife suffered from the same problems as the OP's, though if anything I'd say the machining problems on the lockbar were worse on mine. I handled the knife for about a minute, then put it back in its box and called knifeworks for an RMA. Hopefully they won't just ship it out to another customer, because it's really unacceptably poorly made IMO.

This is not me being anal, it's Benchmade producing a premium-priced product with poor QC. I have never returned another knife based on poor manufacturing - I can deal with a slightly off-center blade or some machine marks on a liner - but this thing was a joke. I'm not saying this reflects some larger trend at BM - it is what it is, and it wouldn't prevent me from buying another BM.

As for the design, that's another issue. I personally like the MPR's tanky appearance and was familiar with its weight when I pre-ordered. I didn't know the blade was SO thick, but that probably wouldn't have deterred me from buying one even if I had. Obviously Shane Sibert designed the knife, not BM, and I don't fault them for making such a heavy knife if people will buy it (as I did). At the end of the day I don't think the design makes a lot of sense when there are many excellent, larger knives that weigh a lot less, but sometimes the heart overpowers the brain, and this is one sexy beast.
 
The blade touching the side of the knife is obviously not ok although it does happen sometimes from all makers. But the little marks in the grooves are being anal IMO. Look at the size of them compared to his thumb, they are just little specs. Anything will look terrible when enlarged even a blade edge that looks perfectly polished will look rough if magnified enough. I would also bet that if those pieces were picked at they would come off. If a mill bit was passed through there to cut the groove then that could not be left behind. But if a small piece of metal was left hanging on and then the liner tumbled it could have further pressed it on and the tumbling make it look uniform. I could be wrong but I don't see how it could be attached with my limited milling experience with the 2 large mills my father owns.

It almost looks like the Ti has some sort of coating? If so that could explain some small uneven places although I have no idea what or why Ti would be coated.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Sounds like buyers remorse played just as large of a role as any imperfections for some buyers. Just because you get something and figure out you don't like the design as much as you thought you would doesn't mean there is some huge problem with the company. I hope if it is returned to the store it is in like new condition so that they don't have to take a loss because someone was being anal about flaws so they could return the knife because they didn't like it after they used it for a week. Except for the pictures in the first post I haven't seen any other documentation of a problem with this model.

I think a lot of people need to buy in person, find a store that will hand pick the knife, or not be bothered by a minor imperfection. I'm not saying that is what happened here, but it sounds like it could have played a part, and I bet it happens all to often in these days of online sales.
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I know I had buyers remorse. If anything, I think getting and selling the BM755 has been a wakeup call for me. I like slim, light knives that are very pocketable. The 755 is none of those things, and I need to be mindful of that whenever I buy again.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
The blade touching the side of the knife is obviously not ok although it does happen sometimes from all makers. But the little marks in the grooves are being anal IMO. Look at the size of them compared to his thumb, they are just little specs. Anything will look terrible when enlarged even a blade edge that looks perfectly polished will look rough if magnified enough. I would also bet that if those pieces were picked at they would come off. If a mill bit was passed through there to cut the groove then that could not be left behind. But if a small piece of metal was left hanging on and then the liner tumbled it could have further pressed it on and the tumbling make it look uniform. I could be wrong but I don't see how it could be attached with my limited milling experience with the 2 large mills my father owns.

It almost looks like the Ti has some sort of coating? If so that could explain some small uneven places although I have no idea what or why Ti would be coated.
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My lockbar looked worse than the one in the OP, with good-sized chunks of ti that weren't properly milled away, not marks or scratches. They couldn't simply be knocked off - they were firmly attached. I guess if I had the equipment and the inclination I could have disassembled the knife and milled them off myself (voiding my warranty in the process), but is that really my job when I spent $150 on a brand-new knife? Also, ti is some tough stuff - I have owned two ti bikes and it's damned hard to make a dent (literally and figuratively) in it - I wouldn't want to try milling it with a pedestrian bench grinder.

The ti did not appear to me to have anodizing or any similar coating. The finish wasn't polished in such a way that it could be anodized.

I don't really want to keep posting in this thread - I don't have some kind of anti-BM agenda - but you keep claiming what I observed isn't the truth and/or that I'm being unreasonable, and I just don't believe that's the case. The OP and I got junk knives, plain and simple.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
The blade touching the side of the knife is obviously not ok although it does happen sometimes from all makers. But the little marks in the grooves are being anal IMO. Look at the size of them compared to his thumb, they are just little specs. Anything will look terrible when enlarged even a blade edge that looks perfectly polished will look rough if magnified enough. I would also bet that if those pieces were picked at they would come off. If a mill bit was passed through there to cut the groove then that could not be left behind. But if a small piece of metal was left hanging on and then the liner tumbled it could have further pressed it on and the tumbling make it look uniform. I could be wrong but I don't see how it could be attached with my limited milling experience with the 2 large mills my father owns.

It almost looks like the Ti has some sort of coating? If so that could explain some small uneven places although I have no idea what or why Ti would be coated.
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TaTaToothy said:
My lockbar looked worse than the one in the OP, with good-sized chunks of ti that weren't properly milled away, not marks or scratches. They couldn't simply be knocked off - they were firmly attached. I guess if I had the equipment and the inclination I could have disassembled the knife and milled them off myself (voiding my warranty in the process), but is that really my job when I spent $150 on a brand-new knife? Also, ti is some tough stuff - I have owned two ti bikes and it's damned hard to make a dent (literally and figuratively) in it - I wouldn't want to try milling it with a pedestrian bench grinder.

The ti did not appear to me to have anodizing or any similar coating. The finish wasn't polished in such a way that it could be anodized.

I don't really want to keep posting in this thread - I don't have some kind of anti-BM agenda - but you keep claiming what I observed isn't the truth and/or that I'm being unreasonable, and I just don't believe that's the case. The OP and I got junk knives, plain and simple.
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I'm not making you post and I didn't say anything about your knife, I haven't even seen it. I was talking about the OP's knife in this post and trying to offer an explanation of what it was. To be fair by your own admission you 'handled the knife for about a minute' and I was only talking about the pictures in this thread. So who knows if the metal could be picked off but if a spinning mill bit passed through the groove I don't know how globs of metal could be left behind unless it was loose pieces that stuck on some how. Maybe it was not milled but cut with an EDM or some other type of cutter that could have left hot metal 'spattered' on the parts. Anyways, I was just trying to come up with an explanation of what it is even though when compared to his thumb nail it looks like the 'globs' of metal are only maybe .03-.04" across? That's not a big deal to me but whatever. If the little pieces of metal in the photos in this thread make a knife junk then you might want to stick with custom hand made knives. I never said you were not telling the truth. But I do think the itsy bitsy pieces of metal shown in the grooves of the knife in this thread is a little unreasonable. And that is my opinion and no one else's.
 
jakeyjake4528 said:
Well, mine came without any flaws, as did every other benchmade I own. But, Im not about to say benchmade doesnt make mistakes.

I dont understand why one would write off a whole company because of one bad knife, which very likely would be replaced with a perfect one. Mistakes happen, thats why they are called mistakes.

Benchmade is a big company with time under its belt, so its pretty safe to assume bad QC isnt the norm, or they wouldnt be selling the types of knives at the prices they sell.
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benchmade will fix it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i thought we lived in a perfect world...:foot:
 
The dealer is taking care of the issue. A new BM MPR is on its way to me in the mail as I type.:)

I'm happy that most others are pleased with their BM MPR's.
 
Awesome to hear. I have heard too many good things about their customer service. I would have been shocked had it been any different.

Whitty
 
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