My Mini-Skirmish arrived!

WadeF

WadeF

Joined
Apr 12, 2000
Messages
2,116
I've been toying around with getting another new knife, and I decided to pick up a mini-skirmish, the one with the satin blade and plain titanium handle. It was either that or a Manix or a Paramilitary. I figured a mini-skirmish would get more carry since it's more people friendly and smaller.

I'm happy with the quality of the knife and overal feel. Locks up solid. The factory edge is so-so. I managed to shave some arm hair, but not easily, so I will be touching the edge up. :)

While I love my 710, I try to keep it out of sight since it isn't a very attractive knife and having the HSSR version, which has the combo edge, it's pretty scary looking for the sheeple. The Skirmish is something I wouldn't mind people seeing as much since it's much more attractive.

It would be cool to see a Skirmish with an AXIS lock sometime. Ultimately I'd love to see the Skirmish handle (titanium, design) with AXIS lock, and the Doug Ritter blade available in either s30v or M2.
 
The factory edge (large skirmish) on mine split hairs. If you slide it over a hair it would shave a "skin" of hair!!!
 
DOH! Upon further inspection the blade is way off center when closed. So bad it actually scrapes the non-locking side handle on the way shut. To make things worse the blade is making contact with one of the spacers and has chipped the edge! :(

I have called the dealer I purchased it from and I will be sending it back for an exchange. They will check the replacement to make sure it's okay.
 
I purchased a Mini Skirmish from a local dealer last weekend (standard model like yours). The blade centering is as perfect as my eye can resolve. And, the blade is very sharp. Probably not quite as sharp as a 710 HS they had but, very close.

The only issue with mine was one slightly loose handle screw. All others were good and tight. It was simple to fix.

Operation is straight forward and relatively easy one-handed. It's not quite as easy in one handed operation as the Sypderco Manix, Military or D'Allara but, it's not difficult by any means. Yet I do wish it had a slightly bigger hole or, perhaps a thumbstud instead. Blade lock-up is accompanied by a nice "clunk" sound and, it feels secure and ready for the task at hand. The blade is robust enough to not worry about what needs cutting.

I am fairly pleased with my Mini Skirmish. The 4 & 1/4" handle is just large enough to be considered a four finger handle thus easy to use. I have never been a fan of the 3 & 1/2 finger grip. It also carries reasonably well well in the pocket.

All in all, a nice robust framelock at a reasonable price. Although the dressier models look better, their added cost should prompt one to look at competitive models also, such as the Bradley Alias - a knife that I thought was better balanced - though not as striking looking as the Mini Skirmish (or Skirmish which yet even looks better).
 
I love my Skirmish for size... it has a nice grip which hide a huge! blade. Very efficient... and people go :eek: :eek: :eek: when I pull it out ;) .
 
WadeF said:
DOH! Upon further inspection the blade is way off center when closed. So bad it actually scrapes the non-locking side handle on the way shut. To make things worse the blade is making contact with one of the spacers and has chipped the edge! :(

I have called the dealer I purchased it from and I will be sending it back for an exchange. They will check the replacement to make sure it's okay.
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Yikes, that is too bad. At least you are getting a replacement.

I think you got a fluke. My Skirmish has fit and finish equal to my Sebenza and better than any of my other knives (Manix, SERE2K, Nakamura etc...) and the Skirmish (and BM in general) is known to have good quality control. So I am sure your next Skirmish will be great.

Artfully Martial- If you won't buy any knife with QC flukes, get a Sebenza. In general, though, the Skirmish has amazing fit and finish.
 
Hopefully it's a fluke and the dealer will check the replacement so I'm not to worried about it. I'll miss it for a week or two while the exchange process takes place. :)
 
Oh, I buy plenty of knives with QC and fit and finish problems, but given the choice, I'd rather buy something that has a 100% quality eval (that I'm aware of) so far. I've handled several miniskirmeshes and they were all flawless, so this is kind of a dissapointing interruption in the trend.
 
i just got a mini as well and it is perfect, fit and finish, lockup, edge. Opens smooth as silk with no problems. Just a small flick of the wrist and it snaps open with rock solid lock up. It is the perfect size for my smaller handswith no problems opening.

ken
 
Mine is great too. Perfect center, the lock up is great. But it is not as sharp as another major manufacturer though. :(
 
If the fit and finish is close to a sebenza i should pick one up. I like the look and the price is right. Looks like it might just fit into my edc . Im still having a hard time putting my sebenza into any hard use, dont want to scratch anything. come to think of it, if i had back all the money i spent on knives that i bought after i bought my sebenza , just to save my sebenza from a scratch. I could have used my sebenza hard every day and bought 3 more to include in my edc rountine. geez
 
I got my new Mini Skirmish. The blade isn't perfectly centered, but it's good enough not to cause any problems, so I don't have any problems with it.

As far as comparing it to a Sebenza... It looks like the stop pin is much smaller and weaker than the stop pin on a Sebenza. Also the area of the frame lock that is thinned out to allow for it to flex appears to be much thinner than on the Sebenza's frame lock. So overall the Skirmish appears to be of noticeably weaker constructions. It looks much weaker than an AXIS lock BM like a 710 or 806, etc.

Other than those trival things, as I'm sure it's much stronger than I would ever need, it's a very nice knife. It's smooth, finished well, and is attractive. I wanted something that looked nicer than my BM710, even if I had to trade away the AXIS lock.

Does anyone know what kind of washers the mini skirmish has? Looks like those black nylon ones, but I forget the proper name for the material.
 
I have owned 2 and gotten rid of 2 I like them, but they just dont suit my needs that well, very nice solid knives however and I think they are a great buy.
 
Does anyone having problem on the blade chipping? I read a lot of people using this knife harshly, and found that the blade is chipping badly.
 
surawut said:
Does anyone having problem on the blade chipping? I read a lot of people using this knife harshly, and found that the blade is chipping badly.
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My first one had a chip in the blade, but only because it was closing and making contact with the hour glass spacer.

I don't plan to use this knife to hard, as it's more of a semi-gent knife for me and will see mostly light use.
 
Some people say S30V chips. I have two S30V knives that don't have the problem...suffice to say, the chipping isn't isolated to the mini skirmish but any S30V knife, including customs. Cliff writes a lot on the subject.
 
Artfully Martial said:
Some people say S30V chips. I have two S30V knives that don't have the problem...suffice to say, the chipping isn't isolated to the mini skirmish but any S30V knife, including customs. Cliff writes a lot on the subject.
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I've also heard they may happen with the factory edge that may have been sharpened on a belt grinder that ruined the temper of the edge. Once the edge has been re-sharpened past the damaged steel it will perform much better.

I can see how it wouldn't take much to over heat the edge on a belt grinder considering how thin it is.
 
I got a mini-skirmish LE for a gift. (OK, fine, so I TOLD her what I wanted...) Beautiful knife that was well-centered. It, like yours, was striking the hourglass spacer when closed and chipping the blade. I sent it back to Benchmade for warranty service. Repaired and returned within two weeks and they even replaced the pocket clip I had scratched.

Perfect now!

(In the meantime, I traded a blade for a BM Switchback and find I carry it to work most days in khakis. Slim, light, good steel, and almost sheeple-friendly. I don't worry about the sheeple factor too much but it is a nice added benefit!)

Good luck with your next 635!
 
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