My new Benchmade Griptilian BM551

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SmallBlock327

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Aug 10, 2013
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Just ordered my Benchmade Griptilian BM551 with the 154CM blade. This will be my first knife with 154CM material and was curious if it's good steel? By that i mean is it easier to sharpen than S30V, will it hold a razor edge longer than S30V? I own a couple of knives with S30V and at first it was a pain in the __s to sharpen to a super fine edge but i found my technique! I have yet to find a blade steel that im really happy with that will hold a razor edge for a fair amount of time. By that i mean using it everyday cutting anything from small wire to boxes to thick plastic, rope, along with the occasional hitting something with the blade im not suppose to like metal or concrete by accident. The S30V is a lot better than some of my other blades with 8Cr13MoV or AUS8 or 440C but it still loses it's razor edge faster than I want it to, even if I haven't hit any concrete or steel. Is ELMAX the steel im looking for or is their something out there better than that? I've been looking at a Zero Tolerance Hinderer 0566 with ELMAX steel blade but I've never had one so I hate to spend that kind of money if it's not the super edge-holding material im looking for. From what I understand ELMAX is crazy hard to sharpen unless you put it in some kind of machine that will do it for you. Even if thats the case if it will hold an super long lasting razor edge under my abuse than im willing to give it a try! Any educated information will be appreciated. :grumpy:
 
154CM is good stuff. It may hold as well as S30V depending on use. No steel will retain a super sharp edge after long bouts of hard use. No steel is super hard to sharpen. The key is to touch it up at the end of every day of use to keep that razor edge intact. Get diamond or ceramic sharpener rods, sticks, ovals, etc. Never let the knife get dull. I have over 60 different types of steels from 56 to 65 RC. I use diamond and/or ceramic followed by stropping when needed. It only takes a few minutes for a touch up as opposed to the time it takes to re-profile a dull knife. As your sharpening skills increase so will your usable knife steel selections.
 
Appreciate the information. Im looking forward to my 1st Benchmade as well as my first 154CM blade. I have several diamond sharpeners from DMT Duo-Sharp to rods as well as Arkansas and ceramic stones and of coarse good old trusty leather strops! Back when I was new to S30V steel I remember a guy telling me that diamonds are a mans best friend when it comes to super steels, and he was absolutely right about that! I tried every stone I had on the S30V and I could get it close but just not quiet razor sharp until I ran it across my DMT several times after that one stroke and all hair was gone! Yes I do touch ups everyday because i have to have a seriously sharp knife at all times. Thanks again for the information, I'll let you know how the 154CM works for me.
 
I prefer Benchmade's 154CM to their S30V. 154Cm isn't as chippy, and I could swear it gets sharper, easier.
 
154cm is softer in my opinion compared to s30v, but it's a pleasure to sharpen. That being said 154cm is my favorite steel especially the way benchmade does it.
 
I love Benchmades 154cm they really do it right. I have heard their heat treats are the best in the biz. Have 4 or 5 154cm Benchmades and love them
 
As SOLEIL mentioned, no material ever hold the edge forever. For the conversation of steel blade material, there is triad of sharpness, edge retention as ease of sharpening. Since you own diamond sharpener, very much you can toss the "ease" factor out.

For MKC, I like M390 when we can get it for stainless. For heavy duty use, I like CPM-M4 for non-stainless steel. Although, for the wear resistant stainless steel, I like S110V, but not many are using it as it is not easy to produce blades in this metal.

Don't get me wrong, I think S30V is wonderful steel, as long as you have diamond sharpener ;). 154cm is easy to sharpen in field condition over S30V. Some of us argue that CPM-154 would be substantial step up from 154cm coming from same outfit with heat treatment technique wile improving structure strength and wear resistance.

MFL
 
ELMAX is not bad at all. It's just when you have Benchmade's great performance in 154CM, S30V and M390, why look at ELMAX?
 
Benchmades 154, S30V, D2, and even 440C work great. They seem to have a good compromise HT. Decent edge retention, and easily touched up.

I personally don't worry about any of these steel choices, but then again, I still like 1095 :D

Start with a good edge, touch it up regularly, and use it...
 
Guess that makes since! I haven't even received my Griptilian and already talking about Elmax. Well it comes in today so tonight after I get home from work it will be here waiting on me. Can't wait!:)
 
SmallBlock327 said:
Guess that makes since! I haven't even received my Griptilian and already talking about Elmax. Well it comes in today so tonight after I get home from work it will be here waiting on me. Can't wait!:)
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Make sure it has a good edge out of the box. I may have been lucky, but over the last 18+ years, every BM I bought had a great edge out of the box.
Don't even think about the blade steel. Just use it... You may find yourself surprised at how well it holds an edge.

I like an edge that will shave, just because. That said, unless I find myself really bored, I usually don't worry about it that much. It can be sharp, still function just fine for most cutting purposes, and not shave really well. YMMV of course
 
I'll sing the same tune most others have. I've used BM's 154CM for years and it's a fav of mine for an everyday folder. It's a great balance between corrosion resistance, toughness, edge holding, and ease of maintenance.

Speaking of Elmax, I have a user 566 that has done very well for me. It does take a very sharp edge pretty quickly and in my limited use, has shown good properties of toughness and edge holding. I don't think of it as vastly superior to S30V, S35VN, CPM-154, or other common blade steels that I've used, but it holds its own with them in my uses.
 
I think ELMAX is probably one of the best steels for production folding knives. I find it no harder to sharpen than S30V at comparable hardness, but with better performance. Keep in mind that the heat treatment-->hardness of any steel can vary quite a bit and this has a lot of affect on how they perform and how easy they are to sharpen. IMO ELMAX and S30V are both a little hard to upkeep with only limited equipment, but are easy to upkeep with a good sharpener like a SharpMaker, and stupid easy with an EdgePro or WickedEdge.

Benchmade's S30V tends to have improved edge retention over their 154CM and their S30V (and D2) knives are generally sold as an "incremental upgrade" to their 154CM ones. 154CM is generally agreed upon to be easier to sharpen, and I think it is very easy to sharpen as far as good quality steels go. As you can see, a lot of users prefer 154CM to S30V, so there is a lot of preference involved here. Both steels give respectable performance across the board: good edge retention, good toughness and excellent corrosion resistance. Both steels are arguably superior to 440C, but inferior to CPM-154.

The actual sharpening will affect performance, and this can be pronounced. Once a folding knife is sharpened in a fashion to suit the user, they may see better performance and be able to get the best feel for how the steel can perform. Factory bevels may be cut in a fashion to make the bevel width appear even, despite tip thickness and distance being different from the rest of the knife and even if the grind is slightly offset, which is not all that unusual for folding knives with thinner blades (i.e., the factory angle varies some). I find once I set a knife to a 100% even angle on the EP that I get better performance than when there is a variable angle designed to keep an even bevel width across the entire blade, and I find this makes upkeep much easier. Doing this generally results in a slightly wider bevel on the upsweep and tip of the blade than the straight portions. Upon getting an EP and being able to sharpen with an enhanced level of precision, I found many knives that I had for years performed better (sometimes from altering the angle, or adding a secondary bevel by grinding a new primary bevel). Sharpening experts can discuss this on a more knowledgable/detailed level than I can explain.





CPM-154 has such a performance improvement on 154CM that IMO they might as well be called two different names. With the right heat treatment, I think CPM-154 puts down figures that very few steels can match, including many of the steels that are sold as upgrades to standard 154CM, and upgrades sold as the upgrades to the upgrades of 154CM. Custom makers love it, and so do I. It's probably my favorite general-usage steel when taken to higher hardness with a good heat treatment, but it isn't currently very common on production knives.
 
Just got my new Benchmade BM551 and it's fairly sharp straight out of the box. It won't quite shave hair but I fixed that with just a few strokes on my DMT Duo-Sharp. I didn't re-shape the blade because I want to use it a few days before I have to reprofile it. Feels great, looks great I think it will work out just fine! But as with any knife I buy I'll use it for 8 or 10 months and see if I want to step up to the Zero Tolerance Hinderer 0566 with the Elmax blade. Im going to give my Benchmade a chance and workout to see how it does. So far im extremely happy with this knife. The blade motion & lock are ultra-smooth. It's the perfect size for my hand. The only other knife that fit my hand this good was the Spyderco Tenacious but the blade material sucks! Me and 8Cr13MoV don't get along very well. It's one of the fastest dulling blades I've ever used! But im stepping up in the world with Benchmade. As the day's go buy I'll keep everyone informed as to how well my 154CM blade is holding up since this is my first blade of that material. But it is a killer knife!
 
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