- Joined
- Mar 26, 2011
- Messages
- 647
I just picked up this blade yesterday in the mail from the forums. I already own a BM 805 TSEK and this mini-review is based on some of the differences between the two.
Sorry for the marginal pics, my only camera available right now is my phone camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64190874@N08/6308450597/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64190874@N08/6308450969/
Design: :thumbup:
I generally like the design of this AFCK and TSEK. They provide (basically) a 4 inch blade in a lean design. The AFCK blade design is a bit more narrow (not thinner). The AFCK LOOKS like it will pierce easier than the TSEK. The blade is very "pointy" and somewhat reminiscent of the Emerson Persian. I prefer the "Spydie" hole of the AFCK vs. the thumbstud of the TSEK. I do like the thumbramp on the TSEK blade though. I LOVE the black/blue, textured handles of the G10. They are sexy. They could be a bit grippier IMO, but fine for my use.
One of the criticisms I have of the basic design (AFCK and TSEK) is that the blade pivot sits too far back from the front of the knife (front being the direction the blade sticks outward from the handle with open). This means the blade is shorter (tip to handle) than it could be and means the handle is longer than it needs to be. I'm not sure what the advantage of doing this is...If it were up to me, I'd just place the pivot point about 3/16" farther forward, grow the blade by the same amount, and gain 3/8" in blade length. This would come at ZERO cost to the handle length.
Another criticism I have is the position of the finger choil. I have med/large hands and the choil seems about 1/4" too far back away from the blade. It would fit MY hands better if it were moved forward a bit...but I'm sure it fits some of your hands better.
Fit and Finish:
It's ok. There are some tooling/manufacturing marks on the blade (not the previous owner). I think they could have done better. I'm not that particular about my blades since I EDC most all of them, but my expectations from BM is that they are my "pretty" knives. I don't say that as a bad thing since I love their steel selection in this blade (M390) and I use them...but their QC could be better. The handle, clip, liners and everything else is fantastic!
The biggest difference between this blade and my other Benchmades is that this one was SHARP right out of the box! I could shave arm hairs readily and with some very light stropping on bare leather, it would whittle hair. Not bad for a factory edge. I would say that it is about as sharp as my Spydercos out of the box and almost as sharp as my M1 Combative Edge (my sharpest blade out of the box).
Overall: :thumbup:
I am an admittedly light user and this will do fine, especially with M390 steel...one of my favorites. I have some design criticisms but there are no show stoppers in this package. I can overlook some imperfections in manufacturing as well, but for a $200 knife from a large company, I expect a bit more. My other comparable blades are the Spyderco Military and yes, I have the M390 on pre-order. I feel the BM provides a better overall package than Spyderco, but Spyderco does a better HT on the blades. Pick your poison, I'll happily have both by April (hopefully).
I tend to carry my "Hero" blade and put the rest in the drawer. This one is a keeper but let's face it...if we are on these forums, we might just have a bad habit of picking up blades every so often and trying to convince ourselves that this one is "it".
Sorry for the marginal pics, my only camera available right now is my phone camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64190874@N08/6308450597/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64190874@N08/6308450969/
Design: :thumbup:
I generally like the design of this AFCK and TSEK. They provide (basically) a 4 inch blade in a lean design. The AFCK blade design is a bit more narrow (not thinner). The AFCK LOOKS like it will pierce easier than the TSEK. The blade is very "pointy" and somewhat reminiscent of the Emerson Persian. I prefer the "Spydie" hole of the AFCK vs. the thumbstud of the TSEK. I do like the thumbramp on the TSEK blade though. I LOVE the black/blue, textured handles of the G10. They are sexy. They could be a bit grippier IMO, but fine for my use.
One of the criticisms I have of the basic design (AFCK and TSEK) is that the blade pivot sits too far back from the front of the knife (front being the direction the blade sticks outward from the handle with open). This means the blade is shorter (tip to handle) than it could be and means the handle is longer than it needs to be. I'm not sure what the advantage of doing this is...If it were up to me, I'd just place the pivot point about 3/16" farther forward, grow the blade by the same amount, and gain 3/8" in blade length. This would come at ZERO cost to the handle length.
Another criticism I have is the position of the finger choil. I have med/large hands and the choil seems about 1/4" too far back away from the blade. It would fit MY hands better if it were moved forward a bit...but I'm sure it fits some of your hands better.
Fit and Finish:
It's ok. There are some tooling/manufacturing marks on the blade (not the previous owner). I think they could have done better. I'm not that particular about my blades since I EDC most all of them, but my expectations from BM is that they are my "pretty" knives. I don't say that as a bad thing since I love their steel selection in this blade (M390) and I use them...but their QC could be better. The handle, clip, liners and everything else is fantastic!
The biggest difference between this blade and my other Benchmades is that this one was SHARP right out of the box! I could shave arm hairs readily and with some very light stropping on bare leather, it would whittle hair. Not bad for a factory edge. I would say that it is about as sharp as my Spydercos out of the box and almost as sharp as my M1 Combative Edge (my sharpest blade out of the box).
Overall: :thumbup:
I am an admittedly light user and this will do fine, especially with M390 steel...one of my favorites. I have some design criticisms but there are no show stoppers in this package. I can overlook some imperfections in manufacturing as well, but for a $200 knife from a large company, I expect a bit more. My other comparable blades are the Spyderco Military and yes, I have the M390 on pre-order. I feel the BM provides a better overall package than Spyderco, but Spyderco does a better HT on the blades. Pick your poison, I'll happily have both by April (hopefully).
I tend to carry my "Hero" blade and put the rest in the drawer. This one is a keeper but let's face it...if we are on these forums, we might just have a bad habit of picking up blades every so often and trying to convince ourselves that this one is "it".
On the other side, this 806 and the preceding 805 are very nice knives indeed.