Opinion from steve wanted.

[jdowell]

Hey, I did a search in your forum and didn't come up with anything, so I apologize if you've covered this before.
I really respect your opinion, and am wondering what your thoughts are (if any) on Benchmades Skirmish. I'm thinking of the mini in particular.
The locking bar on these has that curve to it that I haven't seen on any other framekock. I wonder what type of impact the curve will have on wear/stability.
Also, have you ever measured the lock bar releif on one of these?

I really like the knife, but lately I've been reading about framelock wear.
I don't want to spend the coin on a Ti framelock if I can get more use/wear out of something different (axis, lockback etc. I like things built to last!

Thanks, I really enjoy your honesty and contribution to this site..

jas

 

[STR]

Thanks Jas.

Yes I have seen and handled several of the Skirmish models and logged them in here for work orders.

On a full size one I had once here most recently for a pocket clip according to my log the lock relief cut out was .052 in the middle.

On the mini I logged one down as .048 and another at .050 so it looks like they hover around the same regardless of which one you go with. This is thicker than most Strider SnG models I've measured for whatever that is worth.

The curved cut is commonly seen with manufacturers that have the luxury of a laser to make cuts. They use these nowadays to cut out the blanks and the locks, and probably drill out the holes and everything else in the process of building knives and also for cutting out the blades themselves. It saves material that way but is quite an investment to get into.

The curve will not affect the way the lock works. The Skirmish is a fine knife and will not let you down. While neither fit my hand as I'd like I know they were all well made and fully quality built all the way. Seems I recall thinking to myself that they had an aweful lot of blade when opened. So much so that it almost seemed too large to fit in the handles but yet they close snug as bug in a rug.

STR

 

[jdowell]

Thanks for the reply!