Opinions on the S90V 940-1

Arcrobe

Arcrobe

Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
176
Hello everyone this is my first time posting to this sub forum, so here is a little bit about myself. I am a college student studying Mechanical Engineering. I am a big benchmade fan, and the standard 940 was my first quality knife. When I heard about a high performance version in S90V I immediately placed a pre order for one.

I was curious what you guys and gals all thought about it, and wanted to know what to expect from S90V. I have never owned a knife in this steel before, but I have used S30V on a day to day basis while working over the summers, and have a pretty good feel for it.

Also how is the quality of Benchmades carbon fiber?

Thanks All :)
 
This will be Benchmade's first use of S90V (59-61HRC) which overall has excellent wear resistance, corrosion resistance and great for cutting. Tougher to sharpen. I don't know what type of CF they'll use but the one I have on the 530-1303 is nice and grippy.
 
If they use the same CF they did on the 940d2cf, it should be pretty nice. Tight weave, consistent all the way through, no voids, appears to be quality stuff. It also has a nice satiny texture instead of the gloss sometimes seen on CF. I'd compare it to bead blasted titanium in terms of texture, smooth but not with out some grip.

As for s90v, it's basically the most sought after knife steel around. It's not seen often in production knives because of how hard it is on the production machinery. Pretty impressed they're making it a full time part of their line up. For me the S90v is what makes this knife worth the extra money. That alone would be worth 260 to a lot of us. To throw in the carbon fiber on top of it, this knife is pretty good value.
 
HRC will be key with this blade. If Benchmade delivers the advertised range, it will cut like crazy and run like the Energizer bunny.

I have a 940S-701 that has CF scales. They are among the most attractive CF scales I've seen.

Overall, this is a knife to look forward to. :thumbup:
 
Personally I thought it was a bit pricey.... so I didn't go for it. KW had a Spydie sprint in S90V and CF not long ago that was WAY less, which kind of turned me against the BM one. Also the 940 is quite small.... so I'm shooting for the Contego in M390 rather. S90V is awesome but M390 is a real winner too and a bit easier to sharpen in my experience. :)
 
I have found that the Contego is much to large for me to carry, as in my hands are so small I have trouble manipulating it, but I love the blade shape. Never got on of the standard 940s due to the IMO amazingly ugly green/purple handle. Will defiantly be getting one of the CF/Blue(purple would have been great with the CF too just not with green! lol) standoff 940-1s.
 
KAEDC said:
I have found that the Contego is much to large for me to carry, as in my hands are so small I have trouble manipulating it, but I love the blade shape. Never got on of the standard 940s due to the IMO amazingly ugly green/purple handle. Will defiantly be getting one of the CF/Blue(purple would have been great with the CF too just not with green! lol) standoff 940-1s.
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If you buy 943 and ask BKC to swap it to 940 blade, you can have Black & blue 940. Of cause you can ask DOAT to buy custom grip from him would be a good choice.

MFL
 
Benchmade doesn't make carbon fiber, but I would guess they buy quality materials. As for the steel, S90V is very different from S30V. Much more carbide content.
 
The black and blue 943 is very cool, mine came uncentered but I soon deduced with the help of some folks here that it was the fault of the sporting goods store I bought it from and with a little loctite it centered up just fine.

Was disappointed at first, but have bought many knives since and it still makes the rotation more often than many others.
 
Really don't think you would regret getting the 940 with s90v. I would defineately get one if had the $. I love my adamas wish it had s90v or m4 instead of d2 even though the d2 has been fantastic.
 
What model of spyderco was that? Sometimes handles that don't involve axis lock and nested liners can be way cheaper to make. The 940 needs to have the handle milled out for the liners, then another step milled out for the axis springs, then a slot for the axis lock. Then on the top they machine the two swept cuts and the little squiggly line and radius the edges. Flat type handles with no machining on the bottom side like you can do for liner locks or the manix 2 xl are far less machining time and tooling cost.
 
deathofallthings said:
What model of spyderco was that?
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The recent KinfeWorks Exckusive Spyderco Manix2 XL C95CFP2 (CPM-S90V, Peel Ply Carbon Fiber Handle) for $220 with Ball Bearing lock. Big chunk of S90V from which you could make close to two 940-1 blades! :)
 
I like the look of the cf 940-1 handle. But the blade shape is not my fave.

I absolutely crave the Yojimbo2 with S90V and CF.
 
Yeah, I was really interested in that one until I saw the size of the thing... little too much knife for my style.
 
Neuron604 said:
Actually, the 2nd use of S90V. They used it first on the 531-131.
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Correct. The Benchmade Gold Class Pardue 531-131 at nearly $1,000 was a bit rich! It's good to see Benchmade use S90V in a regular production knife at more accessible pricing.
 
deathofallthings said:
Yeah, I was really interested in that one until I saw the size of the thing... little too much knife for my style.
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Sort of a funny comment - that I almost agree with (except that I have bought a couple and will buy this one). The 940 looks like a small knife but IMO turns out to have a very large blade. Sometimes that works out well, but the 940 is the only knife I've ever nicked myself with closing the knife, and I've managed to do it quite a few times. Never any blood but always a surprise. :o Call me a klutz. :)
 
Yeah, the 940 is one of my favorites for how slim and light it is with that awesome cutting length. The ratio is perfect. The knife that was too large I was talking about was the manix 2 XL, probably should have included the quote so my comment would make sense.
 
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