Review: Benchmade 630 BK-502 (Skirmish: Black blade, blue handle)

Daniel Koster

Daniel Koster

www.kosterknives.com
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 18, 2001
Messages
20,978
Got this one in the mail and made a quick horizontal carry leather sheath for it.

Man, I'm loving it!

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Here it is compared to a Buck 110. I knew it was big, but had no idea how much bigger it was compared to a Buck 110. Funny thing is, that it weighs less!


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I have the same knife, and its little brother! The sheath is great
are you feeling in the mood to make another? I just got one of your
blades in a trade the K1 Kardas sweet little knife.

Nice score above

Zoo
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Now a few pics of it "in the hand"...



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I like how it extends past my hand. It could be a little shorter and still feel comfortable.



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Reverse grip feels great.






The balance is right inside the finger choil. However, it's on the front side of the choil, so it feels ever-so-slightly blade heavy (vs. handle heavy). Gotta have a good grip on the handle if you "thwack" it open.

My only suggestion would be to add a little more weight to the handle so that it doesn't feel blade-heavy (nor handle-heavy). I may, in fact, do this myself - adding a back-spacer pressed in between the two pins at the back of the handle.


Overall, this is certainly the nicest Benchmade product I've ever handled, and second only to my Dama-woodie Sebenza in quality and looks! (amongst factory knives)

Difference is, though, that this one is going to get carried and used in the Shop. :D
 
I should also add that the edge did come sharp - "working sharp" and good enough to shave without pain. I think I'll keep it at that level, though...S30V is notoriously difficult to polish, so a finely polished edge wouldn't be appropriate here.
 
Zoo - email sent.




I got some junk mail today..."Capitol One card" large envelope was amongst the offerings....:D....so I picked it up and sliced through it top-to-bottom in one move. Mostly push, but there was a little draw cut too. Just for kicks, I looked inside before I tossed it....turns out I went through a pair of "bogus" credit cards without even noticing it. Now I'm impressed. :D

I read a lot of reviews about the Skirmish having a "thick blade and steep edge geometry". So, naturally, I was concerned. Concerns have been put to rest.


:p :p :p :p :p
 
Wow, Thay are not as Purple as I thought!! Damn, i was turning away from this color because i thought it is really Blue/Purple ish. But still satisfy with my own naked blade regular skirmish. :thumbup:
 
Daniel Koster said:
S30V is notoriously difficult to polish, so a finely polished edge wouldn't be appropriate here.
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With use of a micro-bevel the machinability doesn't matter, I keep a small Sebenza at hair above the skin catching sharp. It doesn't take anything special to do it, even after a heavy cutting run where it is blunted down to <5% of optimal sharpness is reset with 10 passes per side on the medium Sharpmaker rods, then 10 per side on the fine, then some light stropping. After awhile of doing this I reset the primary edge with a SiC hone to keep the micro bevel from thickening. Note a NIB Sebenza won't react like this, the edge is far too obtuse, I cut the primary edge bevel down to <5 degrees per side.

Daniel Koster said:
I read a lot of reviews about the Skirmish having a "thick blade and steep edge geometry".
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The one I had was really overbuilt at the edge, 0.030-0.035", that would be where I would set a heavy use bowie. Of course you can expect a lot of variation from one production knife to the next, I have seen variances of more than 50% even on the brands promoted for consistency and fit and finish, there is a lto of hand edge grinding with no jigs and thus edges can vary a lot.


-Cliff
 
MIGHTY GRATEFUL for the pics and impressions. I didn't know BM offered that color as I'm not exactly into "rainbows".

My only suggestion is that BM offer one with G10 or some other "grippy" surface. Sweat, water and temperature extremes doesn't do well on naked steel for me.
 
untamed said:
My only suggestion is that BM offer one with G10 or some other "grippy" surface. Sweat, water and temperature extremes doesn't do well on naked steel for me.
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Excellent suggestion - I wonder if I could mod mine to add a few slivers of G10....;)
 
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