Ritter Mk1 vs. BM Griptilian??? Please help.

I like M2.

But tougher than S30V, I don't buy that. Mr. Stamp or one of the metal knowledgeable members could answer that.

I like M2 due to the ease of sharpening and edge retention. Contradictory, no. M2 seems to take an edge that I like easier than most stainless steels, so I like it. The edge lasts pretty long in use in my experience.

And, the Ritters are the last of the breed. BM doesn't look set to make anymore M2 knives.
 
It would be nice if a comparison of grinds could be mentioned in this thread, as if you have a concern about sharpening, that will have quite an impact.

I have an M2 Ritter, I didn't recommend it earlier because I thought they were sold out. It came with and holds an excellent edge, though I make a couple passes on the loaded strop at times to get rust spots off the edge.

I have an 806, Skirmish, 530, and Ares, so I do also have examples of BMs in 154cm, S30V, and 440C. They all work fairly well, the Skirmish came with a toothy edge, as did the 806 (though D2 can't take the finest edge anyway). I haven't used the 530 much, but the 440C holds an edge decently, sharpening won't be fun. The Ares gave me the most problems, but that was because the edge was very thick. I've thinned it out and it works much better.
 
I would personally consider the Ritter in M2 to be the best of the Griptilian breed. Benchmade's M2 steel is simply fantastic. Tough stuff, and not too hard to sharpen. I'd take it over most tool or stainless steels in a heart beat, for a hard use folder. Benchmade's black blade coating works extremely well to prevent rust. If I remember correctly the Ritter blades are ground a tad thinner than the standard Griptilian, for greater cutting efficiency.

My next nod would go to the Cabela's Griptilian in D2. Again, this is not a stainless steel, but a decently tough tool steel. Possibly not as easy to sharpen as M2 though.

I have no problem with 440C. When done properly, it can be very stainless, if that is your primary concern for an outdoor blade. It may not hold an edge as long as M2 or D2, but would probably be much easier to sharpen.

I'm not a huge fan of Benchmade's 154CM. I've used it in the past, as wasn't terribly impressed.

S30V is a great stainless steel, when properly heat treated. It's not as tough as nails, but not bad. It is relatively easy to sharpen.

All of my comments on steel can be taken with a grain of salt. I'm making generalizations here. If your knife has a different heat treatment than what I have experienced, your mileage may vary.

I do like the pointier tip on the non-Ritter Griptilians. I just happen to find pointy tips to be incredibly useful. If you are a hunter, the Ritter blade might make more sense. But for the average user, the non-Ritter blade looks very utility oriented.
 
Bottom line:

In the BM Griptilian series, there simply are no "wrong" answers. They are all very good knives, you just have to choose! If you have particular steel preferences, go with that. Any choice, you won't be disappointed! :D
 
Well, there's stuff I like better in edge holding vs sharpening effort, but that's just me

not a huge fan of D2 either, but I can leave it toothy without feeling guilty, since it doesn't polish up all that great anyway
 
I had a Grip 551 and 556, the 551 was brand new and was sharp right out of the box, both were 440C. I'm not a hard user, but I was going to get the 154CM versions. Then I found the Ritter Grips, got the MK1, and was amazed at the S30V sharpness. Got the mini Ritter, same performance. Got the 151 BM Grip fixed blade, and the 154CM was good, but not as good as the S30V for sharpness. Now I have a MK3 Ritter fixed blade Grip on the way. If you have the extra coin, go for the Ritter Grip.
 
Ritters are cool, but at that price point, you can definitely get G10/s30v etc from other knives.

The grip/minigrip is a value knife...super high end steels kind of end its point of existence. You buy a minigrip because you don't want to drop the money on a 960, not as an alternative.

I have a d2 minigrip, but really, I think the best minigrips are the base model, with the spyderhole.
 
LikeHike said:
The Ritter RSK MK1 costs $115. The Benchmade Griptilian 551 is $62.50. If I understand correctly the differences are the MK1 is S30V and has a full drop point blade. The 551 is 154CM and has a modified drop point blade.

My main usage is outdoor hiking and backpacking. I want something easily accessable and do not always want to have my fixed blade visable (I keep it in my pack normally).

Is it worth getting the Ritter for almost double the cost???

Thanks for your advise.
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In general, the Griptilians are what they are, because of their relative low price. They are in my eyes one of the best production series ever made. You could have made this or that differnt, use G10 etc. But you get superb quality fit and finish, balde steel and axis lock at a low price combined with a ergonomics, that always catched my heart. Simply great.

So should you get the Ritter? Generally: No, at that price there are other knives you might look at!

In special: You are carrying two knives, so if there is a step further in edge holding from S30V to 440C / 154CM, would you notice it? I guess, no.

In special: No!

I have knives from BM in 440C, M2, S30V and 154CM.
 
I personnally like the Ritter, I like like mini best of all, but either is great. I like the deeper blade and the handles, despite being "plastic", are the best. They are easy to hold onto and don't show the wear. I have a lot of other knives that look nicer, but my edc is the mini ritter (M2 of course). Steven
 
My Cabela’s D2 Mini-Griptilian just arrived today. To be quite frank, I'm blown away. If this is a representative sample of the current Benchmades, they have come a long way over the last few years. The fit and finish is of the entire knife is extraordinary. The action on the Axis lock makes my Benchmade 710HS feel down right inferior. The grinding and sharpening as absolutely perfect. I cannot find a single detail on this knife that has not been overlooked during quality control. Wow!!! It’s like a plastic handled William Henry. This is the first folder, other than the Sebenza, that I have found to have no perceptible horizontal blade play. I didn’t think that it was possible to use a normal pivot assembly, and achieve this level of smoothness, without blade play.

This is a small version of what I always wanted from my Benchmade 710. The thumb stud is much easier to get to. The thumb ramp extends to the blade itself. The opening and closing of the Mini-Grip is soooooo much smoother than my 710HS. The grip is much more ergonomic.

The only downside is that the Mini-Grip is too small for my tastes. The handle just isn't quite enough for my hands, being slightly more diminutive than a Spyderco Deliica4. I immediately ordered an M2 Ritter-Grip this afternoon, to get the size that I was after. I had my choice between the Cabela's D2 and M2 RSK, and went for the more expensive Ritter. I prefer the olive green scales of the Cabela's, and I do love D2 steel, but I knew that I'd hate myself for not getting my hands on the last of the M2 breed.
 
Artfully Martial said:
You buy a minigrip because you don't want to drop the money on a 960, not as an alternative.
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That was never the case for me. I own knives that were much more expensive than any of my Grips, but I still rate the base model thumbstudded variants (551 and 556) higher than many of them.

I find that they are pretty much unbeatable for day to day use.
 
Buzzbait said:
This is a small version of what I always wanted from my Benchmade 710.

*snip*

The only downside is that the Mini-Grip is too small for my tastes.
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I bought a 710, and then a 705 when they first came out. I thought (and still think) that the 710 didn't shrink all that well to the 705. However, I feel the reverse about the RSK Grips - I think the Mini version is a better balanced, better proportioned and better handling knife than its full-sized brother. That's all IMHO, YMMV, etc., however.
 
Heck, I'd just say get both knives, make a website on a free hosting thingy (like Yahoo), slap the logo on both knives, and write it off as advertising for your private business.

I wonder why nobody's thought of that before... :D

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Elidon
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"Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire."
 
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