Short comments on my new Mini Rukus by BenchMade

[STR]

We have a new best seller here for BenchMade I think. I do like this knife and much better than its bigger brother which I also liked a lot but found too big to be practical. This one is nearly the same in size as the HK34 and 420 Resistor length wise (well actually it measures 3/4" longer but it is decieving due the the grip configuration. The area you put your hand to hold the knife is nearly identical on this one to the two mentioned) and just as wide up front for the index grip. I like the size and ample handle. The blade is flawless. The lock passes the tests I ran it through. I'm sure its fine but I really like the ones that engage a bit deeper personally. My HK axis locking knives really sink the bar deep so you can even look down and see the blade in front and in back of it. On this one the blade is tucked up a bit under the bar because the bar overhangs off the end of it and try as I might I just don't like it or trust it as much as my others even though it appears to be reliable.

In a reverse grip I find the point above the lanyard to be uncomfortable for my thumb and basically enough to prevent using that grip. If it were flatter there it would be a lot better. The pocket clip is the typical 'soft' clip like I've seen on my HK and 420 knives. They bend and move with your grip very easily which I find irritating at best. It seems to me that BM does not harden their steel clips. If they do they don't take them to the max they can be. These are usually out of 410 stainless when other compaines and makers use steel for their clips and you can take that to a max of 45 on the Rc scale when you heat treat it. They are not doing that I can tell from just using them. I take my own to that when I have Paul Bos heat treat a batch of steel clips for me and they are nowhere near as easy to move and bend as these are.

Its the best BM I've had in the looks dept, and the grip up by the index reminds me of my Emerson knives. You could hard stab this knife with confidence due to this feature. The rest of the body of the knife is nice and narrow even close to the narrowness of my Cold Steel Spectre which is also quite long and narrow so you can carry it without knowing its there until you need it. This also allows reaching into your pockets to get keys or anything else you need without having to extract your knife first. I've grown accustomed to having to do that with my CQC14 and ZT knives and even some of the other BM knives when I wear pants with tighter pockets.

I give this Mini Rukus a very high 9 on a scale of 10 with ten being the highest. With a few further refinements it would be absolutely perfect.

STR

 

[Artfully Martial]

Nice brief review...I've been looking forward to this one for a long time. Going to have a lot of hard knife buyin decisions this christmas.

Say, photos...would be just lovely.

Oh, and speaking of clips and Benchmade, I've been wanting to consult your services to maybe replace the clips on a few of my Benchmades. They're boring, ugly and don't clip well (except for the morpho clip, which is pretty sweet). Maybe some scale replacement on some Spydercos? I don't know, just toying with the idea of some customization. If you have the time, mail me at b.cook@tcu.edu .

 

[STR]

I've sent you an email.

Thanks for the comments.

I find it savory that a knife as big as my CQC13 in my signiture line can be labled a "mini" in this day and age.

The 615 is a nice folder. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to add my Wave type pocket hook to it like I did on my Spectre. Going to be more challenging than I realized being that BM put a 5/32 hole in the blade to mount their thumb stud.

STR

 

[gunmike1]

I really liked the passaround Rukus I handled. While it was OK in the pocket, but it was like pulling out a sword when people were around. They would run for cover. I'll have to check out the mini Rukus, considering how much you like it, STR.

BTW, I've been drooling over your framelock CQC-13, STR. With titanium that thick, how hard is it to disengage? Obviously you were going for strength, so I don't imagine you did a Strideresque cutout for it, either. Very nice piece.

 

[STR]

Thanks. The lock relief is .074. Surprising the knife is quite easy to work. It is the best Waving factory folder from Emerson I've had. I had it up for sale and had it sold and even pulled the add but the guy backed out. I have been debating about relisting it.

Here is my 13 relief cut out looking down at the lock compared to a CQC12 lock relief. I think it is safe to say it would take a bit more to fold the bigger slab and thicker relief yes. Not to take anything away from Ernie's knife. I'm sure its plenty for the job people do with it but I did want more you are correct. In defense of the 12, I'm sure it is easier to work and open too though but mine isn't half bad if I do say so myself.

STR

 

[Colog]

Any chance you could post a pic next to its big brother for scale?

 

[STR]

I wish. I never owned the one I had in hand to see. Once I got to see it I realized then that as much as I liked the original Rukus it was just way too big. To be honest this one is the max size I will usually consider. I would not consider this a Mini so it is kind of funny that BM does. I mean with a 5" handle and 8.75" overall length it is not what I'd consider a mini by any standard.

STR

 

[STR]

Here is the best I can do for now with a size comparison shot.

See it here beside my CQC13 on one side and my Byrd Cara Cara on the other.

The CQC13 is longer in the blade only. The BM is larger in the pocket though due to its thickness over the 13 and lighter than the Byrd, but all three are about the same in weight each according to my hands. Don't have a scale sorry.

STR

 

[Nikokurausu]

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to adding a couple of these to go with my Rukus collection.

 

[orthogonal1]

Nice handle length.

Most anticipate getting one.

 

[Jim70]

Looks like a winner to me . I llike the handle to blade ratio.

 

[gunmike1]

Thanks. The lock relief is .074. Surprising the knife is quite easy to work. It is the best Waving factory folder from Emerson I've had. I had it up for sale and had it sold and even pulled the add but the guy backed out. I have been debating about relisting it.

Here is my 13 relief cut out looking down at the lock compared to a CQC12 lock relief. I think it is safe to say it would take a bit more to fold the bigger slab and thicker relief yes. Not to take anything away from Ernie's knife. I'm sure its plenty for the job people do with it but I did want more you are correct. In defense of the 12, I'm sure it is easier to work and open too though but mine isn't half bad if I do say so myself.

STR

I handled the 12 and liked it a lot, but I really like your CQC-13. I like the blade shape of the 13 slightly better, and your framelock is just massive. Your work looks like factory, and it has to among the strongest framelocks there are (if not the strongest, it's just massive). My pocket is longing for it's first framelock, it really wants your CQC-13!

 

[Cliff Stamp]

The lock passes the tests I ran it through.

Details.

They bend and move with your grip very easily which I find irritating at best. It seems to me that BM does not harden their steel clips.

An increase in hardness would not make the clips stiffer. It only effects the point at which they deform, this of course is a real issue in clips.

If they do they don't take them to the max they can be.

Liners are the same in many folders, the SOG Vision I had used annealed liners.

...the grip up by the index reminds me of my Emerson knives. You could hard stab this knife with confidence due to this feature.

Nice looking blade profile, how is the edge geometry? The handle looks very tactical in nature. How do you see it from a general utility perspective.

-Cliff

 

[STR]

It slices very well. The edge seems a bit thick though even though it cuts and slices well enough. I think it could be thinned down some. Just guessing it is around 18 to 20 degrees. I have seen some chipping problems in BM S30V blades so thicker is probably a good idea.

The blade profile overall reminds me of some of my Spyderco flat grind blades. I sold the knife earlier and packed it up to move out so no measurements were taken. I realized I could not put my pocket hook on it to Wave it open and that was that.

Its still a very big knife in my eyes and my hand. I find it almost amusing that it is called a Mini.

As for the lock. No amount of pressure or whacking caused it to fail. I indented a board with the blade trying and it took several good whacks without notice. I don't particularly care for spine whacks but in this case I wanted to make sure the lock could indeed be trusted.

The knife is a winner I think as far as the model is concerned. It looks great but the more I got to know it in the short time I had it the more I did realize that my hand did not care much for the handle shape even though my eyes did. It reminded me of trying to hold on tight to a wedge. Just seemed to need a high spot for more retention in the rear by the lanyard to me the more I got to know it. I found it causing me to feel like my hand was sliding back on it.

Something makes my clips stiffer than these and they are the same thickness. A softer clip will readily bend and then bend back several times without a friction tear or stress line forming. Hard ones are very unforgiving there. I think a bit harder would help in stiffness personally.

Nonetheless, I don't much care for the BenchMade clips on any of my knives by them over the last few years. Regardless of what caused it the knife belongs to a friend of mine now. I've moved on to other interests now that I've seen it.

STR

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Nonetheless, I don't much care for the BenchMade clips on any of my knives by them over the last few years.

I find most clips don't have a lot of though behind them and are squarish and a real issue with ergonomics/security. I really like the wire frame clips Spyderco has been using though. Have you any comments on that very flat stock.

-Cliff

 

[STR]

I do like the Dodo clip and the one that came on the Caly III and UKPK.

I don't follow the very flat stock question. I find most of the commercial clips to be ok so long as they are invisible to my hand for the most part. Its when they feel like they are in the way that I don't care for them. On this particular BM the clip was entirely too visible to my hand, yet the one on my HK29 is not noticed at all.

I have seen a surprising result in the 'fat boy' clips vs the really thin ones I make. I had noticed that certain wider clips like those on the Emerson CQC13 in my signiture line are less noticed than some of the shorter thinner ones. Part of this of course is placement or rather mounting position but its also that the hand tends to be able to ignore the wider piece that takes up the majority width of the handle vs one that is very narrow and stands out in the middle. So what happens is the hand rides up on the clip and its not only quite comfortable its actually very sturdy. In the last few months I've sold several of the wider style clips for some guys, many repeat customers that wanted another one after buying one and while some can't quite put their finger on why they like it they do. I think its just that they look good but they are very comfortable in the hand.

STR

 

[gunmike1]

I forgot how thin the passaround Rukus was, but I did measure it and post in the passaround forum. There are also some really good pictures of how thin and acute the edge is. I think it was about .018" or so behind the bevel and well under 15 degrees, maybe 12 or so per side (and .140" thick at the spine). A few strokes and the Sharpmaker at 15 degrees and it took a great edge, with no chipping. With that one Benchmade seems to have got the heat treat right, becuse it had no chipping issues and sharpened up really nice. The profile seemed similar to the Manix, without the full distal taper and not bringing the grind quite to the spine, so I would think the mini would have a similar grind. The cutting ability also seemed similar to the Manix, which as most know is a very good cutting ability. The Rukus worked well for a variety of tasks, but the extremely thick handle could get in the way sometimes (like sharpening), and not having a choil can effect the precision of some cuts on such a huge knife. Overall a nice but chunky package, but not bad in the pocket. I would love to handle the mini, as it seems like less would be more in the case of this knife, assuming they keep the grind thin and acute.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I don't follow the very flat stock question.

Most clips are made out of flat stock, Spyderco has started using bar stock (or wire) for some of theirs. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the two types of materials for clips.

I like wider clips as well generally, on a basic level they lower the contact pressure. But as you noted, placement and orientation/style are very critical. A lot of clips as well have sharp edges, square parts, etc. .

I think it was about .018" or so behind the bevel and well under 15 degrees, maybe 12 or so per side (and .140" thick at the spine). A few strokes and the Sharpmaker at 15 degrees and it took a great edge, with no chipping.

That is good to hear and seems to indicate a trend away from the tactical edge configurations.

-Cliff

 

[STR]

Yeah the tactical edge like on Emerson knives does very little for me sometimes. They are quite strong but without sufficient leverage sometimes that does very little for you. I had my CQC14 on me the other day when I was feeding the dogs. I had one dog treat left between two dogs. One is a Saint Bernard the other a Great Pyrenees and they looked at me weird when I finally gave them each half a raw hide chew because they are used to much more.

Anyway, I had to cut this thing in half right because it was all I had until my next grocery trip. Try as I might with that 14 it just would not go through it. I walked in and grabbed my handmade flatground D2 folder out of the safe that I did as a prototype for Sal when I submitted it to him and cut right through it with little effort at all. There is something to be said about a nice thin profile and a good sharp blade.

STR

 

[Artfully Martial]

I love wire clips. I think they need to be adopted as the next generation of clips in general because:

They're lower profile and don't look like knife clips

They're rounded and don't scratch things you brush up against

The space inbetween the wires allows flesh to squish in and adds to grippiness (especially important in balisongs, like the szabo/spyderfly, versus the 4X MC models with smooth flat clips)

They look better (to me)

They have no paint to scratch off in the first two weeks of owning it