So this happened..

knives_in_nature

knives_in_nature

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Jul 7, 2014
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I let my friend borrow my newest Benchmade 710 to sharpen after I dulled the edge. He came to my house to return it and he flicked it open a few times in front of me and I noticed he flicks it open harder than I've ever seen a human possibly open a knife. He opens it with incredible wrist action. When I sent the knife to him I told him he could carry it ab bit and he did. I've heard story's about it being bad to use wrist action to open knives very fast because it can be harsh. Is my knife ok? It seems fine but I don't know.
 
I'm sure it's fine.

However, wrist flicking a liner/frame lock (especially TI) can accelerate the wear. I'd bet the same would be true for the Omega springs and the AXIS bar.

Wrist flicking a 710 is not necessary as they open effortlessly with either a thumb flick or an AXIS flick.

They are plenty strong but if you don't like that let your friend know. If he doesn't listen or care what you have to say about it then sharpen your knives and keep them to yourself.
 
This is the part where you send him to a big box store to buy his own knife and can power flick that one to his hearts content. He might be confusing your knife with something else.
 
If your knife seems fine then I'm sure it is. I recommend learning to sharpen your own knives. It's so much more convenient when you can just do it yourself. I sharpen knives for a couple of guys at work and I don't know how they put up with it. Every two weeks or so they have to give up their knife so I can take it home, sharpen it, and bring it back the next day. Then if it's a Friday they have to wait until Monday to get it back. When I'm on vacation they have to wait even longer. They usually wait until the knife is pretty dull before they ask me to sharpen it. I don't mind doing it at all but that must be a big hassle for them.

If you can learn to sharpen your own knives you can always have a sharp knife in your pocket and you never have to be without your knife. There are many sharpening systems to choose from or you can learn to sharpen free hand. You don't have to be an expert at it. Just learn to get them sharp and your technique will improve over time.

I often need to touch up my knife every couple of days. Sometimes even once a day if I use it a lot or if I'm using a knife that looses its edge quickly. If I had to rely on someone else to do that for me I would go nuts.

I'm mean no offense. Just offering some sound advice.
 
The chance of there being an issue in the short time he had your knife is pretty small. Especially considering it's an Axis lock knife. There is so much room for lock movement at it wears it would take a LONG time to wear it completely out. Don't worry about it and learn to sharpen your own knives.
 
This is why I dont loan knives out. Your knife is probably okay but to flick it that hard is just unnecessary and a bit of a safety hazard as I have seen guys send knives flying across a room when it slipped out their hands.
 
It's fine. Seriously, we all groan about how bad it is to do that day in and day out, but the truth is, if the knife is any good at all it can tolerate quite a bid of stupidity of this sort. Just don't let him do it any more.

Seriously, some guys on here act as if hard wrist flicking is going to shatter your blade or something. It's incredibly stupid to do, but let's be honest about it, a properly made knife is not going to break or fail from a handful of mall ninja openings.
 
It's true the blade might not break, but it's possible that the stop pins will deform.
 
I don't know what's wrong with guys like that. I'm sure it's fine, but either way you should respect another person's belongings.
 
Us knife enthusiasts are very sensitive to the treatment of our knives. It is disconcerting to see people treating our posessions with less respect than we thing is appropriate. Vigorous flicking may or may not hurt the knife. I have read that some manufacturers will void the warranty for that. OTOH most assisted knives open very vigorously on their own and I have not read that this is a problem.

We have lots of threads on loaning knives to other people, and one good post I read said if someone asked to borrow your knife, ask them if you could borrow their wife/girlfriend.

There are occasional threads about sending a knife elsewhere for sharpening and getting a damaged knife back. I think this is similar- the person doing the sharpening doesn't understand the expectations of the knife owner. I would not think of doing this unless it was to someone with a reputation on this forum for doing a very good job.
 
I'm sure it's fine. And you learned a valuable lesson: NEVER give/lend nice knives to friends or other people in general - especially if they are non-knife people!
 
eb1118 said:
It's true the blade might not break, but it's possible that the stop pins will deform.
Click to expand...

Not on a 710... Benchmade stop pins can take a lot of pressure before deforming, and a hard wrist flick doesn't get anywhere close to it.

OP, your knife is just fine and can handle a heck of a lot more than a hard wrist flick. That being said, if you don't want your friend to do it, tell him.
 
I've heard/read it before, and I have also said it.
If a person doesn't have a knife of their own, how will they know how to treat yours?
With that being said, his friend may have knives, but who is to say that they are anything decent and they don't require the added force to open. More to the point, he may have damaged his knives in such a manner that this is the only way his knives open fully...

To the OP: I have owned a 710. Your knife is fine, it can take that plus plenty more. But for longevity sake, treat it with respect and use it as a knife, not a shock and awe campaign...
 
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one important rule: don't let anybody touch your knife, and never let anybody borrow your knife unless it's a cheap knife you don't care about.

If you're gonna be a true knife nut you must sharpen your own knives.
 
Woodcamo Nut said:
one important rule: don't let anybody touch your knife, and never let anybody borrow your knife unless it's a cheap knife you don't care about.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I've had too many knives screwed up by my dips**t friends letting them touch 'em.
My ex fiance used the serrations on my Benchmade Griptilian to cut wire with...my old former friend wrecked the edge on my CRKT Ripple, and my other buddy broke the stop pin out of my CRKT Hammond Cruiser by wrist flicking it. I sharpen my own knives, I don't let anybody, even my most trusted buddy of 16 years touch them anymore. Invest in a good whetstone or if you don't feel comfortable with that, a guided sharpening system, that's what I did, and I don't regret it. But your 710 should be fine, just monitor it and see what happens. Hey if it fails due to his wrist flippity action, go ahead and give it to him and tell him he owes you a new one.
 
I like 710's; have had a few in D2. Very nice; very strong lock. No damage.
Keep your knives in YOUR possession. Yes, learn to sharpen it, and you will be a happy camper.
 
unit said:
It's fine. Seriously, we all groan about how bad it is to do that day in and day out, but the truth is, if the knife is any good at all it can tolerate quite a bid of stupidity of this sort. Just don't let him do it any more.

Seriously, some guys on here act as if hard wrist flicking is going to shatter your blade or something. It's incredibly stupid to do, but let's be honest about it, a properly made knife is not going to break or fail from a handful of mall ninja openings.
Click to expand...

I have to side with Unit on this, I couldn't say it better.

Plus if Benchmade put out a lock that could be damaged so easily in such a short amount of time do you really think they would still be putting it on their knives? Let's be honest if it were prone to being damaged like that so easily we wouldn't be buying it or recommending their knives as cheap knock off knives made in China, etc are more durable at that point. Is it good for it, probably not. But it's not something you should be worried about, it's a knife that is designed to be used not babied.
 
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