Spyderco Southard vs Benchmade 940

To me...the Southard just feels like a much better fit in my hand than the 940. My only issue with my 940 (and 943) was the handle size. I'm not talking length, the length was just about perfect; I'm talking 'girth'. When I hold a knife I like it to fill my hand a certain amount - the Southard hits that mark for me and does it in a surprisingly small package - the 940/943 just falls a little short for me. The Southard just took me by surprise honestly. I got a deal I couldn't pass up and told myself I could turn around and sell it whenever...but I'm really really liking it. I'm generally not a fan of coated blades but the blacked out one looks pretty slick.

EDIT: rereading my post I realize it sounds a bit like a 3am infomercial...'length'...'girth'...'fill my hand'...'package'...lol
 
My 943 was shit, but my contego works great!
So I would steer clear of BM for a bit, I've never seen a poopie spyderco, and its not hotly debated on here daily as to whether its quality is sub-par or not.
 
I think both Benchmade and Spyderco make some amazing beautiful very functional knives and I have a good number of both. I do have the southward, and it has been my favorite EDC folder since the day I bought it when it first came out... no matter what knives I need to carry for the day my Southard is always in my pocket as my backup... the steel is great and re-sharpens fairly easily, and if you can strop the blade it gets super wicked sharp again very easily. To me though one of the most important things is how it wears on my person and how it fits in my hand, so when it comes to choice it really hqas to suit the user and how he plans to wear it and what he will use if for.

As far as the 940 goes I haven't tried it yet so no experience with it but I do have the Phil Wilson in S90V and I think it is nothing short of incredible. Mind you I use it as a kitchen knife and it does get insanely sharp, but it is one of those steels that many would find horribly difficult to put an edge on. As for the woods I would be afraid of the blade breaking or chipping since I do not think it is as tuff as it should be, but that is the trade off one gets for higher edge retention.

The best choice you can make is the knife that fits best in your hand designed to cut what you will be cutting most of and fits your level of sharpening skills, although one's sharpening skills can always be improved not everyone enjoys spending some quality time sharpening their knives the way I do.
 
Bugout Bill said:
Buying from Taiwan is fighting communism. :grumpy:



That is speculation. I don't think it is clear what caused that Southard to explode.
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If I were to take an educated guess I'd say the blade was probably totally laser cut, and those cuts tend to heat and mess with the temper of the parts of steel they cut, so it might have been weakened at a point that it needed to be stronger. Reminds me of the problems people had with Buck Hoodlums breaking at the blade notch, buck claimed that the laser cutting was the problem and that they switched to water jetting out the blades and it solved it. So it seems like a minor design defect that can be and probably has been easily corrected.
 
mrdabble said:
Gosh if bench made is so great why does this argument continue to pop up?
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Benchmade is excellent but the 30% markup makes the Spyderco line a much better value. I love my Grip but I only paid $70 for it, they are pushing $100 now. I would personally spend an extra $20 and get a PM2, a far superior knife for pennies more.
 
adamg01 said:
Benchmade is excellent but the 30% markup makes the Spyderco line a much better value. I love my Grip but I only paid $70 for it, they are pushing $100 now. I would personally spend an extra $20 and get a PM2, a far superior knife for pennies more.
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Love my Benchmades, but one could argue that factory over in Taiwan puts out higher quality + higher value products than that factory in Oregon--at least an objective person could.
 
They are both great companies with great knives,buy the one you like,use it and be happy.
 
They are both fantastically designed knives with superb steel. The 940 will be lighter and more pocket friendly and the blade stock is thinner which makes it a better slicer in my opinion. The Southard has a thicker handle that is more hand filling. It may just come down to whether you like the axis-lock or a frame lock/flipper with bearings.
 
fzla226 said:
If I were to take an educated guess I'd say the blade was probably totally laser cut, and those cuts tend to heat and mess with the temper of the parts of steel they cut, so it might have been weakened at a point that it needed to be stronger. Reminds me of the problems people had with Buck Hoodlums breaking at the blade notch, buck claimed that the laser cutting was the problem and that they switched to water jetting out the blades and it solved it. So it seems like a minor design defect that can be and probably has been easily corrected.
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Not sure the story on the buck but that sounds like total BS. Knife blades are machined / cut before the heat treat & temper, otherwise this would be a much much more common issue.

Also afaik spyderco cuts all their blades on a water jet.
 
I didn't know the 940 was coming with CF and S90v, one of my next ones for sure, I didn't like the Alum. scales on the 940.

I have 2 Southards with thinner than stock CF Scales(I wasn't a fan of the brown), they are not going anywhere, great EDC for me.

Thanks for the heads up on the BM, it's been awhile since I've bought a BM, the CF 940 is a buy for me!!
 
I have both... I am very much looking forward to the black Southard. I by far carry the Southard more than my 940. I am partial to flippers though. I love having the different methods for deploying the blade and find the flipper on the Southard to be very satisfying. I never understood the appeal about the Southard until I got it and started using it. It's an incredible blade and my second favorite knife behind my XM-18s.
 
I handled and carried both, and can surely say they are excellent knives. But if I were to pick an all-round EDC (which does not include batoning), 940 is my choice simply because of the thinner blade making it an amazing slicer. Can't say that for the Southard, as it breaks apart apples rather than slicing them. :-) Again, it boils down to what your EDC tasks would look like -- if they are more cutting through hefty stuff, then probably Southard, but if you are a keyboard commando like me, then the 940. And if this confuses you, get both.
 
different knives with different missions. have both, love both. however the clip on the southard is just terrible. some pockets it just doesn't ride well in. 940 packs a lot of blade in that handle and being thinner is the better slicer, although the southard is not terrible by any means
 
BM 940

It's in production since 2002 [?] and you have customer service support because it's made in USA. And it's nicer design.

Southard - useless spyderhole because flipper and position of that hole - uncomfortable for use.
 
ourgon said:
BM 940

It's in production since 2002 [?] and you have customer service support because it's made in USA. And it's nicer design.

Southard - useless spyderhole because flipper and position of that hole - uncomfortable for use.
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I've had both. I still have the Southard.
 
The 940-1 is a fantastic knife - got my son one, and it kicked his 710 outta' pocket, the first time that's happened in over 5 years.
 
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