Spyderco Tenacious v.s. Benchmade Vex Face Off!

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I have never used either but am interested in both. It seems they were born to compete against one another so a how do they compare thread seems natural.

Which do you like more and why? How do their respective qualities compare? They use the same steel but do they preform equally?
I, for one, am quite keen to know!
 
The Tenacious feels like a 50-60 dollar knife, the Vex...feels like a 25 dollar knife.
 
SEH95B said:
The Tenacious feels like a 50-60 dollar knife, the Vex...feels like a 25 dollar knife.
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I agree completely. Just yesterday I was in Dick's Sporting Goods with my Tenacious in my pocket. They had a vex and I got to hold both...Tenacious feels way better. Still in love with my Tenacious....I may get one or two more of those instead of other knives. I just love it!
 
I owned both and found the Tenacious to be a much better knife.

Having said that, I sold both of them as I have decided that liner locks are not for me.
 
I have owned both. I still own Tenacious' but I don't own a Vex. The Vex was a decent knife and I did actually like the clip. The opening hole was too close to the handle and the knife felt really hard and generic like to me after a while.

The Tenacious however feels like about a $50 or more knife. In fact it could be said that it seems as good as some of the knives that are about $100 from Spyderco. The Tenacious is a crazy good knife.

The Tenacious was sharper, bigger, felt better in the hand, is easier to open, has a better clip, has a better blade grind....

I'm just not much of a fan of anything from China. ;)
 
My tenacious has major problems with the washers and I am having ALOT of trouble trying to get replacment washers (Even spyderco wasn't able to send me the right size, Thanks though for trying!) It still is a very good knife but the washers are really bugging me. The Vex on the other hand actually seems to be one of the most rock solid knives I own, ZERO blade play and almost flawless fit and finish but like everyone said the deployment speed isn't very good on the vex. As of now I like my Vex way more then the tenacious but if I got my tenacious fixed I probebly would like them the same.
 
Hi Mattman,

Hard to imagine that Spyderco couldn't fix your Tenacious.

Most of the time we have problems with "innards", it's because someone took them apart and didn't have the skill to properly put them back together.

Why don[t you send the knife in and call it to my attention.

sal
 
I own a Vex and agree with Runsalone and Mattman888. I've handled a Tenacious at a knife show and I think that the BM is the better knife. I will say though that I'm more of a BM kind of guy. I own a few Spyderco knives, and they are fine I just prefer BM.
 
I like the Tenacious. Love the grind, the clip, the handle is great. I really love Spyderco's G-10, it feels a lot better then BM's for some reason...

That being said, I'm a Spydie guy, so my opinion is colored.
 
I have the Tenacious but not the Vex so the Tenacious is obviously the better choice ;) .

As others have already said, the Tenacious does feel like it should cost at least twice as much as the $30 I spent. It has great fit and finish, smooth and fast blade opening thanks to tho phosphor bronze bushings, solid lockup with no blade play and the sharpest out of the box knife I've had. Also, I like the size and ergos on the knife as well as blade shape.
 
I have not owned a Tenacious, so, I can't speak on that one. I have owned a Vex and thought that it was way nicer than the price tag. The action is smooth, the lock up is nice and tight, the corners on the G10 are nicely radiused.... the only fault I found was that I didn't care for the blade coating. I'd be willing to wager that you couldn't go wrong with either. It seems that both companies have taken great pains to retain the soul of their product line in their "starter model"
 
I had a gentleman over the other night. He owns some Benchmades, some Spyderco's, one CR that I know of, and a couple other custom knives. So he is a knife nut just like the rest of us.

I showed him my new Endura, along with the Tenacious I picked up. I asked him how much he would pay for the Tenacious. He said $50-$60. When I told him it was less than $30, he about fell over.

I haven't held the Vex, but it would have to be a hell of a knife to beat the Tenacious.
 
I love my Tenacious...Although I have many higher-end knives (other Spydercos, BM, etc...and a couple customs), I find myself carrying my Tenacious every day. There is nothing about it that I can find fault with...I actually bought another PE Tenacious and I'd like to get the SE version as well...Thanks Sal!
 
I played w/ both before making a decision to buy the Tenacious. I REALLY liked the way the Tenacious felt in my hand more than the Vex. I don't recall if the Vex had a flat grind, but I like that on the Tenacious. Super sharp out of the box.
 
You get more choices with the Vex, and for that reason, it's better.
The Benchmade Vex was one of my first good tactical folders. I got the Tanto version, as it had a thumb stud, which I prefer over a hole. I have not handled a Tenacious, but I do know Spyderco builds a good knife. That said, my Vex held up better than my Meadowlark, and compares fairly well to my ZDP-189 Endura. My Byrd didn't. The Vex is a bit beefy, but that can be said for either knife. I also really liked the clip design on the Vex, although I had constant problems with the screws (Loc-Tite would probably solve these, as they were just coming out.) All in all, I really liked the Vex, and it served as my primary folder for quite a while.
In the end, though, it all comes down to what floats your boat. Personally, I like a little variety, so the Vex was right for me.
(Although, if I may add a word of advice, bypass both of them and get something like this:
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=KS1820
1820.jpg

)
 
jim preston said:
You get more choices with the Vex, and for that reason, it's better.
Click to expand...

Yeah but it dos'nt matter if the choices are inferior in the first place. If the tenacious was offered as a partially serrated tanto would anybody want one?

Having only handled both briefly, the only one i would buy is the tenacious. It just feels solid, light, and has a good edge geometry and blade shape. Only reason I didn't get it then is because I had seen them for a better price at a preferred store, and just bought an opinel 5 minutes early with my sister present. The vex just felt like a heavy, cheap knife with an ugly finish. Maybe I'm just partial to Spyderco.
 
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