Spyderco V Benchmade

[Steven Andrews]

50 posts that time though.. are the Mods losing their edge?

 

[brownshoe]

To me the biggest difference between the two companies is warranty and repair.

Spyderco cannot repair their knives. They do not stock repair parts. They even recently told someone they could not replace a blade in a Mannix, a knife still under production. Benchmade stocks repair parts. Within the past year they replaced the blade on a knife that was 10 years old and out of production for about 7.

Spyderco changed their warranty policy a few years back. Older knives that were covered for design defects are no longer covered. They changed their policy and charge for things that were covered under warranty in the past. Benchmade has not done this. For their blue-box line, they still have the same warranty as at the turn of the century.

Mr. Glesser says this is because Spyderco is too small to offer this type of service. That's a legitimate reason to not offer the same level of service as Benchmade, Case, etc. It's also a legitimate reason to pass on a Spyderco for a hard use folder.

 

[Lawlor69]

If I may add a kind of rejoinder to Brownshoe's comment re: warranty and repair. He may be onto something, but that doesn't mean that Sal's comment (Spyderco is too small to offer this type of service) about warranties is wrong or somehow unfair to consumers either. It's my observation that Benchmade seems to offer fewer lower-priced knives and more middle-priced and a lot more upper-priced knives than Spyderco, and so in effect may be pricing warranty and repair into each knife it sells. Spyderco, with its generally lower price point, may not be doing that as part of its business model. That's not a negative by any means, or indicate that they have a lower quality product than Benchmade, especially when you consider that may people--even ones who go out and buy name-brand knives--don't really care about their longevity.

Note, as a caveat I want to add I come to this discussion from a largely 'academic' perspective: I'm a bit of a noob here, and don't own and have never even handled a Benchmade and have only owned one Spyderco, an original Endura that I recently sold via this site. In the sake of full disclosure, I'll add that I have a Delica 4 coming my way, which I got via networking here. But if I could afford a Benchmade--or saw a truly killer deal on one (like I did on the Delica)--I'd probably get it. That's my two cents.

 

[hunter3030]

I like both companys, both make good knives. If I had to pick one I would go with a Benchmade, becuase I think they look nicer and the axis lock is awesome.

 

[carrot]

I don't see anything wrong with Benchmade knives. (Not about to discuss knife politics.) There are a few that appeal to me, but many do not. With Spyderco, many knives are very unique and that appeals to me greatly. I'm a HUGE fan of flat ground knives, and Benchmade does not really offer many (any?) flat ground knives. I find knives with flat grinds tend to be more useful for my purposes, and they appeal to me more aesthetically.

Many people who love Benchmade knives think that the Spyderco "hump" that is found on many of their knives as a direct result of the trademark Spyderhole is ugly, but I do not agree, and I find that they add quite a bit of utility to the knife, being able to apply more forward pressure on the blade, which comes in handy more than you might think. Something I really appreciate about Spyderco is their blades may not be the strongest or prettiest, but when it comes to pure utility they are number one.

 

[zenheretic]

If I may add a kind of rejoinder to Brownshoe's comment re: warranty and repair. .

Lol. why bother, you would be better served by putting him on ignore. He harbors a single minded purpose to bad mouth Spyderco at every opportunity. His above statements are rather out of context, for Sal was responding to Brownshoe regarding every knife Spyderco has made over the years...and of course it somehow gets twisted by Brownshoe. No shocker there.

Hi Mr. Brownshoe. I agreewith you in principal, but...realistically, it is just too much for us. 20 - 30 new models per year, 10 - 20 "refinements" per year, for year and years. Too many different parts, too many parts that are very close, too much cost for inventory, etc. We're having a hard time just keeping clips for all of the many models we've built.

In this case, the knife was made in Golden, and it's a current model, so there is a greater chance that we can do something.

sal

Judgeforyourself

and for posterity

To me the biggest difference between the two companies is warranty and repair.

Spyderco cannot repair their knives. They do not stock repair parts. They even recently told someone they could not replace a blade in a Mannix, a knife still under production. Benchmade stocks repair parts. Within the past year they replaced the blade on a knife that was 10 years old and out of production for about 7.

Spyderco changed their warranty policy a few years back. Older knives that were covered for design defects are no longer covered. They changed their policy and charge for things that were covered under warranty in the past. Benchmade has not done this. For their blue-box line, they still have the same warranty as at the turn of the century.

Mr. Glesser says this is because Spyderco is too small to offer this type of service. That's a legitimate reason to not offer the same level of service as Benchmade, Case, etc. It's also a legitimate reason to pass on a Spyderco for a hard use folder.

 

[dialex]

I think both companies make great knives. Each has beautiful models and innovative solutions.
However, I will probably pick a Spyderco before a BM as their knives are closer to my philosophy. This doesn't mean I would pick ANY Spyderco, as there are models I absolutely love (like Ed Schempp's Persian), some models I like and others which leave me indifferent.
Spyderco spoils us with exotic steels, perhaps more like any other knife company I know of, and this really hits the spot to the old steel snob in me
OTOH, There are also a few BM models which I like (like the Infidel) , but it's most unlikely I'll ever get any of those, as I'm merely the user type myself and the abovementioned knife is not even close to a Spyderco when it comes to functionality and reliability. Not to mention the price point. If the Infidel would be up to say 100$, so I can buy one, play a couple days with it and forget it in a drawer, I would probably end by getting myself one eventually.
However, there is one particular BM I will get for sure: BM model 42. I'm afraid when it comes to balisongs BM still is the king. I still think my ultimate balisong would be a BM 42 with an S30V blade and IKBS
Spyderco started very nicely with their own line of butterflies, too bad they had to end like this...

 

[wotanson]

I like fully serrated SpyderEdge blades and the trademarked Spyderco opening hole , so Spyderco for me, never had the urge to buy a BM for the above stated reasons.
Cheers,
Rob

 

[Et tu Brute?]

I own a few of each company, but my favorite knife is a BM Rukus, perfect for my huge mitts, and I can snap that blade open in a flash.

 

[J85909266]

To me the biggest difference between the two companies is warranty and repair.

Spyderco cannot repair their knives. They do not stock repair parts. They even recently told someone they could not replace a blade in a Mannix, a knife still under production. Benchmade stocks repair parts. Within the past year they replaced the blade on a knife that was 10 years old and out of production for about 7.

Spyderco changed their warranty policy a few years back. Older knives that were covered for design defects are no longer covered. They changed their policy and charge for things that were covered under warranty in the past. Benchmade has not done this. For their blue-box line, they still have the same warranty as at the turn of the century.

Mr. Glesser says this is because Spyderco is too small to offer this type of service. That's a legitimate reason to not offer the same level of service as Benchmade, Case, etc. It's also a legitimate reason to pass on a Spyderco for a hard use folder.

Sal has stated multiple times that the blade on that Manix can be replaced. Don't lie, it kills what credibility you may have had.

Spyderco keeps replacement parts for old models until they run out. I know this for a fact, as I have received replacement parts for discontinued models.

They are, however a small, and extremely active company as far as new models, refinements, and sprint runs go. It would be impossible to keep enough replacement parts for all of these models years after they are no longer in production. They would not be able to be the company that they are, and I happen to like what they do, right now. Many do.

As far as Benchmade goes for comparison: BM's blue and black lines keep the same models year after year, and even discontinues many of their biggest production designs, so it's a lot easier for them to keep parts in stock when their line up is rarely changing. Even with that fact, I see way more threads pop up with people dissatisfied with BM's warranty than Spyderco's. In fact, you are the only person I ever see that has a problem. I even saw a thread made by a guy upset about the exact same problem you accuse of being exclusive to Spyderco. BM couldn't repair his discontinued models due to them being long out of production. Go figure.

We get it. You fell in love with Spyderco's old warranty, and you have been on a personal vendetta ever since it changed. Sorry, man. Some things are too good to work. Spyderco is a bigger, more dynamic company now, and that old warranty was no longer cost effective, and probably even impossible to honor. They are a business, a livelihood, after all. They can't afford to make stupid decisions in some attempt to be perfect.

It's a compromise. They can drop half their line and projects, stop constantly refining and pumping out new, fresh stuff and sprints, and focus on their core sellers and always have replacements parts, or they can be what they are, and bring what they bring to the table, and have to disappoint a few customers that broke their old, discontinued knife or limited run.

Bottom line, get over it. They aren't for you.

 

[PSU]

They even recently told someone they could not replace a blade in a Mannix, a knife still under production.

I could be wrong but I believe that you are referring to the recent thread regarding a broken blade of a Manix that resulted from batoning. In addition to Sal's post that was referrenced by zenheretic, I have attached Sal's remaining posts from that thread...

Hi Hamon,

Your response was both mature and responsible. Goodonya!

I don't think a Razel tip would fit into the handle as is.

Should you change your mind on sending it in, please call the knife to my attention.

sal

Hi Travis.

Looks like your knife has been working hard.

What did you use to baton the blade?

You might want to send it in and let me have a look?

sal

The president of a company is willing to take a personal interest in an issue from a customer that was posted online. Although others may disagree, that sounds like great service to me. I have had to deal with Spyderco Warranty & Repair several times and in each case I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome :thumbup:

 

[brownshoe]

Per the thread on the Manix, the gentleman indicated that he had contacted spyderco and was told the only thing that can be done is to reground the tip.

So the official spyderco word on the Mannix was no blade replacement.

Only after it was discussed in this forum was the "chance" of a blade replacement mentioned. Mr. Glasser has indicated many times he doesn't want to get involved in warranty or repair issues, but he did in this case. The guy was lucky, but if he believed what the factory said, he'd get charged $20 for a tip reground and no new blade. Benchmade charged $25 dollars for a new blade (4", ATS34, out of production for 7 years).

 

[zenheretic]

I own a few of each company, but my favorite knife is a BM Rukus, perfect for my huge mitts, and I can snap that blade open in a flash.

Nice looking Knife Et tu! :thumbup:

 

[sherlockbonez]

Personally, I have not send anything in to repair (Spyderco/BM). I use my knife till the die, when they do, I have fun picking out the next one. I would only send a knife in if it's FUBAR from the factory, and not from my own abuse. However, if it's screwed up to begin with, I would never buy it in the first place.

 

[tanachote]

I like them both but I have much more Spydy than BM