Thoughts Hard Use Folding Knife- Benchmade Adamas

Lock strength and overall construction are important in a hard use folder, but blade steel shouldn't be overlooked. Steel toughness should be a big part of the equation, IMO. Cruwear has superior toughness over S35VN. And while I love 20CV for edge retention and corrosion resistance, it is by no means a tough steel. Many consider it to be chippy even.
 
Delta-v said:
Lock strength and overall construction are important in a hard use folder, but blade steel shouldn't be overlooked. Steel toughness should be a big part of the equation, IMO. Cruwear has superior toughness over S35VN. And while I love 20CV for edge retention and corrosion resistance, it is by no means a tough steel. Many consider it to be chippy even.
Click to expand...
In what situation would cruwear survive where s35vn would fail in a folder? Prying? Chopping? Hitting hard materials at very high force? In a folder?

I don't think so.

S35vn is the material for many fixed blades, where it takes a beating.

I have the adamas in cruwear as well I like it. But the advantage of cruwear in toughness in a folder is non existent in my opinion. Same as jumping to 3v in a folder. Yes cool options but it is a folder... lol the entire knife will crumble if you start treating it like a busse battle mistress.

The adamas was made in d2, which is not a high toughness steel. Watched plenty of people beat it hard and I hard used my own adamas in d2. Never seen a blade break on one. If I'm not mistaken, d2 is less tough than s35vn.
 
Last edited:
shinyedges said:
In what situation would cruwear survive where s35vn would fail in a folder? Prying? Chopping? Hitting hard materials at very high force? In a folder?

I don't think so.

S35vn is the material for many fixed blades, where it takes a beating.

I have the adamas in cruwear as well I like it. But the advantage of cruwear in toughness in a folder is non existent in my opinion. Same as jumping to 3v in a folder. Yes cool options but it is a folder... lol the entire knife will crumble if you start treating it like a busse battle mistress.
Click to expand...
Agreed, certainly the omega spring toughness is the weak point on this model, not the blade steel. The only folder I have where I wonder if just maybe the 3V could be fully tested would be my AD20, but mostly I just like having these all as a steel nerd :)
 
Docscoot said:
Agreed, certainly the omega spring toughness is the weak point on this model, not the blade steel. The only folder I have where I wonder if just maybe the 3V could be fully tested would be my AD20, but mostly I just like having these all as a steel nerd :)
Click to expand...
I had a spyderco tuff in 3v, I like over built pretty much everything. But in the application of a folder, the advantage of any uber tough steel dwindles to nearly nothing.

Sure s7 can be used as a jack hammer bit but what other part of the folder will survive being used as a jack hammer? Lol

I'd take more corrosion resistance over uber toughness in a folder.
 
shinyedges said:
I had a spyderco tuff in 3v, I like over built pretty much everything. But in the application of a folder, the advantage of any uber tough steel dwindles to nearly nothing.

Sure s7 can be used as a jack hammer bit but what other part of the folder will survive being used as a jack hammer? Lol

I'd take more corrosion resistance over uber toughness in a folder.
Click to expand...
Similar, though I live someplace fairly dry and tend to value edge retention the most, my most common EDCs lately are either k390 or maxamet. Love never having to sharpen them :)
 
Docscoot said:
Agreed, certainly the omega spring toughness is the weak point on this model, not the blade steel. The only folder I have where I wonder if just maybe the 3V could be fully tested would be my AD20, but mostly I just like having these all as a steel nerd :)
Click to expand...
But how many people have actually had an omega spring break… and not only break, but cause the knife to “fail”? Because there are two springs… and the knife will still function with one of the two springs working.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
But how many people have actually had an omega spring break… and not only break, but cause the knife to “fail”? Because there are two springs… and the knife will still function with one of the two springs working.
Click to expand...
Wasn't there that guy posting a few weeks back who had one break and it chopped off all his fingers?? :)
 
I don’t have the Adamas but very good friend of mine, next door neighbor, brings very often his D2 Adamas, along with his auto Triage 9170 to me for sharpening and I have first hand observation on those two.
‘This guy is a lineman, very handy and busy guy who runs a crew. I’ll try to snap a picture of both knives because it worth to see them. He is rotating those every month and they see some serious use every day - cutting hard plastic and aluminum insulation, some wood, branches, rope, belts and foot prep. I never seen such a hard used knives that obviously has being well taking care of. Both are incredibly strong and with well though design according to him.
Every time I touch up the blade over a glass of scotch and a nice Padron, I’m amazed how well those two blades are handling his everyday use. It takes very little to maintain the two blades with working sharpness, I usually do both around 32-34 incusuve. I believe the Triage is N680, the Adamas is D2.
‘My impression is that Benchmade usually does their HT on the lower end, maybe not the case here because that Adamas is just a good working blade he used for years along with the Triage, both with no-nonsense ergos, IMO.
 
Last edited:
More excellent input.

I’ve not seen any knives in K390 or maxamet. Frankly I’ve never heard of it until I started my search a few days ago. Which knives ?

I also like m390 in a blade. One of my favorites but, as has been stated, the steel toughness is irrelevant if the other integral parts fail

Keep rolling’ fellas. I expect lots of folks are getting the direction they’ve been looking for

Thanks
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
I don’t have the Adamas but very good friend of mine, next door neighbor, brings very often his D2 Adamas, along with his auto Triage 9170 to me for sharpening and I have first hand observation on those two.
‘This guy is a lineman, very handy and busy guy who runs a crew. I’ll try to snap a picture of both knives because it worth to see them. He is rotating those every month and they see some serious use every day - cutting hard plastic and aluminum insulation, some wood, branches, rope, belts and foot prep. I never seen such a hard used knives that obviously has being well taking care of. Both are incredibly strong and with well though design according to him.
Every time I touch up the blade over a glass of scotch and a nice Padron, I’m amazed how well those two blades are handling his everyday use. It takes very little to maintain the two blades wit working sharpness, I usually do both around 32-34 incusuve. I believe the Triage is N680, the Adamas is D2.
‘My impression is that Benchmade usually does their HT on the lower end, maybe not the case here because that Adamas is just a good working blade he used for years along with the Triage, both with no-nonsense ergos, IMO.
Click to expand...
I’m just going to be blunt… but 95% of us probably push our knives to about 50% of their potential. Very few are pushing the limits and the point of diminishing returns on durability is lower than most think.
 
Not me. I chop aluminum fence posts with my Griptilian, open up bags with concrete mix with my Manix and trim polymer windows seals with my GB1, scraping tile mud with my Rat1 and cut metal wall beams and gutters with my GoldenEye. I know how to use those without trashing it, they served me very well trough the years and still doing it.
I don’t want to delude the thread with bunch of pictures but I got lots of them in another thread here.
If my neighbor is back this weekend I’ll snap few photos just for fun.
 
I really don't get bent out of shape over blade steel when it comes to a folder if it is going to be used hard. Personally, I would rather have a steel that is easily sharpened in the field over a super steel if SHTF. I see myself making cuts that may glance or ding off of rocks or hard services as I do an emergency cut over needing the whole knife to withstand being pounded through a log or having a blade steel that can cut rope 1,042 times before needing to be sharpened but may chip out if it takes a bad bounce off the face of a rock if I am trying to score a peg to notch out a trap or lean a shelter together.

For me, hard use would be:
1: Is it reliable? Does the action work every time?
2: Is it solid? Is there anything on the knife that potentially works loose under normal use?
3: Is the blade thick/tough enough to handle hard pressure cuts, twist out notches, lightly pry apart a piece of starter kindling or packaged material?

I would say, like others have stated, the omega springs are the weakest part of the Adamas in question. Even still, having a pair of springs should yield a knife that may break but not fail. Then again, i never really expect myself to even be put in a situation where my survival is dependent on what knife I have on my person. I don't go out on such adventures where it is likely, and quite frankly, my few survival skills will be exhausted within a couple of days. After that, I'm just going to be compost with a fancy curled up in my dead fingers:P

Hard use failure for me is most likely going to be, "Crap. My Adamas must have thrown a spring.. <mutter mutter mutter walks back into the house or office or truck and grabs one of 5 other handy knives that can complete the job>"
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I really don't get bent out of shape over blade steel when it comes to a folder if it is going to be used hard. Personally, I would rather have a steel that is easily sharpened in the field over a super steel if SHTF. I see myself making cuts that may glance or ding off of rocks or hard services as I do an emergency cut over needing the whole knife to withstand being pounded through a log or having a blade steel that can cut rope 1,042 times before needing to be sharpened but may chip out if it takes a bad bounce off the face of a rock if I am trying to score a peg to notch out a trap or lean a shelter together.

For me, hard use would be:
1: Is it reliable? Does the action work every time?
2: Is it solid? Is there anything on the knife that potentially works loose under normal use?
3: Is the blade thick/tough enough to handle hard pressure cuts, twist out notches, lightly pry apart a piece of starter kindling or packaged material?

I would say, like others have stated, the omega springs are the weakest part of the Adamas in question. Even still, having a pair of springs should yield a knife that may break but not fail. Then again, i never really expect myself to even be put in a situation where my survival is dependent on what knife I have on my person. I don't go out on such adventures where it is likely, and quite frankly, my few survival skills will be exhausted within a couple of days. After that, I'm just going to be compost with a fancy curled up in my dead fingers:p

Hard use failure for me is most likely going to be, "Crap. My Adamas must have thrown a spring.. <mutter mutter mutter walks back into the house or office or truck and grabs one of 5 other handy knives that can complete the job>"
Click to expand...
But you never know when you’ll be a billionaire whose plane crashes into a lake in a remote part of northern Alaska and you need to whittle spears to kill a grizzly bear stalking you!

1642712728301.jpeg
 
waveone said:
More excellent input.

I’ve not seen any knives in K390 or maxamet. Frankly I’ve never heard of it until I started my search a few days ago. Which knives ?

I also like m390 in a blade. One of my favorites but, as has been stated, the steel toughness is irrelevant if the other integral parts fail

Keep rolling’ fellas. I expect lots of folks are getting the direction they’ve been looking for

Thanks
Click to expand...
My para3 in K390 gets a lot of pocket time. I have a Native 5 in Maxamet. I just saw a Sage 1 in Maxamet over in the sales section, that's a great deal if still available if you're looking for something to try out in that steel!
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I really don't get bent out of shape over blade steel when it comes to a folder if it is going to be used hard. Personally, I would rather have a steel that is easily sharpened in the field over a super steel if SHTF. I see myself making cuts that may glance or ding off of rocks or hard services as I do an emergency cut over needing the whole knife to withstand being pounded through a log or having a blade steel that can cut rope 1,042 times before needing to be sharpened but may chip out if it takes a bad bounce off the face of a rock if I am trying to score a peg to notch out a trap or lean a shelter together.

For me, hard use would be:
1: Is it reliable? Does the action work every time?
2: Is it solid? Is there anything on the knife that potentially works loose under normal use?
3: Is the blade thick/tough enough to handle hard pressure cuts, twist out notches, lightly pry apart a piece of starter kindling or packaged material?

I would say, like others have stated, the omega springs are the weakest part of the Adamas in question. Even still, having a pair of springs should yield a knife that may break but not fail. Then again, i never really expect myself to even be put in a situation where my survival is dependent on what knife I have on my person. I don't go out on such adventures where it is likely, and quite frankly, my few survival skills will be exhausted within a couple of days. After that, I'm just going to be compost with a fancy curled up in my dead fingers:p

Hard use failure for me is most likely going to be, "Crap. My Adamas must have thrown a spring.. <mutter mutter mutter walks back into the house or office or truck and grabs one of 5 other handy knives that can complete the job>"
Click to expand...
Your three bullet points are how I perceive hard use as well.

There has been several instances where my folder jammed up from sand in bearings, loosened from twist cuts, or even had screws back out from excessive vibration and pocket time.

As an example, I have a new Civivi that has great flipping action, but due to the bearings and thin liner lock I would not carry this knife very often.
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
Not me. I chop aluminum fence posts with my Griptilian, open up bags with concrete mix with my Manix and trim polymer windows seals with my GB1, scraping tile mud with my Rat1 and cut metal wall beams and gutters with my GoldenEye. I know how to use those without trashing it, they served me very well trough the years and still doing it.
I don’t want to delude the thread with bunch of pictures but I got lots of them in another thread here.
If my neighbor is back this weekend I’ll snap few photos just for fun.
Click to expand...
I can attest the photos you've posted seem very well used and well loved :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top