- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,609
My lovely wife treated me a Mayhem for my birthday after gifting me a 5 Max for Christmas. I have to say, the 5 Max has really grown on me. I kinda thought it might be a bit unwieldy, but despite its large size, once it unfolds it handles like a fixed blade.
The Mayhem...man I'm still trying to figure this thing out. It's got a lot I like about it, and a few things I think are kinda ho-hum. I'm going to give it some pocket time over the next couple of weeks. I dunno if it's going to kick the 5 Max out, but it does do some things really well.
So for those of you posting on the CS forum who have been living under a rock, the Mayhem is a massive folder. While the 5 Max is thicker and heavier, the Mayhem is longer as it sports a 6" blade with 5.5" of cutting edge and a longer handle to tuck the over 2.5" width away. Like the 5 Max, it sports G10 slabs (although thinner like what you find on the Recon One, Hold Out, etc) and beefy steel liners.
The Mayhem uses AUS10 instead of S35VN (unless you buy the limited edition, which I did not opt for), but the perceived use I don't think AUS10 is a slouch (more on that in a bit). The blade stock is a tad thinner than the 5 Max with a much more need sharp tip over the robust prying tip of the 5 Max. It's certainly more geared toward SD rather than replacing your Bushcraft fixed blade.
The Mayhem uses the Atlas lock which kind of acts like a Shark/Ram lock. Basically you get the fidget of a Benchmade but the strength of the Triad (Almost..
).
So what I like about this knife:
It's pretty dang smooth once you get used to the Atlas lock. You do have to pull it back more than the cross bar of an Axis, but I see this as a safety feature on a knife that is pretty much designed to be a fighter. The blade is centered and there is no slop once locked up. The knife came super sharp, and the AUS10 just screamed once I stropped it a bit. It certainly has a thinner edge than my Hold Outs.
What I don't like so much:
For as large of a knife as this is, it pretty much only lends itself to a sabre grip, or I guess I should say, it suggests heavily you hold it as such. It has several backward cut finger grooves at 45 degree angles. It inspires a thumb on top of the spine thrusting grip. Oddly enough, the overly stylized mega jimpping up the blade serves no purpose, but some fine filing toward the handle would be appreciated. I do wish it was a little more versatile in that regard. Calling something "Mayhem" and then forcing you to hold it specific ways kinda doesn't make sense
My observed and neutral thoughts on:
The thumb stud is in a useless to some/dangerous to others place. With a blade that wide, I get it. It's hard to find a place that would work for everyone. It's just that you have so much blade you could pinch open, and giving the blade a little flick with the Atlas disengaged pops it open easy and smooth. Slow rolling this thing with my average/size large hands feels unwieldy.
The amount of handle showing in pocket is quite a bit. Personally, I don't care. I wouldn't carry this when I want to be subtle, but if you are trying to not telegraph that you over 7" of folded steel and G10, the inch and a half of grip sticking out might give it away.
In short, I don't see this knife overtaking the 5 Max in terms of me favoring it. That bruiser is still going to be my go-to if I want to pack something that folds but behaves like a fixed blade.
Where the Mayhem excels is that it's a very fast to Depot and very stout SD knife. You CAN grip it in other ways, but it really locks in when you put it in a sabre grip. Thrusting and controlled more stiff (not snap) cuts would be devastating. A blade with that fine of a tip and that wide of a blade is going to sink deep. If I had to pick between the Mayhem and the 5 Max for SD, I think I would go with the Mayhem. The AUS10 is perfectly fine for that role, so any performance upgrade of S35VN isn't going to matter much.
I already have a Snaggletooth on order for it. After my kinda blah experience with the Tiger Claw folder, I think it's going to be passed on to someone else and the Mayhem carried in it's place.
The Mayhem continues the Cold Steel tradition of making something both ridiculous and deadly. Something that is a mall ninja's wet dream yet walks the walk. I think it has scratched my itch for something impractical for awhile, but the Atlas lock is a winner. I'll be looking to add more EDC friendly samples to my stables in short order.
The Mayhem...man I'm still trying to figure this thing out. It's got a lot I like about it, and a few things I think are kinda ho-hum. I'm going to give it some pocket time over the next couple of weeks. I dunno if it's going to kick the 5 Max out, but it does do some things really well.
So for those of you posting on the CS forum who have been living under a rock, the Mayhem is a massive folder. While the 5 Max is thicker and heavier, the Mayhem is longer as it sports a 6" blade with 5.5" of cutting edge and a longer handle to tuck the over 2.5" width away. Like the 5 Max, it sports G10 slabs (although thinner like what you find on the Recon One, Hold Out, etc) and beefy steel liners.
The Mayhem uses AUS10 instead of S35VN (unless you buy the limited edition, which I did not opt for), but the perceived use I don't think AUS10 is a slouch (more on that in a bit). The blade stock is a tad thinner than the 5 Max with a much more need sharp tip over the robust prying tip of the 5 Max. It's certainly more geared toward SD rather than replacing your Bushcraft fixed blade.
The Mayhem uses the Atlas lock which kind of acts like a Shark/Ram lock. Basically you get the fidget of a Benchmade but the strength of the Triad (Almost..
).So what I like about this knife:
It's pretty dang smooth once you get used to the Atlas lock. You do have to pull it back more than the cross bar of an Axis, but I see this as a safety feature on a knife that is pretty much designed to be a fighter. The blade is centered and there is no slop once locked up. The knife came super sharp, and the AUS10 just screamed once I stropped it a bit. It certainly has a thinner edge than my Hold Outs.
What I don't like so much:
For as large of a knife as this is, it pretty much only lends itself to a sabre grip, or I guess I should say, it suggests heavily you hold it as such. It has several backward cut finger grooves at 45 degree angles. It inspires a thumb on top of the spine thrusting grip. Oddly enough, the overly stylized mega jimpping up the blade serves no purpose, but some fine filing toward the handle would be appreciated. I do wish it was a little more versatile in that regard. Calling something "Mayhem" and then forcing you to hold it specific ways kinda doesn't make sense
My observed and neutral thoughts on:
The thumb stud is in a useless to some/dangerous to others place. With a blade that wide, I get it. It's hard to find a place that would work for everyone. It's just that you have so much blade you could pinch open, and giving the blade a little flick with the Atlas disengaged pops it open easy and smooth. Slow rolling this thing with my average/size large hands feels unwieldy.
The amount of handle showing in pocket is quite a bit. Personally, I don't care. I wouldn't carry this when I want to be subtle, but if you are trying to not telegraph that you over 7" of folded steel and G10, the inch and a half of grip sticking out might give it away.
In short, I don't see this knife overtaking the 5 Max in terms of me favoring it. That bruiser is still going to be my go-to if I want to pack something that folds but behaves like a fixed blade.
Where the Mayhem excels is that it's a very fast to Depot and very stout SD knife. You CAN grip it in other ways, but it really locks in when you put it in a sabre grip. Thrusting and controlled more stiff (not snap) cuts would be devastating. A blade with that fine of a tip and that wide of a blade is going to sink deep. If I had to pick between the Mayhem and the 5 Max for SD, I think I would go with the Mayhem. The AUS10 is perfectly fine for that role, so any performance upgrade of S35VN isn't going to matter much.
I already have a Snaggletooth on order for it. After my kinda blah experience with the Tiger Claw folder, I think it's going to be passed on to someone else and the Mayhem carried in it's place.
The Mayhem continues the Cold Steel tradition of making something both ridiculous and deadly. Something that is a mall ninja's wet dream yet walks the walk. I think it has scratched my itch for something impractical for awhile, but the Atlas lock is a winner. I'll be looking to add more EDC friendly samples to my stables in short order.
