What's going on with the Benchmade Griptilians?

T

Topahi

Joined
Nov 1, 2014
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14
I just bought a Large and Mini Griptillian and I have to return them both! The blade centering was so bad it interfered with the opening and closing of the knife (the Large was really bad). Has anyone else had a similar problem? 2 out of 2 is a pretty bad failure rate. I really liked the Mini (except for the blade centering), but now I'm concerned about the quality, and whether or not I should buy another one, or spend my money elsewhere?
 
Where did you buy them? They could be fakes if you didn't buy them from a reputable dealer.
 
The return is no problem... Just concerned if I should get another one. Maybe I'm just really unlucky?
 
I'm not sure, but I'd bet you would get a couple of good ones if you explained the situation to the company and asked them to hand select the next knives they ship to you.
 
I'm 0-3 on blade centering on grip/mini grips. The mini grip actually rubs. At some point I'm going to to send them all to BM.
 
Thanks SPY... Backcountry might be too big of a retailer to do that. Maybe I'll try it with one of the knife specific dealers.

JarrodS... Looks like I'm not alone. Seems like a glaring flaw for a manufacturer of Benchmade's reputation (and price!).
 
The Griptilian I purchased last year was off-centered; it's not enough to interfere with the mechanics, so I didn't return it, though I was a bit disappointed to buy after the price increase and see that QC issue (which I haven't seen in any budget Spyderco I've purchased).
 
I agree there is no excuse for the blade to be significantly off center on a new knife. But in the grand scheme of things it is a minor issue because you can fix it yourself. Someone just posted a thread on how to do it. All you need are some Torx bits for your screwdriver.
 
Thanks TechDoc. I reviewed that post. I performed that procedure already (pretty close to it anyway) to get the Mini "better" but it still rubs. The large was way off and I didn't try. I won't be getting the large replaced with another Benchmade. I have a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 on the way to serve for large EDC duty. The Mini Grip however was just about perfect for small EDC carry. I think I'll have a replacement come in and try my luck one more time, if it's still off, I guess I can send it to Benchmade. Or... Just go with a Delica?
 
I agree there is no excuse for the blade to be significantly off center on a new knife. But in the grand scheme of things it is a minor issue because you can fix it yourself. Someone just posted a thread on how to do it. All you need are some Torx bits for your screwdriver.
Click to expand...

Just saw that -> Linky

I'll have to give that a shot later. Will report back.
 
Topahi said:
I think I'll have a replacement come in and try my luck one more time, if it's still off, I guess I can send it to Benchmade. Or... Just go with a Delica?
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Consider the 707. Love that thing. The quality is noticeably better than the grips, but then the price is getting up there so it ought to be. It's a sweet little blade, though. One of my absolute favorites.
 
I have had very similar experiences with Griptilians lately and had to send back both I bought. One was a custom from Benchmade.

I bought one from a reputable dealer and the blade was so far off center it would touch the scale when deploying the blade. I then ordered a custom Griptilian and received it with the blade centering considerably off. Both had to be sent back. One for warranty work and the other to be returned.

The experienced ruined buying any more Griptilians for me. I will spend the money from the return on a Spyderco most likely.
 
JarrodS said:
Consider the 707. Love that thing. The quality is noticeably better than the grips, but then the price is getting up there so it ought to be. It's a sweet little blade, though. One of my absolute favorites.
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I'll echo this. The 707 is a bit smaller but it's a real pleasure to own/carry. I lent mine to a buddy who was deployed and just got it back a few days ago. He beat the crap out of it. It was a first production model with a combo blade. There's missing/flat teeth in the serrated part and marks all over. Worn finish on the handle, but the plain blade section is still good to go. You can beat up the Sequel and it'll keep on running.
 
The 707 looks great... But at twice the price of the mini grip... Ouch!
 
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I think I paid 1.5x so it wasn't quite that painful. Plus it only hurts the one time ;-)
 
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When I bought my Benchmade 940-1 it was off-center brand new out of the box, which was pretty disappointing considering the cost of the knife, either way price aside if I owned a knife company blade centering is one of several issues that should be caught in Quality Control and should stop the knife from shipping. Since MAP pricing is going to be enforced then there should be a guaranteed level of quality and don't just rest on the fact they are USA made.
 
Slight off center isn't a major issue. I have read posting from BKC company design engineer in forum and he stated that having bolt all tight, and hold down the blade and slightly bend the handle to correct it.

Over few dozen I own, I have 2 (Rift and Contego) that had issue and all are corrected now. Mind you, both of them were cosmetic.

In case of Griptilian, one with partial liner, this fix may be more difficult.

Since pivot area of AXIS lock is very tight tolorence, even a micron of washer thickness will show as off center. Not to mention the hole for the pivot screw / bolt must be perfectly alighned. By pressing handle and adjusting, this hole (more like a cylindercle shaft from micro view) can be realighned.

You can give it a try or when in doubt, send it back as BKC will fix it for you. :D
 
Well... I ordered a replacement mini Grip. We'll see how this one is. I hope this one is good, Ireally like this little knife. Who knows... There may be a 707 in my very near future.

On another note (a little off topic), I just received the Spyderco Paramilitary 2 and it's fantastic! Smooth, and locks up super tight. 'Not quite used to the Spyder hole yet, but getting there.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with help, advice, and shared experiences.
 
I have found that there are times the liners are not seated 100%, so I will hold the knife handle firmly with the blade open and then press the blade firmly to one side then the other. This has helped me with centering issues...

Jay
 
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