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Which Benchmade to buy?

shortyg83

shortyg83

Joined
Feb 24, 2014
Messages
105
My budget is about 150. I want a knife that will have a black blade and preferably a black handle as well.
I am torn currently between the rift and the volli.
The volli has the s30v blade, but I am not sure I could find other scales for it since they are inlayed against the liner.

Which of these two knives is better or what else should I be looking at? I want a EDC not serrated.
 
Out of those two, Rift all the way. Feels like an extension of my hand. Blade has the perfect amount of stoutness and slicyness. The Volli felt kind of blocky in my hand and I didn't like the assist. Wasn't bad as a manual, just didn't come close to the rift in smoothness. The Volli came with some blade play that went away when I took the assist out. Still didn't feel as solid as the 950. I'm a little biased though, my Rift is my favorite folder.
 
jkwithawave said:
Out of those two, Rift all the way. Feels like an extension of my hand. Blade has the perfect amount of stoutness and slicyness. The Volli felt kind of blocky in my hand and I didn't like the assist. Wasn't bad as a manual, just didn't come close to the rift in smoothness. The Volli came with some blade play that went away when I took the assist out. Still didn't feel as solid as the 950. I'm a little biased though, my Rift is my favorite folder.
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Have you ever handled an 810 contego before? Just curious, because I love everything about it especially the m4 blade and coat but the ergos are meh. the Rift looks similar, if it had nice ergos I would have to give it more serious thought
 
I'd say the Rift as well. The reverse-tanto Osbourne-designed blade is one reason, and it has a nicer handle design IMO.
 
Between these two, go with the Rift. I would give the 710 some consideration too though.
 
mrdabble said:
Have you ever handled an 810 contego before? Just curious, because I love everything about it especially the m4 blade and coat but the ergos are meh. the Rift looks similar, if it had nice ergos I would have to give it more serious thought
Click to expand...
The Rift feels much better in the hand than the 810-1401 Contego I have. The Contego feels like it's meant to be used with gloves.
It doesn't feel bad in my medium sized hand, but heavy use would be painful barehanded because of the aggressive jimping.
The Rift is also more of a EDC size vs. the Contego.
 
No real world experience with either but I will say one thing....that rift look damn fine! Loving the reverse tanto.
 
Rift. I had a Violli (did a review on here) and it just wasn't for me. Big handle, assisted and thin blade. I could deal with the thin blade for an edc, but the big handle and assisted opening (forced closing with two hands b/c of the spring tenstion) made it a poor option.

Keep an eye out for a 940/941 slightly used, as they are about the perfect edc. Light, thin body, smooth and sturdy yet long blade.
 
Rift is a 3.67" blade, kinda big for me, I'm sure I would still love it though....but I love my volli and everything about it. Beautiful knife, blade is 3.26". My volli sees a lot of pocket time.
 
shortyg83 said:
My budget is about 150. I want a knife that will have a black blade and preferably a black handle as well.
I am torn currently between the rift and the volli.
The volli has the s30v blade, but I am not sure I could find other scales for it since they are inlayed against the liner.

Which of these two knives is better or what else should I be looking at? I want a EDC not serrated.
Click to expand...

I have the Volli. It is in a group of knives I plan to sell this year. I do not care for the assist. I do like the heavy feel, although it seems from other commenters that the heaviness/bulk is not enjoyed. For me the best benchmade is the Griptilian. Although I generally like the bone collector also. I need to get to my local gun/knife show to handle a few more before my next purchase. I suggest you do the same if possible.
 
mrdabble said:
Have you ever handled an 810 contego before? Just curious, because I love everything about it especially the m4 blade and coat but the ergos are meh. the Rift looks similar, if it had nice ergos I would have to give it more serious thought
Click to expand...

I have never handled a Contego. Blade shape is the same awesomeness but with M4(haven't tried that either yet) so its probably an excellent blade. I'm not sure how thick the blade stock is on it, the Rifts is perfect imo. I didn't like that aggressive type jimping on the Manix I had, and the Contego is just overall probably too big of a knife for me personally. I can't see me liking it more than the Rift, although that is only an assumption. As far as the 154cm of the Rift, its been absolutely fantastic for me. I keep it at 15° per side and it gets crazy sharp. It'll hold that razor edge for a good amount of time, but even when it loses that it keeps slicing like a thin FFG spyderco.
 
I would say rift. I don't own a Volli but I do have a rift. The rift has a nice blade shape and size. Making the Axis lock AO sort of detracts from it's best qualities: smooth one hand opening AND closing. As of my posting time there is a used rift on the exchange for $100. I got one there for that price but mine is in better condition. If you are patient you can score one for a good price.
 
The one for 100 is not all black. The model I want is all black, including the grip and blade.
Model 950bk-1
 
shortyg83 said:
The one for 100 is not all black. The model I want is all black, including the grip and blade.
Model 950bk-1
Click to expand...

I know you want all black, but the grey/black handles really are a stunning contrast than the usual all black. We all have our preferences though.
 
+1 on the Rift. It's got excellent ergos, a blade shape that is both visually interesting and highly functional, and really cool-looking handle scales. It also carries like a fairly small knife despite being a bit on the heavy side. I recommend the black/white or black/charcoal, the all black scales look a little silly to me for some reason.
 
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