which BM folder = best fighter?

Neomentat

Neomentat

Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
534
Please help me decide between a Benchmade 710, Rukus, or Skirmish.

I've recently got rid of all my mid price range knives (which is the only type i have), mainly BM red class and Spyderco Endura/Delica etc...

I figure I'm never going to use that many knives, so I sold them all and am going to buy just ONE expensive knife that I'm going to carry everyday. I don't use a knife for very many things and I mainly carry one for protection purpose.

Here's the thing, I practice drills every now and then so by no means am I very proficient with a knife. I have sweaty palms therefore I favor knives with guards. I like big knives but fixed blades are out of the question.

Can someone please advice me on which of the above 3 Benchmade knives I should buy? The main role of this knife is that of a fighter.

Thanks in advance.
 
By all means seek out numerous opinions. I for one can speak about the rukus. It is one of my edc blades. If I was stuck with one blade currently this one gets the nod. Why, my thoughts on a blade are not fancy. I think self protection first, mundane chores secondary. Depending on who you ask, that may very. It is something about this blade that answers many questions in terms of folders. Even though it is large per say it has a more basic blade shape that makes it look more utility than spec ops do dad. It is a fist load in the closed position which gives you the various yawara or kuboton type techniques. This should not be overlooked....you may be only reduced to that option if you do not have the split second to open the darn thing! The opening action itself is butter smooth. The axis lock proves to be rock solid with no blade play. I definately feel confident with this blade protecting my backside if it ever came to in the closed/opened position. Basic,durable,excellent F&F. I like it. I have been primarily toting Spydies, but this model deserved my consideration and I have not regretted it since!
 
What about the emerson commander?

I have my eyes on the BM 710 myself but I think the skirmish or mini skirmish would suit you better because it has more of a guard.
 
Rukus all the way. It has the most practical blade and regardless of the SD purpose, you will still use the knife for every day things and the flat ground, drop point blade will be your best choice. It is what I currently have in my pocket.:D :thumbup:
 
Aw I hate to jump into the fray here, but I'm with Garth. If you need the knife for SD, you're going to get into just as much legal trouble as if you used a firearm (a deadly weapon is a deadly weapon under the law... well for the most part), and a firearm will work many many times better. Am I guilty of being comforted by the SD capabilities of my EDC...sure. But that is far from my primary intent, and if it ever came down to using it in such manner I'm pretty well FUBAR anyhow (I'm a big guy and pretty well capable of holding my own).

Only time my knife was ever any use in SD was as a deterant at a woodshop I worked at back in the day. Couple guys straight out of the joint were starting some major trouble with me, and I casually put my hand down on my big old folder. One guy noticed and kinda nudged the others. But I am very lucky, as it easily could have gone the other way.

Not to mention if your carrying a knife large enough to be a decent primary SD blade, there is a good chance you'll need a CCW/CWP in most places.

But hey, thats my opinion with a little ancedotal experience thrown in.
 
Best fighter....
The one with the biggest blade.
All other things being equal, size does matter!

Senario:
Two men are heading your way with intent to kill you.
One of them has a 17" machete and the other has a Stanley box-cutter.
You have a pistol.
Which man would you shoot first?



I'm guessing that most here would choose to shoot the guy with the machete first.
Why?
Because we know that he has the most potential to do the most damage the quickest.
 
Balisong are highly illegal here in California, however any size folder can be carried concealed here no problem.

The reason why I want to carry a knife is because of it's versatility, at the apartment where I live I will have to park across the street at a back parking lot of a warehouse complex. It's dark, doesn't have any lights and I always see shady ass people there. (Johns doing their thing with hookers) By all means it's a high crime area to start with and I worry about the what if situation.

I don't want to have to fight somebody or ever have to get into a conflict like that, but I think in a dark area, a knife is quicker and easier to use than a firearm in short distance. I do own a few guns but I don't have a CCW so i'm not going to carry it, even though a first time offense is only a misdeameanor.
 
I have the 710... it's a great knife .... but if I was in a knife
fight I'd go with the biggest blade possible.
so that would be the Rukus.

If you plan on using a knife to defend yourself make sure
you get some real training... and I mean full out hard core
many months, with sparring and adrenaline stress
conditioning training. Otherwise, you'll end up in a world of
hurt. Pulling out a knife escalates the situation and your adrenaline
will spike to never before experienced levels. Which
will cause your fine motor skills to go haywire and just opening
the knife will be really really difficult.

Of course you may know all this already.... then just ignore me!
Since we are all friends here... I just don't want to see anyone get hurt.
 
I think the blade shape on the skirmish is not very practical. I'd pick the ruckus or the 710. I have the 710 and it is a great blade for all uses. You might want the ruckus for that molded grip tho. I am dubious about my knife as a self defense tool. I carry my gun when I feel i'm in a dangerous place. My guess is that most people who are going to try to rob or hurt you, are already armed. Pulling out a pocket knife may not be the best solution to a confrontation as they may well shoot you. I'm not saying I'd never pull my knife out if needed. I would keep it hidden until I could slash the person's face or hands. Give them something else to worry about besides robbing me.

just my 2 cents.
 
Your location isn't listed so I'm not sure what your local laws are like.

Why don't you carry a firearm instead? A knife is a horrible self defense tool in the grand scheme of things.
 
I have the 710 and just got the mini-rukus. The full size rukus was a little too large in the pocket for me and the blade is over 4" so I can't take it to work due to building restrictions. The rukus has a better grip in that it fills the hand and has deep grooves. The 710 is easier to conceal and carry. They both open smooth and quick. If you can carry the Rukus I would choose it.

Another option is to keep a Cold Steel special forces shovel in your vehicle and carry it back and forth with you. It's in your hand already and pretty much sends a message that you are not going to be easy prey. This would work from your car to your place and back. Or you could carry a walking stick with a weighted end. If it's made strong it would serve you well.:D

Just my 2 cents.
 
There were some pretty good posts in this thread. I always live by the rule, "don't go anywhere with a gun (or knife) that you wouldn't go without one," If you do, you are looking for trouble.....

I like the idea of carrying a knife for Self Defense, but for use as a last resort only. I don't have any formal defense training and what was said previously in this thead is true 100%. Try to avoid a situation or conflict at all costs.

You might want to look into carrying mace/pepper spray/tear gas with you as a first resort or a flashlight like this one, and use the knive as your last resort.

18-1060.jpg


Don't rule out a flashlight like this. At night it is bright enough to temporarily blind someone's night adapted vision at close range. At closer range it can be used as an impact weapon. And at further distances it can be used as a deterent......trust me shining a bright flashlight at anyone from 10-30 feet away gives them the instinct to run if they are up to no good (police,etc).

Your next step would be to use the pepper spray if necessary, and again distance is still kept between you and the attacker. Last resort would be fighting, knife fighting, or a gun fight......but if you pull a knife out to fight you better know how to use it. If someone is 10' away and you pull a gun on them, it's not hard to shoot them, but it takes skill to fight with a knife so I would only use it as a last resort if your life depended on it.
 
I don't know, if they know you ain't a cop its probably just going to piss them off... I love flashing people with the LED light on my phone at parties though! Only people I know, of course!
 
Even with closed eyes 65 lumens of light is strong enough to make you see spots for awhile, and I've only shined one in my closed eyes for about 1 second. That's only if they're close enough though.
 
Neomentat, you should consider a gun instead. Knife is definitely the poorest of all choices for you and the assailant.


allenC said:
Scenario:
Two men are heading your way with intent to kill you.
One of them has a 17" machete and the other has a Stanley box-cutter.
You have a pistol. Which man would you shoot first?
Click to expand...

The one that seems to be the leader of the pack. They usually move in first and do the talking. It's highly likely anyway that once one is down the others scatter.
 
Anyone of the HK axis locking folders are in my experience going to be top shelf. These HK folders and fixed blades are some of the highest tolerance consistantly built production knives in the industry that I have ever handled, taken apart or worked handle modifications and Wave mods on.

I've posted before on this but can't find it. I once owned three HK34/14200 knives and three HK29/14210 knives at the same time. Up until recently I still had two of each. At one point out of curiousity but mostly out of boredom I took all these HKs completely apart, spread out the parts on my table and shuffled them. I then put them back together using the parts from each other. Some got handles that were on another, some got blades, some got screws, some locks, and so on. You couldn't even tell and no one would ever know it when I put them all back together. They all worked as before and didn't really have any issues like a part overhanging or underhanging or a lock not seating right or anything. Thats how precise these were. Now granted they were all bought around the same time and I may have just been lucky with this on six knives in separate models. Kind of makes me wonder though.

For what its worth, I've tried this with other brands and good ones too I might add from companies we all love. Didn't work well though. In fact in most all cases it was very easy to determine where the part originally went with a little bit of experimentation because it was obvious it didn't quite fit where it was when it was in the wrong place. This was not the case with the HK knives I had. I was very impressed personally. That my friends is precision engineering at its best.

STR
 
The one that seems to be the leader of the pack. They usually move in first and do the talking. It's highly likely anyway that once one is down the others scatter.
Click to expand...
That was kind of a generic response.
But who would you shoot first in the specific senario that I provided?

It's a "no brainer".
Heck, even if the box-cutter guy is "the leader", and you put a bullet in the chest of his machete weilding follower, I'm betting you still have better odds to survive than if you shot the box-cutter guy first.
Because of the size of the weapon, all the machete guy needs is one hit to do you in.
But it would be very difficult for someone to quickly kill you, with one hit, with a box-cutter.
The only way I can see it happening is if they cut a carotid or femoral artery...and they would have to be very close AND very lucky.

Ask yourself this:
If the ONLY weapons you had were a 17" machete and a 1" box-cutter, and you heard the proverbial "bump in the night", which would you choose to carry to investigate?

Again, it's really a "no brainer".
 
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