Hey Everyone. I recently was given a new Benchmade Knife for my birthday. As a guy who is usually firmly in the camp of, “I wouldn’t pay that much for a knife”, my opinion has immediately been changed!
I’ve used many cheaper Buck knifes or other various “Big-5 sale” knifes, with good success. But, once you pick up and use one of these Benchmade knives, be prepared for your opinion of the more budget friendly knife to be changed for the worse.
Benchmade started out in California in 1988 and is now located in Oregon, where they have been since 1990. They pride themselves on making high quality knives using “non-traditional materials and modern manufacturing methods in not only building knives better but, inevitably building better knives.”
In line with their statement, I have to say, I’m really impressed with the build quality and general functionality of the knife. It has a nice weight to it, so it feels great in the hand and it’s very well made. Everything works super smoothly and opens with one hand without any issues.
This particular knife uses their patented Axis locking design. I’ve never used a knife with a design like it, but I really like it. It provides a firm lock, but is easy to disengage, and is ambidextrous. Here is the companies blurb on the Axis system.
“AXIS® A patented Benchmade exclusive, AXIS® has been turning heads and winning fans ever since its introduction. A 100-percent ambidextrous design, AXIS® gets its function from a small, hardened steel bar which rides forward and back in a slot machined into both steel liners. The bar extends to both sides of the knife, spans the liners, and is positioned over the rear of the blade. It engages a ramped, tang portion of the knife blade when it is opened. Two omega style springs, one on each liner, give the locking bar its inertia to engage the knife tang. As a result, the tang is wedged solidly between a sizable stop pin and the AXIS® bar itself. Available in manual, assist or automatic configurations.”
Overall, this is a really great knife. I would highly recommend checking one out, and if you are in the “I wouldn’t pay that much for a knife” camp, I urge you to go to a store that sells these and give one a try. If you already want one, you can order them from Amazon, http://l.santsys.com/12WGwyu.
To check out more information on Benchmade, check out their website, http://www.benchmade.com/. Also, watch a video review of the knife below!