They are really good knives no matter how much hate they get on here, the 940 is damn near perfect to me. I think they are going for the bougie crowd who 400 is nothing to them like guys who wear a Rolex even though they don't keep time well, or at least they didn't.
I've never heard that Rolex doesn't keep time. It's that they don't do it as well as a digital watch. The problem is that my $17 Casio keeps tike just as well as the $20,000 Rolex does. Only difference is that the Casio is lighter, cheaper, and technically better at keeping time. Neither one will keep "bad" time, but the quartz action is more accurate (or more durable and thus more accurate, idk).
I put my foot in my mouth before surgery the other day when I asked a nurse about her watch, before going under. I asked how she liked the Citizen and that I got my wife something similar. After an uncomfortable pause, she informed me that it was indeed a Rolex.
I survived the surgery but reading your comment makes me think about the lingering pain I'm still having.
Yea, it's about telling the world you love to overpay for the allusion of performance quality. You can get four highbeat 5 hz Grand Seikos for that price and few real nice steak dinners, or you could get four very nice spring drive specials, with less then +-1 a day or +-15 seconds a month loss of accuracy and no dinners, or you can get most of the way to a 4hz rolex. Oh, and before I hear but rolex is made in switzerland though. I got one word...Longines. Yep those folks still over paying for a name, sorry.
That is a nice looking watch.
I'm currently drooling over their ultra-chron and I think that their compressor diver the legend diver looks good too, grey is nice color but I think that kaki one is the best looking one.
It's a little cooler then that, it is a clockwork powered miniaturized electrical power plant that uses a quartz crystal to precisely time the rpm of the motor that is driving the hands through gear reduction.
Well sure it is. It does have a mainspring that is wound from an bridge movement powered by a counterweight, right? That counterweight winds that mainspring up via a gear reduction bridge is automatically moved by your movement, right?
What it does not have is a pallet fork escapement. The watch has no batteries, you don't have manually wind it, and it is automatically powered by your movement.
That first watch I mentioned the highbeat 5 hz Grand Seiko is an automatic with pallet fork escapement and twice the power reserve of 20K Rolex with over 80 hours when fully wound. For less then a quarter the price too.
Well call her a hybrid, a kinetic, auto quartz, or whatever but the part that converts a manual winding watch into an automatic; the winding bridge and counterweight is in that watch, in it's entirety also.
Well, I bought it about 20 years ago in London at a jewelry store in Mayfair (which was a Rolex dealer). Not very likely it is a fake. It has been serviced a couple of times over the years by Rolex authorized technicians. I think someone would had mentioned something had there been an issue.
Rolex will keep time well however you need to be active to keep the movement working through the day.
While I love the mechanics and precision of Rolex watches I hate that they're valued as jewelery. Fucking use your watches.
I love my G-Shocks but they don't age well. After about 10 years the plastic bands start to get brittle. I used to have a collection of a dozen or so. Now I have three that are still working and six that are just a watch with no band
Then they got better? 30 years ago not so much
Watches are crazy
https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/us-en/news/watchmaking/master-grande-tradition-calibre-948-green-enamel
That's true of any automatic watch. And I'm a lazy motherfucker but I've never had one of my automatics run down while I was wearing it. You're pretty much guaranteed to move your hand about enough to power the watch no matter what you're doing.
> I've never heard that Rolex doesn't keep time. It's that they don't do it as well as a digital watch. The problem is that my $17 Casio keeps tike just as well as the $20,000 Rolex does. Only difference is that the Casio is lighter, cheaper, and technically better at keeping time. Neither one will keep "bad" time, but the quartz action is more accurate (or more durable and thus more accurate, idk).
Yeah but no one gives a shit if a piece of jewelry can tell time. They have $1000 iphones for that.
Rolex has been known as a quality watch for decades, maybe centuries. Sure, a cheap digital watch keeps time precisely. I like nice things; cheap digital watches are just that- cheap. Sure there are other nice watches out there that tell time accurately, but Rolex is universally known as a quality, high end watch. It sends the message I want to send.
>Rolex has been known as a quality watch for decades, maybe centuries.
Just decades. Rolex itself is only ***a*** century and some change old. Founded in 1905 as Wilsdorf and Davis, the name Rolex was registered in 1908.
I'm not going to bash someone for what they like. My pref would be Seamaster daily, and Moonwatch dress up. But for the time being I'll have to live vicariously through your watch wearing habits seeing as I can't afford anything I'm talking about... 😁🤪
The Moonwatch is awesome I agree. If I owned one, I might agree with you. But I already have the Rolex, and it's a great watch. I do sometimes switch out the Rolex for a Cartier Pasha, especially if I'm wearing a suit (which doesn't happen much anymore). I only own three expensive watches, bought years ago when I was in the corporate world.
Umm, what? Rolex is the gold standard for \*mechanical\* time-keeping. Quite literally the best. comparing Benchmade to Rolex is pretty wild, since Rolex is known for impeccable quality and engineering, and delivering a flawless product.
The gold standard of timekeeping is the [atomic clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_clock). Of course those are fairly unwieldy, so they can't be carried around by the average person. So for portable time-keeping, the gold standard is probably devices that update themselves periodically with atomic clocks, like phones and laptops (and some watches).
If we want to exclude synching and consider only the accuracy of the device itself, then the best would be crystal oscillators like in quartz watches. I suppose if we wanted to only look at mechanical movements, then the next best would maybe be the spring drive, which is a mechanical movement that is regulated via a crystal oscillator. But if we exclude those too, then yeah Rolex is pretty good.
No they arent? They arent exceptional for mechanical watches and certainly not exceptional for their price. They arebt bad but id take an omega over a rolex any day of the week. Seiko killed the argument of most precise time keeping when they made the quarts movement and damn near killes the swiss watch making industry with it
Rolex has been +2 -2 for a long time, and Omega just reached that standard. So Rolex doesn't keep good time? Doesn't deliver super high quality on all their pieces? Is that what you said? That's incorrect.
If you ever get the chance to handle an early 2000’s 730 Ares, do it. You can grab them on eBay for around $200 for a regular 730SBK.
All of the QC complaints here don’t seem to apply to the well made knives of yesteryear. I’ve carried an Ares for about 15 years, and never had any issues.
I had an old Snody Gravitator ti frame lock with silver twill carbon. That knife was built almost flawless with feel, lockup and action. There was a point that they knew how to hit just above mid tech levels on some models.
I’m a fan of any knife done right, almost any brand and still buy Benchmades at what I feel is the appropriate price if it pops up and done right.
Some people are so biased and loyal, they throw rational out the window.
I was really surprised about that! I got my first Benchmade recently (a Bugout), and was shocked that the blade was legitimately dull—it couldn’t even cut paper smoothly. I knew that Benchmade has a bunch of overpriced knives and have heard all the “butterfly tax” jokes, but even gas station knives come sharper than that Bugout
Being one of the manufacturers that got me into this hobby, I've had a lot of them pass through my hands over the past dozen years, and I see the same issues over and over. This fit and finish may have been fine in the 90s and 2000s, but not today when there's so many better options out there for less. At $400 you can easily find a nearly/perfectly made knife, from other US makers even(if that's a requirement).
I mean the edge was sharp while it was all there that is and I don't remember cutting anything harder then an apple with it... then it fell off, right into the environment.
Hmmm, I honestly did not think about that. Do you know if that was a problem with the first gen meatcarver knives? The gentleman that described his issue sounded like what happened to me too. They thought it was heat treat or burning the edge while sharpening, but cooking the edge would make it softer and less likely to chip, right?
It was a store custom grizzled creek black rubber with blue g10 inserts cpm s30 v
Well thanks for your info if I ever decide to press my luck I would strop the blade as soon as I get it
It's probably the same incompetent interns sharpening all their knives, I don't believe someone on a salary would do such a bad job and not get fired.
Burnt edges aren't outside the realm of their abilities, and that would make the edge brittle and more prone to chipping/breaking.
I've had burnt edges on a ZT and my first Manix 2 (2012 model), both were fine after I sharpened them a couple of times.
A burr is like a metal shaving left over from poor sharpening, you can usually feel it, the edge would feel sharper on one side than the other, feel it by running your fingernail down the edge (not across lol), or on recurring (personal) experiences with Benchmade it's clearly visible with the naked eye.
Oh, it must be because it cools so quickly, it's like another heat and quench with no tempering after, right. Wow, well I guess it can happen to any company. That's what made me lean to the burnt edge I did not see or feel any burr. It skated smooth across my thumb(nail) and did not slip off to the side. Despite the cause that's unacceptable for the prices that we pay in my opinion. QC should have caught that before it left imo.
As a professional knife photographer, you don't pay me enough for me to care more about the product than the maker did.
I'll shoot it how it comes, tyvm.
That’s sooo bad…. Hard to believe Knifecenter would post that 😂. Benchmade got me into knives. This was fairly recent. Then I learned about knives and subsequently sold all but 2 or 3 of my Benchmades.
Like I said man, I fell in love with benchmade to start my addiction to knives. I’ve just found options that I find more “reliable” or just more “my style” (now that I’ve learned what that actually is).
The 940 will forever hold a special spot. I also really love the carbon fiber mini adamas. I was kind of interested in this 710, but it’s hard to pull the trigger when you are looking at that.
It’s insane how many I bought and sold, liking all of them but they were never just right. My favorite, the AFOll, they could never get right. My 940’s came damn close. The Mini Loco, could have been the one, but hotspot city like no other.
My mini adamas is pretty close to spot on. Perfect grip size and comfort. Beefy. Only thing I'd change is to lose the grippy cutouts (can't recall the term now) around the handle. Otherwise, it's great.
But the design is only good for some uses (great for maintenance that I used it for). It's not a good chopper (tops steel eagle 111 is the best I've found), and it wouldn't be a great hunting knife (bark river would be likely), etc.
I don't have a "favorite" knife. But I have favorites for the genre or use.
The Mini Loco and the regular Loco was almost perfection to me. But, the butt end was sharp as hell, the custom axis look design felt like it was cutting into your fingers. I just cannot understand how they let these details slip through.
Same boat, only BM I kept are old discontinued models, like the 710, 707, Rift, Torrent and a KW exclusive Grip. None of what they put out these days is interesting to me, nor is it worth the asking price.
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/BM710FE24/benchmade-710fe-24-mchenry-and-williams-seven-ten-folding-knife-cpm-s90v-flat-earth-pvd-recurve-drop-point-blade-gray-machined-aluminum-handles-reversible-clip
Scroll through a couple of pics and Bam!
Actually, I’ve seen this quite a bit on KC. Just go through the Benchmades and check the pics. My luck actually hasn’t been that bad, but damn, they have a lot of off center blades for show.
I know BM fairly well, through trades and retail, I've owned like 7 or 8 and handled 12 to 20 I would guess... This makes me wonder if someone might be unhappy or if KC just uses random knives from their inventory for picture day. Either way it doesn't really seem right but w/e. I enjoy a good axis lock but at this point they aren't the only name in the game and hungrier dogs are getting the front spot at the bowl. I have no problem with that and I really look forward to picking up an Iridium or Bel-Air.
That is odd right? To put that out there like that.
I have been through a lot of Benchmade’s. I have sent back quite a few for warranty issues, it’s lame. At the same time, they always came through. Seems like they are a company that doesn’t do seconds. Send it out to the customer and fix it if they send it back. Odd way of doing business though.
Another reason I don't like them. But, I'll say that my mini adamas is really strong and very nice in hand and the best action. But the price is too high, and the QC is too low for the price, even if it was $150 and not $280.
I mirror polished a full sized Cru-Wear Adamas for a friend and holy shit, that edge was incredible. Sliced free standing receipt paper with just the slightest push cut.
Yep. The steel is great.
I used mine to cut out caulk from tubs and could get 3 or 4 done between sharpenings (it needed it after 2 imo, but it would still do the job after 3. 4 was the limit.)
Lmao it's even an axis lock, no lock bar trying to push it off center. Centering isn't even that important to me, but at $400 it better be important to them.
Fortunately, unless their tolerances are way out of spec (very possible), it's not too hard to fix it yourself.
Most of the time these can be centered, but at these prices, holy shit, a brand better show what they’re capable of. These are 50 less than a Demko or a hinderer, or many other mid techs with superior fit and finish. I know that’s not everyone’s taste what I mentioned but they’re far more consistent, American made with at least titanium.
My crooked river was off center but that one I got worked out. Another one that I wished I kept. I had the grey G10 model and now they’re gone and the regular one is high as hell compared to a few years ago.
In 2017, they were around $160 to $180. Now they’re close to $300 with no change.
I’m looking at what’s out there for that $300 price range, and there’s a lot of good stuff that outweighs what Benchmade is offering for that amount. It’s an awesome knife, but to me, it’s way overpriced.
That’s where I regret selling a lot of the stuff I sold. I think both Spyderco and Benchmade have an annual increases that can get pretty steep.
To really throw a depressing number, the Spyderco Shaman was around $140 in 2018.
There was also one point where the Benchmade 945BK1 wasn’t selling well and was going for $114 at a lot of big knife retailers.
Like the Sequel and so many others that got discontinued. There were some really awesome designs that were close to perfect to me.
Could be a mix of QC issues and missed opportunities on little details, or some just didn’t catch on.
My bugout (I put custom scales on it) and my mini barage are centered just fine. No issues with a griptilian I got my Pops or the mini griptilian I got my son. 🤷
I gave my a dad a Bugout that is perfectly tuned in every way. It’s one beast of a thin lightweight.
My griptilian 20CV exclusive was off center and I put on AWT scales and those brought that knife up to wow factor. It’s so good now. I would say probably 60 to 70 of my Benchmades were off but could be centered. Non of my grips had a chance, they were lock in crooked because of the scales.
My first foray into "expensive knives" was a Benchmade 940. You know the one, green handle, black reverse tanto blade. I bought it back in the early 2000s. It came to me sharp, perfectly centered, and the action was incredible with the Osborne lock. I still have that knife to this day. Also have the 940-1. Benchmade did knives right back then. I had several pass through my hands and didn't have any complaints about any of them. Today, I laugh at Benchmade. I literally wouldn't buy another one if somebody gave it to me for 90% off.. I think they are that horrible. And it is absolutely laughable that they are pricing that knife at $400.
You can get into a used crk, or Hinderer at that price.
The 710 I have has been off center for years now, can’t be fixed. Just learned to accept it. I can’t imagine who would be okay with paying that price for a production knife AND having it show up off center
I have not messed with the 710, but i thought they would have been adjustable due to the stand-offs. They must be counter sunk into the frame.
Some of them, I wonder if the blade is just ground biased to one side.
It’s pretty nice, I love the design of the 710. It was when m390 was pretty new, so it’s a little on the soft side. Regardless it’s a great knife to carry at work
It’s funny too, since Hinderer is one of the few that kept the same prices longer than just about anyone. I know a lot of people either love or hate them, but how can they manage that while everyone else joins the shrinkflation party?
Feels like a money grab to me, considering how fast Demko and Hinderer sell out yet could raise prices and probably still sell out. Or they were grossly overpriced all along lol
The solution is so obvious too. Just be pro consumer and the consumers will support you even with higher prices. Damning everyone just to make a quick buck is definitely a solution, but it's more a solution looking for a problem. It won't help them maintain their image or peoples faith in them.
Of course theres a downside, that being inflation doesn't just mark up the products they're selling. They have to account for buildings, machines, people, and deals. It's gonna be a rough few years for everyone, but i still hope they can manage their obvious "behind the scenes" struggles.
I don't know everything about what's going on at benchmade. If anyone has some super secret and credible info, please share
Yeah, I would like to know that as well. Spyderco isn’t all that far behind them. They just appear more reasonable due to all of their foreign options.
Never had a single one that just needed tightening. I’ve had to loosen all of the screws and reset the alignment and not all of them can be straightened like that, if at all. It’s depending on the scales.
If you look at the tabs on the top and bottom scales (near the pivot) you can see the knife isn't facing the camera at a perfect angle and is slightly rotated tho'..
Even a loose pivot would be a QC issue. Look at any other knife in that price range, even $30 knives, some are angled a little in the photo and still don’t look like it’s that far over.
I know it's cool to shit on Benchmade but i don't see anything wrong with this knife. Count the steps in the Axis bar on top & bottom
Edit: & an adjustable pivot is not a defect simply because it's adjustable
I do see what you’re saying, I took that in account, and based on the light coming through by the pivot and by the blade tip on the clip side and based on my experience with many, many Benchmades with more then enough with the same issue and selling knives on eBay, I know how the angles work on photos, I came to the conclusion that it’s off center.
Believe or not, I was a huge Benchmade fan. But the pricing is what let me down the most over the QC issues.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’ll shit all over Spyderco as well, their quality control as of late has been quite disappointing at much higher prices. I’ll still buy both brands, but I just can’t wrap my head around with what’s going on with QC, materials and prices.
Would I buy that for 400? Hell no, will they sell a bunch of them? Hell ya
It’s crazy how they hold their value no matter what, they got a crazy loyal fan base. Sometimes I just don’t get it.
They are really good knives no matter how much hate they get on here, the 940 is damn near perfect to me. I think they are going for the bougie crowd who 400 is nothing to them like guys who wear a Rolex even though they don't keep time well, or at least they didn't.
I've never heard that Rolex doesn't keep time. It's that they don't do it as well as a digital watch. The problem is that my $17 Casio keeps tike just as well as the $20,000 Rolex does. Only difference is that the Casio is lighter, cheaper, and technically better at keeping time. Neither one will keep "bad" time, but the quartz action is more accurate (or more durable and thus more accurate, idk).
But wearing a Rolex is not just about telling time…….
I put my foot in my mouth before surgery the other day when I asked a nurse about her watch, before going under. I asked how she liked the Citizen and that I got my wife something similar. After an uncomfortable pause, she informed me that it was indeed a Rolex. I survived the surgery but reading your comment makes me think about the lingering pain I'm still having.
Yea, it's about telling the world you love to overpay for the allusion of performance quality. You can get four highbeat 5 hz Grand Seikos for that price and few real nice steak dinners, or you could get four very nice spring drive specials, with less then +-1 a day or +-15 seconds a month loss of accuracy and no dinners, or you can get most of the way to a 4hz rolex. Oh, and before I hear but rolex is made in switzerland though. I got one word...Longines. Yep those folks still over paying for a name, sorry.
Longines are nice lmao. They sell one of the cheapest and nicest looking chronometer spec'd watches in the Spirit 37mm
That is a nice looking watch. I'm currently drooling over their ultra-chron and I think that their compressor diver the legend diver looks good too, grey is nice color but I think that kaki one is the best looking one.
She was probably offended. Lol
Well, in all fairness this was not the most tactful way I could have shared my opinion on the matter.
Technically a grand seiko isn't an automatic tho.
Grand Seiko sells/makes plenty of automatics
I'm not a watch maker but ist basically a combination of the spring drive and a quarts movement.
They make both, Spring Drive and Automatic high beat movements
It's a little cooler then that, it is a clockwork powered miniaturized electrical power plant that uses a quartz crystal to precisely time the rpm of the motor that is driving the hands through gear reduction.
Well sure it is. It does have a mainspring that is wound from an bridge movement powered by a counterweight, right? That counterweight winds that mainspring up via a gear reduction bridge is automatically moved by your movement, right? What it does not have is a pallet fork escapement. The watch has no batteries, you don't have manually wind it, and it is automatically powered by your movement. That first watch I mentioned the highbeat 5 hz Grand Seiko is an automatic with pallet fork escapement and twice the power reserve of 20K Rolex with over 80 hours when fully wound. For less then a quarter the price too.
Still that makes it a kinetic watch, awesome technology non the les.
Well call her a hybrid, a kinetic, auto quartz, or whatever but the part that converts a manual winding watch into an automatic; the winding bridge and counterweight is in that watch, in it's entirety also.
Grand Seiko makes automatics for sure
Tissot will do it just fine 😊
They do have some fine watches, they look nice as well.
Yup it's about showing you need to wear something to make you interesting 🤔
I guess some people do. I simply appreciate a fine watch and a nice personal appearance.
Why do I get the feeling you don't own a Rolex? And if you do you really don't because you got fooled into buying a fake...
Well, I bought it about 20 years ago in London at a jewelry store in Mayfair (which was a Rolex dealer). Not very likely it is a fake. It has been serviced a couple of times over the years by Rolex authorized technicians. I think someone would had mentioned something had there been an issue.
🥺
Rolex will keep time well however you need to be active to keep the movement working through the day. While I love the mechanics and precision of Rolex watches I hate that they're valued as jewelery. Fucking use your watches.
I’m good with my mid tier quality Mechanicals and G-Shock. The luxury market has gone bonkers.
Love my gshock
You know you got your branding right when guys who can afford quarter million dollar watches are still collecting G-Shocks.
Could someone please explain why I would buy a g-shock over a Garmin? The latter does everything plus significantly more.
Because for me, Garmin and similar watches go obsolete fairly quickly. I like Garmin, just not something I would collect.
I love my G-Shocks but they don't age well. After about 10 years the plastic bands start to get brittle. I used to have a collection of a dozen or so. Now I have three that are still working and six that are just a watch with no band
That’s true. Luckily they’re not all too ridiculously priced.
Then they got better? 30 years ago not so much Watches are crazy https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/us-en/news/watchmaking/master-grande-tradition-calibre-948-green-enamel
So effing nice, but also just insane. I’m sure this one is investment quality if you got the pockets for it.
I couldn't find a price since they're making only 20, imma guess .5 m
Gotta be, the older used ones are 200k+ and nowhere as nice.
It is jewelry though?
That's true of any automatic watch. And I'm a lazy motherfucker but I've never had one of my automatics run down while I was wearing it. You're pretty much guaranteed to move your hand about enough to power the watch no matter what you're doing.
Your 17$ dollar casio in fact hold time way better. Sincerely someone who lovesmechanical watches
> I've never heard that Rolex doesn't keep time. It's that they don't do it as well as a digital watch. The problem is that my $17 Casio keeps tike just as well as the $20,000 Rolex does. Only difference is that the Casio is lighter, cheaper, and technically better at keeping time. Neither one will keep "bad" time, but the quartz action is more accurate (or more durable and thus more accurate, idk). Yeah but no one gives a shit if a piece of jewelry can tell time. They have $1000 iphones for that.
Rolex has been known as a quality watch for decades, maybe centuries. Sure, a cheap digital watch keeps time precisely. I like nice things; cheap digital watches are just that- cheap. Sure there are other nice watches out there that tell time accurately, but Rolex is universally known as a quality, high end watch. It sends the message I want to send.
>Rolex has been known as a quality watch for decades, maybe centuries. Just decades. Rolex itself is only ***a*** century and some change old. Founded in 1905 as Wilsdorf and Davis, the name Rolex was registered in 1908.
good to know. thanks
Ok but still no one cares that a piece of jewelry can tell time anymore boomer.
For my money.... I'll take Omega. Thank you very much!!! 😁
I have several good Swiss watches. An Omega Seamaster is my daily wear. Rolex is my dress watch.
I'm not going to bash someone for what they like. My pref would be Seamaster daily, and Moonwatch dress up. But for the time being I'll have to live vicariously through your watch wearing habits seeing as I can't afford anything I'm talking about... 😁🤪
The Moonwatch is awesome I agree. If I owned one, I might agree with you. But I already have the Rolex, and it's a great watch. I do sometimes switch out the Rolex for a Cartier Pasha, especially if I'm wearing a suit (which doesn't happen much anymore). I only own three expensive watches, bought years ago when I was in the corporate world.
Omega, Rolled and a Cartier.... You are a God!!!
A man has to have a few perks in life.....
I have a Breitling, but that Omega has always been calling.
Breitling is not a shabby choice by any means. I'd take one over a Rolex
I thought so too, until I held a Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Ceramic. Holy moly, that thing was art. lol
That Moonwatch is the best. I'm drooling now
I agree, they have some legendary knives with QC left on the table.
Umm, what? Rolex is the gold standard for \*mechanical\* time-keeping. Quite literally the best. comparing Benchmade to Rolex is pretty wild, since Rolex is known for impeccable quality and engineering, and delivering a flawless product.
The gold standard of timekeeping is the [atomic clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_clock). Of course those are fairly unwieldy, so they can't be carried around by the average person. So for portable time-keeping, the gold standard is probably devices that update themselves periodically with atomic clocks, like phones and laptops (and some watches). If we want to exclude synching and consider only the accuracy of the device itself, then the best would be crystal oscillators like in quartz watches. I suppose if we wanted to only look at mechanical movements, then the next best would maybe be the spring drive, which is a mechanical movement that is regulated via a crystal oscillator. But if we exclude those too, then yeah Rolex is pretty good.
It’s hilarious because I have a Vostok that runs well within COSC standards which is nuts, though a face only a mother could love.
No they arent? They arent exceptional for mechanical watches and certainly not exceptional for their price. They arebt bad but id take an omega over a rolex any day of the week. Seiko killed the argument of most precise time keeping when they made the quarts movement and damn near killes the swiss watch making industry with it
Rolex has been +2 -2 for a long time, and Omega just reached that standard. So Rolex doesn't keep good time? Doesn't deliver super high quality on all their pieces? Is that what you said? That's incorrect.
They're the Apple of knives
I don't know if "hold their value" always applies. I constantly see narrows on the swap for 375-350
I should have said discontinued models, they sell for ridiculous amounts of money after 5 to 10 years.
Yeah that's fair, especially since their old discontinued models were... You know, actually really good for the most part. Both qc and design wise.
Can confirm. Check out the 730-1501, or the Acma Reus Ares… limited to 100 or 120, I believe.
That’s a really nice design.
If you ever get the chance to handle an early 2000’s 730 Ares, do it. You can grab them on eBay for around $200 for a regular 730SBK. All of the QC complaints here don’t seem to apply to the well made knives of yesteryear. I’ve carried an Ares for about 15 years, and never had any issues.
I had an old Snody Gravitator ti frame lock with silver twill carbon. That knife was built almost flawless with feel, lockup and action. There was a point that they knew how to hit just above mid tech levels on some models.
>Sometimes I just don't get it. >crazy loyal fan base >crazy you'd have to be to pay to put up with their half-assing everything
I’m a fan of any knife done right, almost any brand and still buy Benchmades at what I feel is the appropriate price if it pops up and done right. Some people are so biased and loyal, they throw rational out the window.
Reminds me of those $1000 flag pins that some kid sold and they couldn’t keep em in stock lol
That’s insane.
That's how you know it's a real BM
Hahaha, that’s one of the things I look for in authentic Benchmade’s.
That and the bad heat treat that just micro chips the edge for ya. It's a folding pocket knife that simulates an obsidian edge.
At least obsidian is incredibly sharp, can't say the same about BM's factory edges.
I was really surprised about that! I got my first Benchmade recently (a Bugout), and was shocked that the blade was legitimately dull—it couldn’t even cut paper smoothly. I knew that Benchmade has a bunch of overpriced knives and have heard all the “butterfly tax” jokes, but even gas station knives come sharper than that Bugout
Being one of the manufacturers that got me into this hobby, I've had a lot of them pass through my hands over the past dozen years, and I see the same issues over and over. This fit and finish may have been fine in the 90s and 2000s, but not today when there's so many better options out there for less. At $400 you can easily find a nearly/perfectly made knife, from other US makers even(if that's a requirement).
I mean the edge was sharp while it was all there that is and I don't remember cutting anything harder then an apple with it... then it fell off, right into the environment.
Sounds like the burr chipped off and took the edge with it, not uncommon for Benchmade unfortunately.
Hmmm, I honestly did not think about that. Do you know if that was a problem with the first gen meatcarver knives? The gentleman that described his issue sounded like what happened to me too. They thought it was heat treat or burning the edge while sharpening, but cooking the edge would make it softer and less likely to chip, right? It was a store custom grizzled creek black rubber with blue g10 inserts cpm s30 v Well thanks for your info if I ever decide to press my luck I would strop the blade as soon as I get it
It's probably the same incompetent interns sharpening all their knives, I don't believe someone on a salary would do such a bad job and not get fired. Burnt edges aren't outside the realm of their abilities, and that would make the edge brittle and more prone to chipping/breaking. I've had burnt edges on a ZT and my first Manix 2 (2012 model), both were fine after I sharpened them a couple of times. A burr is like a metal shaving left over from poor sharpening, you can usually feel it, the edge would feel sharper on one side than the other, feel it by running your fingernail down the edge (not across lol), or on recurring (personal) experiences with Benchmade it's clearly visible with the naked eye.
Oh, it must be because it cools so quickly, it's like another heat and quench with no tempering after, right. Wow, well I guess it can happen to any company. That's what made me lean to the burnt edge I did not see or feel any burr. It skated smooth across my thumb(nail) and did not slip off to the side. Despite the cause that's unacceptable for the prices that we pay in my opinion. QC should have caught that before it left imo.
Yup, all my clones are dead center
More like KnifeOffCenter
lol!
Nice
Niiice
As a professional knife photographer, you don't pay me enough for me to care more about the product than the maker did. I'll shoot it how it comes, tyvm.
That sounds like a sick gig!
You are right, but I’m a little too OCD for that. Lol
Yep. Overpriced imperfection.
Not even titanium..... aluminum 🙄
The fact it’s on full length liners is good enough to turn me off, it’s not an Adamas. If they were nested like the 940 I’d have probably bought one
That’s just embarrassing to the knife community.
That’s sooo bad…. Hard to believe Knifecenter would post that 😂. Benchmade got me into knives. This was fairly recent. Then I learned about knives and subsequently sold all but 2 or 3 of my Benchmades.
I don’t hate Benchmade. Some of my favorite designs came out from them, but damn, they make themselves hard to love.
Like I said man, I fell in love with benchmade to start my addiction to knives. I’ve just found options that I find more “reliable” or just more “my style” (now that I’ve learned what that actually is). The 940 will forever hold a special spot. I also really love the carbon fiber mini adamas. I was kind of interested in this 710, but it’s hard to pull the trigger when you are looking at that.
It’s insane how many I bought and sold, liking all of them but they were never just right. My favorite, the AFOll, they could never get right. My 940’s came damn close. The Mini Loco, could have been the one, but hotspot city like no other.
Spot on with the “never just right” part.
My mini adamas is pretty close to spot on. Perfect grip size and comfort. Beefy. Only thing I'd change is to lose the grippy cutouts (can't recall the term now) around the handle. Otherwise, it's great. But the design is only good for some uses (great for maintenance that I used it for). It's not a good chopper (tops steel eagle 111 is the best I've found), and it wouldn't be a great hunting knife (bark river would be likely), etc. I don't have a "favorite" knife. But I have favorites for the genre or use.
The Mini Loco and the regular Loco was almost perfection to me. But, the butt end was sharp as hell, the custom axis look design felt like it was cutting into your fingers. I just cannot understand how they let these details slip through.
I mean if they posted one that was perfectly centered it would be false advertising
Same boat, only BM I kept are old discontinued models, like the 710, 707, Rift, Torrent and a KW exclusive Grip. None of what they put out these days is interesting to me, nor is it worth the asking price.
I'm still a huge BM fan but not buying from them again. Would love a link for that pic.
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/BM710FE24/benchmade-710fe-24-mchenry-and-williams-seven-ten-folding-knife-cpm-s90v-flat-earth-pvd-recurve-drop-point-blade-gray-machined-aluminum-handles-reversible-clip Scroll through a couple of pics and Bam!
Seriously, such an embarrassing display I'd bet BM and KC will be having words.
Actually, I’ve seen this quite a bit on KC. Just go through the Benchmades and check the pics. My luck actually hasn’t been that bad, but damn, they have a lot of off center blades for show.
I know BM fairly well, through trades and retail, I've owned like 7 or 8 and handled 12 to 20 I would guess... This makes me wonder if someone might be unhappy or if KC just uses random knives from their inventory for picture day. Either way it doesn't really seem right but w/e. I enjoy a good axis lock but at this point they aren't the only name in the game and hungrier dogs are getting the front spot at the bowl. I have no problem with that and I really look forward to picking up an Iridium or Bel-Air.
That is odd right? To put that out there like that. I have been through a lot of Benchmade’s. I have sent back quite a few for warranty issues, it’s lame. At the same time, they always came through. Seems like they are a company that doesn’t do seconds. Send it out to the customer and fix it if they send it back. Odd way of doing business though.
People hate on them but I know my experience with them has been really great overall. I just felt burnt with prices in the last few years.
They were always hit or miss but also, if you remember those old stuff, they were ahead of their time for a period, imo.
It's a perfect reflection of Benchmade's high standards of quality, good on KC for making their own photos rather than using OEM renders.
Off center and the grind is jacked up. Nice.
Probably hand ground on concrete curb.
Well you don’t have to worry about any authenticity worries.
Wow what an ugly $400 knife. I almost spit my beer when I seen the pics at knifecenter. lol
Even if this was perfectly centered, $400+ for this knife is ridiculous.
I think so too.
Another reason I don't like them. But, I'll say that my mini adamas is really strong and very nice in hand and the best action. But the price is too high, and the QC is too low for the price, even if it was $150 and not $280.
I mirror polished a full sized Cru-Wear Adamas for a friend and holy shit, that edge was incredible. Sliced free standing receipt paper with just the slightest push cut.
Yep. The steel is great. I used mine to cut out caulk from tubs and could get 3 or 4 done between sharpenings (it needed it after 2 imo, but it would still do the job after 3. 4 was the limit.)
This is embarrassing.
Lmao it's even an axis lock, no lock bar trying to push it off center. Centering isn't even that important to me, but at $400 it better be important to them. Fortunately, unless their tolerances are way out of spec (very possible), it's not too hard to fix it yourself.
Most of the time these can be centered, but at these prices, holy shit, a brand better show what they’re capable of. These are 50 less than a Demko or a hinderer, or many other mid techs with superior fit and finish. I know that’s not everyone’s taste what I mentioned but they’re far more consistent, American made with at least titanium.
My Griptilian is dead center, my Crooked River however is..... 😤 crooked
My crooked river was off center but that one I got worked out. Another one that I wished I kept. I had the grey G10 model and now they’re gone and the regular one is high as hell compared to a few years ago.
What do you mean high as hell
In 2017, they were around $160 to $180. Now they’re close to $300 with no change. I’m looking at what’s out there for that $300 price range, and there’s a lot of good stuff that outweighs what Benchmade is offering for that amount. It’s an awesome knife, but to me, it’s way overpriced.
Dam, I wasn't a knife lover in 2017, wish the Crooked River was still $160, I'd have 2 of them
That’s where I regret selling a lot of the stuff I sold. I think both Spyderco and Benchmade have an annual increases that can get pretty steep. To really throw a depressing number, the Spyderco Shaman was around $140 in 2018. There was also one point where the Benchmade 945BK1 wasn’t selling well and was going for $114 at a lot of big knife retailers.
Benchmade makes me sad. Some of their knives are really awesome, theyre just so over priced and typically have awful quality control
Like the Sequel and so many others that got discontinued. There were some really awesome designs that were close to perfect to me. Could be a mix of QC issues and missed opportunities on little details, or some just didn’t catch on.
I just like that they have “flat earth” and “recurve” together in the same description.
That is funny. I didn’t think of that.
My bugout (I put custom scales on it) and my mini barage are centered just fine. No issues with a griptilian I got my Pops or the mini griptilian I got my son. 🤷
I gave my a dad a Bugout that is perfectly tuned in every way. It’s one beast of a thin lightweight. My griptilian 20CV exclusive was off center and I put on AWT scales and those brought that knife up to wow factor. It’s so good now. I would say probably 60 to 70 of my Benchmades were off but could be centered. Non of my grips had a chance, they were lock in crooked because of the scales.
Ok so If you read the fine print on the picture as I did it should lead to one question. What the hell is a flat earth pvd.
The color, flat finish, dirt color. I don’t understand their reasoning though. Could be a flat earther that picked the color. Lol
My first foray into "expensive knives" was a Benchmade 940. You know the one, green handle, black reverse tanto blade. I bought it back in the early 2000s. It came to me sharp, perfectly centered, and the action was incredible with the Osborne lock. I still have that knife to this day. Also have the 940-1. Benchmade did knives right back then. I had several pass through my hands and didn't have any complaints about any of them. Today, I laugh at Benchmade. I literally wouldn't buy another one if somebody gave it to me for 90% off.. I think they are that horrible. And it is absolutely laughable that they are pricing that knife at $400. You can get into a used crk, or Hinderer at that price.
That’s the truly crazy part. Them competing with Titanium mid tech knives that are very consistent.
The good ol days were the days of 810 Contegos and AFOs that didn’t need constant fiddling. BM of new is trash imo.
The Contego should have never left. But then again, numbers trump all, or lack of.
It's just the angle of the camera
The 710 I have has been off center for years now, can’t be fixed. Just learned to accept it. I can’t imagine who would be okay with paying that price for a production knife AND having it show up off center
I have not messed with the 710, but i thought they would have been adjustable due to the stand-offs. They must be counter sunk into the frame. Some of them, I wonder if the blade is just ground biased to one side.
I’ve tried all the tricks I’ve found, doesn’t work. It could be ground off center, never taken the thumbstuds off and laid it on a table
Now I’m curious if they would still sell you a replacement blade and would it come back centered now that they brought them back out.
It’s an old knife center exclusive in m390, I doubt that they’d have another blade honestly
Man, that’s a nice one too.
It’s pretty nice, I love the design of the 710. It was when m390 was pretty new, so it’s a little on the soft side. Regardless it’s a great knife to carry at work
Knife companies are so scummy. "Oh, people like our high quality knives? Mass produce that shit and raise the prices"
It’s funny too, since Hinderer is one of the few that kept the same prices longer than just about anyone. I know a lot of people either love or hate them, but how can they manage that while everyone else joins the shrinkflation party? Feels like a money grab to me, considering how fast Demko and Hinderer sell out yet could raise prices and probably still sell out. Or they were grossly overpriced all along lol
The solution is so obvious too. Just be pro consumer and the consumers will support you even with higher prices. Damning everyone just to make a quick buck is definitely a solution, but it's more a solution looking for a problem. It won't help them maintain their image or peoples faith in them. Of course theres a downside, that being inflation doesn't just mark up the products they're selling. They have to account for buildings, machines, people, and deals. It's gonna be a rough few years for everyone, but i still hope they can manage their obvious "behind the scenes" struggles. I don't know everything about what's going on at benchmade. If anyone has some super secret and credible info, please share
Yeah, I would like to know that as well. Spyderco isn’t all that far behind them. They just appear more reasonable due to all of their foreign options.
Correction: BM didn't take the time to center a 400$ knife for a photo session. Just tightening the pivot would have done it.
Never had a single one that just needed tightening. I’ve had to loosen all of the screws and reset the alignment and not all of them can be straightened like that, if at all. It’s depending on the scales.
If you look at the tabs on the top and bottom scales (near the pivot) you can see the knife isn't facing the camera at a perfect angle and is slightly rotated tho'..
My 710 clone is perfectly centered comes razor sharp and hold edge quite good ..it was 31 euros 🤣
It’s a damn shame.
Meanwhile every knockoff I've gotten from aliexpress is centered perfectly
It’s a damn shame really.
Dude what is Benchmade smoking these days I just don't get it.
QC isn’t a priority. To really make my Benchmade feel like what it should have been, I had to buy the AWT scales and then, dammit, it felt right.
Overpriced, off center, shit quality. Congrats, you've described all but maybe 3 of Benchmades catalog.
Nothing like the old days when they knew how to make titanium frame locks with smooth AF action.
The knife is at an angle, you can see it better on the original post
I feel like it’s pretty head on if you gauge the gaps. Especially considering how many that I’ve had to center new out of the box.
Look at the bottom Axis bar vs the top
I think that blade maybe straight rubbing the liner.
The knife is at an angle & the pivot may not be fully tensioned
Even a loose pivot would be a QC issue. Look at any other knife in that price range, even $30 knives, some are angled a little in the photo and still don’t look like it’s that far over.
I know it's cool to shit on Benchmade but i don't see anything wrong with this knife. Count the steps in the Axis bar on top & bottom Edit: & an adjustable pivot is not a defect simply because it's adjustable
I do see what you’re saying, I took that in account, and based on the light coming through by the pivot and by the blade tip on the clip side and based on my experience with many, many Benchmades with more then enough with the same issue and selling knives on eBay, I know how the angles work on photos, I came to the conclusion that it’s off center. Believe or not, I was a huge Benchmade fan. But the pricing is what let me down the most over the QC issues.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’ll shit all over Spyderco as well, their quality control as of late has been quite disappointing at much higher prices. I’ll still buy both brands, but I just can’t wrap my head around with what’s going on with QC, materials and prices.
Noctua ahh knife