Review - Benchmade 485 Valet - not bad
Been using it some more lately, and carrying it about. I loosened the pivot a bit, the blade swings out a lot faster and it is easier to deploy with the thumb. The centering is still dead center, though it has some horizontal blade play, especially if you grip it at the point.
The knife is a great size and weight for carrying in your pocket(don't even notice it is there). It is very good for pairing apples, cutting paper, and opening packages; it would probably slice better with a thin full flat grind. I still want jimping but it isn't a deal breaker because this knife is meant for light jobs.
I took off the clip and it feels better in a grip, but it is harder to deploy since the clip gives you something to hang your fingers on.
Not worth it to remove the clip for a little bit of more ergo.
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First Impressions
Just got the knife and I do not like it. The specs on paper sound great but when you get the
knife it is just meh, lacking. It has bad ergonomics since the knife is so small, it doesn't
really conform, or fill in your grip. There is no jimping(probably to make it more gentlemanly)
so your thumb feels lost, it would of been nice if there was a ramp or somewhere to put your
thumb. The clip is stylish and deep carry, but the end of the clip pokes at your palm, nagging
you as you grip it.
As far as deployment, that is what I dislike the most, the clip gets in the way of the knife as
you grip to open it, the detent or the pivot was too tight out of the factory, and the cut out to
access the thumb-stud is too shallow, making the thumb slip off. The only way I could get it
open was by sticking my thumb nail in there, wedging it open(not ideal because it mars your nails
and you can nick yourself on the blade), and flicking my wrist.
Overall it feels like the knife was designed by the marketing team to fill a hole in the
Benchmade lineup(m390, deep carry, grey g10, small size and blade), but it lacks in execution,
and design. I noticed it was lacking in usability quickly after I got it out of its box and
handled it.
I will probably try to resell it or adjust the pivot and remove the clip or something, don't feel
like sending it in for warranty/tweaking, and waiting a month or whatever the turn around time
is,when I just got the knife.
I still have my ritter grip in m390 and was hoping for a smaller sized version with g10 scales
but this knife just doesn't do it for me.
-----------------------------------------------
tldr; hard to make small knife
The knife is a great size and weight for carrying in your pocket(don't even notice it is there). It is very good for pairing apples, cutting paper, and opening packages; it would probably slice better with a thin full flat grind. I still want jimping but it isn't a deal breaker because this knife is meant for light jobs.
I took off the clip and it feels better in a grip, but it is harder to deploy since the clip gives you something to hang your fingers on.
Not worth it to remove the clip for a little bit of more ergo.
------------------------------------------------
First Impressions
Just got the knife and I do not like it. The specs on paper sound great but when you get the
knife it is just meh, lacking. It has bad ergonomics since the knife is so small, it doesn't
really conform, or fill in your grip. There is no jimping(probably to make it more gentlemanly)
so your thumb feels lost, it would of been nice if there was a ramp or somewhere to put your
thumb. The clip is stylish and deep carry, but the end of the clip pokes at your palm, nagging
you as you grip it.
As far as deployment, that is what I dislike the most, the clip gets in the way of the knife as
you grip to open it, the detent or the pivot was too tight out of the factory, and the cut out to
access the thumb-stud is too shallow, making the thumb slip off. The only way I could get it
open was by sticking my thumb nail in there, wedging it open(not ideal because it mars your nails
and you can nick yourself on the blade), and flicking my wrist.
Overall it feels like the knife was designed by the marketing team to fill a hole in the
Benchmade lineup(m390, deep carry, grey g10, small size and blade), but it lacks in execution,
and design. I noticed it was lacking in usability quickly after I got it out of its box and
handled it.
I will probably try to resell it or adjust the pivot and remove the clip or something, don't feel
like sending it in for warranty/tweaking, and waiting a month or whatever the turn around time
is,when I just got the knife.
I still have my ritter grip in m390 and was hoping for a smaller sized version with g10 scales
but this knife just doesn't do it for me.
-----------------------------------------------
tldr; hard to make small knife
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Interesting. Thanks for the review. 0 -
Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you. That is always tough to spend that kind of dough and not be satisfied. looks like a real classy knife, but it is too small for my liking. 0 -
Thanks for this post .......it reminded me that mine is waiting at my dealers store .....LOL
I forgot he called yesterday and said it was in .........LOL
I cant wait to see how I like it.0 -
Thanks for the review. I would like to hear about the 484-1 and the 808 Loco as well...
Jay0 -
Iam not much of a reviewer , but mine is nice to the full extent. Its small persay , there are pics of it in another post somewhere , but the blue highlights it fantastically as it looks like a heavy duty dress knife.
Mine was very , very sharp .....whoever at BM sharpened this one did an awsum job.
This is a pockets knife , pocket knife ......LOL
Iam glad I got it and will buy another when the 1st pros are all out.0 -
I just pulled up an image of this knife and it looks pretty nice for a smallish knife. Looks like it was somewhat influenced by the old 77x knives of the past. DJ, take a look at that clip and let us know if it would be a sturdier upgrade for the flimsy one that comes on a 615 Mini-Rukus. 0 -
Thanks for the review, good to hear from someone that has it in hand. 0 -
I had one for a day and sold it. Just not for me to small in the hand and the thumb stud was to hard to operate. nice knife but, not for me. 0 -
I finally went to the store and picked mine up ......
The clip is good and sturdy , no wobble at all.
The knife is bigger than the 770 , but still small , its suppose to be small though , so the knife is great , I like it.
Its nothing I,d want to tackle cardboard boxes with , but thats not what its meant for.
As I said , for what it is , its good.
BM has been doing a much better job on sharpening lately ....... both my 485 and 484-1 are very very sharp.0 -
I picked up a 1st production 485 today, 02-07-15. Right out of the box the blade was a bit off center when closed. Fixed. There was a bit of lateral blade play. Fixed. The deep carry clip is nice, but the screws should be counter sunk. The G10 is well fitted. I like the feel of G10 much better than the aluminum on my 707. I continue to be less than impressed with Benchmade's metal finishing, especially on their blades. Overall the knife is attractive and quite small. Since I have very small hands it feels just right, and should be a very good daily carry. This one came out of the box very sharp. I'm really happy with the M390 steel choice. I think I just retired the 707. I will update after I carry it a while. 0 -
I was picked up a 485 (thanks holo07) and have been carrying it for a couple of weeks. It's definitely compact, easy to carry. Because of it's size and the groove in the scale the thumb stud hides in, it is a bit difficult to open. It isn't any more difficult than a 770 and it's better to grip once it is open. The blade is fine for it's intended use, light EDC tasks. It works almost as well as my beloved 705 blade. It's tough to get a small knife just right, this one is close, not perfect but close. I'm still in the getting used to this one, maybe a 1/16 turn looser on the pivot screw.... 0
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