Things have changed
With the passing of the founder and the reins being turned over to Jon I feel the company has gone down fast. New product quality control issues as well as service turnaround and acceptable repairs are horrendous. The customer service people are awesome, however, their manager, Chris E. Is the problem. I will never own another Junkmade and in fact will sell the ones I have.
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I would have to agree with the QC issue.
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I've had no issues (save one) over the past year with five knives. The one issue I had was quickly repaired and the knife I sent in for sharpening came back extremely sharp. Both turnarounds were two weeks or less. And I've had no issues contacting customer service on the phone.
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You joined the forum 08/12 just to complain and plan on getting rid of your BMK’s?!
I won’t say your thoughts aren’t valid. We have heard this. Hard to believe that a smooth running machine could have so many glitches.
And they reduced the military discount.
Amongst some of the complaints.
I hope that they get things straightened out.
We will gladly take your unwanted BMK’s off your hands.
What'cha got?
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I have a new ( two week old) mini Osborne. Still in box, never carried, G10.
I also have the bugout. I wouldn't sell it to anyone until I get it back on Tues. If it's not fixed to perfection it's going back to BM.
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Oh I thought you had a bunch and long history with the BKC.
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Welcome to the forum Notafan. You will find this forum to be an excellent source of reliable knowledge and many friendly people willing to help. Above all, please do whatever you like with your BM knives.
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Pointless thread
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Welcome to the forum Notafan!
You mentioned that you sent your Bugout into Benchmade CS which is a good choice if you received it defective brand new in the box.
As Riverrun mentions above you'll find this forum to be an excellent source of reliable information/knowledge, members who are willing to help and many Benchmade owners who are subject matter experts when it comes to particular models that they own. Most of us have learned how to maintain our BMKs over the years and have learned their idiosyncrasies.
That said you stated you have a 945 Mini Osborne that is still in the box. What are the problems with it?
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As I have said a few times, I have been a Benchmade fan for many years. I am not a fanboy as I enjoy many companies. I am a bit of a ronin in that sense. People always complain about "QC issues" and frankly of all the brands I have bought over the years Benchmade has had the least issues, and we are talking about a sample size of close to a 1000 knives (Benchmade) and a few bought over the last few years. Knife guys have a collective sense of OCD, and find the slightest fit and finish issues that don't effect function and have standards that are too high for manufactured goods.
That being said, anything manufactured in the last year and half is a crap shoot from any source, or any goods. For example don't stock up on ammo anytime soon, even if the price drops and supply returns. The quality is not there. Labor shortages, new workers, supply disruptions, etc. If there is a quality issue currently, blaming it on the ownership change is a bit of dirty pool. Likely not the issues, a lot of other things have happened.
Case in point, Cold Steel was sold this past year. People are all over screaming "the quality has gone down!!!" Really? The knives are being made in the exact same factory overseas as they were before (that ownership has not changed) and many of the knives they are complaining about were actually manufactured before the sale of the company. There is a natural assumption that when ownership of a company takes place, or management changes then something has got to change and not for the better.
As for changing the military discount program. Did you know that Spyderco changed there's too? I am a first responder and in their program (Vol FF). They now cap the number of knives you can buy in a year. Sad to say, but do you know how these programs are abused? Same with free clips and cheap blade swaps. People were getting free clips and selling them for $10 on ebay. The price for a blade swap was set years ago before super expensive blade steels became the rage. Price out the latest and greatest blade steel in raw form, now throw in the time it takes to process it into a usable blade, you might be shocked that the new price is not out of line.
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Very very well put Mark!
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/|\ +1 Mark. But I am guilty of holding Benchmade’s to higher standards than other production knives. I’d go to New York Knife show & the 940D2CF in my pocket was of better quality than 90% of the knives custom makers had on their tables. Now custom makers knife steels have improved over 154CM & D2 but so have the steels Benchmade uses.
I still like D2 & 154CM both easy to resharpen.
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+1 Markg I agree completely with what you have said. I used to think that Benchmade knives were overly expensive. After buying several other brands and paying a lot more for some of them, I now see that Benchmade often hits a sweet spot between materials, craftsmanship, quality and price. While not every new Benchmade design appeals to me, I understand their brand and the direction they are going with it. Their customer service has always been accessible and fair.
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I have 12 Benchmades, 3 cutsoms included, and the only one I had a quality problem with is the crooked river I bought for cheap on ebay. I took a chance and it was a real one. Blade had been horribly oversharpened, and one of the scales was cracked. I sent it in and they replaced the blade and scale, and put on a deep carry clip, all free of charge. It made me a believer, and that was my 2nd benchmade (first was a knifeworks contego). I went on a spree after that.
Only other issues I've had has been edges that weren't as sharp as I expected them to be (easily remedied) and edges that aren't symmetrical. Also easily remedied. Nothing that hinders function since I expect to sharpen knives anyway.
I haven't seen a difference since Jon took over, except for the blade prices. I feel that was inevitable since people seem to abuse the policies (like the pocket clips).
All companies have hiccups now and then. Sometimes duds get through qc. Benchmade will fix or replace them. They stand behind the products. But if that turns you away from future purchases so be it.
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Mostly the sharpening is the major complaint.
I don’t want to have to sharpen a new BM knife.
There’s been soo many complaints that the need to up their game in this department.
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/|\ These complaints are small things that we can fix ( sharpening) but like BM prefer if knife factory edge was better,
I’ve another use of Loctite by assembler(s) has been too heavy handed. I stripped a T6 on my first 945bk-1 back a couple months ago & Benchmade mailed me out a new screw set lightening quick. I was working on a 945 & had to be very careful not to strip a small T6 offset screw. ( use of less Loctite means increased profit )👍🏻
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They need to implement SelectEdge on all benchmade knives. My saddle mountain skinner was probably the sharpest factory knife I've experienced yet. All of their models would benefit from that process.
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I have the answer to all of your grievances. But is Benchmade willing to do this? It sounds so easy and here it is: Take the company back to where they were in the 1990s. Perhaps with updated materials:
1 Quality control as it was back then.
2 Light weight models with glass fiber reinforced nylon handles and American-made stainless steel in the 100 dollar maximum range.
3 Full discounts for military service persons, both retired and active duty.
What do you think of that?
Other changes can be added.
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[@mention:589599268366240493] posted:2 Light weight models with glass fiber reinforced nylon handles and American-made stainless steel in the 100 dollar maximum range.
With the the buying power of a dollar in 1990 vs 2021 a $100 knife would cost $209. I don't see this ever happening again
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I'm not excited about the direction things are going at Benchmade, but it would take a lot for me to sell my Benchmade knives and I am not to that point. From the OP I will agree that I miss Les.
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Things do change.
Les had a real commitment to the local brick and mortar dealers. Maybe because he understood the importance of customers being able to touch and hold his knives. Maybe because he appreciated and wanted to support local mom & pop businesses. The post Les Benchmade seems to have lost appreciation for those same dealers as BKC has looked for ways to bypass them and gives little priority to their orders. While local dealers wait for months and months on product , those same knives are ready to ship on benchmade.com.
With more demand than production capacity it's not hard to see how it would be attractive to sell what inventory they do have at higher margins by cutting out the dealers. But one day when they have more production than demand they may wish they still had those dealers putting Benchmade knives into the hands of locals.
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My local dealer was bemoaning the fact that he couldn't offer customized services to buyers (only the factory can put together custom knives). He would like to be able to have a supply of custom parts so a buyer can come in and look at and feel the custom parts before ordering.
Makes sense to me.
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/|\ I’d like to be able to buy custom parts as other manufacturers do to individualize your EDC.
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+1 Bill!
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[@mention:685172799214865824] posted:
Things do change.
Les had a real commitment to the local brick and mortar dealers. Maybe because he understood the importance of customers being able to touch and hold his knives. Maybe because he appreciated and wanted to support local mom & pop businesses. The post Les Benchmade seems to have lost appreciation for those same dealers as BKC has looked for ways to bypass them and gives little priority to their orders. While local dealers wait for months and months on product , those same knives are ready to ship on benchmade.com.
With more demand than production capacity it's not hard to see how it would be attractive to sell what inventory they do have at higher margins by cutting out the dealers. But one day when they have more production than demand they may wish they still had those dealers putting Benchmade knives into the hands of locals.
I don't see it as an active choice to prioritize the website/factory store over brick & mortar. I see your expected Covid related supply chain issues & long term understaffing, mixed with a change in management style that is driving away core people or ridiculously spiteful firings to prove a point, imo
I just ordered a 3400BK Autocrat from the factory store, 2 month back order
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[@mention:589599268366227375] posted:
/|\ I’d like to be able to buy custom parts as other manufacturers do to individualize your EDC.
Agreed! It sucks that, after paying the butterfly tax, some of the nicest options out there will make your knife NOT made in the USA
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