Most popular model, materials and blade shape?
Which do you guys prefer?
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I’ll be the weirdo and give my honest answers that nobody will agree with 😂
-1000001 Volli - just such a “sweet spot” knife
-4600dlc-1 Phaeton - swap out the clip for something that sits flat like a Ripp’s Garage Fatty or an MXG Gear Ti clip to eliminate any hot spots. Side by side with an Infidel, Autocrat, a Microtech Ultratech, or a Heretic Manticore E, the only one that I personally thing has better ergos is the Manticore E. The tolerances are loose on the Phaeton, but that makes it fire and close very reliably, and the blade has much more substance than any other Benchmade OTF - it’s on par with the Ultratech.
-A good ol’ Barrage 580!! Put some aftermarket scales on it to replace the plastic, and that knife will work all day, every day!
-9070 Claymore - great work knife that is light enough for EDC and has great ergos. I love my Claymore. Looking forward to the 2022 Catalog when they release the non-serrated version. That’s my favorite knife in next year’s lineup.
Truth be told, I’ve never handled a Benchmade I didn’t like. I find some are too much knife for me (the Adamas full-size or the Rukus full-size), but I still like them all. It’s like ice cream - even bad ice cream is still pretty good.
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940 has many options in steel and handle material/construction, reverse tanto and modified clip point aren’t to shabby.
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/|\ Blade HQ did a survey a year or two ago. Benchmade 940 & Spyderco Para 2 were top vote getters. But important fact no knife had more than 4% of voters favoring it as an EDC. So wide diversity in knives folks carry
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My favorite blade shape is a #37 Mike Irie ground many years ago fora Pacific Cutlery split handled jack knife.
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Welcome to the forum Loveyourself!
Since I'm an old-timer I prefer one of the steels that you just don't see to much of anymore. M2HS is a high speed tool steel that performs very well. While its not very stainless due to is low Cr content it takes an excellent edge as well as retains an edge well. When it comes to newer steels that are widely available today my preferences would be M4, M390 and S90V. Crucible has been doing some amazing things with S90V. Its super hard and yet when tempered properly has a low chip resistance. It will take a surgical sharp edge and retain it better than almost any other steel in the industry. Most of the blades that I use that have it only require a bit of stopping to get the edge back to surgical sharp after a few months of use. On top of that it is considered a stainless steel and has a very high corrosion resistance.
Handle wise most better folders have stainless steel liners and some of the better ones have titanium liners. That old-timer kicks in again with my preference being the later. My preference is all titanium hardware if possible.
When it comes to scale material there a so many choices these days. G10 being the most widely using is a good choice for a user and there are a number of multi color and multi layered variants to be found especially with custom scale makers such as our own HB (Dragonfly Scales) and the ever popular DOAT. Every now and then Benchmade actually comes out with some cool stuff in G10. When it comes to pretty there is nothing better looking that Carbon Fiber. Go back five years and it was pretty much just your basic diagonal weave. Today you'll find Carbon Fiber infused with different metals and colored fibers that look super. As well there are Marbled, Twills and Crushed to name a few. While Micarta can look amazing depending on the materials used it doesn't hold up quite as well as many of the other scale materials. This of course dependent on the material its made out of. Paper and canvas being the most popular and may forms are impregnated to make them hold up better.
When it comes to blade shapes that's a huge toss up. My choices are pretty broad in this area and are based on use case. Being that my collection is pretty large it covers most of the different blade shapes out there. I'm open to carry just about any knife and is based on my needs for the day.
When it comes to models my favorites are long discontinued. I'm carrying a 806BK-901 today. My backup carry is a Bugout 535-3 and the truck always has a Full Sized Crooked River in M4. So the AFCKs, Ares, Crooked River, Bedlam, Ritter, Stryker and even the Grips, kinda in that order. But I will carry damn near anything.
For a cool place to check and see what tickles your fancy try playing around on the Benchmade Customization Site. You'll be able to build what you determine to be the best knife for you. Or maybe a whole slew of knives.
Hope to see you posting more here in the forum!
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Nice write up. Very similar to what like. Can't go wrong with an 806BK-901.
+1 on the titanium, G10 and Carbon fiber.
The older I get the lighter and smaller I like my knives to be.
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Quite frankly, if I lost all my knives the only one I would replace (other than my Grohmann slip-joints) is my standard green aluminum 940. Maybe, if the insurance company was being generous, my 940-2 as well. The rest?...
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...and to add: I prefer a drop point blade but as in the 940 I am flexible, but I do prefer the 940 over the 943 and mine doesn't see much action accordingly. I buy a knife (when I did as I'm now retired and money has to go for useless items such as food/shelter etc.) more on usage, esthetics and ergonomics than "cool" factor.
Blade steel is not as important to me as I'm totally fine with whatever a respected manufacturer uses. Since my usage is rather modest. I am happy with Buck's 420hc and anything better is just gravy but doesn't drive my choices. And to be honest, I see no appreciable reason to pay almost twice the price for "nicer" steel and a "fancy" scale material. My plain-Jane 535 will stay totally stock, thank you.
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I lost it but I really liked my mini-AFCK in ATS-34. Great blade shape, easy to use, and open. Blade steel kept a sharp edge and I could sharpen it when it was dull(and I didn't need diamond rods).
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My carry knife has vacillated between a 581 in M390 with DOAT g10 scales and a 710 in ATS-34 with Aramis g10 scales.
For fixed blades, I prefer a BRK 1855 Hunting Bowie in 154CM as a camp knife when I'm horse packing. In my "man purse" I've got a Fallkniven F1 Lam CoS for daily carry.
My hunting knives are a classic Buck 110, a Schrade LB7 with a U14xxx serial number and a BRK Highland Special as a backup.
My truck carries a 535GRY-1 in case I forgot my daily carry, and a Condor Skirmish as a beat upon blade.
When I'm out in the mountains doing trail work, whether on horse or dirt bike I've got a BRK Golok in A2.
I really like M390 for it ability to continue to cut after lots of use. I like the ATS-34 and 154CM for the ease of sharpening when dull. The A2 seem pretty tough when hacking brush.
I may have a problem...
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You have an incurable addiction just like the rest of us man! Nothing wrong with that! Just keep us posted on your adventures and knife life! 👍🏻
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[@mention:589599268365890048] posted:
I lost it but I really liked my mini-AFCK in ATS-34. Great blade shape, easy to use, and open. Blade steel kept a sharp edge and I could sharpen it when it was dull(and I didn't need diamond rods).
Excellent choice. Bummer that you lost it! They do come up on the second hand market here and there at pretty decent prices. Not a lot of the "new breed" knows about ATS-34 so they usually don't grab outlandish prices. You might even find them in newer steels, but obviously you'll pay a bit more.
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My favorite model has been the 8600 Bedlam, love the scimitar blade, great slicer! A great complimenting blade shape is the Infidel/SCOP/Fact pokey.
For full steel liners i like aluminum scales, great for hard use. G10 & CF can be can be acceptable, depending on the knife.
For nested liners i like CF, but wouldn't kick an aluminum scale out of the pack. Both are a great balance for light use.
Thicker Micarta can be nice
Ti is not my favorite, but i do now like a few. The integrals, 781 Anthem & 85, and the custom shop Bugout
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