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Taking the knife out of its pouch and inspecting it for the first time, I was impressed by the solid feel and good fit and finish, complete with perfect blade centering. “CF-Elite” composite scale material definitely feels a lot more solid than the Grivory plastic on some other lightweight Benchmade models. It doesn’t feel at all “cheap”. The distinct ridges and circles on the scales are milled out and chamfered very well, being very grippy and yet, not sharp, or pointy anywhere.
The blade was very smooth and easy to flick open using the thumb plate (or whatever it’s called) and locked up tight, with no sign or lock rock or side to side play. However, the pivot came adjusted a bit too loosely for my tastes, which created a very light “detent” (or whatever functions as the detent on an axis lock knife). I tightened the pivot a tad with a T10 bit and got the action to where it was more to my taste. The axis lock action on this knife is very good, with the switch being smooth and easy to manipulate from either side. I have axis lock knives with better action, but most are worse. The smooth pivot, decent “detent” (or whatever acts as a detent on an axis lock) and the thumb plate allow for effective thumb flicking, reverse flicking and kicking the blade out in reverse (“tactical”) grip, among some of the more exotic/trick deployment methods. I found myself enjoying fidgeting with this knife while I sit at my desk.
A hardware check revealed that the body and clip screws were all T6 and some needed a bit of tightening. I wish that they were T8 but it’s not a big deal. I am not sure why Benchmade ships these with the regular pocket clip pre-installed, as one of the first things most people do with this knife is taking that clip off and installing the distinctive “finger hole” short clip, which comes in the packaging. I did just that and had no problems. It’s great that the clip position is reversible, both left or right side AND tip up or down. This very long handled knife is better carried tip down if you have smaller hands and shorter fingers. I have pretty large ones and will use this knife as a weak-hand backup self defense tool. Thus, I installed the clip on the left side, tip up position. When deploying the knife out of my pocket, I tend to grab it by the finger hole (in the clip) with my pinky, with my thumb ending up in the correct position to quickly flick the blade open.
The blade is an impressively long and pointy spear point. It’s technically 4.5” long but really, due the position of the thumb plate, only 4” of it is “usable”. For inches is a good length – long enough for effective self defense use and still light and compact enough for pocket carry. My blade came with a nice and sharp edge, though it’s a bit rough and “bitey” in spots – could’ve used some leather/abrasive compound honing. Then again, this is not meant to be a precision cutting instrument and the “biteyness” could actually help with slicing certain things. The tip is appropriately needle sharp. The grind is a bit off center on both sides, with the line ending up a couple of mm above the tip. Considering that I see this in all of Benchmade’s promo photos as well, it almost seems like this is intentional. I mean, if you keep sharpening the knife, the line will eventually end up right at the tip. This out-of-the-box lack of symmetry might bother some people, though it’s not something that concerns me. This is a tool and not a piece of perfect “pocket jewelry”.
The blade is made from the ubiquitous D2 tool steel. I can see how a lot of people might have an issue with a $250 knife coming with a D2 blade, as in the past few years, D2 had become associated with budget knives. However, the Chinese D2 used in those budget models is often incorrectly formulated and poorly heat-treated, resulting in substandard performance. Heck, people have tested the steel on budget Chinese blades marked as D2 and had discovered that in some cases it’s not even D2 at all. I trust Benchmade with their D2. The thing is, when correctly formulated and heat-treated to the right hardness specs, D2 is a pretty excellent performer for a knife like this. Would I prefer it if the blade was Magnacut or some other stainless “super steel”? Sure. And yet, I also have no problem with it being a nice American D2. D2 can rust is not properly taken care of but the black Cerakote on this blade should help with that. Still, it’s a good idea to keep the edge coated with a bit of oil.
Speaking of the blade, the right side of it has some Microtech style “billboarding” on it, with a small paragraph of text and “Greg Thompson” very prominently etched in. The knife would look better without this stuff but once again, it’s a tool and not a boutique display blade. Doesn’t bother me too much.
The areas where this knife most excels at are the ergonomic and handling characteristics. Solid feel, great balance, light weight, effective texturing, and tactile circles on the handle, combined with ample gripping real estate, make this knife a joy to wield and train with, whether with bare hands or wearing light gloves. This knife is fun to mess with, though I try to not get crazy with it, as I can be a klutz. If you are inclined, Benchmade does offer a trainer version of this knife, pricey as it is.
Speaking of the handle, the butt is crowned with an effective glass breaker implementation and there’s a paracord sized lanyard hole too.
While this is a long knife, I don’t have any issues with carrying it in my front jeans pocket. The “finger ring” short clip seems to retain it well. I know this for a fact, as I ended up taking a little (or not so little) tumble on the pavement the other day and the knife stayed securely in my pocket. :) The thin profile and the clip design are also perfect for MOLLE carry on your plate carrier or whatnot.
Benchmade knives are pricey but the designs and build quality are great, they are 100% US made and their service/warranty are probably the best in the biz, including the famous life-time sharpening service. One time I needed support and parts for a Benchmade knife, their response was amazing. Props to their chat support team!
I must confess that before buying this knife, I bought a $50 Chinese clone that’s sold here on Amazon. It looked and felt close enough, but the blade was made from unspecified steel (likely 3CrMov “pot metal”) and there were all kinds of issues with the fit, action and quality control. I tried two different copies and they both had major issues and were returned to the seller. However, messing with that knife did convince me to take the plunge and invest in this authentic version. I am glad that I did, as it’s an excellently designed, high-quality self-defense and rescue tool that should last me a very long time.
P.S.: I’ll add a video to this review after I regain full use of my fingers (that tumble that I mentioned…). :)
