If I had to recommend one, it'd be the superfreek all day. But yeah, the price is still bonkers. From the perspective of a collector / aficionado, it's rough... but if it's gonna be the one knife you ever buy, I'd say it's acceptable.... once.
Getting ahead of potential hate, since some people think I'm just biased against USA-made knife companies... 1) I wouldn't have spent a good amount of money on this knife if I didn't truly have faith that it could have been great. This alone should be proof enough that I'm willing to try to give companies like Benchmade a chance. I might be a very fortunate person when it comes to my financial ability to acquire knives, but I am NOT fortunate enough to be able to throw away $200-300 on a knife that I predict I won't enjoy just for the sake of making a RUclips review video. 2) Remember, I've reviewed the Benchmade [super]Freek and it is easily one of my favorite knives of all time. I am not just going out of my way to hate on Benchmade. 3) I just received a CRK Large Sebenza 31 (USA-made) and I love it. I liked it so much that I actually put in an order for a custom sebenza the same day.
I do like the custom shop idea from Benchmade. It's cool to make the knife you want just wish the price wasn't so high. If they could keep the prices closer to a stock unit I think it would be better. Great review 👍
I totally get and agree with your review. Important question, I am considering returning it. The G10 handle is sanded and polished so smoothly that it is slippery in my hand. Which could be dangerous. Was or is your handle slippery? Did your handle improve? Having spent all that money, to start sanding or creating a more grippy texture seems absurd. I just received mine today, the handle texture is not what was represented in the model I created. My Crooked River is a brother or at least a cousin of your knife. Completely black custom Benchmade Mini Crooked River. It does not have the smooth rocking play that my more than a decade-old BENCHMADE 707 McHenry & Williams SEQUEL KNIFE still has. That was maybe the third-axis lock model made. The Mini is a beautiful form. I might score it a 7.6. The action of my blade if I work on it "might" smooth out. The arrow split clip would have been a much better choice, sigh, I designed mine with the same deep cover carry clip as yours. Please let me know your thoughts, especially about the handle. Thanks for your review.
I've received plenty of knives on both the low end and high end that have "factory crud" in the pivot, or a ton of greaserather than oil. Sometimes a sandy black residue or something to that extent. If you're having problems with action, there's no reason not to disassemble and see what might be going on inside.
I'm always so wishy-washy with Benchmade. Sometimes I'm so on board, but then I see the price 😂. I really like some of their knives.
If I had to recommend one, it'd be the superfreek all day.
But yeah, the price is still bonkers. From the perspective of a collector / aficionado, it's rough... but if it's gonna be the one knife you ever buy, I'd say it's acceptable.... once.
Getting ahead of potential hate, since some people think I'm just biased against USA-made knife companies...
1) I wouldn't have spent a good amount of money on this knife if I didn't truly have faith that it could have been great. This alone should be proof enough that I'm willing to try to give companies like Benchmade a chance. I might be a very fortunate person when it comes to my financial ability to acquire knives, but I am NOT fortunate enough to be able to throw away $200-300 on a knife that I predict I won't enjoy just for the sake of making a RUclips review video.
2) Remember, I've reviewed the Benchmade [super]Freek and it is easily one of my favorite knives of all time. I am not just going out of my way to hate on Benchmade.
3) I just received a CRK Large Sebenza 31 (USA-made) and I love it. I liked it so much that I actually put in an order for a custom sebenza the same day.
I do like the custom shop idea from Benchmade. It's cool to make the knife you want just wish the price wasn't so high. If they could keep the prices closer to a stock unit I think it would be better. Great review 👍
Pro tip: Not the same knives / companies at all.... but you can make a custom Gerber fastball on their website and..... it's..... tempting...
I totally get and agree with your review. Important question, I am considering returning it. The G10 handle is sanded and polished so smoothly that it is slippery in my hand. Which could be dangerous. Was or is your handle slippery? Did your handle improve? Having spent all that money, to start sanding or creating a more grippy texture seems absurd. I just received mine today, the handle texture is not what was represented in the model I created. My Crooked River is a brother or at least a cousin of your knife. Completely black custom Benchmade Mini Crooked River. It does not have the smooth rocking play that my more than a decade-old BENCHMADE 707 McHenry & Williams SEQUEL KNIFE still has. That was maybe the third-axis lock model made. The Mini is a beautiful form. I might score it a 7.6. The action of my blade if I work on it "might" smooth out. The arrow split clip would have been a much better choice, sigh, I designed mine with the same deep cover carry clip as yours. Please let me know your thoughts, especially about the handle. Thanks for your review.
Handle never got better and I basically can't give the thing away. Would recommend returning if you're not happy.
What did you have to clean out on a brand new knife?
I've received plenty of knives on both the low end and high end that have "factory crud" in the pivot, or a ton of greaserather than oil. Sometimes a sandy black residue or something to that extent.
If you're having problems with action, there's no reason not to disassemble and see what might be going on inside.
soft like plasticine, why is it so bad to temper? how can s90v be tempered to 59 it's not a knife but garbage