Benchmade 551 Griptilian

04/22/2011 by Pedro

-Price Paid: $75.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I have been using this knife (and only this knife) for every day care about a year and a half now, and I cannot recommend it enough.

The blade comes super sharp (no surprise), good enough to shave with.

I have bigger hands than most guys, so one thing I look for in a knife is handle size and the Griptilian is nearly perfect to hold.

Holding it as you normally would, with your thumb along the spine of the knife, is very comfortable. The jimping on the spine is small but is gives your thumb just enough grip.

If you flip the knife over and hold it so that the blade points down while your thumb points up, it's even more comfortable. The hilt of the handle has ridges right where your thumb goes that allow you to grip very nicely.

The only drawback here is the plastic handle feels slightly hollow and cheap. However, in over a year of use, it shows no signs of damage, except for minor nicks that are nearly unnoticeable except under close inspection, despite numerous bangs and drops. I think the handle feels fine, but if you are used to a knife with an all metal handle you may need to adjust.

The Axis lock is great, and placed just right on the knife, making it easy to open with one thumb by using either the thumb stud or by sliding the Axis stud back and flicking with your wrist. It takes some practice, but after a few minutes you'll get a feel for it.

There's a big screw right by the axis lock that you can tighten of loosen to adjust the play in the opening action. I loosened mine to the point that by holding the knife out and pulling the Axis stud, the knife opens with gravity. Even still, the blade doesn't feel too loose when opened.

The blade holds an edge pretty well. I sharpen mine ever couple of weeks. Just 5 or so strokes and it's like new.

The only major complaints I can see with this knife are on matters of opinion. The feel of the handle and size of the individual components may not cater to some. Personally, I think the size and feel are just right and I have 0 issues with it, so I'm giving it a 10, but there are some minor things I think others may not prefer. Either way, it's a great value.

If you are looking for good knife for every day use under $100, I highly recommend the Griptilian.

SOG Powerlock

04/19/2011 by Charlie

-Price Paid: $69.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

I bought the PowerLock for every day carry. I do HVAC and general maintenance. The fourth time I used the phillips screw driver it broke off at the shank. I emailed SOG and they said I could BUY the replacement bit on their website. I responded that have owned and used Gerber and Victornox multi tool/survival knives for over 25 years and never had a failure like this and the repair should be on their dime. I never heard from them again. The knife has been in my lunch box ever since. Today I looked at it and the bolt that holds the pliers together had come loose and feel out. What a piece! SOG should stick to what they know and not multi tools. A little customer service might go a long way as well.

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CRKT M16-01KZ

04/18/2011 by george knowels

-Price Paid: $26.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This knife design really has potential if only the materials were better. The overall shape and dimensions are perfect for EDC. Best features are the slim shape, flipper opening method, and light weight. As mentioned before, the handle is too narrow for filling the hand. A g-10 material would be thicker and grippier. Also, the blade on this is an AUS-4 which is not good for maintaing an edge. Aus-8 should be bare minimum and 154cm or vg-10 would be great. Overall this knife just disappears in the pocket and I carry this the most often.

Spyderco Centofante 3

04/18/2011 by george knowels

-Price Paid: $57.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This knife really grows on you. It is light, slim and fits the hand very well. Opening it from the tip down position means the thumb is in the hole from the very beginning- which means a very fast opener. The thin Vg-10 blade is great for getting and maintaining an edge. Only draw backs are that the jimping on the spine snags the pocket (easily fixed with emery cloth) and that the edge touches the handle when griped in the closed position. That is a big no no in my book.

Benchmade 470 Emissary

04/18/2011 by Chris Mar

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

The 470 Emissary folding knife is one of the new 2011 models from the Benchmade Knife Company. It is thoughtfully designed, feature rich and exceptionally well-engineered. The 3" clip-point blade is an Osborne design, with thumb studs on each side and made from S30V premium stainless Steel. The handle is a CNC billet Aluminum Alloy with a thickness of 0.45" making this an extremely low profile, thin and lightweight knife. The 470 uses an Axis locking mechanism with a secondary back-up lock which can be enabled in both open and closed positions. Visibly, one of the most stand-out aspects of the 470 is the very functional and ergonomic contoured handles which are perfectly positioned to align either thumb to initiate the Assisted Open. I was happy to find the Emissary design absolutely flawless and the S30V steel definitely lives up to its reputation.

Chris Mar

Tactical Chief Instructor

the perfect EDC. It is saf

Benchmade 943 Osborne

04/18/2011 by Jon G.

-Price Paid: $155.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

The Benchmade 943 is a manual action folding knife with a blade length of 3.4" and an overall length (opened blade + handle) of 7.87". Despite the long blade, it weighs a svelte 2.9oz. The "straight clip point" blade is made from the stellar S30V steel.

The 943 comes with a relatively straight edge (it's not a wharncliffe, but there's not much recurve either), which makes sharpening easy but it doesn't have as much belly as I'd prefer. The blade is pretty slender with a high flat ground profile, which makes it well-suited to everyday carry and utility work. Very sharp pointy tip, which is useful for detail work and digging out splinters, but is also somewhat delicate, so it might break off if you drop the knife or try to use it as a prybar. If you stick to using your knife as a knife though, it should be totally fine. It came "utility sharp" out of the box, but the edge geometry was a bit out of whack. From the factory, my 943's edge was ground to about 50 degrees inclusive, so I couldn't get it very sharp on my Spyderco Sharpmaker. This issue with edge geometry seems to be a well-documented problem with many Benchmades. After buying the diamond rods for the sharpmaker, I reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees, and it's exactly as sharp as I want it.

This knife is EXTREMELY well-balanced. The blade flies out of the handle with a nudge on the thumb stud, yet the in-handle retention is excellent. As it is a manual-action knife, you also have the option of slowly deploying the blade (if you don't want to scare the non-knife people), which is equally easy to accomplish one-handed. Out-of-box, blade lockup was outstanding; like a bank vault, absolutely no wiggle in any direction. However, after flipping the knife open and closed about a dozen times, the pivot screw started backing out. It probably moved back less than [ of a turn, but the side-to-side blade movement at this point was noticeable. A drop of blue loctite inside the pivot screw threads solved the problem, but it would be nice if it didn't have any issues out of box, especially for a $150 knife.

This knife is seriously slender! The sculpted black anodized aluminum handles are very comfortable in pocket and in hand, and serve to keep the overall weight down. However, they have a slight chalky texture that you'll either love or hate. They do a pretty good job of maintaining grip, but they certainly aren't the same grippiness as good textured G-10 or Spyderco's bi-directional FRN. Also, while sharpening the 943, I managed to gouge the aluminum handle closest to the ceramic rods pretty nastily. This was my carelessness, but be aware that the aluminum will show scratches and wear. The pocket clip is fairly low-profile and appears to be of identical design to the Griptilian family clips. Tip-up only (which I prefer anyway on non-flipper knives) and repositionable for left- or right-side carry. The clip tension and the moderate grippiness of the aluminum handles are a perfect balance: the knife retains extremely well in my jeans, and does not appear to be wearing out the clothing material.

Apart from just the functional aspects, it's worth mentioning that the Benchmade 940-series are very good-looking knives. The blue titanium backspacer is absolutely gorgeous against the black handles, and the overall lines on the knife are very smooth and simple. You need to hold one to really appreciate the aesthetics of the 940 series.

I generally do not carry knives with blades over three inches (I have fairly small hands). However, the 943 fits me well and doesn't look like I'm wielding a dagger. The slender handle and low-profile blade design make carrying a large knife practical and relatively non-threatening. While not in the same class of comfort as the Kershaw Packrat, the 943 just feels solid and capable. Granted, I would not baton wood with this blade, but that's not what the 943 is meant to do. Overall: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Cold Steel Pocket Bushman

04/17/2011 by Jehu

-Price Paid: $26.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Bought this knife and love it... The video said it was not a thumb stud opening knife and that it was difficult to close. They are right but it is a super knife... Tough durable and superb quailty. Save your money and buy two of these.... You cany go wrong...

Cold Steel SRK

04/17/2011 by Brendan Lee

-Price Paid: $70.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

The Cold Steel SRK, or Survival Rescue Knife, is standard issue for Navy SEALs, and now I know why. It is a 6 inch fixed blade offering from CS, and is pretty solid for cutting and various camp tasks. if you watch the cold steel video for it, they put their knives through some pretty solid abuse, and it still comes out on top.

This is one solid knife, razor sharp out of the box, comes standard with a secure-ex sheath. It's a full tang blade so you know it wont break when you might need it most.

Currently sits on my BOB, and is ready to go at a moment's notice.

at first glance it could be a little awkward to hold, but the grip is pretty solid, quillion finger guard to prevent your hand from getting sliced...

fully recommend this knife for survival purposes

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ESEE ESEE-3MIL

04/14/2011 by ryan

-Price Paid: $105.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

This really might be the best knife for the money. It's as strong as you would ever need it to be and sharper than I need it to be. It seems to be holding it's edge very well and has a great overall feel. It's well worth the price tag and then some in my opinion.

SOG Flash II

04/13/2011 by Josh

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

SOG Flash 2 arc lock 1/2 serrated. This knife is really a good buy overall for around $40. You can't expect the same quality as you can get with 100+ dollar knives. This knife opens fast, locks up solid, the arc lock is great, and the blade was sharp from the factory. It is super light for it's size and carries low in the pocket with a reversible clip for left or right or left hand users. If you want a good quality edc that you can afford then this should looked at.

Benchmade 10412-1 Mini Pika II TI

04/11/2011 by Mike

-Price Paid: $40.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Great everyday knife. Amazing quality for $40.00. You have to find it as an old stock item, Benchmade quit making them. Probably to close in quality to the US made knives.

Spyderco Ladybug

04/10/2011 by isaac

-Price Paid: $30.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

overall this knife is probably the best knife made that has a blade lenght of under 2 inches. build is perfect except for one thing, it is pin construction. fits in your hand with a nice 2 and a half finger choyles. the blade is shaving sharp out of the box. vg 10 steel, holds a good edge. frn handle has excellent grip. good jimping on the back. small blade will get your average edc jobs done( open packages, letters, cut plastic ties, paracord etc)

opens fast with no practice. has a lanyard hole which if you put a small lanyard on it, it will be easy to open. i think it is a little too big to put on your keys.

overall a great buy!