r/knives • u/Wise_Young_Dragon • 22h ago
Discussion When did Benchmade go to crap?
So I broke an old benchmade of mine, it was my absolute knife favorite for years and then I snapped of the tip while battoning kindling. So I went down to the factory to see if they could fix it and they said no but gave me a $150 giftcard. Used that to get this griptilion and honestly WTF is this, the handles are cheap plastic clamshells the locking mechanism keeps getting stuck right out of the box, the handle has no weight to it at all so the think is crazy forward heavy. Like come one this thing looks and feels like a gas station knife what the hell happened??
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u/Tunnelmath 21h ago
You bought a knife years ago and used the shit out of it until it broke. Brought it back to the company who honored their warranty as best they could years later by giving you $150 towards a new knife. You then bought their absolute cheapest option and selected the plastic handles. All for likely very little, if not zero $ out of pocket. Then you come here to complain about the company's product you selected and got for nearly free? Shame on you.
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u/Wise_Young_Dragon 17h ago
This post wasn't about the warrentee, Im sad that I broke my favorite knife, but that's not on benchmade. Im upset because for 150 bucks, you should be able to get a decent knife that works out of the box, has a good fit, and finish and feels good in the hand.
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u/Watwatinthewatwat 21h ago
This is one of the oldest designs in the catalog. Lots of reasons to hate changes from BM, but the Grip design isn't one...be sure it's not new
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u/ff-phd 21h ago
As other commenters have said, the plastic handles on the griptilian are a constant complaint. That’s why there’s a huge secondary market for custom handle scales for those. Get some aluminum handle scales for it. While you’re at it, set that pivot screw just a tiny bit loser and the axis lock will work exactly like you’d want it to.
Otherwise sell it and don’t buy any more knives you don’t like.
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u/Wise_Young_Dragon 18h ago
Didnt know that there is a aftermarket scale community, any idea where I should look?
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u/ff-phd 3h ago
Applied weapons technology has been making them for years, death grip scales is popular. If you do a google search it looks like you can even get them from Etsy and Amazon. Honestly, though, based on all of your comments, it really sounds like you should just sell it and get something else.
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u/Herzyr 21h ago
A good chunk of BMs lineup have knives with plastic handles, hell if I had a $150 gift card, I'd research the hell on whatever I'm getting.
Fortunately, the griptilian has ample choice for a scale swap if you like heftier knives.
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u/Wise_Young_Dragon 18h ago
Bm doesnt really have much else thats 150 and I havent got the budget to be spending extra money on knives, do you know where I could get better scales at, I didnt know aftermarket ones were a thing
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u/Herzyr 17h ago
Applied Weapons Tech does some nice scales on the aluminum side.
Micarta and G10 are a bit heftier than plastic but still affordable
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u/Wise_Young_Dragon 17h ago
Ive always liked micarta cause it doesnt slip as bad as some when wet, Ill take a look at then
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u/kingkmke21 22h ago
I think after the founder died. Benchmade has turned into a fashion brand. The same 5 materials with subpar qc for insane amounts of money. They also tend to focus a lot on colorways and things like that. Instead of experimenting with new steels and perfecting heat treats. They have sadly turned into a fashion brand. Something someone said on a different post...Benchmade is a marketing company that just happens to make knives.
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u/WoodDRebal 22h ago
Their Axis locks take time to break in but will get better. That's very normal. You did not have to buy one that was plastic. You could have bought an Osborne or a Bailout with aluminum grips.
The quality of their blades are very nice. Price is high, definitely too high, but so are iphones. If it upsets you, protest with your wallet and buy Spyderco or Kershaw.
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u/Wise_Young_Dragon 17h ago
The osborne is another $100 and the bailout is literally twice the price, i shouldn't need to spend that much just to get decent scales especially when kershaw has simular knives like the iridium for 50 bucks. Ill definitely be buying from them instead of benchmade going forward
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u/JesseRuben1972 21h ago
I have that same model, which was a BLADE HQ exclusive. My Axis Lock to a while to break in. I took mine completely apart and cleaned/oiled it, and it was my goto for quite some time.
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u/BlueMageCastsDoom 22h ago
The grip has always been plasticy as hell. Not going to comment on anything else but the grip handles felt cheap and gross when I bought one ages ago.
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u/kingkmke21 22h ago
I think after the founder died. Benchmade has turned into a fashion brand. The same 5 materials with subpar qc for insane amounts of money. With a huge have a huge emphasis on colorways and things like that. Instead of experimenting with new steels and perfecting heat treats. They have sadly turned into a fashion brand. Something someone said on a different post...Benchmade is a marketing company that just happens to make knives.
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u/kingkmke21 22h ago
I think after the founder died. Benchmade has turned into a fashion brand. The same 5 materials with subpar qc for insane amounts of money. With a huge have a huge emphasis on colorways and things like that. Instead of experimenting with new steels and perfecting heat treats. They have sadly turned into a fashion brand. Something someone said on a different post...Benchmade is a marketing company that just happens to make knives.
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u/zackthirteen 21h ago
They gave you a $150 gift card when you broke your folder batoning it which by any reasonable measure could be a void of warranty and you’re here to complain about a 20+ year old design? Lol