>>1804686Benchmade always finds a way to disappoint me further. I’ve probably handled about 10 of them over the last 7 years, and literally only the 810 Contego did I think “this is worth the retail value”. Even then I would still buy a Spyderco Military because it’s less expensive and just all around better everywhere it counts.
The biggest issue with BM is that they have a systemic Quality Control problem. It really is bad; from really off centered grids, just shitastic factory edges, blades coming too lose or tight and with out locktite on the pivot, centering, ect... and sure these are mostly things that can be fixed easily and don’t make it much worse at being a tool, but why bother with it when many other brands in the same price range are putting out higher quality products for less?
And then there are the big fuck ups that have been seeming to happen a lot in the past few years, like them fucking up the HT on multiple different steels and not actually addressing the problem until enough people complain.
Then their is the Omega Spring that they are hell bent on using for ever. Omega springs break so easily, so much so that I don’t know many knife guys who have a few BMs that they actually carry and use often that hasn’t had at lest one or two springs break. And maybe this is not a big problem, except BM wont ship you internal components so you either have to ship your knife to them or buy aftermarket springs.
Now bundle this all up with that they just are not good value for the money for the materials they use compared to other companies, and even if they were not plagued with all these other problems, they are not are active for the money.
So if you are he’ll set on getting a BM, if you really like a particular design, it’s not the worst thing in the world to buy, just know you could have gotten a better tool for the money. Also if possibly try to buy it in store so you can QC it your self since BM can’t be bothered.