Benchmade 930 Kulgera

10/29/2010 by Jason

-Price Paid: $180.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I bought this knife with great expectations. The materials used are top notch and the build quality only falls short because the blade is off centre when closed. The more I handle this knife the more I find the ergonomics of the handle to be poor. This knife is more suited as a gentleman's folder and will do okay as an EDC for some. For me, I'll go back to the 94x Osbornes as my principle EDC's. I won't shelf or sell the Kulgera and may put into my EDC rotation. I still like the knife despite what I perceive as its' shortcomings but I don't think I'll buy another.

Benchmade 930 Kulgera

10/26/2010 by KennyB

-Price Paid: $105.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

Benchmade Kulgera

Blade Length: 3.6"

Weight: 3 oz

Blade Material: S30V

Blade Style; "Modified Drop-point"

Blade Finish: Satin Polish

Handle Material: Blue/Black G10

Ambidextrous clip

AXIS Lock

Benchmade's "Kulgera" is a great folder that holds a good balance between utility and aesthetic appeal. You could clip it onto a suit or some nice pants as a "gentlmen's knife" with the ornate and well finished black-nickel hardware and blue/black G10 that has a terrific wood look; or you could use it equally as well as a solid working knife for light to moderate duties and hunting and camping.

Mine is my EDC and I'm constantly putting it back in my pocket over most of my other knives. A large reason I like this knife over so many others is the weight and size; when you clip it to your pocket, you almost forget that it's even there. The width of the handle is just a little bit over half an inch.

The ergonomics of the handle are pretty nice, but there's some things that could be a little better and that just don't make much sense. My biggest gripe is the placing of jimping on the knives, because instead of putting it on the back of the blade, they've put it on the back of the knife handle where you're fingers are never going to engage it, and even if they did one of the jimping areas is actually recessed beneath the scales so you can barely engage it with your fingers anyway. I have no idea what the idea behind this jimping pattern was, or if they're supposed to be for jimping; it'd be nice to know what was going through Osborne's head. Aside from that, there's a part of the scales that are cut out that expose the metal liners; again I'm not really sure what the point is, but it doesn't really both me or make the knife any less comfortable.

I don't really find the ergonomics to be extremely comfortable as I would with the "Needs Work" that I reviewed, but when using the knife my hands don't become sore and it never feels heavy. The low weight is especially nice because the knife feels very easy to control.

I really like the blade's shape and finish. it has a "modified drop-point" but really it's just a drop-point with a swedge on the back that creates a high-saber grind on the knife edge that's so high I would liken it more to a full flat grind. There's a thumb ramp formed on the butt portion of the spine above the thumb stud before the "swedge", and the whole thing is finished with a very smooth satin finish. Overall the blade is quite thin at .115" at the spine, and so when cutting through materials it feels like it cuts much better than many other knives, but doesn't feel like it can easily bend or snap.

The AXIS lockup is great, there's no vertical or horizontal blade play, and the opening operation is very smooth. I've had a couple of issues with the AXIS lock. One of which could simply be solved by Loctite, and that's the pivot loosening up over time; however both of my AXIS springs have broken. A lot of people have the opinion that, "Well, you shouldn't open the knife up so much," but since then I've replaced the springs with some cheap guitar string that has far exceeded the springs they put in the knife originally. The big issue here is that I voided my warranty by disassembling my knife, but I didn't want to spend the money on shipping and insurance just to have them put new springs in there--especially if the springs they're going to use are just going to break again.

Overall though, the build quality is fantastic between blade design, the lockup and the handle. The fit and finish of everything is superb, and it's very aesthetically pleasing as well. I think the handle could stand to be a bit more comfortable in away since you become quite aware after time that the handle feels a little "straight", unlike a knife that contours to your hand naturally. However, the knife is so light, and the blade geometry cuts so well that most tasks don't require enough energy to make the handle uncomfortable and painful. It's not a knife that will tire my hand out, but it's not really a handle that I'll forget I'm holding onto either. Still it's contours make it very grippy, and it's very maneuverable, so I would say it's better than most. Even the clip barely feels like it is there, and actually helps with the grip and opening and closing it in my opinion.

I've used mine as my EDC so it sees a lot of letter and package opening duties, but I took it camping and whittled quite a bit with it; let a friend scrape out a glass bowl and the edge just rolled, no chipping or major denting. The edge retention seems fine to me, but I don't really make a habit of seeing how long my knives stay sharp without touching them up. However, I have let this one go for quite a while thinking it was still hair splitting sharp because how well it was opening packages until I tried to split hair and noticed it had dulled slightly; and that was after a couple of weeks of daily use, mostly on paper and packaging, but sometimes cardboard cutting because I have to break boxes down quite a bit. So I wouldn't really know how to qualify it, but I think it has better wear resistance than average. I wish that it would resist edge rolling a little bit better at more acute edge angles, but I don't find the S30V as hard to sharpen as many people say it is so that's okay with me. It does take quite a while to touch up on a strop with chromium oxide when compared to other steels like Case's CV which are also high in Vanadium.

If I had any complaints about the knife itself ( aside from the AXIS lock ), then my only real complaints would be inane jimping placement and that the clip loses its finish and becomes scratched/faded very easily. So if you EDC it, then it might not look as good sticking out of some dress attire, but that's not really a big deal... I'm just looking for something to complain about on the knife. As much as they don't bother me, others have complained that the exposed liners hurt their hands after extended use, but I don't really get that problem.

Overall I think it's a very aesthetically pleasing knife that isn't impractical to work with as well. Doing something like cutting through a stack of cardboard two inches wide takes less force with this blade than it would with many, and it feels very solid doing that kind of task. In addition to that, it doesn't feel as clunky as a "hard use" knife would for many operations, and often I find myself easily holding it like one wood a wood carving scalpel to do complete delicate cutting tasks. I think it's balanced very well between utility and aesthetic, and delicate and hard use.

Value wise though, I think that's an interesting story. Benchmade MSRPs this knife at $205; I would not purchase it at that price. Most sites offer it for around $175 which is still a little high for me, but I've seen it available for $130 which I think is a fair price--again that's just after having used it and finding out how much I like it. The price I paid for it was $105 because I had a $100 discount from Benchmade, and I would say that it's a perfect value for that price, I don't regret spending that much for it at all. However, if I were to have bought it for $175 and I didn't like the exposed liners or something I think I would be upset, because from what I've seen it's not an easy knife to resell for much more than $100-$120 depending on the condition.

CRKT M16-13Z

10/22/2010 by Alex

-Price Paid: $55.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This knife was my EDC for almost two years. It started out well -- the handle is comfortable, and the blade is well-designed -- but after a while, screws started coming loose on their own, and it became apparent that the blade didn't hold an edge for very long, even under light use. There is a nifty secondary lock that you can activate to lock the blade in place while it is in the open position, but the thumb stud used to activate the lock fell off after a year, and now it's a pain to use.

Overall, a good value, but don't buy it for the long term.

Benchmade 790 Subrosa

10/21/2010 by Dominic

-Price Paid: $150.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

Hey everyone from out here in California!

I just wanted to say a few things about the 790 that as far as I can see haven't been said on the web.

Overall I think it's a great, great knife. I'm very happy with the fit, finish, functionality, and focus of the knife. Here's a list of Pro's to spell it out.

Pro's-

-Titanium handles, love em'. perfect handle material as I see it.

-Satin finish, great satin finish and grind. Re-curve spear-point is a very functional grind.

-Nitrous assist is AWESOME. if you don't own a knife with this assist, get one, because I can honestly say it's the best spring assist mechanism on the market today.

-S30V blade, very sharp from factory, easy to keep sharp, hard to make sharp. Excellent wear resistance. And it's stainless, yeah!

-Framelock, works very well, strong secure lock-up with a built in lock bar stop on the pocket clip. So you can't overextend the lock bar. Great!

-Weight, the weight of this knife is a huge plus, it's the only titanium framelock knife I've ever seen that weighs in at 3.8 ounces. WOW! For the size of the knife and the materials used that's very impressive.

-Cost, picked this knife up for $150 on ebay,

you can buy em' all day long for $200. For what you get, materials used, weight, functionality, assisted opening, and quality of build this knife is a steal. Just cheap enough to justify as a user, with the quality of a knife you'd want to use as a user. Best knife I've seen for the value yet.

Con's-

-Don't like tip down carry, I think it was a compromise for the lock bar stop option. Debatable sacrifice. Would prefer tip up.

-Don't like how Benchmade make's it so you constantly have to adjust the lockup and pivot screw on this knife. Very annoying!

-Don't like frilly designs on any knife, ever.

-Fundamental flaw of any Ti framelock is that if you use it, as a user, the lockbar will wear faster than you might realize or might want. I've yet to see this problem rectified on any Ti framelock.

-Would rather have a dual thumb stud, single is limiting and annoying for lefty's.

-Would like to see better texturing for better grip.

All in all this knife changes everything as far as I'm concerned, because Benchmade's opened up the possibility of owning a very strong light knife that provides function as well as aesthetics for a really great price.

Benchmade 15020 Bone Collector Axis Folder

10/19/2010 by cutter17

-Price Paid: $93.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

The large Bone Collector is a very well done piece. When I saw the first pictures of I was not too impressed, but the more I begin to really look at it, the more I figured I would give it a chance, after all, it was under $100 so I figured I wouldn't be out a bunch if I didn't like it. Once I pulled it from it's box I knew immediately it was a keeper. The D2 blade steel is very sharp and I think BM does a good job with this steel. The sculpted handles, and backspacer combine to give this knife a great feeling grip. The fit and finish on this knife is excellent with with perfect fit between the handles and liners and everything tight and in it's place. Axis Lock knives have always impressed me, and this is no exception. Lock up is excellent with no bladeplay in any direction. The Bone Collector also has some weight to it (5.96 ounces) which gives it a very hefty feel, something I really like. I really feel like this is a great value and even though it is advertised as a hunting knife it makes a perfect edc knife.

Emerson Knives A100

10/19/2010 by Anon

-Price Paid: $137.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

Let's not be blunt here, this knife let me down when I got it even though there are also many good points.

Upon receiving the knife, I expected to get fit and finish of a knife of the same value. In that comparison, I used a Benchmade 940 and a Spyderco Manix 2 CTS-XHP. Both of these comparison knives are excellent in almost every way(I may review them under the same alias).

Cut to the chase, the fit and finish leaves a lot to be desired. The G-10 slabs do not fit just like the Liner does, and it looks sad to me that they don't pay more attention to this kind of stuff.

Now if you've done enough research, you would know the A-100 has a Saber Primary grind and a Chisel secondary bevel. You can sharpen it to your likings or make it a V-edge by sharpening the unsharpened side

If you're thinking of Pocket carrying this knife, you might be disappointed on the fact that it's thicker than most folding knives. On top of that, the back end of the handle sticks out of your pocket so it isn't really that enjoyable unless you IWB carry it. (Inside Waist band/ Belt)

For the price, I would really prefer a better steel. 154CM does take easy sharpenings and holds it's edge alright, but the Rockwell Hardness of Emerson knives leaves a ton to be desired. The RC 56 just does not hold an edge. The performance would be greatly magnified if the heat treat was RC 60.

Decide for yourself whether you want an Emerson. Chisel grind on a knife doesn't do well, but the Primary Saber grind is a V-edge so it's less biased when you cut into thicker materials.

Gerber Powerframe

10/19/2010 by Anon

-Price Paid: $15.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Don't fall for it.

For those who are first timers looking for a half decent knife, this is only disappoint you.

I rated the Overall as Below average in many aspects because this knife does not live up to what it needs to be able to do.

This knife has a "Frame" construction made of mysterious metal and a lock made from the same idea. This alone gives someone like me the red light. It is unsafe to use whether if you're cutting through a rock or paper.

The Ergonomics are also below average for the price, because it's thin-ness correlates to the price. The more metal they use, the higher it'll cost them to make. The handle thickness is the bare minimum on a knife.

The verdict is, buy a knife that is known for it's good Lockup, but it for the steel's edge holding ability instead of it's edge losing ability. There is no joke about a knife being a tool, and if it doesn't hold an edge, it's just not a good tool.

Kershaw Leek Composite Blade

10/12/2010 by DarkGlobe

-Price Paid: $65.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

A great knife, bought two of them, one was for a fathers day gift and decided that I would like one myself.

The Pros:

First off, the blade, slender and sharp out of the box. The design makes it very handy for EDC use, especially in an office carving open boxes and envelopes. The two tone blade composed of CPM-D2 (edge) and Sandvik 14c28n (back) steels with the copper inset is technically fascinating. It holds a wicked edge and takes plenty of wear before requiring resharpening. No rust problems at all.

The handle is 440 stainless. It is slender and smooth. Not a great selection for wet use, but for that, I'd select a G10 handled knife for those situations. The smoothness is excellent to get it into and out of the pocket without hangup. Also, if you like putting other things into the same pocket, the smoothness of the handle doesn't file your knuckles off while reaching for them. I'm not really a lanyard person but the hole seems that it would accommodate most reasonable size string. There is a blade closed lock incorporated in the handle, more on this later.

The size is ideal for what I select it for and don't rate a knife on this merits (if the length is wrong, you selected the wrong tool). Feel in the hand is nice, the clip doesn't dig in as much as I thought it would. It has a nice solid presence when in the hand.

The speedsafe assisted opening is fantastic (this was my first of many speedsafe knives now) and works flawlessly. It has a particular satisfyingly sound when it flies and locks open. Be sure to keep your hands, toes, eyes, anything not to be cut away from the backside of the blade when it deploys, the tip is sharp on the back swing also. (ask me how I know)

The frame lock is silly strong for a knife of this size, if it failed, likely you picked the wrong tool for the job (I would expect the blade to fold / snap / meltdown before the lock ever failed). There is no play at all in any direction once locked up.

Clip is reversible for tip up / down, but NOT southpaw friendly.

Now to get picky:

With everything in perspective, the only complaint I have had is when I drop the knife when closed (I suspect this happens to all leeks and possibly other speedsafes). On an occasion it has slipped from my hand (my fault but it is a smooth knife) and when it hit the floor, IF the blade opening lock was NOT in place, the blade WILL fly open. This has a tendency of alarming standers by while at the grocery store or other public places that people might be knifeaphobes. However, when it hit the hard floor, the 440 handle is so hard it didn't even mark it up (read: impressed).

Although the knife is solid, but compared to another knife of similar size, can feel heavy (3.1 oz), but after all, all business components of this puppy are completely made of metal.

Conclusion:

Would highly recommend this knife to anyone who needs a slick, fancy looking, easy carry, sharp knife for opening anything from the occasional boxes to letters around the office. It makes an excellent gentleman's folder. If I misplaced it, I would purchase it again in a heartbeat.

KaBar Mule Folder

10/11/2010 by john santi

-Price Paid: $50.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

this knife is the only folder i will ever carry. the kabar mule is the only knife i cant seem to break and for the price of 50 bucks you cant go wrong. i have owned hundred of knifes from other companys and none can hold a flame to the mule. its strong, durable, and is comfortable

KaBar Becker Combat Bowie

10/11/2010 by Del

-Price Paid: $68.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

Overall, I think The KaBar Becker BK-9 is an excellent knife. I was very happy to find that KaBar is producing the Becker designs again. I think this is an excellent field/utility knife that would also certainly serve well in a survival situation, but it is quite large (9" blade)and heavy.

My comments on this knife are very similar to my comments on the BK-2.

It's almost a scaled-up version of the BK-2, the blade is a little thinner at a little under 1/4 inch thick, it has a full tang, weighs maybe a pound and a half, holds an edge well, and it's not too hard to sharpen. It's made of 1095 steel, coated with a smooth black protective coating. The tang extends slightly beyond the handle into a pommel useful for pounding. This is a very solid knife which holds up well to: cutting, slicing, field-dressing game, chopping, batoning, and even digging, prying, and hammering.

The handle scales are black "Grivory," which is fiberglass impregnated nylon plastic. It's very light and strong and should be impervious to weather, but the handle scales are where I have my main criticisms. First, they are a comfortable shape and fit my hands well, but they are quite smooth. This can be easily fixed with some skateboard tape or other wrapping, or by scoring or checking the handle scales with a file or Dremel tool. Second, the handle scales can come loose a little too easily. The scales are fixed to the knife with three hex-head bolts and nuts. Apparently these are not well-torqued at the factory. This can also be easily fixed in several different ways. Simply using a hex key wrench to tighten the bolts, or wrapping with tape or cord as I mentioned above will fix this. My solution was to remove the bolts and coat their threads with LockTite, then properly torque them down again. They haven't loosened at all since I did this.

I also recommend the micarta handle scales sold separately by Ka-bar.

The knife came with a small, stainless steel, skeleton handled, utility knife which has its own pocket in the sheath, but it's just simple knife without much to say about it. This is NOT the Becker Necker.

My only complaint is the sheath, which is just nylon with a plastic insert. It has an accessory pocket which can hold a sharpening stone, multi-tool, or flashlight, and also contains the small, included utility knife. I would have expected a much better sheath for a knife of this quality and I don't expect this sheath to hold up well over time, but there are certainly better sheath options out there.

Bradley Cutlery Alias 2

10/11/2010 by Jesse

-Price Paid: $190.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

I chose this knife because I wanted a small yet robust, high-quality indoor/outdoor EDC knife. A titanium framelock with S30V steel seemed to fit the bill and my budget, so I went with the Alias II.

Quick history: The Alias was created to fulfill some of the demand for the incredibly popular Chris Reeve Sebenza knife, at a lower cost. They share the same locking mechanism and most of the same materials, though the Bradley sports aluminum thumbstud and barrel spacers as well as a stainless steel pocket clip vs. the Sebenza which replaces those materials with titanium. I've owned a Sebenza but this will not be a comparison.

This knife is extremely comfortable in my small hands. The shape of the handle and the jimping on top assures a solid grip. The size strikes the right balance between strength and pocket space. Larger people may want to consider the Alias I but this one is literally perfect on my 5'6" body. My only real criticism of the handle and the knife is how the anodized titanium scratches so easily.

Bradley is owned by Benchmade, and although this is not an axis lock knife it certainly flicks open with the same near-automatic speed. I have noticed how the thumbstud is a bit pointy and slightly uncomfortable as it digs into your finger, but this is a minor issue. Once open, it's hard not to notice how light the knife is at 3 ounces, which only adds to its appeal as an EDC option. At the same time, it looks and feels very strong.

My Alias II required some adjustment to achieve zero blade play but now it is rock solid.

The blade itself is perhaps the most interesting part of the knife. The "modified spear point" is an effective shape and well-suited for slicing and piercing. It's also stonewashed which should help a bit in hiding scratches on the blade. I haven't used this knife much yet but when handed a package sealed with that thick plastic I was surprised at how easily it cut right through.

Overall, this is a very well-designed, solid, lightweight little (EDC) indoor/outdoor knife. It's not what I would call a "construction site knife," as it's a little too refined, but it should be comfortable in most other arenas.

Spyderco Manix 2

10/09/2010 by Kevin

-Price Paid: $80.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

When I first received this knife, I wasn't a fan. The lock was very tight and I had a tough time closing it. Another negative for me is it is a hollow grind instead of my preferred flat grind. Although I didn't like the lock and grind, I thought it had great ergo's from the start and the blade was hair popping sharp out of the box. 154cm has been a great steel for me. It takes a scary edge and holds it well.

After carrying my Manix, the lock loosened up and I warmed up to the hollow grind. I find the choil very useful and don't mind giving up some cutting edge for it. The aggressive jimping and G10 assures the knife isn't going anywhere when you're using it. It has non-skeletonized liners which puts it on the heavy side. Some might see this as a negative but I actually prefer a knife with some heft to it. The knife is SUPER smooth and locks up like a vault. These days I find myself carrying my Manix 2 or my XM-18 about 90% of the time.

Also, This is a very very high value knife. A Spyderco knife, with a great steel, and a solid lockup, as smooth as they come, and made right here in the USA, for around 80 bucks. How did Spyderco pull this one off?