Benchmade 530 Pardue

Reviewed 09/14/2014 by Hipower

-Price Paid: $85.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

154 CM blade. Pretty good steel. Will hold an edge pretty well. Very light and can't notice it when carrying. Great knife for light duty EDC. Does not have full length liners for maximum support. Not made to be a heavy duty use knife. Axis lock is awesome. Very good blade if purchased for a lightweight every day blade that won't be abused.

Reviewed 11/27/2012 by Joe

-Price Paid: $85.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This was my first of many Benchmades. Purchased from my local REI store in 2006, I was in the market for a light weight knife for backpacking and had a Swiss Army 'Tinker' in mind; the sales associate suggested I try a 530, this in 440C, and I was hooked with the quality and how sharp it was out of the box. Six years later (this being 2012) I still have this knife in my EDC rotation and love it. Many models from that time period are long discontinued, but this one remains a staple to this day, and for good reason!

Reviewed 02/04/2012 by runswithsizzers

-Price Paid: $66.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

First impression: nicely made for the price. Good balance and eye-pleasing proportions. I am very impressed with the AXIS lock mechanism - blade locks open tight, with no play, and can safely be folded with one hand. Pared down to the bare essentials in materials, this knife is light and slim - a delight to carry. Feels almost too slim in my largish hand, but is comfortable enough for the light duties of an urban EDC. Grippy surface texture of handle is a plus.

Right carry, tip up, makes the knife very accessible for me, but with one serious flaw. It ain't that easy to open. First, the blade is almost too light to fling open, unless by an extreme arm and wrist movement of the kind that can result in a visit to the chiropractor. Conventional, one-handed opening is difficult because the thumb stud is too short and rests too close to the handle. It's hard to find the thumb stud by feel, and after fumbling around to find it, a painful amount of effort is required to push the blade open - not because the joint is stiff (it's not), but because you must push down hard on the little stud to get enough friction.

Before modification, the only way I could open the blade one-handed was to scoot my thumbnail across the handle until it found the thin gap between the handle and the blade-stud - then use the back (top) of my thumbnail to push the stud open - tricky. After I used a rotary tool with a sanding bit to grind away a little scoop in the handle, one-handed opening is now much improved. Photos of my handle modification here (copy and paste into your browser):
http://garywright.smugmug.com/Other/Benchmade-530-Pardue/21405178_jhfCQh

Keep an eye on the thumb stud, mine started to come loose during the first week of use. I didn't have a wrench to fit (possibly a T6?), so I carefully tightened it with pilers (not recommended).

The sliding AXIS lock/release button is also a wee bit too short and lacks texture, but this is much less of a problem than the thumb stud. I doubt that this knife will ever be opened or closed by anyone wearing gloves.

Factory edge was arm shaving decent, but who cares? Like I'm going to carry a knife with a factory edge? The puddle of water on my hard Arkansas stone was not turning black fast enough to suit me, so I switched over to my Spyderco ceramics - medium (gray) and fine (white). A few minutes later the factory grind marks were gone, and a few licks on a leather strop resulted in a polished edge. Not really that much sharper than factory, but I prefer a smooth cutting edge to the faux-sharpness resulting from the micro serrations of the factory grind. I've never owned any steel better than this 154CM, but comparing my first edge on the 530 to what I'm used to from Opinel carbon, Swiss Army stainless, Case carbon, Buck stainless, Gerber Portland stainless, etc. - the 154CM seems very nice indeed.

The blade shape and size are very functional for the kind of light-duty urban uses I've tried so far (opening letters and packaging, breaking down boxes, fingernail maintenance, scraping sticker goo from hard surfaces, working up the fruit and cheese in my lunch box, etc.).

I haven't made up my mind yet about the symmetrical, spear-point blade shape (it's sharpened on one side, only). I never get confused about which edge is the sharp one if I pull the knife from my pocket and go directly to the task at hand. However, if I lay the knife down, then pick it up a few moments later, I have to remember to visually check the orientation. No great harm done if I try to cut an apple with the back side of the blade - I am more concerned about the possibility of trying to fold it with the sharp side up.

Too soon for me to say anything about durability and edge holding. After a month of light use, it was slightly less sharp. Second sharpening was even better than the first. A few licks on my fine diamond followed by a quick polish on the white ceramic, and it was sharper than ever in less than 2 minutes.

Bottom line: I really like this knife (much more so after 'fixing' the poor thumb stud access). I got a 551 Griptilian on the same day as this one. The 551 opens easier than the 530 Purdue, and feels more satisfying in my hand (better ergonomics) - but I haven't carried it once due to it's extra size and weight. I may one day favor the Griptilian for camping and farm work, but around town, It's the 530 that goes into my pocket every day.

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Reviewed 08/05/2011 by Sev

-Price Paid: $65.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Honestly my review isn't needed but I'm writing it be because this is truly one of my favorite knives!!!! I own much more expensive benchmade, spyderco, and emmerson knives but this is my favorite EDC!!!

super light, super comfortable, despite being mainly plastic the build quality is high and durability is through the roof. It's so thin it's a great EDC. Best part is the axis lock! I much prefer it to even the axis on my new Barrage 581bk! It's not assisted opening but it's so loose and smooth I can open and close it faster than a balisong.

Buy this knife.

Reviewed 05/17/2011 by Echo17

-Price Paid: $90.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

Pretty much everything you have read in previous reviews about the 530 is true so I won't go into that stuff other than to say that 154CM is good, the AXIS system is the best thing ever invented, and the Grivory handle scales, while "cheap-feeling", are actually very durable and provide EXCELLENT grip and texture.

I'd like to clear up a few misconceptions some might have regarding this knife - the same ones I had when I bought my 530. I was looking for a flat-profile knife to carry in by back pocket as a backup and/or "defense" knife to supplement my front-pocket primary carry. I ordered the knife online without ever seeing one in person. It is EXTREMELY lightweight and EXTREMELY slim-profile. If you are looking for a knife for hard-use applications or self defense I would recommend you look elsewhere. Despite the dagger-like appearance of the 530, it is too "lightly built" to withstand the rigors of knife combat or significant hard (read: HARD) cutting abuse. This isn't a "bad" thing, nor does it mean the knife is in any way of inferior quality. Just as you wouldn't carry a 7oz metal-handled knife with a 5" blade in the pocket of your dress slacks, you wouldn't carry the 530 for chopping wood or taking down tangos. It's simply not designed for that type of application.

Ironically, despite not meeting all of the requirements I was looking for I actually came to like this knife more for what it was than I would have if it was exactly what I thought it would be. It is truly the PERFECT knife for the back pocket of just about any type of pants, even slacks. No matter which pocket you clip it to, you will forget it is there until you think to reach for your blade. The absolute beauty of the slim/light design of the 530 is that it allows the knife to have - relative to other pocket folders - a longer blade with more surface area without adding the bulk and weight that some people don't want to carry. The cutting surface is similar in length to a 551, for example, while being just over half the weight and just over half the handle width of the Griptilian.

Bottom line is this: do not allow yourself to be fooled by the "tactical" appearance of this knife. Such is not its purpose (if you doubt me, consider the fact that it is a Blue and not a Black-Class knife). However if you're looking for a 3-4" blade with a handle that fits most hands that is also paper-thin and weighs next to nothing, look no further. I rotate my EDC primary knife between a collection of over 100 high-end knives, depending on a combination of my clothes/what I'm doing/which knife strikes my fancy on a given day... my 530 is my daily EDC backup knife at least 95% of the time. I love it, it's relatively inexpensive, and it's awesome. Get one!

Reviewed 02/03/2011 by rwasham

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

Comments:

I bought this knife on a whim because I liked the shape of the blade and wanted to try the idea of a lightweight knife. That being said I like the knife for an edc blade. It is quite lightweight and almost feels flimsy, however, even though it feels very light it seems to be sturdily contructed. My one complaint is that the handles are only half lined with steel which means that the handle is almost too light and has flexed, though not broken, on several occasions.

Reviewed 02/01/2011 by Jay2pointoh

-Price Paid: $105.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I recently visited my local gun shop to paruse their selection. There were mostly benchmade there so I had the opportunity to handle quite a few models. Seeing that I usually carry medium to large folders, I thought it was time to find a small edc option. I had a limited edition griptilian but never used it. After handling a few knives I came upon the 530 lightweight. I had seen this model in the catalogs and a few small reviews. It looked much smaller in the flesh. Upon first touch, I was immediately suprised at the low weight. This was for me. The blade was thin for slicing and the tip could handle light delicate tasks. The handle was comfortable and the slight "quillion" flares at the top gave me fine control. While the axis lock is very smooth, I am not to happy with the shape. It has a rounded bowl like shape which offers no grip at all. Also the thumb stud seems odd. It also offers no grip and forces you to put pressure on the blade sideways rather than forward. All else is well. The blade is 154cm and sharp with a nice satin finish. This knife fits my pocket quite well and is so light and thin that I forget I am carrying it. Superb buy from benchmade.

Reviewed 02/21/2010 by John

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This knife is great for general everyday slicing, opening, and cutting tasks. It is not a heavy duty work knife, but more of a office carry knife. It is super thin and so light that you forget you have it in your pocket. The blade is a nice length. It also sharpens up nice. The axis lock is easy to use, but takes a little while to get use to it if you don't have much experience with this type of lock mechanism.

Reviewed 01/20/2010 by gundude73

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

well this knife was nice when i got it and then it stated to decline from there. it has a very thin blade, .09 inches!, when i use it it feels like it might break it my hand. one nice thing about that thinness is that it makes the knife very light, only 1.9 ounces!, i had this knife for 13 months before the axis lock broke on me and that is mainly why i gave a it a lower than average review. but if you can get past that i think it is ok.

Reviewed 01/18/2010 by FortyTwoBlades

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I've owned this fantastic little number for going on 5 years now, and it's held up just fine in spite of its paper thin dimensions and light weight (only 1.88 oz!). The Axis Lock is strong and secure, and allows me to easily and rapidly close the knife, as well as open it. The 154CM stainless steel blade takes a marvelous edge easily and holds it admirably. The styling of the knife makes it ideal for both formal and casual carry. If you're looking for a light and strong knife, this is it.