My Anthem report

halden.doerge

halden.doerge

I'll Sharpen Your Knife
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Aug 17, 2014
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I got my Anthem on Monday, after much anticipation. I'm planning on documenting my experience with the knife here, and I thought I'd start with what I almost always do first with my knives: put a hair-splitting sharp edge on them.

Don't get me wrong it came very, very sharp and well done. But I have to have the refined polished edge, I'm just addicted. Here's how that CPM 20CV polished up:

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More thoughts to come tomorrow...
 
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Love that blade shape a lot, but the knife is priced outta my range for now, but I do admire it's looks and how the handle is textured.

Nice edge btw :)
G2
 
So I think I must have one now! Would u recommend it and think it's worth the cost?
 
Alright a couple more pics this morning:

mk7RCkN.jpg


8CWdROa.jpg


It does have some similarities to the Sebenza, but it's very much it's own beast. A bit smaller and sleeker, and the blade shape is actually pretty interesting with its very long flat run and short section of belly. Which is actually very reminiscent of the 940.
 
What sharpener do you use and would you recommend it for a beginner?
 
adluginb said:
What sharpener do you use and would you recommend it for a beginner?
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I use a Wicked Edge, which is a great system, and pretty user friendly, though it does take practice. The big downside of it is how much of an investment it is. Pretty spendy.
 
Dallas T said:
So I think I must have one now! Would u recommend it and think it's worth the cost?
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Yes, I would recommend it (more details on this to come). It is a heavy price tag, though. I was lucky enough to get one off the forums as a much lower price, which is why I was even able to get one now.

I think as more runs come out of Benchmade, and some more of these appear on the secondary market it'll be easier to get them closer to $300 or $350. Still a lot, but better.
 
every review thus far showed lots of issues, how did you fair? (note that those reviews despite the issues overall liked the knife, but for 400$ were turned off by the non functional falic clip, gritty feeling/sounding action, uncomfortable axis lock studs, and the other quality control misses).
 
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Mo2 said:
every review thus far showed lots of issues, how did you fair? (note that those reviews despite the issues overall liked the knife, but for 400$ were turned off by the non functional falic clip, uncomfortable axis lock studs, and the other quality control misses).
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Not so sure about "every review". Maybe a couple posts here, but I've seen at least two in depth reviews on YT that found it to be an almost total home run as well, which is basically what I've experienced with mine. It really has has no issues. None. Free and smooth action, no blade play, centered, bank vault solid lockup.

I would have preferred a standard silver split arrow clip to the milled one, but the one on mine is functional and touching the scale of the knife. If anything it may grip the pocket a bit more than I would like.

If there's anything that I wish were different it would be for the blade to be about 1/8" longer or so. But that's about it. Heavy price tag to be sure, but from what I've seen so far this one can box in its weight class. Of course, it's still new and I need to carry it for a while, so there will be more updates based on how all that goes.
 
halden.doerge said:
Not so sure about "every review". Maybe a couple posts here, but I've seen at least two in depth reviews on YT that found it to be an almost total home run as well, which is basically what I've experienced with mine. It really has has no issues. None. Free and smooth action, no blade play, centered, bank vault solid lockup.

I would have preferred a standard silver split arrow clip to the milled one, but the one on mine is functional and touching the scale of the knife. If anything it may grip the pocket a bit more than I would like.

If there's anything that I wish were different it would be for the blade to be about 1/8" longer or so. But that's about it. Heavy price tag to be sure, but from what I've seen so far this one can box in its weight class.
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several youtube reviews and several reviews here said exactly the issues i brought up. i think apostle p was a positive review and thats all i saw that was good.

anyways, im glad someone finally got a good example. hopfully no more issues get missed so badly.
 
Mo2 said:
several youtube reviews and several reviews here said exactly the issues i brought up. i think apostle p was a positive review and thats all i saw that was good.

anyways, im glad someone finally got a good example. hopfully no more issues get missed so badly.
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Epicsnugglebunny also had a glowing review, which kinda pushed me over the edge to pick this one up. And yeah, I think there will always be some problems with any run of production knives, especially ones that involve complex machining like this. I've sent Sebenzas back to CRK that came with blade play and bad lockstick.

And the upside for me is that I'm lucky enough to live about 15 minutes away from the Benchmade factory so it's a very easy matter for me to bring in anything that might have an issue and their warranty department provides fantastic service. Obviously not everyone is so lucky, lol.
 
I grabbed one Sunday and it has no issues that I can physically see. Now my wife wants one, so I have another waiting for me to go pickup.
 
halden.doerge said:
Alright a couple more pics this morning:

mk7RCkN.jpg


8CWdROa.jpg


It does have some similarities to the Sebenza, but it's very much it's own beast. A bit smaller and sleeker, and the blade shape is actually pretty interesting with its very long flat run and short section of belly. Which is actually very reminiscent of the 940.
Click to expand...
Nice looking knife, man, with your usual gorgeous edge! The more I see of the Anthem, the more I like it. It's like a cross between a 943 and a StarBenza.

It's probably not for me, though, as I don't think its slim handle would be a good fit for my old arthritic carpenter's mitts. Did you see Keyman's re-fit of a Split Arrow clip on his? He said he had to elongate clip the holes to make it fit and it would appear he stonewashed it too. Looks really sweet and sets off the milling on the rest of the knife nicely.
 
ChazzyP said:
Nice looking knife, man, with your usual gorgeous edge! The more I see of the Anthem, the more I like it. It's like a cross between a 943 and a StarBenza.

It's probably not for me, though, as I don't think its slim handle would be a good fit for my old arthritic carpenter's mitts. Did you see Keyman's re-fit of a Split Arrow clip on his? He said he had to elongate clip the holes to make it fit and it would appear he stonewashed it too. Looks really sweet and sets off the milling on the rest of the knife nicely.
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Yes, it definitely has elements of both of those in it. I also think of it as very similar to an elongated, slimmed down Griptillian. Very similar blade profile there.

And I did see his mod, which looks great. I plan on getting a couple of those clips from Benchmade to try my hand at something similar.
 
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