3 new Benchmades!?!?!?!

S

Samarix

Joined
Jan 4, 2014
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112
So I just happened to hit up Benchmade's site, and....BOOM! Three new knives waiting for me. 183 Fixed Contego, 909 Stryker, and the 484 unnamed Nakamura designed blade. Which one are you most excited for? Personally I was waiting for a manual version of the Stryker, but they took the easy way out and went with 154cm. The 484 now has my attention with the M390, full stainless liners, and aggressive looking ergos.
 
I like the blade shape and M390 of the Nakamura, and even the milled G10, but not sure about the contouring of the handle profile. Seems unnecessary for the ~3" blade.
 
The 484 looks fairly interesting and I might want to give it a try. The other two do not interest me really.
 
Samarix said:
... Personally I was waiting for a manual version of the Stryker, but they took the easy way out and went with 154cm.
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This happens a lot with specialty/enthusiast products and is a management decision based on future sales/profits. Release it with average blade steel which is still acceptable by most of your customer base. As soon as everyone stops buying the model with 154CM they will release it with an upgraded high-end blade steel to reinvigorate interest. Those who already own one with the 154CM blade will buy it again for the higher-end blade steel, thus doubling sales for the same model, sans blade steel. Around and around we go!

Of course, they will always have premium, higher-tier models that use high-end features from the start to generate interest and pride to their products within the industry and fan base. The trick for Benchmade is to know which new knife design will be popular enough to do this to. ;)
 
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Fixed contego is S30V, not M4

FAIL!!!

Not really, just saying that most like carbon steel for fixed blades because they are easier to take care of, and many like stainless on folders because of the moving parts. They went the opposite direction with stainless for the fixed and tool steel for the folder. Of course a slab of M4 steel that large would invoke significant costs to the consumer. So I see some reasoning in it. Still M4 would have made it much cooler! (IMO)
 
While poking around for a new EDC blade on GP-Knives I noticed that they had a 477 Large Emissary and a 531 Pardue with a 3.25in blade.
 
Patience I guess...pics aren't on the company site yet. On the fixed Contego, I would go for uncoated M4, but the choice of S30V is less worries and maintenance.

OK - I see the pics on the website...I like the Stryker, handles look very like those on the 915/916 Triage...but then again it looks nothing like the original model.
 
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well, what do we have here? a small folder, two fixed blades and a (otherwise interesting model) tanto. nothing i like, or would buy.
I am dissapointed by benchmades new models so far.
 
harris2 said:
This happens a lot with specialty/enthusiast products and is a management decision based on future sales/profits. Release it with average blade steel which is still acceptable by most of your customer base. As soon as everyone stops buying the model with 154CM they will release it with an upgraded high-end blade steel to reinvigorate interest. Those who already own one with the 154CM blade will buy it again for the higher-end blade steel, thus doubling sales for the same model, sans blade steel. Around and around we go!

Of course, they will always have premiere, higher-tier models that use high-end features from the start to generate interest and pride to their products within the industry and fan base. The trick for Benchmade is to know which new knife design will be popular enough to do this to. ;)
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I'd say this is 100% correct. It's about sales, not performance, and there's so little difference between all these steels, that BM, Spyderco, etc, use it as a selling tool, not necessarily product performance.
 
dano said:
I'd say this is 100% correct. It's about sales, not performance, and there's so little difference between all these steels, that BM, Spyderco, etc, use it as a selling tool, not necessarily product performance.
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It's all about marketing. I really can't tell the difference in steels when cutting things. This whole Super Steel thing is fun, but my 'lowly' 440C and ATS-34 blades still work just fine.

In this year's offerings so far, all I see are Axis locks on the new folders. I hope they offer other locking mechanisms. Lockbacks and Liner Locks work just as well, and we don't need buckets of extra springs when they break. :rolleyes:
 
BladeCommander said:
Fixed contego is S30V, not M4

FAIL!!!

Not really, just saying that most like carbon steel for fixed blades because they are easier to take care of, and many like stainless on folders because of the moving parts. They went the opposite direction with stainless for the fixed and tool steel for the folder. Of course a slab of M4 steel that large would invoke significant costs to the consumer. So I see some reasoning in it. Still M4 would have made it much cooler! (IMO)
Click to expand...

I agree that this is a questionable steel choice on this particular model, IMO. Maybe it is just a marketing gimmick that M4 is superior to S30v, but it seems to me that you should use the same or better steel on the fixed blade version than the folder version. Perception is reality and if BM markets M4 as a better steel than S30v (Which seems to be the case), then I don't think this could be viewed add anything other than a cost-saving choice.
 
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Stryker is back! The whole boycotting new Benchmade purchases in 2014 because of fixed MAP prices officially just went out the door...
 
Meh, I don't really care for the look of any of them... They've been full of duds this past year as far as I'm concerned (exception:7505)

I know they've got to have some actual new designs available to them, they need to stop riding the same handful of tired designs year after year. Contego isn't anything new, they've been making the rift for years now, and the Stryker has been around forever.

Keep trying Benchmade :)
 
The 484 looks alright, I am unsure if it having so many finger grooves will work for me though.

I do like the 300 Axis flipper.
 
jkarp_53 said:
Patience I guess...pics aren't on the company site yet. On the fixed Contego, I would go for uncoated M4, but the choice of S30V is less worries and maintenance.

OK - I see the pics on the website...I like the Stryker, handles look very like those on the 915/916 Triage...but then again it looks nothing like the original model.
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I didn't like it, here we go again making hybrid models and confusing one for the other. The Triage needs to be the Triage, the Stryker needs to be the Stryker, and the rest of the half hearted cloning of existing models needs to stop already. No more recycling please! It's like there is really no effort being made in the design. Slapping an Axis lock on everything really gets old after a while too. The Stryker was fine IMO with the liner lock, if they really wanted to Gussie it up, they should have made an integral lock "mono lock" out of it. That was one of a few knives Benchmade has come out with that had the lock geometry correct.

cchu518 said:
Stryker is back! The whole boycotting new Benchmade purchases in 2014 because of fixed MAP prices officially just went out the door...
Click to expand...

It doesn't take much to put a twinkle in some people's eyes I guess. Go Green, and keep recycling. :rolleyes:
 
I'd be interested in the 484 if it was bigger or the Stryker if it wasn't a tanto, but probably still wouldn't buy them at MAP.
 
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