Benchmade 550 Griptilian

baraqyal

baraqyal

Joined
Nov 30, 2000
Messages
860
The benchmade 550 griptilian is being featured on the front page of www.benchmade.com - is it available yet? The price from benchmade.com is $95. I'm pretty excited. Do any dealers have it in stock?

The only down side is the blade material - 440C. I was hoping for AUS8 or ATS-55. Maybe it's an ok steel, I've just never had a knife with 440c.

It looks like a great left hand carry knife. I can't wait until I can get one. I love the axis lock on my BM710, and I'm a big fan of round-type hole openers.

-- Rob
 
I just checked out the Benchmade site. Nice looking knife. I think I will get one. By the way. 440C is a great steel. There are many custom knifemakers out there that prefer it to other popular steels. It has good edge retention and corrosion resistance. It's in no way like AUS-6, or any lower carbon steels. Looks like another winner from Mel Pardue and Benchmade.
 
I emailed Roger @ Bayou LaFourche and he has some on the way. They are going to retail under $70. 440C is a good steel it just isn't the most popular right now. Hope whoever gets one first posts a quick review!
 
I’m glad to see Benchmade using 440c instead of GIN-1 or an AUS steel. 440c is one of the best steels in terms of stain resistance, always a plus in a folder, and takes and holds an edge. It really was the knife steel before ATS-34 came along advertised as 154CM without the purity problems. An excellent choice for a knife in that price range, it looks like they are trying to get some market share back from CRK&T.

------------------
James Segura
San Francisco, CA
 
The new July issue of Blade magizine has a small article on this knife on the last page of the mag. Blade states that the first appearance of the knife is exclusive to them, and that Benchmade will be doing other knives this way also through "selected entities".
Benchmade also took out a full page ad on page 9 wherein the main topic is the new Model 550 Griptilian.
They state "....born of custom knife maker Mel Pardue's passion for functional designs." But in looking at the blade, other than the hole, it has more of Warren Osborne's 940 style to it.

Take care.

Andy
 
Blade shape reminds me a lot of the Spyderco Wegner. Nothing new under the sun. At least it doesn't look like a snickers bar in shape, like some popular knives do.


------------------
Asi es la vida

Bugs
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by stjames:
I m glad to see Benchmade using 440c instead of GIN-1 or an AUS steel. 440c is one of the best steels in terms of stain resistance, always a plus in a folder, and takes and holds an edge. It really was the knife steel before ATS-34 came along advertised as 154CM without the purity problems. An excellent choice for a knife in that price range, it looks like they are trying to get some market share back from CRK&T.
</font>
Click to expand...

I'm glad to see someone else who thinks 440C is a reasonable choice for a lower-priced steel. Someone on blade forums was expressing regrets that this knife had a 440C blade instead of Gin-1. I don't have the problems with Gin-1 that many others have, but I'm perfectly happy with 440C.

Joe

 
440C certainly has better potential for hardness and edge holding than GIN-1, but we will have to wait and see how it comes heat treated. Benchmade tends to serve their steel well-done, so I would expect a blade that holds an edge fairly well. It will certainly be a better blade than anything in AUS-8 unless they reall screw it up.
 
440C has been used by top European knifemakers for years, especially before the advent of the "super-steels" like BG42 and others. I'm glad to see BM adopt it.

BTW, the 550 looks neat!
smile.gif
 
Well, then, I take back the 440C blade steel being a negative. As I said, I've never owned a knife with that steel.

I'm sure, however, that within the next two months or so, I will - a 550 griptilian!
smile.gif


By the way, what is Noryl GTX? Is it zytel-like or G-10 like? Also, does anyone have a picture of the 550 fully closed? Thanks!
-- Rob

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top