Benchmade 940 or 710?

B

bubblewhip

Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
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I'm kinda aching for a BM axis lock, particularly the higher end ones. I'm looking at the 940 in Reverse Tanto or the 710. The 940 I see always seems to be super slick and blindingly fast. I also prefer the 940's S30V to the 710's D2. The finish on the 940 seems more attractive too. Whats your opinion between the two?

Think the best thing is to get both :D
 
Both are great choice. It looks like you have made up your mind alredy...
If you buy 710 now you will regret. So you will buy 940 later...
Go for 710 - both knives are worth having! :D
 
They're knives in totally different categories, IMO. The 940 is under 3 ounces, while the 710 is 4.5oz. Plus the 710 is an inch longer than the 940 open with 1/2" difference in blade length. All of that puts the 710 into the work knife category, while the 940 is light enough for the EDC category (again, that's for me).

What are you buying it to do?

They're both BM classics, so you'd be good with either one, really.
 
mostly for EDC/and the t word use. :p

That and their mostly collectible as well. My curious thought is if the 940 was faster than the 710. I like the 710's blade size and g10 handles a little more. I generally like 4 inch blades as my EDC.
 
I had the 940 several years ago, and sold it because I preferred the blade shape of it's brother, the 943. They're both 154CM rather than S30V though. Just recently (a couple days ago) I received a 710 D2. The last time I went home on R&R, I left my 943 at the house, since I had just gotten a 930 Kulgera and 950 Rift a couple weeks prior, so I started carrying the Kulgera in the 943's place. Now that I have my 710, I'm using it for most of my cutting tasks. I will say, the 710 I received had one of the worst factory edges on it that I've ever received from Benchmade. The only reason I didn't send it back was because I reprofile every one of my knives anyway, so the factory edge was no big deal to me. If you don't know how to sharpen or reprofile your knives, or don't want to spend a lot of time reprofiling a D2 recurve blade, then you may want to go with the 940. The 710 is definitely a lot larger, and not as sheeple friendly as the 940, so if you work around a lot of non-knife people, the 940 would be your best bet.
 
bubblewhip said:
mostly for EDC/and the t word use. :p

That and their mostly collectible as well. My curious thought is if the 940 was faster than the 710. I like the 710's blade size and g10 handles a little more. I generally like 4 inch blades as my EDC.
Click to expand...

Don't know what the "t word" is that you're referring to. As for speed, the 940 is going to be faster because the blade is so much lighter than the 710. They both flick open easily, but the 710 takes a bit more pressure to get the heavier blade going, and even then, the heavier blade is a bit slower. The 940 and 943 I was talking about above, as well as my new Kulgera all came with the blade so smooth that they could be considered gravity knives. I have actually tightened the pivot some to avoid that possibility, and they're still faster than my 710 by flicking the thumbstud. It's all because the blades are lighter.
 
Hey, I can't give an opinion on the 710 since I don't own one, but I totally recommend the 940. It was my very first expensive knife and I don't regret making that choice.

For EDC use, this knife is awesome because it is so thin and light due to its aluminum body. It cuts fine for what I need it to do since its not supposed to be a super tough extreme abuse knife. Since it's super light its really not noticeable when you carry it.

Personally, I think its super slick, and holy crap does it open fast. Even though I'm not very good at using thumb studs to open knives, the 940 pops open so fast and so effortlessly it feels like it almost reads your mind, instead of operating by fingers.

The reverse tanto blade looks awesome and cuts pretty well too, and the forest green scales just look awesome, in my opinion. The 940 just feels classy to carry around and all my non knife friends who have seen it think it looks classy too.

Something you have to kind of be careful about is that the anodized aluminum is slightly easy to beat up and scratch, but if you carry it away from your keys you should be fine.

Anyway, its not really my place to tell you what to buy, but I feel like the 940 was one of my better knife investments and it truly is one of my favorite knives in my tiny collection. Whatever you go with, I hope you enjoy it and have a lot of fun.
 
I'd go with the 940. I have the 943 and love it (any reason why you want the 940 over the 943?). The materials are nicer than the 710's, and the design seems better, too. The 710 has a plastic backspacer that can crack, but the 940's is titanium. It's also surprisingly light for its blade size, because of the aluminum handles.
 
Tsujigiri said:
The 710 has a plastic backspacer that can crack
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Has this ever been documented?? I only ask because I don't see any way the back spacer would crack on the 710. It's solid, possibly polycarbonate or FRN, and sandwiched between two beefy heat treated stainless liners. I just don't see how it could crack.
 
The plastic backspacer on the 710 is quite tough and somewhat flexible (I removed mine and put in standoffs.) Doesn't look like it could ever crack. As far as plastic goes, it is a good choice for a spacer, and if you are okay with a closed back design it looks fine on the knife.
 
Medic1210 said:
It's solid, possibly polycarbonate or FRN, and sandwiched between two beefy heat treated stainless liners.
Click to expand...
It's not solid - it has some cut-outs at the end.
I happened to get a carbon back spacer and I cut off the part without the holes for the screws - so now it's more like the half open back of the 707 - i like it. :)
[but i'm not sure how a shortened plastic spacer would look like...]
4sfymr5b.jpg

Steven Andrews said:
The Osbornes' backspacers are aluminium.
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No, the backspacer itself is titanium. Only the scales are Aluminium.

About 940 vs. 943: I went for the 943 because i didn't like the green and the pink of the 940 - but I sold it because the blade felt... somehow too light for me and it couldn't really replace my 710 for heavy duty tasks - I'm sure it would have done everything I could have asked for but... I felt more comfortable with a 707s30v + 710HS combo...

@ bubblewhip: knifeworks.com has some dlc coated 710s in M390 left - you could try one of these if you don't like D2.
The 710 is pretty small for a 4" blade (a military feels way bigger) and I guess you wouldn't be disappointed with a 710. ;)

s_f
 
s_f said:
It's not solid - it has some cut-outs at the end.
Click to expand...

Don't know about yours, but the only thing mine has is a lanyard hole, and a small notch to allow space for one of the clip screws to extend beyond the liner. Other than that it's solid as far as I can tell, unless you mean it's hollowed out from the sides. At any rate, I cannot see this thing cracking without being abused.
 
Yes - I mean these 2 rectangular cut-outs from the side. And I dont think it could crack, either...
 
940 is the better edc choice. the blade shape is highly functional and its light weight makes it invisible until you need it.
my only knock is the chalky feeling aluminum they use for the handle.
 
I like the Titanium 943. It has an open back for easier cleaning. The 943 has a sharper point than the 940. It is better for food preparation. The Carbon fiber 943 is 10gm. lighter than the Al model (72 vs 82gm.). The Ti version is 92gm. I took the recurve out of my 710 to make it easier to sharpen, but I still carry the 943 more often.
 
Does anyone have a picture of both that they can post? I have been eyeing the 940 for a while, but I always here great things about the 710. I'd like to see how much bigger the 710 is.

How does the 940 compare to say a small Sebenza or a Mini grip? Similar size?
 
Since I left my 943 at home, I couldn't include it in the photo, but I do have my Kulgera in the photo which is only 13/100ths of an inch longer than the 940. It should give you an idea of how large the 710 is in comparison. If you haven't checked out the Kulgera, it's another great Osborne design, and a worthy successor to the 940 series IMHO. Well, I can't attach the photo since I have it already attached to another 710 thread. Here's the link to the other thread so you can see the comparison photo. In comparison to a Small Sebenza, it's an inch longer opened, and the blade is 1/2" longer.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9183656&postcount=47
 
jackman2 said:
Does anyone have a picture of both that they can post? I have been eyeing the 940 for a while, but I always here great things about the 710. I'd like to see how much bigger the 710 is.

How does the 940 compare to say a small Sebenza or a Mini grip? Similar size?
Click to expand...

710 vs. 940:
710940upload.jpg


What the picture doesn't show is how the 710 is thicker and of course heavier. For my money the 940 is a lot more pocket-friendly.
The 940 is about an inch longer overall but slightly thinner than the Mini grip.
 
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