Off Topic Changes to blade coating

A

Aerozolic

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Jun 21, 2020
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Hello.

Didn’t find a topic on this. What do you think about Benchmade switching to Cerakote from DLC? I think DLC is better/stronger than Cerakote but I’m not sure. I already found some Bugouts on knivesandtools.com that list Cerakote.
Is now the right time to try to find a Bugout with DLC coating and grab it before it’s out of stock?


7386A75B-A0B1-4752-A0AE-687BD5E0E55D.jpeg
 
Definitely a step down if you like a coating that stays on the blade(DLC to Cerakote anyway), but the switch opens a lot of color options and that might be another reason they're doing it. I'm sure people would like blade coating color options for the customizable models.
 
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Aerozolic said:
Hello.

Didn’t find a topic on this. What do you think about Benchmade switching to Cerakote from DLC? I think DLC is better/stronger than Cerakote but I’m not sure. I already found some Bugouts on knivesandtools.com that list Cerakote.
Is now the right time to try to find a Bugout with DLC coating and grab it before it’s out of stock?


7386A75B-A0B1-4752-A0AE-687BD5E0E55D.jpeg
Click to expand...
DLC/PVD coatings are far more durable than Cerakote. The gray chromium nitride PVD on the 535GRY-1 is literally bulletproof. I recall reading somewhere in these forums that the Benchmade representative himself said that manufacturing costs for DLC is higher than Cerakote. Granted that there may be supply & production capacity issues with DLC/PVD during these times, the move to Cerakote for these Bugout models is a downgrade..
 
Yea, definitely a downgrade, and I hope it's a temporary change. Hopefully they switch back to DLC once the bottle neck is resolved. Interesting that it's only affecting Bugout models, are there any other DLC coated blades currently in the line?
 
When I enquired about my 391BK SOCP, Benchmade replied:

Good afternoon Mister Coffee,

All of our coating is Cerakote coating.

Thank you

Coral Villarreal
Customer Service

The e-mail is dated July 14, 2021.
 
Was the SOCP ever a DLC coating? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. DLC was a bit more special than their typical black coating.
 
Silent H said:
Was the SOCP ever a DLC coating? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. DLC was a bit more special than their typical black coating.
Click to expand...

No idea. I'm not into coated blades, and the coating wasn't the reason why I bought the SOCP.

From what I can gather from the chatter in the gun community, Cerakote isn't much of a coating. Don't know why anyone bothers with it.
 
For what it’s worth, I’ve seen torture tests of people batoning their Adamas into solid blocks of metal and the cerakote held up just fine. Over many years of hard use any coating is going to show wear. For the vast majority of people using their pocket knives for appropriate tasks, cerakote should be fine.

With that being said, DLC and PVD are superior. For the continued insanity that is Benchmade pricing, they should be using the best possible processes.
 
I always thought Cerakote was more premium and an upgrade. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for the info guys.
 
Buck did this couple years ago. major downgrade. cerakote wears off from use fairly quickly. it serves a good protective role on a knife that isnt used, but on one that is used it doesn't last. im not a fan of cerakote on knives or guns for that matter. its okay at best.
 
I don't have much to add except I'm a Becker fan, and hate their crappy coatings, they suck. I strip almost All of them.....

I later came across a good deal, and I needed a new folding knife so I bought it.
It's a HK brand (made by benchmade) seems really heavy-duty, nice with g10 scales. It had black "paint"

Since I use this Knife for everything, food include, i didn't want it scraping off like I'm so used to with other brands of knives.

WOW I can't believe how durable it was.... Citri strip wouldn't really do it.
Multiple times, and scraping and sanding, I can now see the D2 steel.


Benchmade should stay with whatever That was...... Very durable. I wish Becker knew how to do it
 
When I received my M4 Bugout with the coating, I was unhappy with the cutting performance. The roughness of the coating (and thickness), really seemed to drag in deeper cuts.

Honestly, I am not a fan of coatings of any type, but the nice thing about this new stuff, is its a lot easier to remove if you want.

My solution for the Bugout was to do some polishing of the coating. It thinned it down, removed the texture, and now delivers performance more on par with my uncoated M4 blades of similar geometry.
 
I like satin in mini bugout but only comes in orange. Can dye but whats the point buy new knife to change it. Or buy 2 blade swap...again forced to buy 2. CF Elite is cool too but only coated blade! Have mini custom already.
 
My knives for the most part see light use.
A coating prevents corrosion on my blades between carry.
I will agree DLC is the best.
With so many people collecting that are not really using as a tool.
Pretty becomes more important....
Cost saving adds to profit.
 
jng1234 said:
I like satin in mini bugout but only comes in orange. Can dye but whats the point buy new knife to change it. Or buy 2 blade swap...again forced to buy 2. CF Elite is cool too but only coated blade! Have mini custom already.
Click to expand...
Contact https://reddit.com/user/bolts-n-bytes/ He’s customizing knives. I just bought white mini bugout scales from him for my satin and stormtrooper hybrid knife.
Some of his completes:
https://imgur.com/a/6iIReSk
https://imgur.com/a/Alo3wfS
 
I don’t feel like most people will notice a difference. Whatever they used in 2007/8 held up fine for a decade for me…it definitely had wear on it, I used a Bm551 to break down industrial cardboard and cut industrial carpet.

In any case I’ve heard from two knife stores, one in Ohio and one in Oregon that they were placing orders in late summer for Christmas and being told it would be close. It makes me happy that Benchmade seems to be doing well but sad that they’re in a crunch due to the issues holding every industry back.
 
Very sad to hear this. I had a cerrakoted knife that looked like a mess within a year of use. This is a major downgrade.
 
i usually prefer uncoated blades, i live in arizona so rust really isn’t an issue. i do really like the coating that was used on the 10750 vex tho, it seems almost indestructible. read somewhere that it was some kind of ti coating, not sure if that’s right or not but it sure does hold up
 
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I try to stay away from cerakoted knives for the very reason,that I know they basically don't last like on my 810.It's the very reason why I picked up one of the grey pvd chromium nitride bugouts.

It is my wish that benchmade releases more dlc/pvd coated models in their lineup.
 
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