Dear Benchmade,

[Knicked Digits]

All my Benchmades have been bought sight unseen. Two from amazon and one my wife bought me from Cabelas. Of the three, the 940 from cabelas has the best centering, but with a tad more side to side play than I care for. The Adamas locks down tight with free swinging action and no side to side play but the centering is off a little bit. My mini grip is due for some maintenance but the centering and side to side play are bad, hopefully I’ll be able to fix that when I take it apart later .

Overall I’m happy with my Benchmades and am looking forward to my next purchase.

 

[lovescamaros]

You are being gracious.

This is not intended to ne a troll statement, but at the price point of the 781, I kinda DO expect perfection. Honestly , my personal tolerance for imperfect execution evaporates at an even lower price point, FWIW.

If we as a community don't expect it, we sure as heck are not going to get it.

Amen to everything else you've said in this thread.

nothing is perfect! perfection doesn't really exist in manufacturing when people are involved but you can get close.

 

[lovescamaros]

That's excellent customer service. Most places would just send the lesser of two evils and hope the customer didn't send it back. DLT seems as if they'd rather lose a potential sale & gain a customer for a future purchase than worry about the quick sale. Great job DLT. I've never ordered from you before (I have a great shop about 45 minutes away) but if they can't fulfil an order for whatever reason, I'll be heading directly to your site.

dlt is a class act in the knife community. i have ordered from dlt before and will continue to.

 

[toker]

nothing is perfect! perfection doesn't really exist in manufacturing when people are involved but you can get close.

Benchmade has the worst centering out of all the USA made brands that I own. The Bechmades that I own have had side to side blade play or centering issues. Nothing that I couldn't fix, but I shouldn't have to spend 10 minutes taking apart a knife and putting it back together.

 

[lovescamaros]

Benchmade has the worst centering out of all the USA made brands that I own. The Bechmades that I own have had side to side blade play or centering issues. Nothing that I couldn't fix, but I shouldn't have to spend 10 minutes taking apart a knife and putting it back together.

I haven't had a single issue with any Benchmade ever and that's over 15 plus years that I've owned them but I have had issues with just about every other brand.

 

[stevejams]

Please excuse me as I haven’t looked through this thread too much, but I have a had an (almost) similar problem with the anthem. I have been very interested in an anthem and went to my local shop and they said they were getting one in that I can look at. I wanted to check it out before making any rash decisions, and I was sure glad I did. I could tell the knife was “made to be” beautiful, but it just couldn’t follow through. Most things were great but as soon as I found a flaw I couldn’t commit to shelling out the hefty price. I am not an experienced knife guy, but I can feel a poorly QC’d knife and unfortunately (in my experience) benchmade definitely doesn’t have a problem with putting these out. Again, I am new to the game but I have a few other “hq” knives and the feel between the two is unbelievable. I have some “perfect” benchmades and they are truly “perfect”. However, benchmade is definitely a “high to higher end” company and I would/should definitely expect a knife of that caliber and anything less would surely feel very disappointing. Hope you can mak an exchange

 

[cistercian]

I bought my son a Griptillian some time ago. I tried every one the retailer had
and got the best one. I tried 12 of them or so. I saw uneven grinds on the blade,
blade centering poor(some dragged on the scales), and stiff action. The one I bought
had nice grinds and good centering and was a bit stiff. I adjusted it and lubed it and gave
it to him and he loves it. I did the same sort of gauntlet when I bought my REI
531. I was horrified by the problems I saw. (uneven swedges, dragging on the scales, super stiff)
Prior to this I had bought some online.
All but one were ok with issues I could correct, Like centering.

I am now firmly in the buy in person camp. They MUST be tested or you can end
up with a pig.

I won't be buying any new ones anyway so I post this as a heads up.
The variances I have seen are huge. I have never seen a 940 that
passed my QC. All of them were horrific in some way which I found hugely
counter-intuitive given the popularity the model enjoys.

I own 11 Benchmades, all axis lock models. I love the lock.

But in my experience other makers will sell you something so damn
near perfect for less out of the box it is incredible.

I love my 710-1401's from Knifeworks though. Epic.
I was lucky though, and had them check mine first before they shipped them.

I really dig the designs. The consistency is, by modern standards, atrocious.
Not acceptable. Especially given the premium.

I have met several Benchmade owners who were happy with their knives
that had never noticed the poor centering or uneven grinds. They figured
the name said it all and were happy. I did not rain on their parade and
they continued on, oblivious. I have come to believe Benchmade counts on this,
and have profited handsomely doing so. I do not think that is cool. Not at all.