Good first Benchmade?

B

Balrog99

Joined
Apr 13, 2013
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So, I’ve been wanting to get a Benchmade for a while, and I’ve narrowed down three of their knives that I like. Those would be the Griptilian S30V, the Grizzly Ridge, and the Crooked River. My personal favorite that I would want is the Crooked River, but that’s also the most expensive. Any tips on which of these would be better or is this a go with your heart one?
 
The full sized grip feels cheap compared to the Crooked river, but the CR is huge. Idk what your needs are but the Mini Crooked river is worth a look.
 
Crooked River 100%. The full sized is huge, but the Mini is a pretty good EDC size.
If you are in the US you can even get it tricked out in Benchmades custom shop(and then send it to me).

The Grip is also good, but as Gravy said, it feels a bit cheap.
 
Grip in 20CV/G10 (551) does not feel cheap at all, but the standard plastic one does. Crooked River is a nice knife, but quite big.
I'd go with the Grip G10 as a first Benchmade.
 
I went an odd route and nabbed a Valet in Dyamondwood as my first. Never looked back on my budget stuff. The slightly heavier blades of the Grizzly Ridge and crooked river both contribute to better actions. maybe go for the North Fork if you want similar styling in a smaller package.

But the best advice I can give you is to go and find somewhere where you can handle the knives before buying them. (keeping in mind that axis-locks are a little sticky out of the box.) Because I've found it's very difficult to get a good feel for the larger (or I guess standard) benchmade models via YouTube vids and such. Go touch em, much easier to decide when they're in hand.
 
You will like the crooked river large or mini. Perfect blade shape/grind and nice comfortable handle. Feels and cuts so much better than any griptilian have had.

Except for having lots of after market options for the griptilian, there's nothing I really like about it.

Never owned grizzly ridge.
 
The Griptillian was my first "real" knife, so that has a special place in my heart, but I'd suggest the mini Crooked River. Don't be fooled by it being called the "mini," it's in the same size range as the Griptillian and Grizzily ridge. Or, if you want a huge do-anything folder, get the full size Crooked River, I never had any problems EDCing it
 
hpnA0le.jpg


A little size comparison with a few standard knives, maybe it helps.
 
Edit: Guess I should have read the actual question.. Out of those, probably the CR for looks, but the full size grip is a good workhorse for the $$. Now my real recommendation would be Mini-grip in your flavor. I always have one around. Simple, small (yet big) and utilitarian as all get out. Must have in my book.
 
Although the handle does feel a bit cheap, the standard Griptillian is still a great edc choice in my opinion
 
Argle said:
Get the Crooked River. None of this mini stuff, either. Go with the big blade.
Click to expand...
I like the way you think.

Seriously, I have never owned a BM. But, I have bought full size Crooked Rivers for two of my good friends. It's a great looking knife, classic aesthetics, opens and closes well, etc. It's just a nice knife. And if you are not tiny, just get the full size.
 
Find a dealer with a good bit of stock on hand and play with a few.

You may find something completely different than those you chose.

BM has a pile of great knives from which to select. Sometimes you don't know you want one 'til you try it.
 
Well guys thanks for all the good advice. Ig I shoulda stated that my edc knives nowadays are a MOD LTT and the CRKT fossil so I kinda like the bigger knives. I’m still leaning towards the crooked river, but might look into the nonstandard griptillians a bit. Got a couple weeks before my big check comes so still got time.
 
:)
A good number of folks who are dead keen on owning a benchmade product, often start out with the mighty grip.
I guess its kinda like "the people's choice" when it comes to benchmade.
Hopefully the experience might help to speed up the desire towards moving up the chain.
 
I own a full size CR and a Grizzly Ridge, both are great but if you're just getting one then go with the CR. It's a big knife though! I don't EDC it in the office, it's an outdoors/weekend carry for me.
 
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