Interesting, I own both and came to the same kind of conclusion - but found BM to be the better knife. Spyderco left me a bit underwhelmed.
Part of the experience was buying and handling knives from each in the exact opposite order, and FRN Spyderco Endura with integral FRN clip, vs a Benchmade CQC7 in G10. Both make great knives as I have learned, I've had a Military - and it was every bit as good or even better than the older BM.
They keep leapfrogging each other, what's left is our personal assessment, not a moral or value judgment. Me, I dislike FRN in any form, and won't knowingly pay for it. It's not a bad material, but it does REQUIRE liners as it WILL take a set and clench a blade without them. G10 is stiff enough to eliminate needing a liner - I carried and still own a SnG and the stuff does not cold flow. FRN can and will, pretty much the reason pickup truck owners have to use concrete blocks to support the center of the toolboxes made from it.
I said that years ago and the FRN fanboys immediately lit their torches and grabbed their pitchforks. Sorry, in my experience, it's a fact, and seeing Spyderco eliminate the integral clip and add a metal one is just more confirmation.
So, in terms of materials, I agree with being underwhelmed, especially when the mold cost spread out over tens of thousands of knives should mean both Grips and Enduras should be retailing at $20. I don't expect to ever see those prices, tho, because the public will pay the higher inflated costs. "What the market will bear" has more to do with the consumers lack of knowledge about production more than a realistic assessment of worth.
This isn't saying either company is overdoing it, but they sure aren't dumb enough to leave money on the table. It's the public willing to overspend that supports FRN at it's price point. Think about it, how much material and labor are in a 950 Risk G10 handle with CNC sculpturing, vs. injected molded nylon popped out of a mold that made thousands of others? We're talking dollars vs pennies in comparison.
I get it being underwhelmed - just the opposite conclusion tho, and that's what's interesting about the discussion.
Same for the Axis - I've worked up from lock backs, to liner locks, to frame locks, and moving to an Axis, there wasn't any bells or whistles. If anything, I'm still getting used to it. It takes different muscles, different moves, and so far, I'm not feeling terribly impressed. But - given the difficulties I have experienced with weak liners, slipping locks that let go when cycled side to side, and having paid good money for them, I appreciate how the Axis won't do that. It might take me a few more months to trust it, but so far, it's all me and a lack of muscle memory, not the lock screwing up. Those that have used the Axis report things are different down the road. I do know liners and frames only get worse - the longer you use them, the more likely they will malfunction.
It's all about individual impressions, nothing wrong with coming to different conclusions. What is interesting is that in the long run, given more knives and using them, how many start sharing the same insights.
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