Talk me into a 940

Gurdygurds said:
So only recently have I become aware of the benchmade 940. Was never interested in anything other than mini grips. I see one video on a 940, which leads to numerous reviews, including a handful of long term reviews and all of the sudden I find myself strangely attracted to them. The look, the size, the blade shape, everything is attractive to me. I've been shopping for a sheepsfoot mini grip, but now I'm wondering if I change direction and go for a 940. Can you kind people help a brother out with your knowledge and experience, and take me into, or OUT OF getting a 940??
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Just buy it now.

U kno u want it.

Its just a really great lightweight comfortable in pocket knife with an axis lock, pretty good slicing ability and a fairly confidence inspiring tip. It’s got that action you can hold the axis lock open and swing the knife back and forward.

Ever since I fixed mine I haven’t been able to put it down and I have much more expensive knives that I could be carrying. The 940 is the knife that made me suddenly love aluminum as a knife handle material. (I think it is quite underrated)

Also imho it is a significant step up over the Griptillians. (Even the g10 ones) You just get alot of blade for a very light and pocket friendly knife. It is a quintessential edc knife.

Which model are you looking at?
 
Gurdygurds said:
Keep em’ coming people! I’d definitely go green if I got one. The funky color combo is part of the allure. Never have I considered a knife like this. What the hell is happening?!
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Btw I believe Benchmade is supposed to upgrade their baseline steel soon. (S30v) This presents a great opportunity for you. If you want the new steel you can wait and see what they use.

Or you can wait for the new steel to come out at which point the current s30v model will likely go on sale. Then again there might be a Benchmade price hikw which renders this a moot point.

The aluminum one has a very microtechy feel to me.. kinda hard to describe.
 
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Thanks for all the thoughts, both positive and negative on this knife. Let me ask you all another question....what happens when you get a steroid shot, can’t sleep cause you’re wired, and stay up late researching a knife that you have become suddenly obsessed with? You buy it of course! Not only that, you bite the bullet and buy it on amazon so that you get it he next day! So yes, I ordered it. Yes, it arrived. And yes...it’s oretty freaking sweet. I was nervous about QC after reading a bunch of horror stories but this thing is probably the higheste quality, nicely finished, solid knife that I’ve ever handled. It’s perfect. No wiggle. Perfectly centered blade. Good action. Excellent. This knife came out of nowhere so fast for me it’s hard to describe the attraction to it. It’s a quirky looking knife, but in a badass way. I’m kind of in shock to be honest. Excited to get to know this thing! Anyone know the history behind/reasoning for the green and purple? Was this an Osborne decision or Benchmade? If you can point me to some more history about this design is sure appreciate it. I’ll post pics tomorrow. Hope I can stop messing with it and get some sleep
 
FullMetalJackass said:
Out of:
OVERPRICED, overhyped, too thin, too long.
Get a Rift or one of these awesome G10 grippie instead.
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I am echoing this post. 940, just like many other Benchmades, is significantly overpriced. I would pick a g10/20cv grip or mini grip over it any day of the week.
 
sharp_edge said:
I am echoing this post. 940, just like many other Benchmades, is significantly overpriced. I would pick a g10/20cv grip or mini grip over it any day of the week.
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I would say virtually all mid-higher range productions knives are overpriced. People frequently complain about how expensive Benchmade is, which is a fair sentiment, yet when I started looking into and buying Spyderco knives I felt a similar way. I like my Delica a lot but based on the materials and holding it in my hand, it feels more like a utility knife that should be a lot cheaper than what it is sold for. Yet you rarely see people complain about the cost of their VG-10 lockback knives made overseas on the Spyderco subforum or elsewhere. Maybe the sprint runs keep the masses happy?

Buying expensive pocket knives really isn't about value and the market is now a lot bigger due to the explosion of gearheads, who are present in all hobbies. Many people are willing to shell out a lot of money for a pocket knife, hence the explosion of pricier models. If you like it enough to justify the cost and can afford it, then buy it and enjoy using it. But don't expect a cost breakdown to ever be in your favor or justify your purchase. These are essentially luxury items.

All that said, I'm not sure why the 940 is sold at the price it is. Great knife, but expensive.
 
Darkera said:
I would say virtually all mid-higher range productions knives are overpriced. People frequently complain about how expensive Benchmade is, which is a fair sentiment, yet when I started looking into and buying Spyderco knives I felt a similar way. I like my Delica a lot but based on the materials and holding it in my hand, it feels more like a utility knife that should be a lot cheaper than what it is sold for. Yet you rarely see people complain about the cost of their VG-10 lockback knives made overseas on the Spyderco subforum or elsewhere. Maybe the sprint runs keep the masses happy?

Buying expensive pocket knives really isn't about value and the market is now a lot bigger due to the explosion of gearheads, who are present in all hobbies. Many people are willing to shell out a lot of money for a pocket knife, hence the explosion of pricier models. If you like it enough to justify the cost and can afford it, then buy it and enjoy using it. But don't expect a cost breakdown to ever be in your favor or justify your purchase. These are essentially luxury items.

All that said, I'm not sure why the 940 is sold at the price it is. Great knife, but expensive.
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I agree with what you said, and I also want to add that IMO quite some Spydercos are overpriced, including the lockback frn models you mentioned and many of the Taiwan models. Whats good about Spyderco (and better than Benchmade in this regard) is many sprint runs are actually priced more fairly as compared to their regular production counterparts. But this is a bit off topic for this thread.
 
sharp_edge said:
I agree with what you said, and I also want to add that IMO quite some Spydercos are overpriced, including the lockback frn models you mentioned and many of the Taiwan models. Whats good about Spyderco (and better than Benchmade in this regard) is many sprint runs are actually priced more fairly as compared to their regular production counterparts. But this is a bit off topic for this thread.
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I think the Spyderco sprint run business model is great. There have been a few times where I cruised a few online stores intent on ordering a Benchmade but just couldn't find anything that I wanted. If they could offer reasonably priced sprint runs of models I already own and like I would have snatched them up. Otherwise, I just have to hope next year's offerings include models I'm interested in. I can see it being cumbersome setting up production of sprint runs if the factory isn't adapted to that kind of turnover, but it's something for Benchmade to think about (if they haven't already).

Alternatively, they could start producing "sprint runs" of individual parts for the consumer who wants to customize his knife: custom scales, blades, screws, backspacers etc. That could be an issue with the warranty but it would be an interesting DIY approach. People could customize their knives with modular components as they see fit, and it would be cheaper than buying a pre-assembled custom knife with limited options. I'm sure if they had a limited offer of black walnut scales or blades with different geometries/steels for the 940 or Griptilian or whatever they would sell out immediately.
 
Question, can the backspacer be removed without taking the scales apart? Meaning can you just undo the two torx holding the backspacer in and pull it out?Edit: Watched a video and think I found my answer.
 
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Always heard about the 940 being a standard EDC, but never really looked at it with all my Grips and Para 2's (regular and sprint). Well I just did with this thread and whoa.......... it's almost 2X the price of Grip/Para 2....even more than most of my Para 2 sprints original prices. Is it really 2X the knife?

My Grips have taken a beating and are still going strong after almost a decade of carry. My Para 2's are flickable, sharp, pointy and slicey along with being easy to sharpen (Grips too). I'll need to do more research on this.
 
ndmiller said:
Always heard about the 940 being a standard EDC, but never really looked at it with all my Grips and Para 2's (regular and sprint). Well I just did with this thread and whoa.......... it's almost 2X the price of Grip/Para 2....even more than most of my Para 2 sprints original prices. Is it really 2X the knife?

My Grips have taken a beating and are still going strong after almost a decade of carry. My Para 2's are flickable, sharp, pointy and slicey along with being easy to sharpen (Grips too). I'll need to do more research on this.
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If you keep a eye on second hand market you can pick up a 940 for sub 140$ Without much issue. If it’s a model your unsure about go that route and you will likely break even on resale if you don’t like it. I’ve picked up two 940 models for 100 or less with very little-moderate use.
 
I hear what you're saying and I look at it this way. I will either fall totally in love with this knife and have it for a loooong time, in which case $180 is not a big deal, OR it won't be my cup of tea and I will sell it for a small loss. I tend to beat myself up over personal purchases that aren't really necessary and will typically sell some stuff off to fund another purchase. In the grand scheme of things $180 isn't a massive amount of money for an item that gets a lot of use. I'd rather have a $180 knife that gets used than have a drawer full modestly priced knives that sit. Currently my knife collection consists of a Spyderco Dragonfly and now this 940. I have an alox Pioneer but it lives in my car. Gotta say that the 940 definitely has a certain something about it. Gonna give it a workout later breaking down a butt-load of moving boxes.
ndmiller said:
Always heard about the 940 being a standard EDC, but never really looked at it with all my Grips and Para 2's (regular and sprint). Well I just did with this thread and whoa.......... it's almost 2X the price of Grip/Para 2....even more than most of my Para 2 sprints original prices. Is it really 2X the knife?

My Grips have taken a beating and are still going strong after almost a decade of carry. My Para 2's are flickable, sharp, pointy and slicey along with being easy to sharpen (Grips too). I'll need to do more research on this.
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I’ve had mine a little over a week and I love the heck out of it! I hope you do too!
 
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Be Be sure and have Benchmade send you a free split arrow clip to try. Excellent match for the 940 and it feels better in hand than the standard clip.
 
It's funny, 20+ years ago I was a significant Benchmade collector. Then I went quite a long time out of the knife world. As my interest came back years ago, I called Benchmade and asked to speak with someone who had been at Benchmade for many years and who could answer a few questions. The bottom line is that I wanted to know, if I only bought one Benchmade, which it should be. 940 was the clear answer I was given, and so I bought one. For whatever reason, the knife seemed a little unusual in design to me and, ultimately, I moved it on.

Fast forward a few more years.

I now have 50 Benchmade knives, and the 940 is absolutely one of my 2 most carried Benchmades. Many could guess what the other one is....the Bugout. The Bugout is REALLY hard to beat for 99% of the average non-hard-use tasks for which I need a knife. That said, the Bugout simply isn't as durable as the 940, plain and simple. Key things that I love about the 940:

- Thin and effortless to carry. Takes up very little room in pocket

- Long blade for such a thin and light weight knife

- Blade is extremely well designed, so I don't worry about a PM2 sort of tip chip

- Yes, it doesn't slice like some FFG blades but the rest of the package more than makes up for it.

- Once dialed in (if it's not from the factory) the 940 is a pleasure to flick. :)

I own all of the standard production 940s, and the green one is easily my favorite. The handles are milled differently than the other variants, and to it's just easier to deploy with the Asix lock. The Axis lock "buttons" stick out farther from the scale allowing for a better grip on them. Same is true on the G10 Nakamura vs the CF.

So, if I just want super light, I go Bugout. If I want a tougher knife that can do basically anything I could need, I go 940.




ThT
 
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Ahhh great post. Do you remember what the Benchmade employee said as to why it should be a 940 if you were to choose only one? I'm not a collector, so to me it's super cool to think of the one knife that does it all or the one knife you've had for years and years. Thanks for this response Elijay2!
Eljay2 said:
It's funny, 20+ years ago I was a significant Benchmade collector. Then I went quite a long time out of the knife world. As my interest came back years ago, I called Benchmade and asked to speak with someone who had been at Benchmade for many years and who could answer a few questions. The bottom line is that I wanted to know, if I only bought one Benchmade, which it should be. 940 was the clear answer I was given, and so I bought one. For whatever reason, the knife seemed a little unusual in design to me and, ultimately, I moved it on.

Fast forward a few more years.

I know how have 50 Benchmade knives, and the 940 is absolutely one of my 2 most carried Benchmades. Many could guess what the other one is....the Bugout. The Bugout is REALLY hard to beat for 99% of the average non-hard-use tasks for which I need a knife. That said, the Bugout simply isn't as durable as the 940, plain and simple. Key things that I love about the 940:

- Thin and effortless to carry. Takes up very little room in pocket

- Long blade for such a thin and light weight knife

- Blade is extremely well designed, so I don't worry about a PM2 sort of tip chip

- Yes, it doesn't slice like some FFG blades but the rest of the package more than makes up for it.

- Once dialed in (if it's not from the factory) the 940 is a pleasure to flick. :)

I own all of the standard production 940s, and the green one is easily my favorite. The handles are milled differently than the other variants, and to it's just easier to deploy with the Asix lock. The Axis lock "buttons" stick out farther from the scale allowing for a better grip on them. Same is true on the G10 Nakamura vs the CF.

So, if I just want super light, I go Bugout. If I want a tougher knife that can do basically anything I could need, I go 940.




ThT
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