What a knife! Its made by benchmade/H&K(Same guys who make the MP5 and all those other great guns )It feels as if it is built of solid gold, its a hefty 5.3 oz or 150 grams. I like that but for some the weight might not be a plus. When i first got the knife I had no idea how to open it, there was no thumb stud and i could not locate the instructions. Well i jumped on the internet and found my answer. There is a safety on the back of the knife, which has to be pressed down, then slid back, after that, you simply pull down on the axis lock and the blade swings open, but be ready for it, as if your not careful the knife could jump out of your hand. Closing it is a difficult to do one handed and takes time. I would have 100% confidence that this knife will not open when you dont want it to, which i know is a main concern of many. The blade swings open perfectly every time, i have gone through about 100 cycles opening and closing it. The knife is pretty damn sharp out of the box. One thing that i see future difficulties with is that the tanto point will make it more difficult to sharpen. Now if only this knife had a built in 3 watt Cree LED light.....that would be something lol. Having a O.K. knife is like jumping out of a plane with a O.k. parachute. Benchmades are very well built, and in my opinion one of the best knife manufacturers. The Axis lock that is used on most of their knifes is what makes them shine, many have tried to "copy" their lock design because it is just that damn good. I was going to buy a Cold Steel Recon 1 because i saw the abuse vids and it sure took a lot, i have no doubt that it is a pretty good knife, but, Cold Steel tried to copy Benchmades Axis lock, but they had to make significant changes to it to avoid a law suit. When I was in the store looking and handeling a Recon 1, the lock FAILED 
:shakehead
:mecry:, the blade would not close again, it was stuck, I would like to point out that it is not a catastrophic failure It still failed. So i guess on cold steels part 
. I talked to them and of course they were like thats weird:thinking: its our super duper locking mechanism...... I am not saying that the Axis lock is the superest duperest lock of them all, and that it cant be improved on, buts its pretty damn good. Im not trying to bash on CS too much, im just saying what happened, Im sure there has been an Axis lock or two that has failed as well. Feel free to ask any questions.
:shakehead:mecry:, the blade would not close again, it was stuck, I would like to point out that it is not a catastrophic failure It still failed. So i guess on cold steels part . I talked to them and of course they were like thats weird:thinking: its our super duper locking mechanism...... I am not saying that the Axis lock is the superest duperest lock of them all, and that it cant be improved on, buts its pretty damn good. Im not trying to bash on CS too much, im just saying what happened, Im sure there has been an Axis lock or two that has failed as well. Feel free to ask any questions.
