Benchmade 735

[tkl]

got my bm 735s today from dan at tactical warehouse. as usual, dan at tw was top notch is service and hunting down my specific model.

PRO's
as expected, fit and finish are superb. no blade play, lock up is rock solid and tight. it has the axis lock which is very smooth and way easier on the thumb than a liner lock. i won't buy a bm without the axis lock.

CON's
my gripes are the same with any bm. the clip allows the knife to ride too low. i don't get the "discreet" carry thing, but whatever floats your boat.

i have to re position my grip on draw if i want to be able to reach the thumbstud with my thumb. i can however "flick" it open and this is what i do in an "emergency". however, bm recommends against this. i don't worry about it though. if it causes excessive wear i'm sure bm will replace it under warranty. if not, i'm sure the charge will be nominale or worth it.

i find their knives smallish. i wish they would offer more 4" knives in the axis lock and a beefier model to compete with the strider ar.

overall i love this knife and will edc it in rotation with my soon to be here emerson mach/max 1. i fear that review will be ugly.

2 out of 5 emersons i previously owned were lemons.

 

[K-T]

I have heard about the axis lock - but not alot. Can you explain it a little bit? Function, handling, mechanism?

I am looking forward to the Emerson review.

 

[tkl]

uh...

...i'm not sure how to explain it. it's probably best to handle one. any mall should have an overpriced knife shop to check one out.

 

[MicroE]

K-T----The Axis lock is THE BEST folding knife lock mechanism, IMHO, of course. It is hard to describe but EASY to use.

The main advantage of the Axis system is that your precious fingers and hands never get in the path of the swinging blade when opening or closing the knife.

The Axis system uses a pin to lock the blade in place when it is open. This pin is spring-loaded so as soon as the blade swings out to the fully-extended position it is locked. You unlock it by sliding the pin.

I suggest that you go to Benchmade.com and take a look at an Axis knife. You will see that it has an extra pin about 3mm away from the blade's hinge pin. This is the locking pin.

Try the mini-Griptillian 555 or 556. You will love this knife!---Marc

 

[sunspot]

Now that I have an Axis lock folding knife, I will not ever buy another liner lock. How's that for praise. I do want to see/try a frame lock. I've only heard of them.
BM742

 

[txwest]

sunspot,
As much as I like my 5 or 6 Axis lock knives, I can't say I won't buy anything else. There are too many other good knives out there. Now, I could make that statement if all other knives were offered in an Axis lock version. TX

 

[DSpeck]

A frame lock is the same idea as a liner lock, except the lock is a cutout in the whole side of the frame, not just the liner. There are no scales on frame locks, because then they'd be liner locks...

The frames of frame locks are made of titanium, so that they can be used for springs/lockbars. Frame locks are very strong, since the lockbar is thicker and more rigid.

(My other hat is as a custom knifemaker.)

 

[Gandalf]

Originally posted by sunspot:
I do want to see/try a frame lock. I've only heard of them.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The Chris Reeve Sebenza is the only knife I can think of that uses the frame lock. And they pretty much *start* at around $300. I got a good deal on a new one in a trade many years ago.

Extremely well made and solid knive. Due to it's cost, I've never carried my Sebenza, which is kind of a waste, as it's a very nice knife. The blade is only about 1/4" shorter than the frame, so it has a surprisingly large blade/frame size, compared to any other folder I've ever seen. The width of the blade is almost as big as the frame, as well.

 

[Wolfen]

Kershaw Leek is a frame lock.

 

[txwest]

All of the CRKT K.I.S.S. knives are frame lock.

 

[tibim]

I too swear by the Axis lock. I'll never buy another folding knife without it.

About 8 months ago I cut a big gash in my hand because of a Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn folder closing on me when I slammed the back of the blade against the arm rest on my computer chair. I had to get 5 stitches.

I know what I did probably wasn't the smartest thing to do with a folding knife, however, with the axis lock I do this and worse without worry. I'll slam it down as hard as I can into a block of wood point first without thinking twice. I think it can take something like 350lbs of pressure before it gives. And even in that case I understand that it wouldn't the axis lock giving way, but the frame cracking and the whole knife breaking.

Axis locks are great. I have a 735 ares too BTW and it's a great knife. The next knife I want to get is a BM 710 M2, it's a little bit longer than the 735. Benchmade + Axis rocks in my book.

-tibim

 

[sunspot]

Originally posted by txwest:
sunspot, As much as I like my 5 or 6 Axis lock knives, I can't say I won't buy anything else. There are too many other good knives out there. TX

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I agree that there are many other good knives on the market sans Axis lock but I will not buy them. The liner lock I owned was a CRKT M16-03 and while it was a good knike, I always had difficulty operating the lock to close it. It was awkward to me.

 

[ygbsm]

tkl-- thanks for the review.

When I want to open an axis lock quickly, I open the lock using my index finger with the knife postioned such that gravity causes the blade to start to open, and then gently flick the knife into the open position while releasing pressure on the lock button. This allows fast opening while not subjecting the stop to extreme force.

 

[ToddM]

Actually a old test of the security of a liner lock has been to really wack the spine of the blade on a table or other semi hard object to see if the lock fails. However it's best to keep all fingers and such out of the blade path if it does fail during the test.

If I have a knife that fails this test it goes in the trash.

It seems everyone is coming out with new locks now, BM has the axis, CRKT have a couple styles of locks now. It's a good thing but honestly in general use a good liner lock will hold. Of course there are a lot of poor locking liners out there. It's very rare that excessive force is put on the spine of a blade, it almost never happens in normal cutting in fact about the only time it does happen is when you beat on the spine of the knife, something that really shouldn't happen in use. It never hurts to have extra safety though.

Myself I've been planning for years to go away from folders all together and go to smaller blade fixed knives but I still keep coming back to the nice small package of a good folder.

Todd

 

[ygbsm]

For some really intense knife tests see: http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/reviews.html

see, e.g., http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/buck_strider.html for some liner lock issues

 

[Flotsam]

Probably the cheapest framelock out there (of any quality) is the Kershaw Vapor series of knives - comes in 2 sizes, plain or serrated, made of stainless steel. Can be found for about $20 at Wal-Mart, and are worth a look. Another framelock is the Benchmade Pinnacle (model 750).

 

[ygbsm]

Just got an all carbon fiber 941 Axis lock -- I'm always happy with the Axis Lock also.

 

[Wolfen]

I just upgraded from the griptillian family to a 730, can't wait to get it.

 

[tkl]

i never thought this thread would take off like it did.

 

[Skyline]

I really love the Axis Lock. See this web page for an explanation of how it works:
http://www.equipped.com/axis.htm

On the rare occasions I've purchased non Axis Locks, I always feel disappointed in how poorly the liner locks, frame locks, and lock backs compare to the Axis Lock.