Benchmade and Other Lockback Knives

[Texas Star]

I don't see a model number on my Benchmade lockback knife. I think it's model 710, and they have/had a smaller one like it as the Model 705. My son has a somewhat more "tactical" one with a tanto blade. Some of you probably recall a post that I made when he sliced open a coydog that jumped him. He used that knife on it.

My knife has the McHenry & Williams designer name and the blade is marked as being ATS-34 steel. I think they may have changed the steel; my knife is probably about ten years old.

I haven't carried it continuously, as I have other favored knives, but it works well, and I love the styling. So far, no trouble with the Axis lock mechanism. Have any of you had an Axis lock knife for long, and are you pleased with it?

I read on the Net that one guy had one break, but that Benchmade repaired it for free. The problem, of course, is that if it breaks in use, you may not survive the encounter if it is of a grievous nature.

Overall, I think I trust the basic rocker locks most, like on the Buck Model 110 and the equivalent Puma and Schrade knives. But I also like my liner locks, like the Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn folders.

So far, no accidental closures. But I talked to a man who had to kill a cougar with his folding knife, and he may have been lucky that he had a rocker-locked Schrade like the Buck Model 110. (It was Schrade's Model LB-7.)

What's the toughest test that your lockblade folder has withstood?

 

[ditrina]

Opening Oysters...

Really.... Lived in Louisiana.. had a party, two sacks of oysters and no oyster knife....

That Buck 110 got a workout that day... set the point.. push.. twist.. open.. cut the muscle.. cut lemons..

Even used it to break the oyster " Clumps" apart..
The things you do for Louisana Gulf Oysters

 

[wuluf]

I'm a big fan of the Axis, have several. I trust it more than either lock backs or liner locks to stay open and not slice my fingers...

 

[JMK572]

I have owned several axis lock knives by Benchmade and they've held up well. If you're looking for the strongest lock out there, check out the Cold Steel knives with the Triad lock. The American Lawman is a nice one for the price.

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

 

[GatorFarmer]

I used to carry a Benchmade Ares. I used it as a general purpose can and bottle opener for years. Also served as screwdriver and sometime prybar. Broke the tip slightly in a can of beef stew. Had that fixed and later sold it on ebay.

 

[goldenlight]

I'm a big fan of the Axis, have several. I trust it more than either lock backs or liner locks to stay open and not slice my fingers...

I second this.

Can we get a third for motion carried?

 

[Goldstar225]

I carreied a Benchmade axis lock Mchenry & Willams for about the last 12 years as a duty knife. I like it but I have no heroic tales to tell about cutting people out of flaming cars or saving grateful damsels. I have opened a box or two with it.

 

[H Richard]

I carry a Kershaw Leek. 3" blade, "assisted opening", it has great steel and keeps a edge extremely well. I carry it daily, and it does everything from letter opening, to wire striping, wood cutting, box cutting, etc. If anything happened to this one I would get another just like it.

 

[Marshwheeling]

I usually carry either a Griptilian or a 585 Mini Barrage. The assisted opening is really cool. It sharpens pencils like nobody's business, and slices through hospital wrist bands like they are not even there. (You want to get rid of those things as fast as possible, before they can tie them to your toe.)

 

[LazyKB]

I carreied a Benchmade axis lock Mchenry & Willams for about the last 12 years as a duty knife. I like it but I have no heroic tales to tell about cutting people out of flaming cars or saving grateful damsels. I have opened a box or two with it.

Same here. I have carried a mini griptilian for the last couple of years and like it a lot. It is the first knife that I haven't managed to lose. I like that pocket clip. Steel is 154 and I think I like that better than the 440. Very handy with the one hand open and closing. Leaves my other hand free to hold the box The blade is @ 2 7/8 inch. I also have a 522 Presidio Ultra with a 3.5 blade. All most embarrassed to pull that sword out of my pocket. May not be legal everywhere. I have had no issue with the axis lock.

 

[bettis1]

I've carried a BenchMade Osborn designed folder for a number of years now. It has a reverse Tanto point. If I had it to do over, I would probably opt for the drop point. As a lefty, I appreciated the reversibility of the pocket clip.

I really like the axis lock as the best mechanism that I have used.

After thousands of openings, it is so smooth that is opens like a switch blade with a flick of my wrist.

Here is an interesting quirk in the law: Texas laws specifically outlaw knives that use gravity to open; so if I open the knife with a flick of my wrist with my fingers pointing up, it is a legal knife because it utilizes centrifugal force in opposition to gravity. If I open the knife with a flick of my wrist with my fingers pointing down, it is an illegal knife because it utilizes gravity.

Bob

 

[Marshwheeling]

I never saw a so-called "gravity" knife that would open on gravity alone, or would not open in any direction with a flick of the wrist.

 

[A10]

I like my liner locks, and own several. Most of them are Benchmades. I did own a Griptilian right after they came out, but unfortunately lost it at a construction site. It was a tough knife, and I though the axis lock was solid.

 

[bettis1]

I never saw a so-called "gravity" knife that would open on gravity alone, or would not open in any direction with a flick of the wrist.

Marsh,

The German Paratrooper gravity knife (Fallschirmjager-Messer) will open by gravity alone when the lock is released. (It also closes by gravity when held upright.) I would guess that is the one which was in mind when the law stipulated against gravity opening knives.

Bob

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I recently bought one of these: CRKT Crawford Triumph Combat Knives
It has a liner lock and and additional lock on the back. It did not take long to learn how to release both locks using one hand. The scales are slip proof and it has assisted opening.

 

[Texas Star]

Some of the Gerber A-F folders have a secondary lock that you push in place after opening, if you think that you'll be doing especially heavy cutting or stabbing. The liner lock, of course, functions automatcally as the blade opens.

I like my Applegate-Fairbairn folders a lot, but worry that they might be considered as daggers by cops, so seldom wear them out of the home.

I had to have the big one sharpened by a custom maker, as the factory edge on some leaves something to be desired. I hope that Gerber does a better job on honing them now.

I usually wear the Benchmade 710 or a Puma that looks like a Buck 110 except that it has white Micarta scales. Another favorite is the Puma 943, which has a saw blade and a corkscrew in addition to the main blade. Puma still makes the 943, but the blade now looks more like that on the Model 959.

I have, but don't carry, a Spyderco just like that used by a father to stab a cougar in the chest at a national park resort this Spring. The three-inch blade didn't penetrate well enough to inflict a lethal wound, but the cat released the man's young son and fled. The boy survived, thank goodness. You may have seen that story on the news or on the Net.

Oh: I do have a Kershaw 1550 that I don't carry. It stays in a bookcase, where its handy to open mail, and sometimes, I have it in my hand when I answer the door at night. But I won't carry an assisted-opening knife in my pocket. They're probaby safe, but I have visions of one opening accidentally. The Kershaw is well designed and made, and I like it, otherwise.