Comments on: Benchmade Mini-Griptilian Knife 557SBK

By: Every Day Carry - EDC

Every Day Carry - EDC — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:45:39 +0000

[...] this first image is a look at some of my basic EDC items. Benchmade Mini-Griptilian Knife (reviewed below), Surefire E1E Executive (also below), moleskin notebook, swiss army watch (review [...]

By: Gentry

Gentry — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:51:20 +0000

Good choice for an everyday knife! I’m a big fan of benchmade knives. You really can’t go wrong with Benchmade: http://www.bladeops.com/Benchmade-Knives-s/55.htm

By: Cashmoan

Cashmoan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:09:57 +0000

Savson Swords and Knives, despite good pricing have proven, very unreliable for me. I ordered an SOG Flash I three weeks ago. Still no knife. They don’t respond to email either. I would suggest to everyone that they stay away. It is worth the few extra bucks for a reliable seller with a better reputation for following through. You can check them out on BLADEFORUMS.com it seems to have happened before.

By: Davyd

Davyd — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:09:52 +0000

After a lot of thought - I have had the Doug Ritter drop point version ins30v for a week now. I agree - “scary sharp” out of the box. My wife has tactfully not mentioned the band aids that have a appeared on the end of my thumb. Great knife will be my country, hiking knife (EDC is not allowed here). I particulalry like the wide blade which helps with chef style guided dicing. It is certainly a cut above the Kershaw vapor and kabar dozier folders which are similar in length in the blade- Compact pocket folders The full metal sekeleton structure in the handle is reassuringly robust. I also like the ritters washed look which is subdued and not polished without being black/tactical - a look that is not appreciated here, in fact I lamost go the yellow handled version. The actual grip is excellent and gives confidence in using it. I cna see why some reviews mention review it as a great hikers knife. For a full back country working knife I might get the larger version as well (less than an inch larger) - have to decide sheeps foot or standard drop point

By: admin

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:07:17 +0000

Thanks for the review TC, you are right about the mel pardue mix up, good catch. I have since learned the locking mechanism is called “Axis”. However the handle is called Valox according to the benchmade site.

As far as the classes of the knife I guess I see your point, the point I was trying to make is that the blue class for instance is of higher quality than the red class… considering the red class is the “economy line”.

Thanks for the comment.

By: TC

TC — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:15:54 +0000

This is great site and keep up the review.

I too have owned the Grip but in the sheepsfoot with a hollow grind. At first I liked it. It looks very good and ergonomic. However after using it intensively it has gotten to the point were it can no longer be recognized as a BM model.

My take on it is that it is a very good knife for the money. However, in a survival situation it’s not the best thing to be carrying.

On mine (much of this could because of the thin hollow grind) I broke the tip after a little digging and chipped large piece of the primary edge from batoning.

[IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee292/The_Aaij_1/DSC_0005-1.jpg[/IMG]

The knife works great for slicing and is extremely sharp. However several flaws lend into the Grip (mine) is that the, I believe the lock is much too strong for the knife. The lock, in no possible way can fail. I have stood on it, I have thrown the knife from beyond 60 feet into a tree, the lock will not fail. The blade, however, as I explained is weak.

You also got a few things mixed up.

The classes of BMs knives aren’t based on which is better but divided to best suit the customer. The gold class is the most expensive and has knives with the most exotic materials (no better in terms of performance, but better in looking). The blue class is designed for the majority of buyers and is not really better than the black class. The black class was specifically made for military personal and include many automatics as well as a push dagger. The red class is the economy line class for buyers looking for the a good knife for a cheap price.

Also, the handles are made from a high strength polymer not called Valox, but Noryl GTX

Finally, the lock wasn’t designed by Pardue. The blade is. The lock is a McHenry and Williams design, called the Axis.

Even after a little mix up, your reviews are great. Please keep up the good work!

By: Ward

Ward — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:27:53 +0000

Do you take submissions of reviews for survival products? I’ve got a brand new Ranger Knives Ready Detachment Series RD-4 for which I could provide a review. Concerning the Benchmade, any particular reason you chose a partial serration rather than a plain blade?

By: suburban bushwacker

suburban bushwacker — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:42:04 +0000

Hey Phil
I found your site through the American Bushman blog and then saw you’re linked to Mungo’s, another blog I’m linked to.
It looks like you’ve made a great start, I’m looking forward to seeing more posts. Please have a look at my blog, and let me know if you’d like to swap links?
Kid regards
SBW

By: Alicia

Alicia — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:17:42 +0000

Yes, I would like to trade links.
Alicia
Alaska Survival Supply

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:49:08 +0000

Help us out! Drop a few comments! Let us know what you like about the review, let us know what we should change … want something reviewed? Let us know!