I carry the Mini Griptilian every day. For me perfect compromise between size/wight and function.
I carry the Mini Griptilian every day. For me perfect compromise between size/wight and function.
If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis
Among my requirements for a knife is the ability to open and close one handed easily with little risk. IMO the Axis lock on Benchmades both assisted and unassisted are the best at that requirement, even with my small bands that has trouble with most unassisted knives.
For the assisted opening one handed is easy, but closing is easy to. Just use your thumb and pointing finger to pull the lock back, while using the back of the blade against your body or another object until it locks.
For the unassisted opening one handed can be done just using gravity. Pull the lock back, and you can either flick it open, or just rotate your hand gently using gravity to pull the blade out. To close it is the opposite.
Either way for both cases you fingers don't get anywhere near the blade. So it is extremely hard to cut yourself unlike liner or frame lock knives.
I'm not a knife guy, I simply own them. And I feel that the Benchmade Axis lock system is the best for everyday people. I currently carry a Mini Barrage, and if I lived in a state where an assisted knife is an issue I would probably get a Mini Griptillian, as it looks like the same knife as the Mini Barrage but without the assisted opening.
I carry a Kershaw every day and have for awhile, but if you're not looking at Kershaws, Spyderco, etc., I'd recommend the Griptilian every day. I carried one for years and it did everything I asked of it until I lost it somewhere, somehow. Well made, well thought-out, and the large Griptilian fits hand and pocket well enough that I never bothered with the mini (even though, over the years, I've gathered anecdotally that most people prefer the mini-G.)
Spyderco Native is a great knife for sure (carried one for a long time . . . you begin to get the picture.) It's a little short for my taste, but that makes it very handy. It does look more menacing than the others on your list, though. In fact, it looks like a double-edged dagger point to most people, and it's not far from being that. But that makes it SO light and quick and precise that it's hard to complain about it. I've never owned one of the all-metal Natives, only the FRN plastic grip, and I think it makes more sense than the metal scales for anything but presentation. It's a great grip. And although the Axis and other spring-and-bearing style locks are my preference over the old lockback, a knife like the Native shows that people can still make a great lockback knife. Never an issue with it.
"Your hands than mine are quicker for a fray.
My legs are longer though, to run away."
--Helena of Athens
I love benchmade grip and mini. I love Spyderco even more. I have a bunch.
If you don't mind buying used but like new in box I have a g10 spyderco manix2 with black DLC coating, saber grind I'd let go. I have two. $100 shipped conus.
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How does the Spyderco locking mechanism on the Manix compare to the Axis lock? Like PPGMD, I think the Benchmade Axis lock is great, and told myself I wouldn't own another folding knife without it. BUT, I like spyderco as well, and the Manix line can be had at a significant savings compared to Benchmade.Originally Posted by VolGrad
What's the scoop?
VolGrad,
I do appreciate the offer, but for a couple personal reasons, I'd prefer to buy new. Namely, and this will probably sound silly, I want to hand one of the two down to my son someday, and I think he'd think it was cooler if dad bought it new. I know, silly, but still.
No sweat bro. Just throwing that offer out there.
The Manix locking mechanism is basically same action as the benchmade axis lock. I currently have a full size Grip and 3x different Manix2 (one G10 saber grind, one G10 full flat grind, one new dark blue lightweight).
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Thankyousir.
I have a 561. Tis' a big beast, but quite sturdy.
I'd love to replace the coyote G-10 with carbon fiber, but that scale is never in stock anywhere.
I replaced a 0350 because I thought it was too big, so I knew the 561 wouldn't work for me. I was pretty happy when the 0566 came out. It's hard to beat for the price.
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