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Pros: Blade Material, Weight
Cons: Finish, Sheath/Scabbard
“Yours for life”
The knife itself is 5 stars, the sheath is 0. I did not dock the overall rating of 5 stars because of the sheath based purely on Benchmade’s customer service/warranty. I lost it twice due to the point of attachment of the sheath. The first time the screws that attach the sheath to the belt loop came loose causing the knife to drop off somewhere along the way. Called Benchmade and they said they must have forgot to put loctite on the screws and sent me a new knife. I didn’t want to repeat my issue so I modified the sheath by replacing the screws with my own using lock washers, a locknut and loctite. Worked great until the same area failed in a different way. The second time, the plastic piece itself snapped while on a friend’s boat causing the knife and ferro rod to go overboard. Benchmade sent me another replacement including a new ferro rod. I was pleasantly surprised the first time as most companies won’t honor warranties due to loss. Benchmade did so Twice! Without hesitation. They stand by their motto. I further modified the point of attachment on the third knife by fabricating a piece of aluminum to replace the plastic. So far so good. I put finish as a con because of the sheath as well. While it has good retention the sheath has scratched the finish on the blade pretty extensively. Problem is sand, it’s hard to clean the sand out and the plastic is not forgiving causing it to become abrasive. Tried to find a leather sheath but can’t find a good fit as of yet. Not a huge deal to me but something to be aware of.
