John
Milton, Ga

May 22, 2022

Pros: Handle Material, Blade Material

Cons: None

surprisingly smooth, lightweight and super sharp EDC

love benchmade, big INFIDEL fan. The Shootout is what it is advertised: great offhand backup weapon, neat glass break on end, lightweight and an all around winner. wasn't sure if i would like the color but it goes amazingly well with my SIG 365xl spectre comp.

Chipper
Birmingham Alabama

May 07, 2022

Pros: Handle Material, Blade Material

Cons: None

Surprisingly useful

I ordered after seeing a YouTube torcher test. When I first opened the box, it felt cheap. It’s certainly not a a Microtech, however I believe it’s more useful. For its size, it’s not that noticeable in the pocket. I find the blade extremely useful in daily task. I like the feel of the skateboard deck under my thumb. It’s overall a very useful knife to have. It’s almost like having a fancy automatic box cutter… maybe they are just trying something entirely different. I could easily see Benchmade riding this platform for several different series. I bet an aluminum handle is in the works and a million different color variations.

John
Milton, Ga

Dec 26, 2022

Pros: None

Cons: None

Still my GO TO almost everytime. Great EDC. Love this OTF!

of all of the knives I own, when i need something in a pinch or just because... i always seem to reach for the shootout. mine is getting so worn out i'm considering buying a second, just because. if you like auto's, then this s/b in your collection.

Gregory
Sandy Springs, Ga

Nov 04, 2022

Pros: Handle Material, Blade Material

Cons: None

Lightweight and fast

Lightest OTF I own. Hardly notice I'm carrying it. Great grip.Solid opening!

El Greco
Austin TX

May 31, 2023

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: None

Lightweight ≠ Cheap

First impression is shocking - this knife is LIGHT for an OTF. This apparently makes it feel cheap to some. This knife has been my EDC for over a year now - I bought from KnifeCenter in April of 2022. It's held up perfectly. Granted, I don't pry things with it - I only use the cutting edge. If you've never used an OTF, it's tough to tolerate the blade play in the beginning. After a year's daily use, I've come to believe that it's a small trade-off for the incredibly convenient OTF action, and it's, literally, never been an issue in daily use. It has, also, never misfired. Edge retention has been excellent. It's been honed weekly and I've yet to have to rebuild the edge. Maybe, I could have taken a star for the blade play that is slightly more than other OTFs, but the fact that it hasn't affected performance, and it is SO light and SO extremely durable, it would not be fair.

Thomas
,

Nov 25, 2024

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight

Cons: None

Works as Intended

While most any OTF will have some blade play, mine is very minor. It doesn't rattle when open or closed. I appreciate the light weight for EDC. FYI, light weight does not equal cheap or inferior construction. It's great for processing food and making feather sticks. It does what it's designed to do, and it does it well. I've had mine for about a year now. I really appreciate how well the CruWear holds up, that it's easy to sharpen and holds an edge really well. I really like being able to open and close it with just one hand which makes it very safe to handle as my fingers are away from the path of the travel of the blade. The deep carry pocket clip is an added bonus.

One Bmf
Central America

May 05, 2022

Pros: Handle Material, Blade Material

Cons: None

Shootout

It’s light , it’s a tanto blade , it has an excellent grip like super friction texture and it has this texture right where you need it . The glass breaker is what brought me back to benchmade and this glass breaker is a great one , very effective against glass . I hit the five star review button so fast and so hard I think I sprained my thumb .

Wilson405
Oklahoma

May 06, 2022

Pros: Blade Material

Cons: None

Review after a month of use

From the military issue 9050 AFO, to their Phaeton and Autocrat series, I am a Benchmade carrier and proponent. Benchmade knives have served me well from Afghanistan to the backwoods of Oklahoma. Now, as far as the Shootout line, it feels like a Glock in my hand. No, it is not aircraft aluminum or whatever the more expensive OTF’s are, but it feels good and provides adequate grip. In its brief time with me, it has been used to harvest a wild hog, open mail, fillet small panfish, cut braided line my scissors wouldn’t, and been used as a fidget when sitting at my desk. The most impressive thing about this knife is the blade though. The CPM-CruWear blade has retained its edge better than any other knife I have owned. I will say the blade coating is tough to clean but it does clean up nicely with a little soap and water. Anyway, I have seen some negative reviews of this knife online and thought I would share my experience with it so far. FYI: I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 due to the difficulty of cleaning the blade.

Millimetermech
Michigan

Nov 27, 2022

Pros: Handle Material, Blade Material

Cons: None

Great blade steel, but the internals are delicate!

Received the knife in excellent condition, good esthetics on the handle and blade. It has a good factory sharp edge. However after a use where I washed the blade and blew the the knife out and patted it dry, that’s when the problem occurred. I was patting it dry on my leg and went to retract the blade and it made a crunch sound inside. So when I sent the blade out it didn’t lock and the button went dead. That’s when I found the broken piece inside. Sent it in to Benchmade and they replaced the spring catch inside.Benchmade fixed and returned the knife in working order quickly and at no charge.I’ve always had great service from them! I’m concerned that a duty use blade has a possible flaw that could fail when needed. If it is on your kit and you fall where the knife body takes a hit from the side will it have the same issue I had? When someone might really need it? It is a really cool piece but will this be a one in a million problem? I hope so.

Dave
KS

Jun 16, 2022

Pros: Handle Material, Blade Material

Cons: None

Great EDC OTF

This is my first Benchmade, and honestly one of the most expensive knives I own. It's also one of my favorite knives to carry. The extremely light weight and deep carry clip make it almost disappear in the pocket. This is not a rugged, deep woods survival pocket knife and it was never intended to be, so I don't mind the CF Elite handle and the slight blade play that you are likely to find in any OTF at this price point. It was designed as an everyday, off-hand tactical knife, and I believe it achieves that. I myself mostly use a pocket knife for what we all do: opening packages. For that type of everyday task, I love this knife for its ease of use and the safe handling it provides. The grip of the handle is very secure, and the OTF action is inherently safer to use around people because of the single direction of blade travel and the ability to retract the blade as quickly as it is deployed, without having to reposition the knife in the hand or make any wrist motion. I gave four stars instead of five because there is something mildly unsettling about such a light, polymer-handled knife with minor blade play and rattle of the mechanism, but I've been carrying it for over a month and I've never had a failure to fire or any other issue. I think if I don't abuse it, this knife will be one of my favorites for years to come.

Ralph
San Diego

May 02, 2022

Pros: Blade Sharpness

Cons: Weight, Handle Feel, Pocket Clip

Toy or Tool

Very underwhelming! What happedned to the legendary Benchmade qualitiy and durability? It is super lightweight and feels more like a toy than an actual working knife. It actually rattles when shaken. The out of front action is smooth and responsive. The ambidextrous textured thumbpads seem quite sufficient. This may be a nice collectors items, but as a law enforcement officer with over 20 years in the field, I certainly would trust my life to it in a fight.

Ambosher
Massachusetts

May 11, 2023

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: Weight, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Pocket Clip

A beater OTF? pre January-2023 silent update

This knife is both amazing and very weird. I don't know how else to describe it. It's extremely light weight, but durable. The handle make it feel like a toy and tool at the same time. A lot of the pros like the weight, feel, and material can be seen as cons since it makes the knife feel cheap. From what I understand this comes down to the material used, CF-Elite. Basically, it's Grivory with strands of carbon fiber throughout. This allows the knife to take a lot of abuse but show little to no wear, and I think a lot of people will like that. The grit tape also helps with precise cutting, along with the tanto blade. And the Cru-Wear steel was a great choice. When this came out, no other OTF had it, now there is one other company that does it, but the blade is much shorter. I think all of these points make it more of a beater knife as you won't really mind abusing it. If you already have other OTFs with more premium materials, don't get this as the feel will be disappointing. If this is your first OTF, then get it. Note: There was also a huge issue with this knife, it use to use body screws that were way too long. This caused the knife to miss fire, rattle, and in some cases the switch popped off when dropped. Benchmade has since made a silent update on it using shorter screws after January 2023. If you have the older model, you can order new screws from Benchmade for free by email, call, or the website chat. If you don't want to wait, you can shorten the screws yourself. The screw that is the issue if the one closest to the switch. I bought this knife before the issue was fixed, so you can imagine the issues I when through. It's terrible how nothing was done about it for nearly 6 months. https://www.reddit.com/r/benchmade/comments/138u52f/did_anyone_notice_the_shootout_was_shadow_updated/?utm_source=share

Dirk
Virginia

May 04, 2023

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Handle Material

Cons: Pocket Clip, Lock Type

Look elsewhere

The blade wiggles too much when extended and the pocket clip gap is too large for regular pants, causing the knife to fall out of the pocket with ease. I sent it to Benchmade twice to fix the wiggly blade and hardly anything was improved. Although it has a great blade, solid action, and is lightweight, it is not worth the money and I'm disappointed in Benchmade because this product is is the worst of the several Benchmade I have or have held.

Jd
Independence , Ky

Apr 30, 2022

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness

Cons: None

Very Disappointed

Don’t get me wrong. I own several Benchmade knives. They are one of my favorite brands. Never had an issue. However, this one has problems. On paper, everything sounds great. Blade steel, materials, etc. In reality, not so much. Knife misfired multiple times right out of the box. Blade had scuffs and apparent blemishes that increased as you fired it. I’m not sure if this is a production issue or a QC issue. I really wanted this to be my favorite and go to OTF. I hope everyone else doesn’t have the same problems I did but I’m kind of let down by Benchmade. I think they rushed these out and didn’t live up to their standards.