Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness
Cons: Handle Material
Sleeper to Keeper
The 585 is one of Benchmade's best current offerings in the EDC category. By EDC I mean a knife that is effective for a wide range of uses, and allows the owner to carry in a wide range of environments, but particularly at work, which is where most of us go every day. The size is ideal, being as small as it can be while allowing a four finger wrap-around grip on the handle for hard cutting. The blade is wide and stout, with generous belly, providing maximum edge length and cutting efficiency. The overall shape of the Mini Barrage is comfortable, ergonomic, and versatile. The handle feels comfortable and secure in every orientation. The Axis-Assist is great, combining the best folding knife locking mechanism in the industry with a gadget factor of ten. The safety is simple, strong, and easy to actuate. The auto-like actuation might make office-mates jittery, though. My only niggle with the 585 is the Valox handle scales, which are not as solid feeling as G-10 would be. I recommend the 585 anyway though. The Valox handle scales are not as much of a demerit on the Mini Barrage as they are on the full sized Barrage, as the Mini scales are smaller, and more dense. But this is a great knife, and it deserves premium handle materials. The handle scales made the Mini Barrage a sleeper for me, but once I held one in my hand, I knew it was a keeper. In my opinion, this knife belongs up there with the 940, 690, 707, and Mini AFCK on the list of Benchmade's best EDC-sized models. The 585 jumped right to the front of my EDC rotation. I think it is one of the best Benchmades ever, particularly if you can find one of the limited editions with G-10 handle scales.