A great knife but I don't think you should give it a pass on the centering. I don't expect them to always get the centering right, just to not send the ones with noticeably off centered blades out. It's a $400+ pocket knife and something being hard to execute isn't a good excuse at that price point.
Thanks for the review Rob, this one's been on my radar for a while and you make some great points. It'll be in my collection at some point for sure. Cheers
Absolutely love my Anthem. Mine was a first edition and the blade was centered right out of the box. Fine wine is a good analogy...it's only gotten better. I've bought 6 new Benchmade knives in the last 3 years. I haven't had a Q/C issue with any of them. Thanks for the longterm review.
If they made an integral titanium version of the 940, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I'm a big fan of that reverse tanto and its edge. 20CV and give it the standard Benchmade pocket clip hole pattern and I'd be thrilled
Rob, Your feedback and opinions are valuable as you actually use your blades and have a great deal I knowledge. I agree with you regarding bmc's heat treat. Make more vids about long term use and fine wine. Thanks, take care.
Rob, thank you so very much for making my knives super perfect! You always do perfect work. I will get back to the usa one day....and when I do...I will hope that you will do more work for me on a few more knives....God Bless You for being who you are!
I feel personally that if you believe that this knife or Sebenza, Marfione, Strider, Zero Tolerance are expensive for you, first don’t say my 10 dollar knife does the same and second don’t please said this is a $100.00 dollars knife and not a $400.00 like if you personally know all the steps to build one of this knifes. I remember a time where a spyderco resilience ( love big knives ) was everything for me and I also remember watching Zero Tolerance price and thinking holy crap! $150.00 ( 2009 ) but really never made a negative comment about it cuz we’ll it was not for me and to be honest I didn’t care if people like or buy something like that. I still don’t care if there is people paying $5000.00 for a custom 1 of 1 knife and of course I won’t go to those channels to tell them that my CRK is better than those $5000.00 knives because I will look so ridiculous. No people or video tell me what to buy in life at all I buy what I want and what I like. I see this videos because I love knives. Good Vid and Good knife for sure👍
I'm glad to see you are still liking this blade. There are a couple of aesthetic changes that that I'd like to see. Screws showing through the spine should be anodized to match the scales. I wish more companies would make left/right hand designs to get rid of the clip holes on the display side. But that is getting picky. Thanks for the update.
Come on. It's good that the 4 evil handed people can swap it. I say be more like spyderco. Nothing like having 12 holes in my pricey knives. I say they do deep and shallow carry. Only thing better than 12 is 24 holes, I say
Thanks for the longer term carry review, Rob. Your videos have often guided my collecting habits. This may be no exception.....I’ve got to say, Ferrum Forge do amazing things with 20CV and it’s one of my favourites, once you get a decent edge on it to start with. You could argue that they’re not really a production company, however. Also, you handle a lot of Chris Reeve knives; do you think the quality has dropped at all with Chris’ departure?
I've had mine for 3 months and i absolutely love it. I've had 1 problem with it and it's that my anodization was a low voltage one that wasn't done well. But since I do anodizing myself that didn't effect it for me anyway since I was going to ano it anyway.
Hey Rob, I'm considering putting ceramic ball bearings into my anthem. The tolerances of the ones I am looking at are great and my thought is that the lower friction between titanium and ceramic would decrease wear in the integral handle over time. What are your thoughts? Is my logic valid or am I missing something?
In theorey, the ceramic bearings should probably wear more (higher hardness= more wear), but I just wouldn't't worry about it. The amount of time and openings it would take to cause any discernable change is incredibly long, possibly even longer than you'll live to see. The knife will wear out faster in other ways
you just made it a sure thing i will spend the money. (prob not untill after Xmass). i was going to wait untill Benchmade put the new axis lock in something else. But like there is only one 940 there is only one Anthem . thanks the updated review. p.s. alot of knives grow on one over time big one for me is the KUR
I started collecting knives 4 years ago. I now have 12 (WE, Spyderco, Rike, Cold Steel, Microtech, and Benchmade). After purchasing this, I don’t need any other knife.
You know... I own only one Benchmade. a Crooked River. I really love it. Carry it when I shouldn't, etc. And I bought it mostly because of you. I really like the Anthem too. I have other stuff competing for that money right now. But, is it the Star Spangled Banner? or maybe a Rock anthem like say Free Bird or something? It's called the Anthem.
I suppose the pocket clip has one less anatomical feature, but it is ribbed and that can have its own value in use. That aside, the integral design is interesting and needlessly costly, at least with current products out there. Still, many people buy expensive mechanical watches when a solar charging atomic clock synchronizing Casio performs much better. There is a value some see that others do not really appreciate.
I’ve been mulling over my next knife, this might be the one. I am torn over this or a CRK small sebenza, or a XM-18 3” Hinderer. I think the anthem is just as classy as the Chris Reeve.
I just got one in the mail yesterday and had to return it this morning. Mine was off centered and it had up/down play. So bummed because I think this knife is stunning and the action was magnificent...but at that price range I cannot live with anything other than perfection. Maybe I'll pick one up later but for now I'm once again let down by Benchmade's QC
I think they could have rounded or crowned the top edge of the blade more like the sebenza and did wonders for the looks, but I love how the back is flush with the handle and not raised like a sebenza. The chevron is classic, but too Much on the clip, it makes the knife too busy and gives an uneasy feeling.
Definitely agree about benchmades HT, I have a ZT 0562cf in 20cv and honestly it doesnt seem to hold a very good edge. I havent had it long, but from the little use I have it went dull far quicker than I expected, faster than some knives I have in s35vn, hopefully it was just something to do with the factory sharpening but we'll see. I'm head over heals in love with the anthem and I'm dying to get one but its a hard choice, and would take a lot of saving up. Hopefully ill be able to afford one by the end of the winter/early spring. For now ill stick with my 943 (poor mans anthem imo) awesome video as always. Thanks for renewing my obsession with this knife, now I wont be able to stop thinking about it until I sell a kidney to buy one.
The Anthem has kicked all other Benchmade knives out of my pocket since I got it. I did manage to slightly pry off the tip, but I know the warranty will replace that down the road.
Ryan Holzer I knew I soon as I pulled it out of the box, all the others were going in the drawer. I could have saved myself a few thousand if this existed 4 years ago.
@@northernninety7 They will replace the blade and make your knife look like new for $30. Did it with my 943. People don't know where the extra money goes. Till they use there warranty. Bm is second to none
I love the whole m390 type steel family. I haven't found it to be chippy at all, in fact out of a couple knives from different manufacturers in each, I like it better than s30v for sharpening Really bummed I missed out on these.
@@samnottheotherone4363 I was a HUGE benchmade fanboy for years (own about 15 of them) Had a couple really negative CS experiences though. I called about sending my 940 in for a new blade (it's been my main EDC for 7-8yrs), since I haven't sent something back to me for quite a long time so I I just wanted to make sure. Lady told me $30. Form I found through Google (but on their site) said $30. They called me with an estimate, $85 now. I explained that I was told $30 and that the form said $30 and the lady was an a****** to me. I worked customer service for a long time so I was really really polite. She told me that the form I used was a Google image. I tried calling back the next day and talked to two different people and same thing. Both of those people were very rude and nobody even offered anything resembling an apology that I was misinformed. $85 for a blade replacement isn't that big of a deal, if any of them had apologized to me that I was told the wrong information and told me they couldn't do anything I would have been a little frustrated but I would have done it and I wouldn't be upset about it anymore. Then to top it off, they sharpened the knife when I told them not to and took off so much material that there's almost no choil left. I have a 9400 Auto and the blade is a few mm shorter vertically and horizontally. I hope it's just a fluke but it doesn't seem like it is. I bought a 486 Saibu right around the same time I sent the 940 in and The Edge came out of the box as one big Burr besides the two fairly large chips in it. It sucks because I really like a lot of Benchmade designs but I'm conflicted. Purchased a few Chris Reeves and Pro-Techs and I have been happy
Several. The 761, the MPR, both Locos... It's a pretty long list. But I just don't buy into the groupthink of being mesmerized by CNC replicator ball bearing flippers. Certainly Benchmade has issues -- every manufacturer does. But the Axis Lock, and the knives which make great use of it, are hugely underappreciated.
Aaron Oosterhoff Of course, we’re dealing with a very different system here, and I was a bit concerned about such small bearings against the Ti, but so far, absolutely zero discernible blade play, and smoother action, without ever adjusting the pivot. Blade centering hasn’t moved either. But keep in mind, this is not a knife I pry with or put a lot of torque on. That’s what my Cold Steels are for.
The thing is the design varies between every manufacturer, it would be cool if they could figure out how to drop in a standard sealed bearing, What did Spyderco do for those who's knives were ruined? Anything? And I wonder how Benchmade would handle the same situation
I was literally thinking in my head....man that blade looks like the sebenza...I think it's a very nice knife..however for 400+....its hard not to just buy the chris reeve....so they kind of put themselves in a wierd position with that blade shape because its competing price and product materials and design with the sebenza......hard to say....I think at 300 they would have hit a home run because now they aren't competing directly
@@brokebikemtb4448 180 buck ZT will be great then. $450 knife deserves super steel. Time for CRK to get with the times. Everyone upgraded beyond Pentium II long ago.
@@roadwarrior1981 I like zt and Kershaw blades....Kershaw was my gateway....and it's fine if the sebenza isn't for you......I didn't get it until I bought the inkosi...or sebenza 25...take your pick.....your not buying a blade material when you buy a sebenza...yes theres tons of knives out there with harder steels.....but if you ever watched the blade hq tour of crk then you will have seen his answer when they asked him why s35 ...and he said...because it's a steel everyman can maintain....once you get into crazy steels now you need ceramics ...diamond hones etc etc.....until you've used s35 ...you wouldn't get it.....its like d2'S bigger brother....for me and my needs its perfect ...I've never had to sharpen an s35 blade. A light strop is all it takes.....s35 is a super steel....so I dont know why you dont think so but it is....its a powdered metal....that's been formulated to produce certain characteristics...wether or not you like them or not doesnt matter to me....or wether or not you think a zt is better then chris reeve doesnt matter one lick to me....I'd never make my opinions based on yours....and lastly....how many blade magazine make of the year awards does zero tolerance have?....and last I checked theres a 6 month waiting list....so comparing it to a Pentium is a stretch bud kinda makes you sound ignorant to be honest.....zero tolerance got any waiting lists?
@@brokebikemtb4448 Ignorance is not understanding that S35VN is only acceptable on a $180 ZT knife these days. At $450 the market demands modern super steel. CRK has put themselves into a position where all they are offering is something similar to Swatch watch trading amongst their followers. It's time to step up to the digital era.
For a knife in this price class I think it's "place" should be better definined...Is it a "hard use" knife or a "slicer" It's either...though I"m guessing it shouls tstil be able to cut. My nitpick? I would hae preferred to see texture (e.g. as seen on Olight flashlight bodies..knurling...for added grip). I think the chevron looks like they're trying to mimic CF which it's not so why do it?? If they made the blade MORE a "hard use" or a "slicer"...then MAYBE i think more people would buy this knife....I think most buyers usually fall into one of the 2 camps...not too many people want an "in-between ...blade type/use" knife...e.g. the Spyderco GB2--clearly a slicer. ..at half the cost...with textured CF scales...this one is a pass for me...
Spyderco ball lock without the ball ! And the ribbed condom pocket clip ! Different screw pattern so you're stuck with that clip ! Have the clone ! $53.00 the clip touches the handle right side tip up only ! the handle is 2 pieces and it's aluminium ( 1/3 lighter )! I would buy the real one for $100.00 just to be loyal ! Butt benchmade's price ain't loyal to the customer ! Wonder if the after market deep carry pocket clip ( that should be the original ) will fit ?
