Benchmade Bugout VS 940!!! (535-3 VS 940-1) 

The bugout is my 1st premium knife I love it. I've customized mine alot I'd feel lost if I didn't have it

Well said

Well put!

Yes. As I said a few times, the 940 looks very pretentious and resembles something that would be used on an RPG game. I dislike my knives having Japanese reference to them, and certainly not a katana.

Lol the 940 is considered the best edc ever made it’s a gorgeous knife the bugout looks cheap

@@rommelthedesertfox3089 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. I think the design is hideous. Compare the lines to something like a Sebenza, or Shirogorov F95. It looks like the ugly step child.

@@EldenLord84 oh absolutely not the 940 is a gem and absolutely gorgeues knife sevenza dosent even come close the sebenza scales are so ugly

Same! ❤️🙏🏼

940 is still the king

I love mine so much I carry both at the same time 😂

Same here. Couldn’t pass up a great deal at $204 and $210, respectively

Two years later but I just picked them both up as well along with a mini adamas & a mini crooked river. Couldn’t decide!

I’ve used it to pierce Holes in my work belt after I tore a hole in it, used it as an awl to start a hole for a screw a few times in a pinch while renovating, once I had to punch a hole through my work boot and re lace it for the rest of the day until I got new boots after work. I don’t think I could have done that with my bugout or pm2 prob would have broken the tip twisting the blade.

I have the same collection, with the 535-3 being the newest addition and it is quickly becoming my favorite second to the 484-1

I’m with you there, my 940BK has been my most carried EDC for 6 years and counting

I have all the regular production versions of the 940. The 940-1 is the one I almost always grab for regular carry. I grab the OG 940 if I'm going something that might beat it up. Overall I think the 940-1 is king of 940s...

The 940 has a thicker edge so it won’t seem sharp. Just an FYI!

@@cameronbottoms1118 Thanks! Didnt know that :)

@@cameronbottoms1118 that’s a common misconception my 940 was shape right out of the box it’s not a bad sliver by any means

Two very completely different knives which did you go with? I actually picked both of those knives up the other day.

⁠@@HorsepowerHeavenI picked up the 535-4 bugout after I went to check out the carbon fiber one and held both. The 535-4 just felt better in the hands and has a nice weight to it. And I just recently picked up the carbon fiber magnet cut mini adamas as well. Now I’m thinking about getting a custom titanium Osborn from the custom shop.

⁠@@MrMongxiong93that’s amazing! I love all of them. Thanks for the response

I rarely use the stud.

They wouldn’t; look around for different screws if that’s what you want.

Agree

I used to think the same about the 940. But the more I got into knives, the more the 940 blade shape grew on me. I bought the 945 (mini 940) which is a better slicer for edc and I love it!

For me the 940 looks pretentious. I dislike anything that resembles anything Japanese because its a tired reference that has been used too many times. I don't like my knives to have a katana look to them. Ironically, I used to covet the 940 green aluminum with magenta edge for the longest time. But when I finally buy some and start collecting, it was a few bugouts that made it to my house (and pocket).

The 940 is considered to be the best edc ever made

a lot of blade at 3.8 inches

Get the mini adamas, it's unreal

Only thing that keeps me from a 940 is the thicker edge on it. If i needed a hard user i’d buy this, an adamas or a manix 2.

@@cameronbottoms1118 940 is definitely more hard use but it’s not a bad slicer

No it s fine the way it is it’s earned it’s spot as the best edc ever made

@@rommelthedesertfox3089 nah. It might have been the best 15 years ago. Now there's easily a couple dozen knives that I'd edc over it.

@@DieYuppieScum91 nope wrong even now today it’s still considered to be the best edc ever made even 20 years later they are still making it for a reason a design that stood the test of time no other knife has claimed that title its better than anything u carry

@@rommelthedesertfox3089 Omega springs with a mediocre grind and an average steel. It was great for the time but it's outdated and overpriced for what it is in today's market. But there will always be dopes willing to pay the butterfly tax even for mediocre materials and bad QC.

@@DieYuppieScum91 average steel? S30V is considered a high grade steel sure there are better steels but s30v is nowhere near average and not cheap also they don’t sell a design for over 20 years because its average or “mediocre “ so the 940 must be doing something right it’s considered the best for a reason

Would probably be just the same and they don't make them in similar specs yet.

@@SliceyDicey it be a good matchup if they were both compared with similarly updated steel and handle materials

But the 940 looks so pretentious. Or maybe I just hate anything Japanese looking because Japan is outdated and getting more irrelevant now, and we already hear too many references about it. And the katana shape looks like its coming out straight from a video game rather than a cool person doing outdoorsy stuff I would picture carrying. But that's just me. Anyway I have several bugouts in different colors just because.

Confirmation bias at its best! Kidding, they're both pretty awesome knives. Definitely good to hear reviews go in favour of your purchase. I really like my 940-1 though.

I mean the 940 is considered to be the best edc ever made the bugout hasn’t earned that title

It’s not a bad slicer either

Agreed but that's why this BO version is a game changer and corrects most of that disappointment, for me anyway

now they did!

Damn I was wrong but I’m probably the only person who hates the mini deep carry clip!

@@Minusroot8 lol everyone’s is different, at least Benchmade clips are easy to swap

Although I've never owned either of these knives, this comment was beautifully said. I'm actually looking to buy one of these two knives right now and can't decide between the two, for much of the same reasons you mentioned. I found a Bugout in 20CV steel (which is what I want primarily for the rust resistance) and G10 handles to compensate for the standard Bugouts plastic handle flimsiness. However, the 940 and it's iconic shape and legendary durability calls out to me, irrespective of it's inferior steel options on the standard models at least. Both happen to be around the same price, and unfortunately in the area of Canada where I live, there are no stores that I can physically go into to try these out first to see which one speaks too me more. I have no choice but to buy online and blind unfortunately. On paper the Bugout which I found checks off more of the boxes for me (colour, steel, etc.) however there's a certain intangible quality to the 940 which is very compelling. I really can't decide. Here's hoping whenever I do pull the trigger on one of them, I make the right choice.

@@canadianty Haha, you speak my truth, bro. I live near the bottom of New Zealand and there are no high-end knife shops around here. I also have to buy blind on-line. I've cycled around a few knives, to find my grail. The ZT0450, ZT0095, Bugout, PM3, Spydiechef and Sage have all tempted me. But, I keep coming back to the original 940 and that feels like the right fit for me. So, I'm gonna pull the trigger soon. But, they're $400 here, so it's no small investment. Kia ora from NZ.

@@nigelbenson5287 Oh wow that's expensive! Since I wrote that comment, I purchased the Bugout with blue G10 handles and 20CV steel. I think I've started to love it. Since then, I visited a Bass Pro near me, and they surprisingly had a standard 940 in stock. I handled it, and there was just something about it that immediately made me fall in love with it. Something about the proportions and the feel of it, was almost second to none. In hindsight, I kind of wish I had bought the 940, despite the inferior steel options. There's something about the feeling the knife gives you, which was even during a brief period at a store, was immediately noticeable. I still love my Bugout, but that 940 just had a different aura to it. It's hard to explain. If you want my advice, I'd say go for the 940, you will not regret it, I promise. If you have the money and want to splurge on a better steel, I'm sure the 940-1 would also be excellent, though I've never handled it. I must say though, I wish Benchmade had an option to customize the 940 in the custom shop, like they do for the Bugout. A 940 in blue, with 20CV?? Pshh, take my money! Finally I'll say, this experience with the Bugout and the brief handling of the 940 in store, has solidified my love for Benchmade, and their quality. Mine was perfect in every way, and the axis lock has never gotten old. I'm now a Benchmade guy for life! Lol

It’s really not

@@rommelthedesertfox3089 yes grandfather

@@airsoftluke17 grandfather would be buck 110 the benchmade 940 is considered to be the best edc ever made

940 looks pretentious and something a video game rpg character would use. No offense, but this is why I have about 5 bugs right now just because. I dislike anything that has Japanese reference to them as I think the country itself is pretty overrated. And I dont want my EDC to look like a katana, but that's just me 😁

@@curiouscat428 lol yea said no one ever the 940 is considered to be the best edc ever made the bugout hasn’t earned that title also u have no idea what a katana looks like if u think the 940 looks like a katana

Highest priced PRODUCTION.

@@SliceyDicey oh ok thanks I didn’t catch that you said that

I don't own a Sebenza.

Anything over $50 is too expensive, I bought a carbon fibre and M390 knife off aliexpress and it's just as good.

“I carry Kershaws and CRKTs most of the time”

I only have 2 knifes

@@jameshealy4594 not real cf and not properly heat treated m390

All Benchmades are "overpriced", but nobody ever talks about their Lifesharp program and how they'll repair any blade free of cost. I broke the tip off my 940 and they replaced it, no questions asked.

@@PatrickPierceBateman agreed dude, there is just too much competition out there now. BM and the other larger US makers didn’t really do much this year. They kinda let all the new take over. BM just seems too boring to be upping pricing so steadily. A bugout is a bugout is a 940. Lipstick on the same old stuff.

@@MrHayes-cb7hp True, they should have come out with more models or brought back some discontinued models. But they don't really need to because their customer base is so loyal, prices are high, and there are a lot of collectors. Also I think COVID may have prevented them from introducing more products.

@@PatrickPierceBateman you are so right about the loyalty. I am very new in the knife enthusiast world. It kinda started for me during COVID. I had a bunch of US Kershaw from over the years and just dove in head first. I have a Cf elite bugout and a Freek. I just dont see the value and pizzazz in Benchmade. Love the titanium overbuilt 3.5” 0562, Manix 2 LW over the bugout all day long for summer shorts carry. You know how it is though. Benchmade could swing me over next year with that one cool thing, lol.

@@MrHayes-cb7hp You'll want a Benchmade eventually. All serious knife collectors have at least one of them. Benchmade is the best of the best in my opinion, hence the premium price. My first EDC was a 940-1 and cycled/ran thousands of miles with it in my pocket and it still works great, zero corrosion. I still use it today. Although I just bought a 275-1 Adamas because I wanted something bigger. I've been seeing a lot of bears out on the trails lately and if I got attacked, I wouldn't be confident fighting a bear with a 940. If God forbid, I got attacked, the Adamas is big enough to actually do some damage to a bear. Plus the grip is large enough that I feel it won't slip out of my hand if covered in blood. You gotta get the best of the best if your life may depend on it, know what I mean bro?

Absolutely u are correct the 940 is considered to be the best edc ever made