How I carried the Benchmade 945 through an existential crisis 

After surviving the Afghanistan war I was deployed to, an intense realization came to me that I was just a spec of dust in the universe. No one will remember me outside my direct family a few weeks after my funeral if I would die in combat. Or even just die in general. I realized that I don’t even know my great-great grand parents’ names. And in turn, the 4th generation after me will not know my name. But you know what? strangely enough, instead of filling me up with harrowing depression, the realization actually gave me peace. I don’t have to please everybody anymore. Just the ones who will actually miss me when I’m gone. The ones who I actually love, and love me back.

You are literally the cure for BS. Thank you for making everything better Pete.

Frodo: I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf: So do all that live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Also, that's one THICC zucchini you got there.

Great stuff as always Pete. After all this time…I’ve never yet purchased a Benchmade. Here in Oz the butterfly tax simply stings too hard. It’s an odd comparison but I recently ordered enough parts to rebuild the engine of one of my motorcycles, and I took a moment to reflect that the entire bundle of precision made Japanese parts…still cost less than a Benchmade 945!

GET THE 940 BACK!!!! I feel the same way. The 945 is great. But sorta feels like a toy to me. It’s just too small!

You got me at the beginning with the chicken grab 😅. For real though, love the 8 bit music and this video hit for real.

Surely Bricky is your Spirit Guide through an existential crisis? Excellent as always, thanks Pete.

seek joy and meaning wherever you can. time is a thief. entropy is a slow cruel master

My main character syndrome just popped up thanks to you. I continued to push back my TSPROF purchase by buying another Hinderer this month. Now I have to keep using my edge pro. The world is not fair

I feel you on the mid-30's bro. And the state of the world. Oy. Thanks for the review Pete. Your presence makes a difference for us, thanks for all you've done 👍🏻

I’m not even playing, you and your music choices are putting me into an unnamed existential crisis.

Very relatable video. Haha love all the various types of humor. Stay well Pete. Thanks for the awesome content. Food looking delicious per usual!

Thanks for the review and hope everything gonna be alright for u mate

Bro, love your channel and the chocobo music made my heart smile. I know things are kinda crazy but you know what helps me when I'm feeling off and like nothing really matters? Finding someone to help and helping them. Preferably if I can do it secretly. God made all of us with unique abilities to serve and I'm always happiest and most clear headed when I'm serving. Thanks for the hard work and great vids!

I have had Benchmade axis lock knives since they first came out. 154cm 710 og940 and around 30 others. I never had a spring break. They weren't pocket jewelry. I used some really hard and carried them for years.

Mate, feeling you. Also have the early to mid thirties blues at times, especially with the war going on. Cheers from Germany

What a veggie haul Pete! More veggies in your garden than in the produce section of my neighborhood grocery store. I said out loud "NO HE DID NOT!!!" when you cut up that chicken. Real nice. What's cooking in your crockpot? Recipe? Your basil plant looks great. I guess there was something about a knife, but I was paying attention to the important stuff. Thanks Pete!

I've never been so jealous of another man's zucchini. Baton it or I unsub!

I think the blade profile on the para 3 lends itself better to existential crisis aversion.

I wish I could pull a giant zucchini from my bush

This video hit its mark. Well done. Thanks for sharing what we're all feeling, to let us know we're not alone.

“Everything is fake” is just another way of saying that nothing is fake

Baby banter, Para 3, Mini Bugout, this tiny 940, when the hell are we gonna get XL versions of all these knives? Remember when a 4" blade was the standard and expected? But now some how 3.4" is considered all you'll ever need and I beg to differ. It feels like the knife industry as a whole is spiraling towards catering to smaller hands and it just feels like guys with larger hands are left out in the cold. Nothing that fits and nothing to look forward too.

I'm still holding out hope for immortality via digital mind upload to a computer generated fantasy realm on self repairing storage devices located in a lead walled vault deep beneath the earth's surface. But in the mean time I'm buying solar panels and building a chicken coop and potato farm. I've been using a civivi elementum. It makes me feel calm and not stressed out at all while I'm using it.

Yeah it’s been a fun week. Hot take: I think some degree of main character syndrome is acceptable. You are only ever living your own life and are filtering all of existence through that lens, so I don’t think anyone should be too hard on themselves for being “self-centered” in their thinking when a crisis happens. I live near one of the more important nuclear facilities in the US, so of course I found a way to freak the fuck out when Putin announced Russian nuclear systems were going on high alert - legitimately started getting mad at myself for not being a prepper with an underground bunker full of canned food to feed my wife and children during the nuclear winter that was playing out in my mind lol. Of course in reality this whole conflagration has fuck all to do with a lot of us; it’s a silly behavior that we all have but it doesn’t come from a place of ill will, so yeah, I say go easy on yourself. Let’s all try to help or donate to the Ukrainian causes, and just realize we’re on a wild train with no way to helm it, so we may as well try to enjoy life. Sorry for the long comment! Shame on me lol. Also my bald spot is bigger than yours so don’t stress 😆

Lol the poor doggo was like I promise I’m not a spy!

Dude I swear im going through similar stuff and have similar views to you in relation to religion and philosophy and I thought to myself today... I haven't watched the Cedric and Ada channel in a while.. I wonder what Pete has to say.. you cheered me up m8 thanks

I agree 940 is a great choice for eternal EDC ;D

I never had an issue with the omega springs either. The existential crisis on the other hand...

fear of death means you are not truly living

Hi, Pete. There is a song I like to sing myself as we stare out over a Nietzschian Abyss of an uncertain and distressingly indifferent future: "Dust in the Wind...all we are is dust in the wind. Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky...and all your money won't another Benchmade buy. Dust in the wind."

940 killed/cured my knife collecting bug. Got a tray of knives, pick 940 in 99% cases. Love it.

I love the new format of video you have been making! This one has been especially fun. I agree and disagree with some things you have said. The Benchmade 940 is a really good looking knife! I especially appreciate it’s slim carry profile. However I carry a Spyderco Kepara because we Americans think Australian people are cool. I have to tell you that only doctors and scientists and drug dealers and those who paid attention in school over here will even know what a kilo is!

REI sells them and they do a 20% off a couple times a year. Got my 945 bk1 for $164 after tax.

When is Uncle Pete visiting again?

Or...did it carry YOU through an existential crisis?

Dude that dish at the beginning looked delicious!

Just wait till your 40’s! Not that you’re likely to make it that much longer. We’re all doomed.

Definitely the best potato content on you tube.

Mate thanks for posting this, I had to shut down early this week over the same thing. Flat as a pancake, zero energy, why am I here?, what future awaits my children? Ect ect. It's all about family, experiences and relationships in the end isn't it. All the best👍

Pete acting like he’s Australian with those blundstones

The 940-1 has been a great companion I love it and carry it on days I must dress above casual . You will never find me away from home with out a knife of some sort even when in a suit

Zucchini batoning 😂

As someone who's inching ever closer to the wrong side of 40 this video cuts deep... Love my 940 but if I had small hands I'd be all over the 945.

idk much in this improbable and fleeting blink of existence, but i do know the backspacer on my 940 is more purple than pink

You've really embraced the whole micro farm thing Pete and it looks like the 940/945 is a good user for you in that regard.

Thanks for putting on a brave-ish face for your hobby- I mean fans. Inner peace is overrated anyways. Rage against the dying of the light and all that.

I actually liked this lower energy style of video even better. Sorry the world sucks so bad right now but glad we’ve got knives to help us find some pleasure in life. Take care and thank for putting these out - these videos are genuinely appreciated by many people, just like knives themselves. :)

I’ve been using more fixed blades than folders as edc lately, basically doing house/yard tasks. Accompanied by a simple slipjoint or a SAK. i try rotating the folders a bit. But I always end up with the same fixed blade. LT Wright Camp MUK.

Sir- your spreadsheets are a fantastic resource. One ask- please "freeze" the first column and top row so we can scroll and still reference what we're looking at, loving researching steels, bank account isn't loving it.

Not the first guy to have an existential crisis and get his spuds out on the Internet.

Longtime sub from the states here. It amazes me how my thoughts are pretty much spot on to yours, yet we are on opposite sides of this planet. Was re-watching some old school Uncle Randy and Knife/ Axe Police videos a couple weeks ago. Total masterpiece material. Makes the ‘comments’ section below every Wranglerstar video very fun to read. Keep up the good work, your videos always make me smile.

Great video as always. Have you reviewed a fixed blade 'hori hori' gardening trowel/knife. I got my dad one a few years ago and he loves using it his garden.

Will there be more episodes of the "DIY Grief" series? "Man yells at fence" or "farmer waves fist against lawnmower" would be nice.

I love the existential crisis, chicken and garden content in the knife review video. Continue the good work. Also, I often tell people who are sick that they're blessed to be sick in a country with good medical care (vs. a developing country like the one you mentioned). P.S.: expect another crisis in about a decade and a decade later.

That comment about the cost of chicken breasts is interesting. In South Africa we pay about R65-70 (plus minus $4 US) per kg of chicken breast (deboned). Then chicken is pretty expensive in Aus. What do you guys pay for beef? Weird question on a knife video. Just interesting to me.

My crisis was I lost my $40 knife, went all out and replaced it with a $400 benchmade 945. I figure this is kind of like buying an unnecessary motorcycle only on a smaller scale. What's concerning is my 945 is new and I'm already customizing my second one online, fantasizing swapping out parts and starting a collection of 945's. The little knife is so nice that I'm an automatic enthusiast.

I suggest you build a garden produce wash station outside. A potting bench with a garden hose sink…Your wife and the kitchen sink drain will appreciate it.

I have a 945bk-1. Found it on sale when it first came out. The 945 came out later. Love the knife. Feels great in hand and is tiny in the pocket. A great EDC knife. My main complaint is the black Blade. Would have preferred a stonewash finish as the"black" coating has worn unevenly and pisses me off when I look at it. Perhaps I could remove the back finish somehow. Any suggestions or should I consider the uneven black honor marks.

Well... I'm depressed. My Osborne is too small, the world is going to pot, my very way of life/existence is a social construct (which is all fake anyway, according to you), I've wasted decades of my life sitting on my couch flicking knives, and oh, yeah, you caught and ate a chicken right in front of us (why should we believe that you were "kidding"? You can't trust the media anymore...). Overall, a pretty danged awesome exetensial knife review! 🤣👍

If it's not too cost prohibitive and you aren't too attached to the aluminum you should get the BHQ exclusive M4 940 to have a less chippy steel.

Don’t worry Pete, when the vacuum decays, the entire universe will end. Hell, it may have already started and the bubble just hasn’t hit us yet. More good news, it’ll be so instantaneous no one will have time to react!

Bladehq does have a jade G10 CPM M4 940 exclusive on their website for $195.50 USD... I want it and I don't know why. The 940 wasn't a knife that excited me when I owned one.

Greetings from myanmar. Having existential crisis since 2021 military coup, 😅. Well, how do i response to that? By buying shit loads of knives. 😅😅

Hey Pete, how about a machete comparison video? You know, tramontina , marbles and Ontario for example. Do you have any brush worth clearing?

My wife rocks the 945... she loves it (and I do too). It's a great knife.

There is always the option of Mummifcation? Your remains would last thousands of years! ...Possibly longer then the human race will survive on Mother Earth 🌎!

I've got a 940 and love it but it is a 940 Auto so I don't know how that lock compares. I think it's technically a 9400? I got lucky and got mine for Christmas so got it free

"It's all made up and none of it means anything" based pete awesome man 👌🏻 the fiat currency monetary system just reminds me of wolf of Wall Street where he's like its a fugayzi a fugazi who cares It's a whoodilly doo lol

A pocket knife is the correct tool for any crisis.

i've always wondered if you simply just wash your knife after usage for example food prep. do people run their folders under water and dry it off after something like that. and if they do what's the service interval like, after every time it gets wet? after a few times? feel like no one talks about washing a knife, only about disassembly and relube.

Pete, I think you're just subconsciously biased towards the Osbournes because they have a boomerang on them.

I don't get how you have 1.9k views and 312 likes and 80 comments. What are the other 1,500 views from?

Why would you use a 945 for food prep when you're at home and you've got your good kitchen knives to hand? So annoying! I agree that the 940 is the best looking knife though.

Keens Curry Powder? Have you reviewed this yet, perhaps against a Protec Malibu or Spyderco Drunken?

I’m from Tennessee, USA, but we’d be friends if we lived close by each other. I’m 34 and have 3 kids. I did that stare at 1:56 the other day for like 5 mins in a restaurant.

My somewhat related experiences match yours. I've carried the same axis lock (The old style cold steel recon) for 18 years of mistreatment and constant fidgeting-flipping fun; and the springs still work well enough to keep going. I can't imagine the nicer benchmade version could really be any less acceptable.

i refuse to pay what they ask for them, or for any benchmade. spyderco is heading that direction too, if they're not already there.

That looks like a good slow-cooker stew, and I've always wanted a 940ish knife. I'll have to come back to this tomorrow, but only after feeding the algorithm.

Lucky basterd. I haven't even been able to plant yet. It keeps f***ing snowing! 😱🥶

Pete, I have maybe a dumb question. What method do you use to clean your folding knives before and after food prep? Do you just wash it like you would a kitchen knife and add some food-grade oil to the pivot (if anything at all)? Do you disassemble it to make sure it doesn't get nasty stuff growing in the pivot? Thanks for the video. Always a joy to see how things are going at the home/farm.

PS. Just read more Berserk, that will make you feel better.

When will you do the second part of the Spyderco Magnacut cut test? I'm curious how they hold up with a more acute edge.

Plum darn Keeler

I find this much loved Benchmade Knife is one of the uglier blade shapes ever. It looks like a cheap service station Pakistani knife.

FYI: I’ve found the 940cf handle so light it’s blade heavy. The imbalance lead me to often drop the knife...being use to the standard 940 & 943’s. The CF is my least favorite of the 940 series.

'It's the End of the world I have a knife and I feel fine...' (Apologies to R.E.M.)🦉

Great video! You should definitely get the 940 again and maybe do a long term update video once you’ve really experienced the difference that size jump makes

Now I feel like I'm doomed because I don't grow vegetables or have chickens.

What degree bevel did you put on that little beastie? Great video, garden looks amazing!

this really spoke to me in ways I am NOT comfortable with. lovely knife though

940 is one of my favorite designs and in my top 3 of what I would keep if I had to get rid of everything. That said it carries even better with the deep carry clip IMHO.

Them huge zuchs like that r disgusting. Nothing but seeds and mush usually when I let them get that big. Lolz

(Grabs the chicken!) (Cooking chicken 5 seconds later)...

Playing the Chocobo theme over you going into the chicken coup made me cackle out loud lol

I think the 940 is the perfect pocket knife. Ill take the extra cm in the handle and blade. I broke the tip off mine - just a little. It wont break again and its still pretty sharp. Whatever I was doing with it tho I think the last 1cm would have fallen off my PM2... lol.

I always love the intros. Ive been meaning to check out a 945. Seems like it'd fit my city dweller needs of only deploying the knife open over and over. And possibly cutting a package open.

I have the 9400 & I like it. I am not a huge fan of aluminum scales but I'd like the mini 940

I watched this after eating an edible. I’m questioning my choices

You scared your poor chickens 😂😂😂😂