I've always felt that Eric and Sal are knife people first, businessmen second. They are genuinely passionate doing what they do. Not the case I get from benchmade unfortunately...
Watched an interview with Eric G not long ago, and he was so over the moon enthusiastic with some small small dinky detail on a new knife, that it revealed him as a Nerd of Nerds :) Cudos. Wish more people selling things cared about their stuff like Eric seems to do. As a customer, it makes me want to return.
US soldier here, also work in Law Enforcement. I love Benchmade knives. I cant speak for Spyderco, but I went through several different knife brands while deployed. Some just fell apart, others lost their edge so damn fast, some knives just didn't have small features I need. I bought a benchmade, which was expensive, but it flipped out easy, had a window breaker, and a seat belt cutter. All of which were heavily tested in my hands. Edge held for a long ass time and I have never had an issue with its functionality. I actually bought a second one of a different type. Not as heavily tested, but has still been an awesome knife. I don't know why she seems to hate benchmade knifes because bail out or not, they have a damn good product. I don't know what line of work could possibly test a knife better than mine. I'll always buy benchmade.
Enjoyed the video. I haven't seen you in my feed for awhile and just stumbled on this video. I see YT unsubscribed me from your channel(?) and that's why I wasn't seeing them. I re-subbed 👍🙂
I am in the same boat - I love Spyderco. But in fairness, their pricing has crept up significantly as well, especially on the Golden Colorado knives. And especially the Shaman - good lord.
Quality been dropping for years... and the pricing structure... I mean c'mon Benchmade, get your head out of your ass. The Narrows hit for $522.00 and that was it for me. LAUGHABLE! DONE with Benchmade. The competition is kicking Benchmades ass and they don't get it.
Great video with great points being made. I own and enjoy both benchmade and spyderco. But my m4 940 definitely gets the most pocket time out of all of my knives
Sorry I haven’t watched this one yet, but I watched one recently where you spoke about someone doing a regrind on your spyderco, and I was wondering what does something like that cost? And does your guy do that for anyone? If so do you have his contact info? Thanks
Contact BGM knives. He does them for $60 a knife and gets them back to you in a week or so. Turned my kapara and a para3 into an absolute laser beam. He really does great work and no wait time usually. I think neeves has a video with some of his re grinds
@nickallen8333 I have a regrind too man. It does cut better, but the stock 940 performs just fine for me. It does what i need it to, just not as effortlessly. The blade is super durable as it comes though. Same reason scandi grind knives have always appealed to me, there's a lot of meat left on the blade making them more robust cutting tools
@@wis1024 yea it’s not terrible or anything but coming from spydercos I really learned to love the FFG and tall taper. There is something to be said for how robust it is though. I’ve always looked at the spyderco smock as being a similar to the 940.
@@nickallen8333 I hear that, like the og spydercos with their saber grinds. Theres pros and cons both ways, but I find i prefer a blade thats a little stouter behind the edge if im using it for everything and anything. If its mostly just food, the thinner the better. My kitchen knives are so thin if i tried to whittle a dry stick with one the edge would almost certainly break out. I also think of it like, if its too thick i can probably thin it out at some point easy enough. You cant put steel back on the initial bevel if you decide its not durable enough.
Dollar for dollar Spyderco has it going on. I have many Benchmades and Spydercos, the Spyderco is what I find occupying my pocket 99% of the time, PM3 in S45VN to be specific. In my opinion, it's the perfect pocket knife.
Just as a side note, I took a break from a lot of knife channels, needed to lay low so I don't end up with a knife habit. But getting back here seeing that you answer essentially every single comment, reminded me why I subscribed in the first place. Thanks Erica! P.S. Wondering if you ever considered the Chris Reeve Backpacker (4" MagnaCut, hollow grind, 63-64 HRC, fixie, full tang, $300) Would love to hear your thoughts about it!
@@ericasedc lol my thoughts exactly about the cost. Maybe I will sell a few baddies for it 😂 Would definitely pick it up before ever buying a Benchmade Immunity for almost $300…
spyderco are usually cheaper and better made than the benchmade. The only thing that BM had going for it was its axis lock, which is probably one of the most fun and easily accessible locks ever. For Fidgetting BM, but overall I prefer sypderco
I'm a Chef. I don't use edc knives for work, I would say I am a collector mostly. I have the benchmade big 5(bugout, osborne, grip, freek, adamas). I have almost every model spyderco. I just feel the hand feel, variety, company concept and ideals are more real than Benchmade. Benchmade to me seems they made great stuff in the past for the rescue/military professional, and used its goodwill to become a marketing company. Its just very cheaply made overpriced 'tools'. I get caught in the hype sometimes but I have buyers remorse always with benchmade. Every spyderco purchase usually gives me satisfaction and that excitement to slice up some shit. Also, I just love looking at the assortment and variety of my spyderco collection.
I’d like to see the 3” Native5 with a compression lock. I like the sleeker, more pocket friendly lines of the Native family over the Paramilitary family. But I think the compression lock is way nicer than a lockback.
You have a great channel! I mainly do Multitools and just got into knives. I started off with spyderco para 3 in s45vn and than ventured to benchmade 940. Love them all.
Spyderco is the glock of gun world. Not flashy but nothing better functionally. Once you use a spyderco, your standards change. They get the most performace out of a steel. They can take cheaper steel like 8mov or vg10 and make it perform twice the quality of anyone elses steel using ergos, geometry, profiles and heat treat.
Spyderco's VG10 is a terrific EDC steel and it puzzles me when I see so many knife reviewers talk down about it, like suggesting it's an insult Spyderco hasn't moved on from it by now.
Just got a Spyderco Stovepipe during this last black friday sale for $299 and it such a piece of art. Spyderco has something for everyone. Ultimate value hard use cutting tools all the way to the borderline ridiculous artistic expression pieces. If its got a fat tick on the blade, you did pretty good.
Bench who??? Spyderco's K390 is sooooo good, I almost can't believe how long it cuts between sharpening. Erica, get a K390 Leaf jumper if you can, it's kind of awesome, you would love it.
Wouldn't this make sense: if the "crossbar lock" patent is up, shouldn't the Tri-ad lock's patent be getting close? If so, i think spyderco would be crazy to not implement it on every lock back..
I personally feel that the Spyderco Manix 2 is hands down the best quality knife for the money. I got mine over two years ago and haven’t regretted it for a second. Great video!!!
I like the idea but I tried one in a store that was incredibly hard to actuate the lock. I’ve read other comments to the same. I’m not sure why some Manix samples are fine and others take severe force to actuate. It’s kept me away from the Manix.
How did I miss this video! Have owned plenty of both but sold off all my spyderco except one. My all day everyday carry at work is the 940. Im a lefty and i love the axis lock for that.
I love my Bugout and Bugout Mini. Prices have gone up. The issue I had with Spyderco is that they were hard to open. 2 delicas and a dragonfly salt returned. The spidey holes on the Delica 4s were Sharp. Most of my friends have Spyderco and love them. What Spyderco is heat treated and good steel?
If you are having big issues with the inside of the spyder hole being uncomfortable, you can use a ceramic rod (or even the corner of a bench stone) to knock down the edge a bit. As far as the action being stiff, a squirt of WD-40 and some time to break in should help you change your mind.
I’ve had my spyderco PM2 for almost a decade and it served me well. I decided it was time to treat myself to something new and I ordered a benchmade 940. It was a cool knife that felt good in the hand, but just didn’t it for me like I was hoping. I ended up losing it in the ocean in Florida last week, which was a bummer. BUT I became admittedly excited because I now had the chance to go back to spyderco, ordered a manix 2. I absolutely love it I carried a fixed benchmade in Afghanistan and it was a beast. But when it comes to EDC’s, I pick spyderco.
Great Video!! I’ve always been benchmade because of the aesthetics but their pricing is fucken ridiculous now. Never really cared for the looks of the spyderco however since watching your video I’ll give them another look. In your opinion what spyderco model is the best bang for your buck? (p.s also never been a fan of the twat knot but each to their own 😂)
@@ericasedc well clever way of putting it, ad i know that's not your thing. but... i still don't understand why there isn't more. not a mean of that you want more.
I love both! My first knife was a benchmade but some of their prices make me sad. I’ll be supporting Spyderco more but I will get the new blue and fde benchmade bailout later this year I think
Thank you for stating what I have been thinking. I bought benchmade Osborne for 260 bucks and the tip bevel was wider on 1 side. And for that price on a mid premium knife this should be bevel perfect. Great content!
I put them on par with each other. Idk what's up with BM as of late. They went from taticool stuff with the Rift, Contego, and SOCP to meadow field colored box cutters. Spyderco does do good heat treats, but still hasn't figured out how to make handles that aren't just frn or blocky slabs of g10 without it costing an arm and a leg either though. I've really liked the Hogue RSK and Deka though, hope they continue to do cool stuff.
I recently purchased a Native 5 Salt in LC200N a Endela in cruwear a Manix 2 LW in M4 and a Stretch 2 in K390 These ranged in price from $118-$150. I just don’t see Benchmade offering anything as good as these in that price range
I too was a benchmade fanboy until I bought the spyderco paramilitary 2 in s45vn also got the para 3 in 20cv all feel of better built and hold edge longer than all benchmades I have, now all benchmades feel cheaper in which I have the mini grip in 154cm with broken springs, super freek in m4, grip in s30, bugout in g10 in 20cv, and the north fork in s30v prices keep going up and up to the point where I’m looking elsewhere I think most benchmade models have went up $50 or more in the past couple of years
It’s been interesting to watch their custom shop shrink in the number of models you can choose from along with options for the build… and that latest release that costs more than a Sebenza?!?
Well said - 💯 on BM - spydy is badass luv the steel iterations - but hate the .......same models over n over but diff steel or scales etc and both 15+% increase every year- damn delica or bugout 200+
Back in the day everyone complained about the omega springs and they scared me off. It's been quiet for a while so I got the Mini Crooked River from the custom shop in s90v just because it's beautiful but I can't say I'm a fan of the action. It feels like opening an old screen door.
I was late to this but I choose Spyderco. I’m a daily knife user and want the most useful knife. Benchmade has always seemed more trendy and showy and a little overpriced. I never had buyer’s remorse from Spyderco. Best steels. Best designs. Best function.
Outside of the performance differences, the point that I agree with you on the most is about Spyderco listening to the customers. Benchmade acts like they're bestowing these designs upon us from their Ivory Tower, and we should be happy to pay whatever they decide to charge. Spyderco, meanwhile, actively participates in the community and responds to what we say, and when they come out with sprint runs and exclusives they aren't massively inflated in price because of the different steel. If nothing else that's reason enough to support Spyderco over Benchmade.
I have had a bad experience with benchmades customer service and it's not right to treat people like that after paying 2 hundred + dollar for their products
I like both companies for different reasons. And I've never understood why the knife community always wants to pit these two companies against each other. They each have their strengths and weaknesses.
Agree completely, here is an example Benchmade Narrows $522, that's more expensive than a large Sebenza, or many many custom knives. The price is actually shocking.
I think my mini bugout looks amazing. But I recently I fell in love with the spyderco chaparral. Not owning one, yet. But saving my penny's. Also the delica 4 gets more and more attractive to me. Got my benchmade mini Osborne for sale, and no new benchmade got my heart bead go up. Well, maybe the weekender. But the money those costs, I say a big Nono!
WOW,...really AWESOME review!!! I could not agree more!! I own the Manix 2XL,...Spiderco Dragonfly with Emmerson Wave and lastly the Para 3 with dark blue FRN. and I love ALL three. Best knife shootout between the two brand's to date imo. Kudos on a killer review!!! 💙 .
Started with Benchmade...a couple of bugouts and modded them...loved them...got a bailout and loved it...then I got a Manix 2....sharp as $h*t right out of the box! Still love the Benchmades I have, but the Manix impressed me so much I decided to add a PM2 in s45vn... Spyderco just has a great user feel...thought they were ugly at first but once I started handling them I got why they're so popular
The blade steel in question was S30V, when it was first introduced it was being heat treated in a way that was causing chips in the edge, not sure if that was specific to Benchmade, but it was corrected and I haven't heard of this being an issue anymore. Spyderco has always been an excellent company in researching the best heat treatment and applying it. I just bought a Bug Out for my wife in the new limited edition pink handle forget the name. Pricing for both of these brands have been going up.
@@ericasedc yeah! The guy at the counter told me there's this awesome new steal and you can get it for a great price on this... and he grabbed a native in hollow ground. It looked mall ninja-esk! I heard Nutnpanties talk about it and I saw you couldn't take it apart... It was riveted which Nutn said was how they gave you a better value. I was between a riveted dragonfly, flat ground and that. I couldn't afford either but I got that. In the same week I came back for the other. It was all Romen for the next two weeks.
@@ericasedc I thought I watched Nutn when he first started, but I didn't. I didn't have a computer for some years, but I got one from work in 2010. [That's why I call myself late cuz Nutn started in 2006]. Anyways I got that knife [I'm fairly sure] in October of 2010 because of Nutn and luck. Why? Do you not believe my year is correct or are you surprised? Or are you engaging me in the usual abusive banter?
I have about 100 from each brand, and I'm kind of over both for the most part. I've bought a few from each in the last few years here & there, but consider both companies to be getting overpriced. Spyderco has raised their prices every year like clockwork so emphasizing Benchmade doing it seems a bit one sided. I do have to give Spyderco credit for being the leader in steel choices as no other company has anywhere near as many as they do.
Haven't even watched the video yet as I'm still working but had to throw my hat in the ring for Spyderco lol I dislike 90% of Benchmade's current catalogue
Bugout all day. Literally. In my pocket, right next to my softball-size wallet, because I refuse to wear a fanny-pack. The Bugout disappears in the pocket. While Benchmade has more time in pocket, I buy many more Spyderco knives, probably by a 5-to-1 ratio. The Delica melts so naturally into my left-hand grip without any change to the clip. The Para 3 LW hits a sweet spot in cost, usability, and carryability for me, and I love the variations in steel. I am less of a fan of other Sypderco models. Most need two hands to safely deploy and to close. I know that shouldn't bug me as much as it should. I appreciate your take on Spyderco's ultimate focus on their products as proper tools. Btw, for a drop that you say is more audio-oriented, the video quality is excellent. Smoother framerate, it seems. New camera?
My first time using a benchmade was cutting some fruit. While rinsing the griptillian blade in the sink, some water got in the handle and the lockbar seized up. Gave it away and have never used a benchmade since. I have since purchased and enjoyed over 20 spydercos.
Great review! I won't be investing in a Benchmade. Even used, they are so out of my reach. Absolutely love all my Spydercos. Some are eye candy and one is totally beat up.
Be careful about who you call "actual users". Benchmade makes some stellar hunting knifes, I would not call these customers hippies. I'd say the everyday storage job user who cuts mainly boxes up is the lesser user than the hunter. Benchmade have Magnacut, Cruwear, S90V and M4 and it is ALL CPM steels. Also, Spyderco have many people with issues with heat treat all over the forums.
About 15 years ago when I was becoming an adult, the first "nice knife" I bought was a Mini Grip because that's what everyone recommended. I never really liked it that much, but I carried it a lot because, well, I spent a lot of money on it! I used to hate Spydercos, thought they were ugly and trashy, and I even made fun of my old roommate relentlessly for buying a Delica. And yet at some point I got a Para 3 on a great second-hand deal, figured why the heck not give it a try, and I haven't looked back. I now have way too many Spydercos lol. IMO between them and Benchmade there just isn't even a comparison. I still have that Mini Grip but I never use it because I don't like it, and I haven't been inspired to buy any other Benchmade since.
Years ago I used to be big on Benchmade, but switched to Spyderco for more choices and lower prices. As you said Benchmade had it's problems. Today I keep my favorites but fell down the traditional rabbit hole. They put the fun back in knives and for a reasonable price!
I have always cut BM a ton of slack in regards to the butterfly tax because they are producing a larger percentage of their knives in the states and arent making the profit margins that spyderco is on their imports. However, the price on the Narrows model really rubs me the wrong way.
Very interesting video Erica! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and opinions on this.. I have 1 Spyderco and 1 Benchmade.. I like them both, I'll have to think about which I like better.. And, gee, I wish I had enough hair to have a man bun.. 😀 .... humus is ok..
Erica you cheeky goober😜. I’m with in total agreement with you about Spyderco. I will say some of there models are cheaper because they are made overseas like the K390 Delica you showed. Even still I suspect if it was made in Golden, Co it would be the same price as a Bugout and therefore still be better. If you listen or watch videos with the Glessers they constantly talk about Knife performance. That is their number one goal.
Such an EXCELLENT video!!! I love the jokes 🤣Spyderco is awesome I have a few knives from both brands but I agree with your points on why Spyderco takes the lead!!
My take on benchmade is there are a few models that i like but the majority of their knives are just overpriced junk spyderco what can i say their S30V probably blows most knife companies M390 out of the water thats how good their heat treat is thank you😊
I’m also commenting before watching, I choose Spyderco simply because I honestly believe Benchmade isn’t the same company it once was, they are overpriced for the materials being used…, when I found out how much they were asking for the “Narrows” that is when I lost all respect for Benchmade…💯😤
After this video I don’t have any hummus in my fridge and cut my manbun with my newly acquired spyderco. And say hi to my mom when you visit her haha . All joke aside this video is awesome.
The Benchmade redoubt is my personal favorite BM model. I picked one up second hand for $130 practically new and is completely worth it at THAT price. AWT scales make all the difference and has been my favorite work knife. I just ordered my first Para 3 because my PM2 was never in my favor for its ginormous handle. Para 3 fits my hand best, and I will see if it overtakes my preferred work knife.
I made my decision between these two years ago and it has nothing to do with the knives. This may not be the political favor of some people but benchmade has been a part of many gun by back programs to destroy firearms soon as I found that out they lost any of my business and while I'm not the guy with five or 600 knives I do have a couple hundred quality knives I've purchased over the years. Any Benchmade that I used to own have been traded off for either customs or other brands of knives such as Kaiser and we and a couple other brands that still back the second amendment community
