Great review. It is consistent with my experience. I love both of the Ritters RSK. I do carry the mini RSK more. The biggest issue I have is the clip and the G10 being too grippy making it somewhat of a pocket destroyer. Both are great values and as a lefty I love them both.
The old Ritter Griptilians were the best examples ever produced by Benchmade, and this is the same thing but with better materials all around for basically the same price. Still blows my mind that the original got discontinued, but good on Hogue for picking it up.
+1. This. Doug Ritter designed what I would argue was Benchmade's most advanced knife as its geometry was so, so, so superior to other blades Benchmade's had and other blades that other production and mid techs were offering. Hogue really hit the jackpot with making this design and it's great we still have someone producing it because it's such a great design. I am willing to bet the Hogue heat treatment of 20CV is better than Benchmade as BM's 20CV hasn't been very consistent.
@@npaul4171 Look i own a lot of benchmade knives probably around 30 total. I have both of these Hogue ritter knives the mini and the full size. Since they came in I haven't carried 1 of mine benchmade knives No Not 1!! These knives are better in ever way than a regular Benchmade. The able lock is made with stronger springs and etc. I also called about there warranty the other day and they also have a lifetime warranty you just have to pay shipping both ways when you send it in. That's the only difference. I have had 0 issues with mine. Absolutely 💯 Love it.
I love the mini RSK! It pretty much is as perfect a knife as I could want! I also got the regular size for when I want or need something a little beefier.Your initial review is what caused me to look at them. Thanks!
Talk about timing! I just got the full sized version yesterday and absolutely love it. A LOT more solid than the full size griptilian and I just love it. I may pick up the mini as well just so I have a smaller version when I need it. Excellent review as always Nick!
Exceptionally handsome knife...that deserves an exceptionally handsome logotype. It's about time Doug Ritter hires a competent graphic designer with expertise in custom typography.
Very nice to hear a knife reviewer who can correctly pronounce “ambidextrous”. I have never heard of this particular knife. I’m going to look into it. Thanks for the review.
I'm no lawyer but I'm pretty sure a company can't void a warranty over disassembly unless they can prove that is what caused the damage. Car manufactures (and to a lesser extent computer parts manufactures) have suffered many, many lawsuits over this. Buck's warranty is usually noted as the standard for acceptable legally binding warranties, and Benchmade would be the gold standard. It's also probably also why we have seen Hogue, Spyderco, Medford, and a few others change their warranty wording.
you can be the first to sue over a $100 knife, and possibly win on the contract issue but win just $1 in damages. no right without a remedy, as they say.
Had the Doug Ritter Griptilian in S30V and loved it, but for the FRN scales. This Hogue knife improves the design with an open back, G10 scales, and 20V steel. LOVE IT!
That is my favorite version of the griptilian, but highly unlikely to happen. The Ritter grip was a collaboration between Doug Ritter and Mel Pardue who designed the original grip. Doug's input, as far as I know, was only the blade design, so he would have no rights to the sheepsfoot or standard drop point versions. You'd have to get Spyderco to sign off if you want a round hole too. Probably best to get the 20cv g10 sheepsfoot grip if that's what a you want.
@@dm3639 I’m sure Ritter knows someone at Spyderco. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard for him to design a sheepsfoot like blade that falls under his own design as well.
I love the geometry of the Ritter. The Ritter and the Insingo blade shapes are by and far my favorites on production knives. Hogue definitely took this a step up from when it was the Ritter Grip. I had the original 552 and 558 BM Ritter Grips in M2Hs and they were nice knives, but Hogue's quality really blows me away.
I have both the Doug Ritter Hague’s and love them. As an extra they both came with a zipper case which I haven’t gotten in knives costing twice as much. All I can say is Well Done Hogue. Also as a pet peeve of many of the RU-vid testers Hogue made the screws in the grip larger than the usual tiny T6 whose pits twist and strip out so easily also the grip and pivot screws are all the same size
Hey Nick- if your right handed, hold the knife w/ your left hand. Put your right pinky through the frame of your mic. & run the barrel w/ your thumb & pointer. The more you do it- the more comfortable it becomes. Thanks for giving us a look at this one. Ive been on the fence with it, I think I should pull the trigger. 👍
Nick's character seems like the kind of person who would lecture on the theory of relativity. Yet, he reviews knives for a bunch of jackasses like ourselves. We are such a lucky bunch, us. ❤️🍻
These are the knives I really have liked to keep in the collection . Most of them are several to decades of years old designs . I don’t have either one of these yet
I haven't had the mini long enough to say,but I have numerous m390s and 20cvs,and my full size ritter seems to hold it's edge the best.I'll tell you one thing for sure,no production company comes with a factory edge like hogue
I know...I'm late to the game on this one. Just found these the other day as I haven't bought any pocket knives (other than a little Kershaw Chive the other day) For at least 10 years. I just wanted to say I've had a D2 Mini grip 556, all black, frn scales, purchased for (around $100 at the time) at Cabela's, 13 years ago. 13! The pocket clip is now polished , has most of the coating wore off the blade, and has some good wear on the scales. In my younger days, I broke the tip off of it using it as "not a screwdriver" and fixed it up crudely with a Dremel. Used it for a few more years, and actually wanted it to be right again. Sent it back to Benchmade for life sharp, they sharpened my old blade, cleaned/lubed it, replaced ALL the screws and blade washers, and sent it back to me, in new factory packaging! My knife had/has been apart many times for routine maintenance by myself and they had no issues re-profiling the blade and doing everything else for FREE! I also have NEVER had an issue with the springs or lock-up of this blade. It has NEVER failed to solidly lock up for me. I know many complain about the $ or the QC as of lately, (can't speak for the QC in 2021) but, I'll stand by my 13 year old 556 any day.
Great review Nick. Always enjoy. A thought when seeing the 2 together, how cool would it be to see a 3rd knife as slim as the mini with the length of the original! Maybe stock thickness in the middle!
What is the difference in design of a Hogue Doug Ritter Mini-RSK and a Benchmade Mel Pardue Mini-Griptilian 556-1? Same steel, 20-CV, same blade shape, both have G-10 handles, similar shape, length and width, slightly different screw pattern, same locking mechanism, lanyard hole moved slightly, to me they look like the same basic design, I don't get it.
I’m loving mine so far. Great value for what you get and mine was the sharpest out of the box knife I have ever received. That being said, the 20cv on my mini-grip has been handily outperforming the 20cv on my Hogue.
A year after your post, do you have any updates as to how the blade is wearing? I am seeing very mixed reports about Hogue's heat treat on 20cv ranging from "meh" to "OMG best edge retention EVER" depending on the source.
A challenger to the Neutron. The price drop from carbon fiber is a point to the Hogue/Ritter. I could live without the giant table for reversing the clip. It looks suitable for mounting a mini vise. Fine knife and review. 👍
Much respect for Ritter's work with Knife Rights. Much respect for Hogue nailing this design. But I think Benchmade deserves huge props for letting Ritter walk one of their most popular designs over to another shop. I'm not a Benchmade fan generally, but they didn't have to let him do this and deserve much credit for being cool about it. Yes, it's a distinctive blade shape... but imagine if any other non-knifemaker collaboration worked out this way. Imagine if this were a Nutnfancy special edition collab with a weird blade shape in an Endura and he took it to CRKT.
@@aerosaaber it's "Ritter's blade" to the extent that it's a wider blade in profile, thinner grind, and comes standard in S30V. Everything else about the RSK mk1 (g1) is Mel Pardue's Griptillian.
Always hood stuff Nick! I have a Benchmade version with custom scales in 390. Great knife. They stopped making it before I could get the smaller version for more pocket friendly carry. Happy to see Hogue rebooted the design.
Did you contact Hogue directly for the bent edge? Mine rolled over as well doing some menial tasks. I contacted Hogue a while ago but no answer from them.
The clip is actually very easy to bend out a little.Mine had absolutly no qc issues.Except on rare occasions, a three inch blade is to small for my tastes,this,and the protech newport are both such fine pieces, that both are in my rotation
Anyone thinks it's as good quality compared to the m4 super freek? Not in blade steel of course but as in a whole knife. I've seen people hard use a m4 super but would like to know if I could do it to the ritter
Dear Nick, I actually was expecting the hogue deka to be the next in line to be reviewed. I've imported the deka to the Netherlands and I like it a lot and wonder what you think about it. Hopefully you can get your hands on one soon.
Tip for those who find the clip to be a hot spot. Put a Benchmade Bugout clip on it. For my hands it completely eliminated the hot spot. The rough G10 is still and issue when getting it in and out of the pocket. I think that can be fixed with a bit of sanding. But the knife feels perfect in my hand.
Just started watching. I think it’s cool that Kripke was able to pivot away from Big Bang Theory. Also, I hate this backdrop; too busy. I still prefer the mini grip scales, and I’m not sure how I feel about Hogue as a knife maker, but I missed out on the Benchmade flavor, so maybe I’ll give one a whirl at some point.
Nick, I have a request. I have a knife I would like you to order and review. You will be blown away, I guarantee it. Two Sun...yes I said Two Sun. TS107-S90V
TwoSun is definitely on my radar, I'm just waiting for them to have better distribution and repair and that sort of thing here in the US. Right now, they're doing some good stuff, but feel very 'fly by night' still.
I like the shape, the ergonomics would be nice, and a lefty usable knife would be wonderful, but the handles textures and colouring on those knives are ugly and looks like a desiccated corpse. Can't we just have some nicer looking scales?
Yes it does,but personally,I prefer the 20cv over m4,because of the higher corrosion resistance,maybe m4 is tougher,but I don't plan on stabbing cinder blocks anytime in the near future
Take one drink when Nick says “it’s a good thing” Take another drink when he says “it’s a beautiful thing.” 5 minutes in and you’ll be passed out drunk.
Deep carry clips on most knives introduce that same hotspot for me. That's why I'm so confused about the almost unanimous adoration for them. Also, they're comparably more difficult to get out of the pocket. Deep carry clips are a nuisance and they need to be stopped🚫
