Benchmade Bailout - your thoughts?

[The Meat man]

Hi everyone,

This new knife from Benchmade caught my eye the other day:



3.38 inch blade, 0.09" stock, CPM 3V steel. Sounds like a very interesting model. Normally I don't like tantos but this actually doesn't look too bad.
Anyone here have any experience or thoughts on this knife?

Thanks! :)

[Naperville]

I considered it. It looks very good with a quick look at the general specs but it is not well thought out.

I'm not a fan of Blade Forums but the complaints abt the low HRC steel is correct, and/or Nick Shabazz but he also hit the nail on the head too. I'll pass on this knife because it's half baked.

If it's supposed to be a hard use knife. Nonetheless it still could be around 60HRC, and it could use liners.

[Daveho]

Looks sweet!
Only issue i have is that having owned americanised tanto shaped blades is that they just aren’t quite as useful as something like la drop point or a more traditional Japanese shape.

[The Meat man]

I considered it. It looks very good with a quick look at the general specs but it is not well thought out.

I'm not a fan of Blade Forums but the complaints abt the low HRC steel is correct, and/or Nick Shabazz but he also hit the nail on the head too. I'll pass on this knife because it's half baked.

If it's supposed to be a hard use knife. Nonetheless it still could be around 60HRC, and it could use liners.

I don't often go over to Blade forums, and I haven't seen any YouTube reviews on it (I plan to later on though.) If I may ask, what is the HRC complaint, and what doesn't Mr Shabazz like about it?

[The Meat man]

Looks sweet!
Only issue i have is that having owned americanised tanto shaped blades is that they just aren’t quite as useful as something like la drop point or a more traditional Japanese shape.

Yeah I would much prefer a straight curve to the blade. It always seemed to me that tantos offered nothing but more complicated sharpening, but perhaps I'm missing something.

Anyway, it is a nice looking knife; similar, I believe, to the design philosophy of the Bugout, which seems to be very popular.

[bearfacedkiller]

3V at 56HRC

[The Meat man]

3V at 56HRC

Is that really what they're running at?

I'm no metallurgist, but that does seem pretty low. What would be the optimal 3V HRC?

[bearfacedkiller]

I think most say that 60 is optimal. I think Bark River who uses it a lot tries to run it at 59-60.

I have read that Cold Steel’s 3V has tested at about 61.

[The Meat man]

Interesting. Thanks for the info BFK!

[TkoK83Spy]

It caught my eye last month when KnifeCenter had it on their main page. Looked like a pretty good price for a knife comparable to the very popular Bugout, but with a better steel. Then as mentioned, I heard rumblings about the low HRC..which probably wouldn't factor in too much with my typical daily use, but was definitely expecting something higher and felt like it was a bit false advertised. I still don't think it's a bad deal, was just looking forward to something that was the 3V I was expecting, especially in that price range, initially got me a bit excited. So many other options now, it's fallen off my radar.

[Naperville]

Throw liners on it, and make it stout. Up the hardness to 60 to 61, and I'll buy one. Otherwise, I have sooooooooo many knives that I'm looking at, that that knife isn't even on my radar.

[knivesandbooks]

It was verified by Benchmade that they ran it that low intentionally. Could have just used a different steel if they weren't going to ht it right.

[TomAiello]

I guess the idea of the low HRC was to emphasize toughness?

Sounds like something to try on a fixed blade--not a lightweight folder.

[Naperville]

It's a marketing gimmick.

[soc_monki]

Saw a video of a guy testing the toughness... The handle broke. No need to use a steel known for its toughness if the handle is just going to snap on you.

Benchmade knives haven't ever appealed to me anyway.

[The Meat man]

Saw a video of a guy testing the toughness... The handle broke. No need to use a steel known for its toughness if the handle is just going to snap on you.

Benchmade knives haven't ever appealed to me anyway.

What was he doing with it?

[Accutron]

What was he doing with it?

Supersteel Steve did a lateral prying tip test into what looked like pine. I think he had the blade about a half inch into the wood. The handle broke at the forward edge of the diamond milling in the scales, and the blade picked up a permanent bend. The same test broke the tip off a Strider SNG in PSF-27. An Emerson survived the test.

[soc_monki]

What accutron said! I personally think that is abuse and wouldn't subject my knives to that, but I guess it's a valid test of a "hard use" folder? Either way, it broke in spectacular fashion, and was quite fun to watch if I may say so!

[The Meat man]

What was he doing with it?

Supersteel Steve did a lateral prying tip test into what looked like pine. I think he had the blade about a half inch into the wood. The handle broke at the forward edge of the diamond milling in the scales, and the blade picked up a permanent bend. The same test broke the tip off a Strider SNG in PSF-27. An Emerson survived the test.

I wouldn't really expect it to pass a test like that. It's a very lightweight knife with relatively thin blade stock. Going by the manufacturer's specs, I would consider it more a medium duty EDC knife rather than a knife to abuse, despite Benchmade's marketing.

Still, this is good information to know. Thanks for sharing it! I'll definitely be doing some more research before (if ever) buying one.

[Naperville]

I may buy one to destroy. Everyone is getting in on this!!!

https://youtu.be/u5GlxcIFs-g?t=2046