Griptilian

[RugerNurse]

Has anyone had one for awhile? How has it held up? Thinking about picking one up for a hiking knife.

[riclaw]

I've never carried mine. Comfortable in hand but too fat in pocket. Prefer the Presidio. Freek is too expensive.
https://www.pvk.com/Benchmade-Presidio- ... m570-1.htm

[u.w.]

Has anyone had one for awhile? How has it held up? Thinking about picking one up for a hiking knife.

I prefer thumb holes and Spydies, but if you're considering Griptillians, do give a look at the Doug Ritter RSK knives as well. You'll see they have a lot of common ground with the Griptillians, and might even be the better choice for you. Usually see them over on the knifeworks site.

u.w.

[James Y]

I've had my Griptilians since they first came out, way back when the blades were 440C. I think since 2001 or so. Small and large ones with thumbstuds, and small and large ones with the then-oval opening hole. I carried one of them for a few years, with no problems.

Good knives, but as Richard mentioned, comfortable to hold, but quite thick in the pocket. Also, rough on pocket material when clipped, unless Benchmade has made changes to the handle texture at the clip's contact point since then.

Jim

[jwbnyc]

Oh it’s a good knife, had mine for ages, have held up well. Some people have Omega spring failures apparently, but I never have. They aren’t particularly lightweight. I’d be more likely to carry a Salt 2 SE for running around in the woods.

[TomAiello]

I sold my Grips and only use the Doug Ritter variant sold through Knifeworks. I prefer the blade shape of it. I also have had better luck with the Hogue ones (I own three) than the old Benchmade version.

[Doc Dan]

I have a Mini Griptilian. It has held up well, no issues. The handle is too short for my hand. I didn't know this when I bought it as I bought it online. I decided to keep it, but it is around a 3 finger knife for me. So, if you have large hands it is something to think about.

[Makunochimaster]

mini grip stuck with me more, it has a thinner edge

[vivi]

Nice knives with a comfortable handle. The G10 version looks interesting.

Only bad thing I could say about the old thumbstud 440C grip I had, besides preferring the opening hole, was that I had to remove the thumb stud to sharpen at my preferred angle.

Great ergonomics though. I'd like to see more injection molded FRN folders with 3D handles like this and the old Spyderco D'allara.

[mongo1958]

I sold my Grips and only use the Doug Ritter variant sold through Knifeworks. I prefer the blade shape of it. I also have had better luck with the Hogue ones (I own three) than the old Benchmade version.

I have the purple Doug Ritter Hogue. It is a fantastic knife and the able lock is awesome.
RSK MK1-G2- G-Mascus Purple G-10

[Paul Ardbeg]

Have a Griptilian with the Spyderhole. It's ok, not a big fan of how the scales are contoured.

[jwbnyc]

Couple of things I don’t like about the Grips:

1) They place your hand pretty far away from the edge.

2) Detent, or the lack thereof.

The Mini has a more solid feel, with its full-length liners, compared to the partial liners of the full size Grip. The mini snicks in and out. The Grip click clacks in and out. They also seem to fall between sizes. The Mini is quite mini. The Grip is definitely better for big hands.

The Mini wins out all day long if having to choose between the Two.

There are so many Spydercos I’d want to be carrying over the Grips at this point, though.

[riclaw]

The Barrage looks like an assisted Griptillian. Has anyone played with the 580-2? Thoughts on the assist mechanism and/or carry comfort?

[Doc Dan]

One bad thing about the Griptilian is that it is not a good slicer.

[Pokey]

I used to think the full sized Grip was too big of a knife for me for edc, so I bought the Mini’s. Then, I bought a full size Grip and I think I prefer that size now. One of the Mini’s I have has a combo-edge blade. The serrations don’t even come close to a Spyderco with a SpyderEdge.

The Nylon scales on the black Mini’s have a checkered texture and definitely hold on to the edge of your pocket. The tan ones pictured have the golfball dimples and aren’t as rough on the edge of your pocket. The checkering on the natural and the gray G-10 are easy on the edge of the pocket, too.

The desert tan ones are Cabela’s/Bass Pro exclusives with D2 steel. The jade G-10 model is a Sportsman’s Warehouse exclusive with M4 steel.

I’m not very hard on knives so mine have held up well. I’ve never had an Omega Spring break on any of my Benchmades.

[Wartstein]

Had the Mini with the thumb studs and the sabre grind. Did not really like both features (the version with thumb hole and I think hollow grind would remedy those issues).

Also,as someone mentioned already, weak detent despite the Axxis lock should offer some self closing bias and I kept the pivot pretty tight.
Still only folder that came open in my pocket and cut me - twice.

Also twice the Omega springs broke.
(BM sent me replacements for free and the springs were pretty easy to install).

Other than that: Nice and solid little folder, but to me personally no match for for example a Delica.

[Doc Dan]

I was stabbed in the top of my foot when I dropped a Mini on the bed and it bounced off. It opened when it did and stabbed me in the foot on its way to the floor. It wasn't a bad cut, but it wasn't pleasant. Thank you, Gernot, for reminding me about that detent.

[James Y]

I don't trust the axis lock overly much. I've heard several accounts where one or both of the omega springs broke. I own several axis locks, but haven't bought a new one since 2004. I've never had a spring break on any of mine (possibly because I always used my thumb and forefinger to pull both sides of the locking bar back at the same time while unlocking?), but the possibility of a break is always there, moreso than with most other lock types.

I also don't like that the lockbar/blade tang contact area appears very small.

Jim

[GT99]

Have a sheepsfoot Griptilian so it has the spydie hole, its an excellent knife and good thickness for tougher jobs, its pretty lightweight with the grivory scales but feels cheap as the handle has the hollow feel because it is thick, but doesnt feel bad in the pocket because its not a super wide knife just thick, cant recall the weight of it but I swapped the scales for metonboss copper and well its heavy as **** now, like 7.9oz but rock solid. its a great work knife, I have the freek as well which is just like the doug ritter, nice slicey blade and feels great in hand, prefer it to the grip and its also a very solid knife, I usually use that or my Shaman for work, but picked up a k390 endura recently for a work knife and really liking it so far

[Brad737]

My first “modern” pocketknife was a Griptilian. Mine has seen a lot of use. Having it for so long, I’m very attached to it, but now it seems a bit dated. If I had to choose a new one, I’d get the Hogue Ritter RSK in Magnacut. The thing that really strikes me now about my Grip is that the 154CM just doesn’t hold an edge that well. I have to sharpen it pretty often. By comparison, my PM2 in S45VN cuts like a laser beam and hold an edge much longer.