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Reviews > Knives > Folding > Benchmade 580 Barrage > Test Report by Jerry Goller
BENCHMADE
580 BARRAGE KNIFE
INITIAL REPORT - September 10, 2009
TESTER INFORMATION
I started camping with my father at age 6 or so. I’ve backpacked and truck camped, off and on, all of my life. Even in the Marine Corps, I was in the Infantry. I consider myself a light weight backpacker with an average dry pack weight of 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 to 7 kg), depending on the season and terrain. I backpack year round. Most of my trips are 2 to 5 days long and in Utah. I also, from time to time, take much longer trips lasting one to two months or more. These trips are usually on the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer:
Benchmade INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
My first impression of this knife was that it was larger and heavier than I expected. My second impression was that it is a high quality, very well made instrument. The fit and finish is excellent. Every part is well made of quality materials and fits perfectly. It feels good in my hand and inspired confidence in its quality. I can't think of a proper use for a knife of this type that the Benchmade Barrage wouldn't do with ease. The blade came from the factory with a keen edge and required no further sharpening. The Barrage uses the Axis Assist system for one handed blade opening. The blade has thumb lugs on each side of the blade for ambidextrous opening. I found these lugs work equally well left or right handed, with the blade pointing forward or reversed. Once the blade is moved past a certain point by thumb or finger pressure a coil spring completes the opening of the blade. The image above shows the blade at a point just before the Axis Assist takes over. Blade opening is accompanied by a very satisfying snap and the blade locks fully open. Once opened, the blade can only be closed by sliding either of the blade release studs, located on each side of the handle, to the rear. These studs are spring loaded and automatically return to their "normal" position once finger pressure is removed. As an added safety feature, the knife also has a blade lock tab located on the spine of the handle. This tab can lock the blade in either the open or closed position. To lock the blade the tab is moved forward. To unlock the blade the tab is moved toward the rear of the knife. This is made easier by way of deep groves machined in the top of the tab. The knife also has a removable belt clip which can be mounted on either side of the knife handle. As is to be expected in a knife of this quality, the Benchmade Barrage includes a warranty against defects in materials and workmanship with no time limit that I could find. This warranty is extended to the original owner only. The knife also includes a cloth carrying bag. As the knife will spend its life in my pocket, I have no idea what I would use this for. READING THE INSTRUCTIONS
This will be a short
section as the knife seems to have no included instructions. If it does
I couldn't find them. There is an explanation of how the various
Benchmade model's blade mechanisms work but I found that quite by
accident long after I'd been using the knife. It was in, of all places,
the product catalogue that Benchmade sent along with the knife. TRYING IT OUT
As I said at the
beginning of this report, my first reaction to this knife was that it
is big and bulky. It seemed unlikely that I, as a light weight
backpacker, would ever carry this knife in the field. SUMMARY
All in all, I'm very
happy with this knife. As with every one handed opening knife I've used
personally, there was a learning curve on how to easily and gracefully
open the blade. That is to be expected. But the curve was much shorter
than other one hand opening knives I've owned. Part of this is due to
this being the first spring assisted knife I've owned but it is also
due to the great design of this knife. FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
I made two overnight
pack trips during the testing period. The first was to the Uinta
Mountains of northern Utah and the other was to the Wasatch Mountains
of northern Utah. Both trips had clear weather with daytime temps in
the upper 70s F (40 C). The night time temps were in the lower 40s F (5
C) in the Uinta Mountains and the upper 40s (5 C) in the Wasatch
Mountains. PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
SUMMARY
The Benchmade
Barrage has exceeded my expectations. I have been pleasantly surprised
by how easy to use and carry this knife is. As Benchmade is a top
brand, I'm not particularly surprised by the quality of the knife. It
is what I expected. The blade is quite hard and holds a keen edge.
Because of that it requires a decent sharpening system just as any high
quality knife does. LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
On the
first trip I used the knife for general camp chores such as opening
meal packs and also did some whittling. The second trip involved
essentially the same thing. The Barrage easily performed the
tasks as I expected. SUMMARY
The Benchmade Barrage has been a surprise for me. Although I was really impressed with the quality of the workmanship and design of the knife, I really didn’t expect a knife of this size to find its way into my backpacking kit. I honestly doubted I’d even be willing to carry a knife this large for everyday use. But it performs so flawlessly and feels so…”right” in my hand I just can’t walk off without it, morning or trail. I continue to love the snick and snap when it opens. Never a miss, it always opens quickly and easily no matter how awkward a position I’m in. I don’t even notice the size anymore. I actually think it is easier to use and takes up less room in my pocket than the one hand open knife it replaced. That is because of the belt clip. I clip it inside my right pocket so as to not chance having it come off my belt. It stays secure that way yet always handy. CONTINUED USE I expect to use this knife for a long time. I just can’t imagine not having it in my pocket, ready for whatever comes along.
This concludes my report on the Benchmade Barrage folding knife. This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1.5 Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.Read more reviews of Benchmade gear Read more gear reviews by Jerry Goller Reviews > Knives > Folding > Benchmade 580 Barrage > Test Report by Jerry Goller |