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Reviews > Knives > Folding > Benchmade 530 > Roger Caffin > Initial Report
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Biographical Details
| Reviewer: | Roger Caffin |
| Age: | 60 |
| Gender: | M |
| Weight: | 63 kg (139 lb) |
| Height: | 167 cm (66") |
| Email address: | r dot [surname] at acm dot org |
| Home: | Sydney, Australia |
I started bushwalking (the Australian term) at 14, then took up rock climbing at University with the girl who became my wife and is my walking partner. Later on we took up ski touring and canyoning. Winter and summer, we prefer long hard trips by ourselves: about a week in Australia, up to two months in Europe/UK. We prefer fast and light in unfrequented trackless country. We would be out for at least three months a year. Over the last four years we have reduced our pack weights from 18 - 20 kg (40 - 45 lb) each to about 12 kg (26 lb), including food, for week-long trips. I designed and made much of our lightweight gear myself.
I am also the maintainer of the Australian aus.bushwalking FAQ web site www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/.
Product Information
| Manufacturer | Benchmade | Model | 530 | |||
| Blade Material | 440C stainless steel | Handle Material | Noryl GTX 830 outer, 420J liner | |||
| Blade Style | Spear point | Blade Lock | AXIS | |||
| (quoted) | (measured) | (quoted) | (measured) | |||
| Blade Length | 3.25" (82.5 mm) | 3.22" (81.8 mm) | Blade Thickness | 0.090" (2.29 mm) | 0.090" (2.29 mm) | |
| Weight of knife: | 1.88 oz (53 g) | 1.8 oz (51 g) | MSRP: | US$90 | ||
Product Description
Basically, this is a folding pocket knife of very simple construction: a blade, with a flat cover plate on each side. Most pocket knives have a locking mechanism to keep the blade in position when open (or shut): the one used here appears to be custom to Benchmade (US Patent 6,122,829) and they call it 'AXIS'. The blade can be opened with one hand as there is a little knob at the back of the blade (on both sides) which allows a thumb to push the blade open (see below for pic). This is different from the typical thumbnail groove one finds on many knives. There is also a removable clip on one side which allows it to be attached to a belt or the edge of a pocket.
Benchmade uses a range of steels in the construction of their knives. The 440C used in this knife is described thus: "A high-chromium stainless steel with a terrific balance of good hardness and corrosion resistance. 440C takes a nice edge and is fairly easy to resharpen. An excellent value priced steel for its performance". It has a Rockwell Hardness of 58-60: this is hard, but not as hard as typical tool steel. However, tool steel is usually far more susceptible to fracture. The 420J liner is "a low carbon, high chromium content steel which offers excellent corrosion resistance and finishing qualities. The use of steel in the handle presents a unique "feel" in weight and appearance." It has a similar hardness to the 440C: this is important as it supports the hinge and lock mechanisms. The NORYL GTX used in the handle is described thus: "A modern engineered plastic offering high-strength, minimal flex and optimally lightweight properties. Molded to form."
I am sure some Benchmade enthusiasts might be disappointed by such a brief description, but it is important to emphasise that the knife really is very simple. It is also quite light for its size. In my experience, simple things don't go wrong very often.
Initial Reaction
Over the years I have had many different sorts of knives. I started with a classic very English leather-handle Boy Scout rigid sheath knife. A whole series of fixed and folding blades followed, of various weights, shapes and degrees of quality. Of more recent times I have often gone for the smallest and lightest Swiss Army Knife (SAK). It has sufficed for many of my daily and bushwalking needs. The rest of the time I have used a small box-cutter with a replaceable snap-off blade. That way I can get a sharp edge or point by the simple (and brutal) expedient of breaking off the tip segment. Some of my assessment will inevitably be against my SAK.
I must admit that the design of the 530 did take my fancy when I saw it on the web site. The combination of simplicity and lightness, as far as I could judge from the web site, seemed rather good. I personally liked the spear point design rather more than some of the other tip designs offered - my personal bias. Inspection on arrival verified the mental image I had gained from the web site.
The knife arrived in a rectangular blue box with 'Benchmade' on all sides. The box was accompanied by a User manual, two Benchmade decals and a Benchmade hat clip. I am not sure whether the ordinary buyer would get the decals and the clip. I think the box is blue because the knife is part of their 'blue' series. The series are explained on their web site.
Opening the box showed a miniature stuff sack made of black knitted nylon, nestling inside a foam cutout lining. The name 'Benchmade' was printed on the bag. Inside the stuff sack was the knife, wrapped up in a small plastic bag. There was a note on the knife advising the user that the belt clip was set up for the right-hand pocket, but that it could be changed over to the other side.
So I took the knife out of the plastic bag - and got a shock. It felt rough, especially compared to the really smooth and rounded finish of my SAK. It took a few moments for me to realise that the roughness I was feeling was not the result of a poor finishing process, but a carefully designed (micro-)moulding of the Noryl plastic surface to give a secure grip with wet or slippery hands. Once I got used to that it was fine, but the initial shock was severe. It will be interesting to see whether the roughness tones down over time.
Then I had a look around the knife. It does indeed have a clip on one side to anchor it to a pocket or belt. The clip has rounded corners - no roughness there. It can be moved from one side to the other, but I suspect I may remove it completely. This would reduce
the weight slightly, but my main reason would be because I don't like the feel of the clip when I hold the knife in my hand. There is also a short length of smoothly-finished serration on the top edge beside the AXIS mechanism - where my thumb would rest when I am using the knife. There is a distinct bump at the end of the serration, to further control the position of my thumb it would seem. Both of these are nice safety or ergonomic features.
A close examination of the opening and shutting mechanisms showed that they looked just like the artist drawing on the web site. Benchmade include zero instructions on how to operate the mechanism, but it seems to me that if I can't work that out I shouldn't be handling the knife. Opening the knife is simple: pressure with the thumb on the little knob on the blade made it pivot out until the AXIS mechanism clicked into place. I found this easy to do with either hand. Picture A shows the knob (green arrow) on the back of the blade for opening the knife; picture B shows this being done (with my left hand - easy). Picture C shows how the AXIS locking mechanism (green arrow) has moved to the right into the locking slot (red arrow) when the blade is fully open. Pulling back on the AXIS knob against a small hidden spring allowed the blade to be folded back shut. Picture D shows the AXIS mechanism pulled back (in the direction of the yellow arrow) and the blade closing (it has moved only about 30 degrees here). The end of the locking slot is pointed to by the blue arrow. I normally close a blade by pressing on the back of it with the palm of my free hand: this worked very easily here. First impressions here were very positive: the mechanism is really smooth to operate, in both directions.
The blade has the Benchmade logo on one side and the knife designer's name on the other side. Fair enough; they don't turn me on, but they don't get in the way either.
Assessment, relative to an archetypal SAK
This is not a shootout between the two knives: the numbers and the picture are simply there to illustrate the point that this is a somewhat larger knife than the one I have been carrying for a long time. But it is a very nice knife.
Test Plan
I have three different test environments: day walks, extended walks, and daily use.
On day walks there isn't all that much which needs a serious knife. But I do use a knife on each on for lunch: cutting up buns and cheese and sometimes sausage, spreading butter and jam, and occasionally cutting up fruit. First aid use is very seldom.
On extended walks the same things culinary happen, plus a few others. Sometimes I have to improvise tent pegs out of dead sticks because the little lightweight ones I carry aren't big enough for very soft soil. It helps then to put a point on a stick. Sometimes there are running repairs to my gear to be done - like when the shoulder strap on my pack failed in the middle of the Pyrenees once, or a tent pole broke. The latter was the harder, requiring some cutting of thin metal for the repairs. Sometimes I scrape up a bit of kindling into a fuzz-stick to help light a fire in one of the old cattlemens huts in our alps. Only seldom do I need to use a knife for first aid work, although there have been a few times with cutting surgical tape and removing splinters.
Daily use sees a more varied life for my knives. They tend to get used for all sorts of operations on the materials I use while developing ultra-lightweight gear - including unpicking stitching when I change my mind. This latter can be quite a severe test when trying to delicately separate two layers of tightly-sewn webbing for instance. A really sharp but thin point is needed. They also get used around the garden while installing and maintaining the micro-irrigation system we use.
Things I will be looking at include
