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Owner Review: Benchmade 556 Mini-Griptilian Folding Knife
October 11, 2005
Personal biographical information
Name: Catherine Kerry
Age: 41
Female
Height: 5'5" (165 cm)
Weight: 140 lbs (64 kg)
Email: a4naught (at) linkline dot com
Orange County, CA, USA
Backpacking background: Sporadic handful of backpacking trips for the last 15 years, day hiking mostly, with car camping about two weeks a year. I recently decided I’d have to go solo to do any more backpacking. Went on my first three solo overnighters last year. Looking to get out more and longer in the area: Angeles National Forest (NF), San Bernardino NF, primarily. Mild to crossover weather. Don’t like to suffer much or hurry but have tender, hard-to-fit, thin feet. All bugs love me and drive me insane, so I must tent. Last pack was 23 lbs (10 kg) without food or water. Usually must pack water, so trying to go lighter for my feet’s sake.
Product information
Manufacturer: Benchmade
Year of purchase: 2003
URL: http://www.benchmade.com
Listed weight: 2.56 oz (73 g)
Weight as delivered: 2.5 oz (71 g)
Length: 2.91" (74 mm)
Blade Thickness: 0.100" (2.54 mm)
Blade Material: 440C
Blade Hardness: 58-60HRC
Blade Style: Modified Drop-Point
Lock Mechanism: AXIS™
Overall Length: 6.78" (172 mm)
Closed Length: 3.87" (98 mm)
Field information
This little knife has gone with me on trail runs, dayhikes, several car camps and a couple of overnight backpacking solo trips. I’ve used it to cut cordage, bagels and packaging, modify webbing, spread peanut butter and threaten invisible menaces (for practice). It has accompanied me from the beach to rock climbing to 9,000' (3,000 m) in the local mountains, everything from flat and rolling to rocky sierras. The weather has been mostly mild and sunny with only a single instance of drizzle when it was used to hastily cut nylon rope for a tarp. It ceased raining immediately upon completion, of course.
A friend told me that Benchmade was a maker of high quality knives. I was looking for an all-around folding blade that I could use backpacking, hiking and maybe even climbing that would be light and sturdy, fit my hand well, tie or clip to my body or pack and also, in a pinch, be used to ward off any stray mountain lions or, more likely, stray Lions Club members. I researched several brands and makes of knife looking for such a blade. The Mini-Griptilian was one of the very few made in the U.S. When I am able to pay more for a quality, durable item, and I can find it (big caveat), I prefer to go with a U.S. manufacturer, on principle. This little knife fit the bill. And it came in cool, easy to spot colors. I decided on the bright purple, modified drop point, plain edge version. A slow convex-curved drop in the point characterizes a drop-point blade. The drop-point format lowers the point for control but adds strength to the point. Usually coupled with plenty of belly for slicing, this format is often used for hunting knives. It is also a fantastic all-around format. Unfortunately the purple version can no longer be had from the manufacturer, but might still be available from a distributor. It still comes in a fairly wide variety of other colors, and edges, however.
This is indeed a sharp (in every sense), quality knife. The overall knife presents a slim, sturdy and flawlessly assembled and fitted appearance. All of the tiny torx screws holding it together are counter sunk into the handle for a more streamline feel and appearance. The Zytel handle feels sturdy and is checkered on the center section of the body. It provides an excellent grip without being bulky or too diminutive. The knife design is entirely ambidextrous, with the removable clip (for wearing on a belt or waistband, for example) usable on either side, and thumb studs (for one-handed opening and closing) on both sides of the blade. The company’s Axis locking mechanism is not only incredibly smooth but definitive in its action and inspires confidence when opening and closing the knife. No bending one’s thumb nail trying to pry open the blade! In addition, when in the open position, there are rounded metal teeth built into the blade end of the handle assembly that provide an extra non-slip grip for thumb and forefinger, a very functional touch.
For comparison to the above dimensions of the knife, my palm circumference is 7.25" (184 mm) as measured from the crux of my thumb across. The Mini-Griptilian fits perfectly in my palm and I don’t have to modify my grip in the sort of delicate fashion that one must with things like the micro-sized mini tools. It opens incredibly easily one-handed, from either side, due to the two-sided thumb studs. It just takes very little practice with the manual dexterity part even if one is not used to opening knives one-handed. I found the action particularly satisfying, as I had never before had a knife that I could even consider opening one-handed. The knife end is a good all-around length. At just under 3” (74 mm), it conveniently cuts pretty much anything I want. Obviously, with a bagel, I can’t span the entire width of the thing without cutting into one side and rotating as I go, but then again, who wants to carry a long serrated bread cutter onto the trail? It is the perfect size for things like slicing apples, both in the blade and in the handling. And it whittles a mean and sharp marshmallow stick with ease. It also cuts hard to medium cheeses well. When using any really sharp knife to spread things, however, if the spread is in a plastic container, I am careful to not cut or scrape the plastic with the knife edge when scooping around the edge of the container. Otherwise, I’m liable to get a little extra plastic roughage in my diet. That can be a little trying, as the blade really does want to catch every edge. Again, who wants to haul a dull butter knife? It definitely spreads items like a very sharp knife, which is to say that I have to be more careful with it, as it is made to cut, not spread. However, I mostly like to use a squeeze container for spreadables anyway, when possible. And of course, I always have to be careful to mind the sharpness when cleaning off the blade. And finally, it has been used on one occasion to “dig” a splinter out of my finger. Actually, “slice” out would be more accurate, in that the blade was sharp enough that I was able to slice into the skin above the splinter (instead of the usual digging and tearing at the skin) and coax the thing out with minimal trauma to the area. I have been careful not to abuse the blade (by using it as a screwdriver, for example, though I have been tempted), it has gotten a fair amount of use and I have not noticed any loss of sharpness so far. But my usage has been mostly limited to food items and soft textiles.
There is a small hole in the handle’s end for use with a lanyard, through which I have strung a short bit of cord for clipping onto my pack. The simple inclusion of the lanyard hole was one of the reasons I chose this knife, as it provides a secure clip-off for the knife. That way I do not have to dig for it in my stuff sack when I need it. However, one of the qualms I often have with easy opening folders is the fear that they may be so easy to open when clipped onto my pack (or on the lanyard in my pocket) that they may accidentally open if hooked on something in passing (a distinct possibility when hanging off a pack). While this might be a possibility in an extreme case, I have never had it happen when it has been hooked to the outside of my pack or belt (nor when it has been inside a pocket, for that matter) and have had no indication that this would happen, as the mechanism exerts a nicely positive force when in the closed position.
If one really wants to get at any stray dust, gunk or pieces of old cheese left over from the trail, the entire knife can be taken apart with a couple tiny torx head wrenches. (As an aside, the company also makes a convenient little tool with all the required torx head sizes needed to take apart their knives, if one doesn’t already have the tools at hand.) I have not taken the knife apart, as it has remained fairly gunk-free so far.
The version I purchased has a satin finish blade. All Benchmade knives come factory sharpened, which is to say “very”. In fact, all Benchmade knives also come with a lifetime warranty and, if one is not good at sharpening her own or has neglected the edge for a while, she can send the knife back to Benchmade along with $5 and they will re-sharpen it to it’s original factory-sharp edge (plain edges only, not serrated portions), inspect it for any warrantied defects and “tune” it up for optimal performance. Having had at least one knife ruined by a crummy local knife shop sharpening (or rather, dulling), it’s good to know that Benchmade offers this service.
I suppose that my only critiques of the knife would be that the three miniscule screws that attach the removable clip are the only screws that are not countersunk, interrupting the otherwise smooth line of the svelte handle with three little raised screw heads. Even with the clip installed, the screw heads stick out (but then again, so does the clip, in a minimal sort of way). I screwed them back into the handle after removing the belt clip so that the holes would not become “crud catchers” and I wouldn’t lose the lilliputian screws in case I wanted to ever put the clip back on. But now I realize that I should simply take them out to restore the clean line of the handle. The holes run completely through the handle to accommodate the use of the clip on either side of the handle, and look easy enough to clear of any detritus. Doing so would also restore the smooth line of the handle. Since I don’t like clips on my knives, I would have preferred that it come without. However, it was removable, and it makes it more versatile for those who do like clips. Personally, I could do without the clip and the little holes that come with them, as I know that if something is not firmly attached (as in tied or carabinered) to my person, it will fall off/out/away and I will lose it somewhere where there is no lost and found to call (I don’t imagine many would actually return such a find, it is such a beautiful, well-made little knife).
The other part of replacing the little screws back into the handle is that without the extra width of the clip, the one screw comes within a hair’s breadth of the actual tip of the blade. You see, the handle material is fairly thin, and the clip screws run through the handle into the space where the blade normally sits in the closed position, just a bit. But when the clip is removed, they screw further in towards the blade’s resting place, getting extremely close to the tip of the blade. But the tolerance for the action is so tight that the cutting edge of the blade just misses the screw, and does just nick the blade above the edge, leaving a slight mark. This is indeed a picayune criticism, however, I must say. Removing the screws solves this.
In summary, I would highly recommend a Benchmade Mini-Griptilian to anyone who wanted a versatile, quality blade. In fact, based solely on my experience with this single knife, I’d recommend any Benchmade blade, this knife so exceeded even my high expectations at every level. It is a functional work of art and a pleasure to own and use.
What I liked:
1. Quality workmanship and materials
2. Compact and lightweight
3. Precision action
4. Cool color!
5. Made in U.S.A.
What I did not like:
1. Tiny holes left when clip removed
2. Clip screws not flush with handle body
Read more reviews of Benchmade gear
Read more gear reviews by Cathy Kerry
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