Product Review

21-Apr-03

Benchmade Model 771 Roland Leong, Managing Editor I can't remember when I first became acquainted with Benchmade Knives. It must have been back at the 1997 SHOT Show. I'm glad I did, as their knives are some of my favorites. The Benchmade Model 770 (Osborne) Series is my current favorite carry pocketknife. Its closed dimensions are 3.70", and weighs 1.60 or 1.70 oz depending on the handle material. It is also only 7/8" wide. This knife is as small as is practical to be able to be opened with one hand. As an example, I have a much smaller knife from another manufacturer. It is a great little knife and I carry it sometimes. But because it is so small, it is difficult to open with one hand. One must cramp up the hand a bit to handle it. Larger one-handed knives are easier to open. The Model 770 series is about as small as one can get and still be easy to open. It has a dual thumb stud opener, and it appears that if a round or oval hole opener were used, the knife would have to be wider to accommodate the space required for the round hole opening. I prefer a thumbhole opener, but the compromise for compactness is something I'm willing to trade for. SR has tested the Model 771 BC1-01. This model has a clip point, plain edge blade, BC1 coating, AXIS lock, dual thumb stud openers, aluminum scales colored red/black, and a removable steel carry clip. The BC1 (Boron Carbide) coating is an extremely hard ceramic coating. It gives the blade a dark grey color. What we noticed was that when we held paper by the edge and sliced down along the edge, the BC1 coated blade seemed to have less drag. There would be less chance of the blade catching and tearing the paper. This is a smooth cutting blade. The blade is 154CM Stainless Steel made by Crucible. I believe it to be a close copy of ATS-34 Stainless Steel made by Hitachi that has been used widely in recent years for blade steel. The AXIS lock is a very strong, ambidextrous release, blade locking mechanism. Opening and closing the knife is very smooth. There is no feeling of grittiness or roughness. There is the highest quality look and feel to the knife. We found ourselves handling the knife because it just felt good in the hand. Opening and closing it almost as one would play with a set of worry beads or a grip exerciser. It felt natural in the hand. One person handling the knife mentioned that it is the smoothest operating knife he had every felt. We feel the same. SR gives the Model 771 BC1-01 a four check rating. Benchmande products can be found at: www.benchmande.com The Model 770 (Osborne) Series line consists of: 770 Carbon fiber handles-$200 770BC1 Carbon fiber handles and BC1 blade coating-$220 771 Clear anodized aluminum-$145 771BC1 Clear anodized aluminum and BC1 blade coating-$160 773 Black anodized aluminum-$145 773BC1 Black anodized aluminum and BC1 blade coating-$160 771-01 Red/Black color splash anodized aluminum-$155 771BC1-01 Red/Black color splash anodized aluminum and BC1 blade coating-$170 Shotgun Report Check Ratings One-Well below expectations Two-Below expectations Three-Meets expectations Four-Exceeds expectations Five-Exceeds expectations + a high value Note that the only difference between Four and Five checks is the issue of value. A product in Five may actually be of lesser quality than one in Four, but because of it's exceptional value, or performance/$, will get a Five rating. Thus a Four rating does not imply inferior quality to a Five, and in fact may be of higher quality. A Five rating is for a product with exceptional performance/$ value.