Over the next 12 days we'll introduce you to members of the Benchmade team and share with you their favorite Benchmade knife. Check back every day to see a new staff pick!
Crystal vanCleaveRetail Store Supervisor
Favorite Knife: 2550 Mini-Reflex Why is the Mini-Reflex your favorite knife: It's an easy everyday carry. It’s nice and lightweight and I like the way in fits in my hand. How long have you had your knife? I’ve had my Mini-Reflex for 5 years now and I think I’ve only sharpened it twice! How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I use it for everything from opening packages and boxes and of course at home. Tell us about a time when your knife saved the day. With the holidays coming up a situation that comes to mind is opening up packages early on Christmas morning, especially with the kids toys. The plastic and zip ties always seem impossible to get through, but my Mini-Reflex cuts through the plastic, cardboard and zip ties with ease!
Curtis Crawford Handle Mills
Favorite knife? My favorite knife is the 940, but I love all of Benchmade's knives. How long have you had your original 940? I’ve had my knife for about 10 years and in that period of time I’ve only replaced one blade in that knife and have never had any malfunctions whatsoever! What do you like about your latest knife, the 940-1? I like the lightness, the look of it and the feel of it in my pocket. When I walk around I can’t even tell it’s there. It’s one of the first things I put in my pocket every single morning. How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I use my knife to cut tape, open boxes, cutting meat, and fishing. It’s really versatile! Tell us about a time when your knife saved the day.I recently just finished moving and everything was packed up at the new place and no one had a knife but me!
Corri ThomCustomer Service Representative
Favorite Knife: 4300 CLA Why is the 4300 CLA your favorite knife? I really like that it’s automatic and the new G10 handle it makes it a lot lighter. It fits perfect in my hand and I also really love the drop-point blade style. Lastly, I enjoy how we put a deep-carry clip on it so it sits down further in your pocket. Overall, it’s a really great knife for me personally. How long have you had your 4300 CLA? I have carried this knife for about four months now. I actually got it for my 3 year work anniversary; it’s the knife I picked. I was very anxious to get it and have been carrying it ever since. How do you use your knife on a daily basis?I use my knife for an everyday carry, just random overall use. Tell us something unique or special about your knife. I love unicorns and it’s kind of been my signature. So, I lasermark all my blades with a unicorn image on them. That way you can see it’s a Corri knife.
David Fee VP, Sales and Marketing
Favorite Knife: 484-1 Why is the 484-1 your favorite knife?I originally bought the 484 and fell in love with it and then of course soon after we got the 484-1. I just love Mr. Nakamura’s designs. Whenever a new package arrives at Benchmade with some of his designs we all gather round and open it up. We love to see what he has to offer. This one in particular I love, first of all, because the smoothness of opening. I think it’s one of the smoothest opening knives we launched in the last couple years. I love the shape of the blade and gimping. It’s lightweight, and everyone loves carbon fiber. How long have you had your 484-1? Since the day it was launched. Of course we let the first shipment go to our customers but as soon as it became available to employees I bought the first one. How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I actually, believe it or not, took this very nice knife camping. I didn’t mean to take it camping, but it was all I had in my pocket. I’ve used this thing to whittle, cut open packages, and around the office. I have even used it on occasion to cut up food when I am stuck at a restaurant.
Madelyn McGillMarketing Coordinator
Favorite Knife: 556 Mini-Griptilian® Why is the Mini-Griptilian® your favorite knife? It fits on the strap of my purse; it fits in the pocket of every pair of jeans. It is also half serrated so I can use it for a bunch of different tasks. Lastly, for some sentimental value, this is the first knife I ever got here at Benchmade. I'm a relatively new employee so getting my first knife at my first industry trade show meant a lot. How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I use my Mini-Griptilian® pretty much every single day in lots of different ways. Everything from opening donation mail here at work to carving pumpkins over the holiday season with my family.
Eladio Xep ChoguajAssembly
Favorite Knife: 580 Barrage® Why is the 580 Barrage® your favorite knife? I’ve had my 580 for about 5 years and it’s my favorite because it’s simple and I like the fast assist opening. That’s why I love it! How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I use my 580 for different things throughout the day like cutting fruits, vegetables, opening bags or boxes.
Corey FicklinSystems Admin
Favorite Knife: 2750SBKSN Adamas Why is the Adamas one of your favorite knives? The Adamas is my favorite knife right now because it’s got a pretty cool blade and it’s all purpose use knife. You can use it for just about anything and it’s really sturdy. How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I use my knife for virtually everything on a daily basis. I have it on me all the time! I use it for cutting packages open, boxes, I use it in the garage a lot. What's the most unique way you've used your Adamas? One of the most unique ways I use my knife is for gardening. I once used my Adamas to prune a tomato bush.
Megan AndersonTrade Show and Event Manager
Favorite Knife: 15031-1 North Fork Why is the North Fork one of your favorite knives? We launched the knife about two years ago and it really just caught my eye with its design. I love the fit and size of for my hand and how it fits in my pocket. The open back design of the knife really lends itself to easy cleaning. How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I use my North Fork on a daily basis for prepping for trade shows, on sight at trade shows, opening boxes and getting equipment ready. At home my knife comes in handy for the various tasks as I’m currently remodeling my house.
Peter GroatEngineer
Favorite Knife: 940 Why is the 940 one of your favorite knives? I really love this knife as it has one of the best blade to handle ratios in my opinion. It’s slender as I don’t really like wider knives that take up a lot of real estate in your pocket. It has S30V blade steel which is a really good premium steel, the action on the knife is really smooth and fast and it’s lightweight. How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I do a lot of leather work at home so I use my 940 to often cut thick leather. In addition, since I carry it every day I use it pretty much for everything from cutting boxes, scraping paint and any other daily tasks that I might encounter that would require a knife. Who would you recommend the 940 to? I would recommend the 940 to anybody that’s looking for a great knife that’s lightweight, easy to sharpen, great blade profile and has a small footprint while in your pocket. This knife will last you a life time!
Derrick LauPR and Communications Manager
Favorite Knife:6800 APB Why is the 6800 APB your favorite knife? I’m liking the 6800 APB right now a lot, mostly because of the new mechanism that we have on it. It’s the ambidextrous push-button. I’m left handed so this is awesome because they don’t traditionally make push-button autos for lefties, this solves that issue. How do you use your knife on a daily basis? I use it on a daily basis for opening a lot of mail, being the PR and Communications Manager I get a lot of snail mail. Opening boxes….I’d like to say some cool stuff like making a fire but that’s not necessarily true. I use it for whatever you might encounter while working at a knife factory. Tell us the most unique way you have used your knife? That would have to be opening a can. Now I’m pretty sure we classify that as misuse but I was kind of in a pinch. We were camping, I brought a can of food and no one brought a can opener. So I pulled out the 6800 and basically mangled the can open so I could get some baked beans for dinner that night. I say mangled because I lack the grace to surgically open a can with a knife but no knock on the tool by any means.
Jason BoydDirector of Product Line Management
Favorite Knife: 162 Bushcrafter Why is the 162 Bushcrafter one of your favorite knives? The 162 holds a special place on my list of favorites due to the versatility of the knife. I can rely on it for pretty much any and every task and I’ve even taken it out for hunting. It’s durability is definitely one of its highlights. If I was to have one knife that I wouldn’t have to worry about reliability issues with, it would be the 162. Where have you used your 162 Bushcrafter? I’ve used the 162 at home and camping. It’s a great knife to have along for any outdoors activities as the Bushcrafter lends itself to multiple uses and is incredibly reliable.
Les De AsisFounder, CEO
Favorite Knife: 63 Bali-Song® Why is the Bali-Song® one of your favorite knives? I was introduced to the butterfly style knife early on and learned how to play with them. In addition to being used as a cutting tool, the Bali-Song® is an incredibly fun product and I was just really intrigued with the design of it. This intrigue lead us to try to build the best knife we could off this particular design and that first knife lent itself to a broad spectrum of product now offered by Benchmade Knife Company. Have you used a Bali-Song® as an everyday carry knife? I have carried a Bali as an everyday knife. I actually carried one for the first 20 years of my career! It was a great prop to use to show people what we built and to show what the Bali-Song® was all about rather than merely just describe it. It’s not just simply a static knife or a tool, but much more.