Benchmade Knife

[Marlinspike]

Benchmade has a new knife out that is geared towards divers. I have owned their knives in the past and found them to be excellent but have not seen the dive knife in person.

Has anyone seen it yet and have any comments?

Here is the link:

http://www.benchmade.com/new.asp

Thanks
~Marlinspike

[ABQdiver]

Pretty pricey though.

What is that
H1 steel is impervious to the elements and 100-percent corrosion resistant.
Some sort of Titanium? or Stainless?

[Cave Diver]

Looks well made, but personally I would prefer more of a blunt tip. I agree that it seems a little pricey as well.

[leadweight]

I own a few Benchmade knives, but for diving that is too much to spend. My dive knife cost $18 and it works fine. For that matter, a steak or paring knife with the tip busted off will do the job.

[Rush]

Looks very nice ! The corrosion resistant H1 steel sounds interesting. Hey, it even cuts a sizeable chunk out of your wallet!

[Uncle Pug]

leadweight once bubbled...
For that matter, a steak or paring knife with the tip busted off will do the job.
... and for $3~$4 too.

TIP: use a file to score the blade on both sides where you want the break. Place the blade in a vise with the tip to break off sticking up... right at the line... light whack with a hammer will break the tip off cleanly... dress the end with a file to remove sharp edges.

You could even use the score~n~snap method to get a customized blunt tip on your benchmade!

[Waterborne]

ABQdiver once bubbled...
Pretty pricey though.

What is that
Some sort of Titanium? or Stainless?


It's a kinda super duper pricey stainless if you will. Benchmade makes outstanding products but I did not see a mounting option for two inch webbing. I have a benchmade that I carry at work everyday, wouldn't take it diving though unless I had to.

[ElectricZombie]

I would probably buy the Benchmade knife, I don't mind spending $100.00 for a good knife. (Actually $70.00 online)

If the H1 steel takes a good edge and is corrosion resistant, I'll be the first to buy one.

[Green_Manelishi]

Impervious to corrosion USUALLY means hard, which
usually means difficult to sharpen.

If it takes (and holds) a good cutting edge it would be
worth the $$$ assuming it is resistant to NaCl H20.

Lose the scales though ... they trap water.

[mddolson]

ABQdiver asked:What is that

quote:
-------------------------------------------------
H1 steel is impervious to the elements and 100-percent corrosion resistant.
-------------------------------------------------


Some sort of Titanium? or Stainless?

From the Machinist Handbook (26th edition)
(The bible for tool makers, machinist and mechanical engineers)

H1 is a chromium alloy Hot-work tool steel.

Tool steels are typically very hard and strong after heat treat, but also relativley brittle.

A properly heat treated H1 knife would be extremely hard , strong and hold an edge, but it's weakness would be that it would be brittle. It might have a tendacy to chip or break at the cutting edge, and I would not use it as a pry bar.

MikeD
:blfish:

[ABQdiver]

Mike

I was kind of leaning that direction. Had heard of tool steel before, but never the H1 designation.

[Uncle Pug]

mddolson once bubbled...
A properly heat treated H1 knife would be ...... brittle.
This brittleness could be an advantage when customizing your benchmade... you won't need to score the blade with a file to snap the tip off... just whack it with a hammer.

[Green_Manelishi]

now who would do such a thing ;-)

that's like using a flashlight as an impact weapon.

use the correct tool for the job, I always say (but
have occasionally used a hammer to "saw" two items in
half)

[PufferRaper]

Tool steels are not inherently brittle. It all depends on the heat treatment. Im a professional knifemaker so I have some insight on this info. Just about any of the steels used in modern knives are some form of tool steel. The hardness of steel can be manipulated by the tempering process. A custom maker can even make some parts of the blade harder or softer to suit its intended use by manipulatng the tempering of the steel.