CJB
04-06-2013, 08:53 PM
Howdy folks.
One of the members here got themselves a Benchmade 3300 Infidel, and it got me hankering for another "automatic" knife, aka the hoodlum switchblade.
Went down to the LGS and looked at one of those Infidels. They're not too bad. So, I managed to "acquire one" from a non-retail source, at a non-retail price, since I thought it was something worth having (at a sub $275 price at least).
Thought I'd give a sort of mini-review of substance - since - most of the reviews you see online fall into three genres. Those being: its great, it sucks, and, it was great, but now it sucks.
So here's CJB's lowdown. Out the front automatic knives are...a strange breed. While I like this knife, I'm trying to think of why it would be better than, say, any out the side automatic. I can only think of two scenarios. One is when the knife is deployed in a space that would not allow the side opening knife to deploy, and the other is should you choose to carry the knife inside a rubber balloon (yes a balloon) for sand protection, the out the front will deploy through the balloon, while the side folder will not.
All that said - and please, somebody add a better scenario than "I had my fist, holding the knife, up the bad guys butt a good fourteen inches and then decided to deploy the blade on my Infidel!~" - I still like the out the front Infidel.
I guess the speed of activating the blade - not needing to mess with a safety... could be a plus factor of the "DAO" out the front mechanisms.
A lot of comparisons are made against the Microtech, with the Microtech stated as being a much better knife. The LGS had a Microtech Scarab and an Ultratech model. I found them smaller, and lighter. Shorter blades. The mechanism is no doubt a bit different, and it feels different to deploy the blade. Smoother? Not really, just different, a little lighter on the forces needed to deploy... maybe, hard to tell. Blades were certainly no tighter than the already very tight Infidel blade, when deployed. All the knives were less tight than a good manual folder. The king of manual folder's is the original "Paul" knife by Gerber (which I happen to own). The out the front autos are pretty tight, but... you must remember, they're made, like a Kahr, for specialized purpose. And that purpose is to stab your opponent and rip through whatever innards you can manage - be it muscle, aorta or throat. By far, the Infidel has a better feel, and is more retention friendly in the shape of its scales. The Infidel seems to be more business oriented while the Microtech's seem a bit more appearance oriented. Thats my take on it at least.
Some bad stuff - the back of the scales has a nice belt/pocket/boot clip. Thats good. But there are none of the excellent machined-in grooves that are present on the front. If the back was grooved, you'd have a better grip. The grip is good now, as it sits, but it would be better, perhaps darn near perfect, if they grooved the back too. There are also stepped/grooved edges in the rails next to the activation/deployment slider. What were they thinking? Thats one spot where your thumb has to slide, and the presence of grooving there is nonsense. Your thumb really doesn't touch the edge where its grooved... unless you intentionally try to make it touch the edge. But still... smooth rails on the edge of the slider would have been nicer. The slider itself will not slip under the thumb. Its shape and grooving/texture are perfect.
Based on the three knives I "pre-examined" before buying, I'll say that they all had good mechanisms, with only shades of differences seen in knives in the display case.
After I got my own copy of the Infidel, I examined it very closely. First thing - it will not deploy in your pocket. The blade is not under tension until you forcefully push the activation slider. When you do that, the blade is first tensioned, then released. Sort of like a striker on a Kahr. Then, once the blade reaches its fully "out" position, its locked into place by two levers (sears, bars?). It will not unlock when pressed into any sort of intended item that needs cutting or stabbing. There's a YouTube of a guy driving his Infidel through spruce decking a few times, with no unlocking and no loss of superb activation. I didn't try that, and I'll take his word for it.
And.... I took the knife apart. Don't take yours apart! Unless you're really good with reassembly of minute parts that tend to fly across the room. It took me a lot of time, and some knee walking to find parts, in order to get the knife together again. I did, it works. Its really beautifully made inside. The locking bars look stamped, but the chromed steel frame parts look wonderfully machined. Its really nicely made. There are small wire springs in there to move the locking levers. Trust me - do not take your knife apart. Folks online have poo-poo'd the innards of the Infidel. Words like thin, flimsy, inadequate, etc... are used. I didn't get that impression, but then again, I know that beyond the size of the part, its shape, its material and heat treatment and its overall design make it suitable or not. I didn't think things were flimsy by any means. The parts are small, but seem sturdy and well heat treated, no wear present after well over 250 activations.
Here's what my experience is - the knife, as received, was a little gritty. If you interrupt the deployment of the blade on its outward, or inward movement, it will just sort of flop around neither locked out, nor in. You'll have to pull it out, to lock it, then the mechanism will reset, and you can retract the blade using the deployment slider. When its in the "floppy" state, I was able to detect some grittiness. First a bath with some CLP, then I activated the knife about 200 times (its my Kahr training!). Another bath in CLP with a blow dry. Did the floppy test for grittiness... much much reduced. Sliding parts have worn in, deployment of the blade is much smarter, snappier, and faster than the eye can perceive.
The blade was delightfully sharp and wickedly pointed as received. I cut myself on it twice. First the edge... like a doofus, and then the ultra needly point ... like an even bigger doofus. It needs no sharpening. I was able to remove hair from my arm with it, very easily, although, there are a few rough marks on the edge that don't attest to it being sharp, but it is. One bad comment - the front and back edges were not quite evenly ground with each other. That is, the front has a little more "bevel" then the back. Its a minor foible, as side to side, its nicely and nearly perfectly beveled on the sharp edges.
So that's it. Not sure if it will be an EDC, but its worthy of a knife collection, if you can stand the price (but good "out the front" knives are all expensive). I think.. I'll probably take it on the bike with me, as it tends to ride well in my Redwing boot. Not sure if it will replace the automatic Gerbers or other automatic Benchmades... but its a good knife as automatics go.
Shown below with one of my PM45's:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/4099730a-d5dd-4993-8d27-544e4550f271_zps61e3792e.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/5b3a050f-96c8-44e9-8b2f-440f4c19c21f_zps2d4e420b.jpg
That's all I can think of for now.... hope that added some understanding.
One of the members here got themselves a Benchmade 3300 Infidel, and it got me hankering for another "automatic" knife, aka the hoodlum switchblade.
Went down to the LGS and looked at one of those Infidels. They're not too bad. So, I managed to "acquire one" from a non-retail source, at a non-retail price, since I thought it was something worth having (at a sub $275 price at least).
Thought I'd give a sort of mini-review of substance - since - most of the reviews you see online fall into three genres. Those being: its great, it sucks, and, it was great, but now it sucks.
So here's CJB's lowdown. Out the front automatic knives are...a strange breed. While I like this knife, I'm trying to think of why it would be better than, say, any out the side automatic. I can only think of two scenarios. One is when the knife is deployed in a space that would not allow the side opening knife to deploy, and the other is should you choose to carry the knife inside a rubber balloon (yes a balloon) for sand protection, the out the front will deploy through the balloon, while the side folder will not.
All that said - and please, somebody add a better scenario than "I had my fist, holding the knife, up the bad guys butt a good fourteen inches and then decided to deploy the blade on my Infidel!~" - I still like the out the front Infidel.
I guess the speed of activating the blade - not needing to mess with a safety... could be a plus factor of the "DAO" out the front mechanisms.
A lot of comparisons are made against the Microtech, with the Microtech stated as being a much better knife. The LGS had a Microtech Scarab and an Ultratech model. I found them smaller, and lighter. Shorter blades. The mechanism is no doubt a bit different, and it feels different to deploy the blade. Smoother? Not really, just different, a little lighter on the forces needed to deploy... maybe, hard to tell. Blades were certainly no tighter than the already very tight Infidel blade, when deployed. All the knives were less tight than a good manual folder. The king of manual folder's is the original "Paul" knife by Gerber (which I happen to own). The out the front autos are pretty tight, but... you must remember, they're made, like a Kahr, for specialized purpose. And that purpose is to stab your opponent and rip through whatever innards you can manage - be it muscle, aorta or throat. By far, the Infidel has a better feel, and is more retention friendly in the shape of its scales. The Infidel seems to be more business oriented while the Microtech's seem a bit more appearance oriented. Thats my take on it at least.
Some bad stuff - the back of the scales has a nice belt/pocket/boot clip. Thats good. But there are none of the excellent machined-in grooves that are present on the front. If the back was grooved, you'd have a better grip. The grip is good now, as it sits, but it would be better, perhaps darn near perfect, if they grooved the back too. There are also stepped/grooved edges in the rails next to the activation/deployment slider. What were they thinking? Thats one spot where your thumb has to slide, and the presence of grooving there is nonsense. Your thumb really doesn't touch the edge where its grooved... unless you intentionally try to make it touch the edge. But still... smooth rails on the edge of the slider would have been nicer. The slider itself will not slip under the thumb. Its shape and grooving/texture are perfect.
Based on the three knives I "pre-examined" before buying, I'll say that they all had good mechanisms, with only shades of differences seen in knives in the display case.
After I got my own copy of the Infidel, I examined it very closely. First thing - it will not deploy in your pocket. The blade is not under tension until you forcefully push the activation slider. When you do that, the blade is first tensioned, then released. Sort of like a striker on a Kahr. Then, once the blade reaches its fully "out" position, its locked into place by two levers (sears, bars?). It will not unlock when pressed into any sort of intended item that needs cutting or stabbing. There's a YouTube of a guy driving his Infidel through spruce decking a few times, with no unlocking and no loss of superb activation. I didn't try that, and I'll take his word for it.
And.... I took the knife apart. Don't take yours apart! Unless you're really good with reassembly of minute parts that tend to fly across the room. It took me a lot of time, and some knee walking to find parts, in order to get the knife together again. I did, it works. Its really beautifully made inside. The locking bars look stamped, but the chromed steel frame parts look wonderfully machined. Its really nicely made. There are small wire springs in there to move the locking levers. Trust me - do not take your knife apart. Folks online have poo-poo'd the innards of the Infidel. Words like thin, flimsy, inadequate, etc... are used. I didn't get that impression, but then again, I know that beyond the size of the part, its shape, its material and heat treatment and its overall design make it suitable or not. I didn't think things were flimsy by any means. The parts are small, but seem sturdy and well heat treated, no wear present after well over 250 activations.
Here's what my experience is - the knife, as received, was a little gritty. If you interrupt the deployment of the blade on its outward, or inward movement, it will just sort of flop around neither locked out, nor in. You'll have to pull it out, to lock it, then the mechanism will reset, and you can retract the blade using the deployment slider. When its in the "floppy" state, I was able to detect some grittiness. First a bath with some CLP, then I activated the knife about 200 times (its my Kahr training!). Another bath in CLP with a blow dry. Did the floppy test for grittiness... much much reduced. Sliding parts have worn in, deployment of the blade is much smarter, snappier, and faster than the eye can perceive.
The blade was delightfully sharp and wickedly pointed as received. I cut myself on it twice. First the edge... like a doofus, and then the ultra needly point ... like an even bigger doofus. It needs no sharpening. I was able to remove hair from my arm with it, very easily, although, there are a few rough marks on the edge that don't attest to it being sharp, but it is. One bad comment - the front and back edges were not quite evenly ground with each other. That is, the front has a little more "bevel" then the back. Its a minor foible, as side to side, its nicely and nearly perfectly beveled on the sharp edges.
So that's it. Not sure if it will be an EDC, but its worthy of a knife collection, if you can stand the price (but good "out the front" knives are all expensive). I think.. I'll probably take it on the bike with me, as it tends to ride well in my Redwing boot. Not sure if it will replace the automatic Gerbers or other automatic Benchmades... but its a good knife as automatics go.
Shown below with one of my PM45's:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/4099730a-d5dd-4993-8d27-544e4550f271_zps61e3792e.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/Firearms/5b3a050f-96c8-44e9-8b2f-440f4c19c21f_zps2d4e420b.jpg
That's all I can think of for now.... hope that added some understanding.