Channel OGs may remember May 30th as the 2 year anniversary of the Benchmade Griptilian
review.
Ok no one celebrates that anniversary or even realized it existed- maybe except me.
Ok I had to look it up.
But that was the beginning of the phase of my Youtube career known as the IF YOU LOVE
BENCHMADE SO MUCH WHY DONT YOU MARRY THEM era… or my butterfly period to make it sound
like I’m a knife video artist.
The 551 is I want to say with no evidence Benchmades most popular knife, probably not
coincidentally one of their most affordable- but I have seen at least one article on knife
depots blog that supports my theory so let’s call it a fact.
Benchmade pun.
But one thing I sort of don’t like about that knife is the grippy jimping is kinda
owie… and you know I did get a blister in that video after beating on wood for an hour
in the backyard.
Ok it was probably 10 minutes- alright 30 seconds.
Well awesome subscriber and better Instgrammer than me- Skookumdanger occasionally gives
me knives - and decided the Freek was something I needed.
And it’s like a slightly less pointy Griptilian for more tender hands, like mine.
You’re like how do you have tender hands when you never use lotion.
All the dried cracks.
So let’s look at the dimensions of both knives.
Like the overall length and weight.
I hope everyone here remembers what I measure without the blue lines.
Blade size and cutting edge.
The blue lines would be too busy.
Handle Size and grip area.
I need the blue lines where are the blue lines.
Spine thickness handle thickness.
You know I usually put in a extra sentence here because it helps time my titles.
Tallness.
Otherwise it’s harder to gauge how long of an awkward pause to put in.
The Benchamde Freak features drop point satin finished blade in a hollow grind.
If you know things about knives you might know that the standard griptilian or 551 comes
with in a satin finished flat ground blade with 154cm steel.
I like my 154cm Benhcmade blades because they’re easy to sharpen.
The hollow grind on the Freek is kind of shallow and could easily have been confused with a
standard Benhcmade flat grind- like I did.
A knife like my Sebenza has an obvious concave side profile, and the Freek has a very slight
inward curve.
I’m gonna try something new here- I measured about .58mm behind the edge near the blade
heel.
Overall though the free has a longer, and taller blade, than the Griptilian.
Deployment is handled by thumbs studs, and it’s locked up with an axis locks.
You know like the 551.
My 551 is more broken in, and the blade falls and deploys slightly quicker.
However the Freek is also an easy and quick deployer too.
Thumb flicks, pulling back the lock, or even a hard downward fling.
Those all work and are similar to a griptilian.
The handle is where I like the Freek better than the griplitlan.
The griptilian is a glass filled nylon style, and has some jimping that might become uncomfortable
during extended hard use.
Not that most non-youtube knife people even use their blades like that- but the Free on
the other hand has a underlying grivory handle… think similar to the standard griptilian handle
hardness, it has a layer of rubberized material over the top of most of the grivory, making
it much more comfortable and grippy overall.
It would make a better knife for wet conditions.
Long term use will reveal how well the over molder rubberized parts hold up, but overall
as just an every day carry it I like it better.
The stainless steel liner is only a small partial and even smaller than the partial
inside of the standard griptilain.
This must contribute to the lighter overall weight of the Freek.
The smaller liner doesn’t appear or feel to compromise overall durability… as in
both of these knives most of the firmness of the handle is due to the grivory with a
reinforced grid underneath.
There’s not a whole lot of flex unless you apply a lot of pressure.
The clip.
The clip on both knives.
Appears to be a similar mount and both are tip up carries only that swap to the right
or left side- so it allows for tip up blade backward in both pockets- the desired position
among internet knife experts everywhere because of the theoretical faster deployment for all
situations tactical and perceived tactical.
The Freek clip is a spilt phallus style with a bit tighter of a grip than the 551 and about
3/4 sticks out of your pocket.
Above the clip.
It must note the Freek because of it’s rubberized area requires a bit more force to slide into
the pocket because of the reistance of the rubberized areas.
Comparison.
Due to the handle and lighter weight I believe I prefer the Freek as an every day carry knife.
It only costs slightly more than a regular griptilian and also might be better for use
in rainier or wet conditions like fidgeting with in the shower.
We’ve seen enough of these two together right?
Let’s due the 940-1.
Another one of my favorite Benchmades.
Very light, smaller easier carry in the pocket because it takes up less room and the carbon
fiber is smooth and premium.
Costs more though and may send the wrong message to a working class electorate.
My great grandfather was a pig farmer.
Oh yeah my great grandfather was a pig.
How about the mini Crooked River.
I think, and now this might be tentative.
My top 4 Benchmades are the Freek, Mini Crooked River, 940-1, and the Fact.
The Freek is the most affordable of the 4 though and is the most sensible choice.
Hmm.
Spyderco Endura 4.
It has a very comfortable handle, nice long blade, it’s lightweight and was my EDC for
years becoming a Z list internet knife personality.
It deploys slower though, so you don’t look as cool around your uhh friends.
Before we finish here, let’s look at a Benchmade family size comparison.
Is this sad or is it really cool you decide.
The Freek is cool.
Let’s beat it up a bit and see if it can handle whacks, and batoning.
The spine has a slightly rounded edge, so it might not be good for ferro rods- an important
survival tool in the internet age.
I will say though, that in wet conditions if you need to light a camp stove, a knife
with a 90 degree spine and a ferro rod outperforms a wet lighter.
I learned this once while car camping.
Probably the only useful thing I’ve ever learned by playing with knives.
The freek is a good sized blade for food prep, and general every day carry and good mid sized
light weight entry level bench made knife which is a lot of hyphenated words.
It’s made in the USA like I’m pretty sure all the mainline Benchmades are made.
The axis lock is one of my 2 favorite locks, because it’s a snappy deployment and fun
to fidget with when you’re not cutting things, which turns out is nearly all of the time.
If you like this sort of review subscribe to my youtube channel, invite your friends
to watch it, give the video a thumbs up.
Make sure you follow Skookumdanger on Instagram- he donated this knife to the channel.
Thanks for watching.
Benchmade Freek vs Griptilian Review.
This one has batoning too.
A lot of it.
The Benchmade 560 Freek got lots of accolades last year when all Youtube Knife reviewers
did videos on it.
I also compare it to the Benchmade 551 Griptilian, because it has a similar size and shape.
The handle on the Benchmade Freek is nice and comfortable and the S30V steel is one
to beat.
I mean many other knives beat it, but at least it’s not the gross 154CM right?
Kidding.
If you’d like to support this channel buy from my links below.
Also in this video are comparisons to the Benchmade Bugout, Mini Crooked River, a Benchmade
Fact Joke, and the Spyderco Endure 4.
Freek: https://amzn.to/2M0Kf9j Griptilian:https://amzn.to/2xManS5
Also follow Skookumdanger on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skookumdanger/