How's it going guys and welcome to the first video in our spectacular knife
weekend as you may or may not have heard blade HQ will sadly not be attending
blade show but we don't want to miss an opportunity to sit down with some of
your favorite makers and manufacturers we're gonna be releasing videos all day
long so make sure to hit the notification bell make sure to stay on
YouTube because we got some sweet content coming your way and to kick it
off we've got the newest stuff from bench made and of course we're gonna sit
down with benchmade we got to get Troy on the line so Troy how's it going? I'm
one sec how are you dude doing so good I'm excited to do this with you guys
it's it's an interesting year so I think this is a adaptability of what we do but
yeah we do have I brought four knives today so we can go ahead and kick things
of if you want. yeah man let's dive in so a lot of you guys at home have probably
seen some of these knives on the internet we have as well we haven't
handled any of these yet so hopefully we can get you guys some on camera action
be some comparisons going and to kick it off obviously the knife that everybody's
talking about right now your new knife in your
osborne series so tell us about this thing so first off for anybody who
hasn't seen looks like a regular osborne and then you do this so what's the story
on this bad boy Troy? 20 years in the making we talked about it in knife
banter a couple months ago but this is the 20th year of the Osborne and so
we're playing around with a lot of different variations different materials
but we haven't changed the mechanism yet and this is something that we've heard a
lot of from people and I wish I had an auto 940 man I wish I had an auto 940 so
here it is we tried to keep this thing as true to form as it gets and so you've
got your standard aluminum handles green a know kept the clothes back spacer with
the purple anodization they're s30v reversed tanto textbook Warren Osborne
and this is a push-button automatic so you do have your firing button here and
then we have an inline safety tied up there in the back of the handle so one
thing that I do like about this knife and I actually just learned recently so
we went with a split arrow clip on it generally you're seeing on the standard
940s out of the factory the benchmade stamped kind of like black
ano clip there so this split arrow clip does that actually was our first
clip collaboration with Warren Osbourne so kind of nodding back to the heritage
of where this knife came from and what it is now so I'm super stoked on this
oddly enough this guy's like three tenths of an ounce lighter than the
standard 940 right on it's just an awesome little push-button automatic you
know it's it's it's true to form like I said earlier and we've really haven't
deviated too far from what made this knife such a popular EDC. oh I think
that's awesome and I actually didn't know about the pocket clip on that so
I'm glad we're sitting down talking about it that is really cool and also
cool not just that it's a little bit different because I didn't notice that
but that it's a throwback to something that you know one of the original
collaborations you guys did with with Warren so really really cool knife I
mean it just makes sense right like when you handle it you're just like oh yeah I
know like this it just makes sense when you get it in hand you're like yeah no
this is I've always wanted this right in a black box but 2020 man why not? right
why it's a perfect year for weird right now I have I have to admit when I when I
first saw this I got because you know I have that the outlast and I and I heard
the sorry the mediator I have an outlast - that's great - but I have a mediator I
love my mediator and when I saw the pictures of this of this 9400 I was like
I mean I got a mediator like why would I why would I do
why would I do the basic unit Osborne Auto and then when I finally you know
because you sent us a sample so we could take a look at this and have it for
camera they really are very different right like they like on a lot of levels
they really are and I will say how for how much I love my mediator this lock on
the 9400 is so elegant in such a simple solution a lot of times I feel like
locks either visually get in the road of an auto or mechanically get in the road
of an auto so even when it is a like a back lock like this it's like hard to
engage or it feels crunchy but dude this lock is buttery smooth like it's so
satisfying it's it's got a great action to it I sit
there in almost fidget with the lock just as much as I do open and closing in
my hand you're starting to see us kind of tap
into the EDC side of like tactical designs it doesn't have to be super
tactical to be to be a practical knife and you don't have to be an operator or
anything like that to carry a switchblade auto especially as more and
more states open up to allow automatic knives no super cool man
and and then again you know those those original hits of color that you guys
have put on this thing like everything about this is just awesome so really
cool I was stoked to finally get one getting in hand and yeah I had to I had
to eat my words a bit when I was when I was comparing the mediator and the
9400 is like oh no it's it's different it's good it's it's right
there now kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum so you're talking about
usability you know kind of tactical kind of EDC next up is the exact opposite of
that so tell us a bit about this new tangu tool yeah so I kind of stand in
the same vein as like custom collaboration designs Jared Oh sir is
the newest custom designer to come on board with our design team and so you
saw the 601 tangu flipper last month that knife has been super cool and we
just wanted to maintain that same aesthetic so you have 20 CV kind of
gnarly tanto blade there same g10 coloration on the handles but this guy's
small it comes in a leather slip similar to what you get with the 601 sang-gyu so
side-by-side these are a great pair for each other
super small blade I can't remember on this guy I think we're like one it's
just over one inch and then the tang here actually has got a little pry
tool towards the tip you've got your bottle opener here as well so I think
like you and I were talking this as a friction folder it's a non-locking blade
so this knife is going to be a great little travel knife if you're overseas
or internationally where you run into a lot of more strict knife legislation
this is going to be something that I I think a lot of people are gonna pick
up on just subtle details. for sure well and I think I think even just stateside
right like just stateside this is such a cool I mean that whole gentleman's carry
right like that's a whole category right we do we've done a handful of videos on
this and this is such a perfect knife for that category I mean you get this
this really nice looking leather slip right that doesn't look out of place or
weird to pull out of I mean it almost looks like something you put a lighter
in or something in just classy right and then and then you pull this knife out
and whether you're you know open in a box cut some string whatever right like
cutting a little like thread off the end of your suit coat or whatever it is it's
not out of place anywhere right and then you get not only the 20 CV blade but
then you get the advantage of having the pride tool in the bottle opener so it
lends itself to to both like just going out having a good time but also you know
if you have to do something you got a little tool in your pocket to do it
right. yes yeah it's it's definitely geared more towards that EDC crowd the
guys that are spending money on pocket candy and accessorize with stuff like
that it's an nitchy design but I think that
people would be surprised as to the relatively universal application of the
knife you know it's not yeah it's not gonna be your be all end-all or the only
blade you're really running in your pocket but it's a it's a nice
counterpart to whatever your primary EDC might be. for sure well and you know for
years I only carried one knife I'm just like add one knife my pocket when I for
my pocket and in the last year or so I've been converted to carrying a
multi-tool around my pocket as well and I could see something like this making
the rotation so easily because of how handy again just having the pry tip I
like in my pocket all the time how handy that is I can see this thing being just
a useful little tool another cool thing about it too is a lot of times with
slips at least in my experience a lot of time with slips what you get is is the
leathers either too tight or it's you know hard to get the tool out of the top
of the slip but you guys have really considered that I don't know if this was
in conjunction with Jared or if this was just you guys but either way like the
way the slip works is great because it the top just peels back a little and you
can just grab the tool right out whether you put it in tool side up or scale side up
right? yes I remember when we were like prototyping
this out and we were trying to get different slips made and stuff like
that a couple of the first runs I was spending an exorbitant amount of time
trying to like fish this thing out of it so I'm super happy to see where we ended
up on this slip I think it's the perfect height is the perfect birth at the the
opening here for you to just kind of snag that pry tip and pull the tool
out so yeah I'm stoked on it definitely isn't something that I would have
carried normally but now that I've had a chance to do so it actually ends up in
my pocket a little more than I would have thought. cool right on sweet now
bouncing kind of back into you guys is normal wheelhouse
we have a cool variation of the mini freak so what's the story on this guy?
yeah you've seen a lot of customization like aftermarket customization and stuff
like that with knives like the bug-out freaks are even getting it quite a bit
and the griptilians the freaks the mo of the Freak has always been ergonomics
and Comfort and so we try to maintain that year while bumping up the material
a little bit it's no secret that we love S90V and carbon fiber so we felt like
this was the perfect platform but give that treatment red anodized thumb studs
and barrel spacers for a little splash of color but same deal it's just super
comfortable in hand it's lightweight it's a little classier than the than the
dual durometer handle on that on the standard version but this this is an
inline variation this is gonna be here to stay it's not a sprint run or
anything like that so I'm I'm actually really fired up on this knife too a
little smaller for me then I would generally carry but because of the
ergonomics and how dialed they are with a little bit of that thumb ramp there
even in a larger hand this thing is super comfortable so I I really enjoy
this knife and possibilities are kind of endless with it. yeah and I think that I
mean S90V alone that puts you in a place where you're just like oh cool
like I'll just have this knife and not have to sharpen it for a long time right
I mean then when you go to sharpen it that's another story but but it is nice
to have a blade in your pocket that if you keep track of it it's pretty easy to
hone up that edge from time and you don't ever have to truly
resharpen very often I think that's really neat. that's it that's that's a
key or like critical element of these higher edge retention blade steels just
not run at a higher Rockwell s90 it so long as you stay on top of it cool now
last one that we have on the table this is this is a shout back to just
straight-up Benchmade's heritage right like full-on this is this is where you
guys cut your teeth and knives and it's new Balisong so kind of walk us through
this because I I know Balisongs and I and I can I can feel what this is I can
see what this is but I know I'll miss details so walk us through this thing
yeah kind of like you alluded to this is where we started balisongs is
where benchmade really came from and before being benchmade we were actually
bali song that was the name of our business before that we were Pacific
edge cutlery and stuff like that but this is really getting back to our roots
and so it's this I would consider this new ish just because your chassis and
handle is the same as the 87 more or less the thing that's different is that
we went with a drop-point blade and you've got these cool through-hole
milled fuller here to match the the milling pattern on the handle itself so
just pretty straightforward great little flipper I'm also not super big on
flipping myself I'm one of the guys that just lights my fingers up left it right
when I do try it so it's either a dull blade or a trainer for me but yeah super
cool here and beyond just the knife one thing that I like is the slip that it
comes in this is a it's a Snake Eater tactical slip and this is kind of
modeled off like a 1911 mag pouch so you've got a kind of teeny Molly webbing
lookin compatibility on the back and it does come with some velcro straps in the
package for you to a fix to your belt or pack or wherever you want to keep this
thing so just a nice subtle little detail there on top of the the knife
itself but one thing I didn't mention same as
the 87 this is an integral billet titanium handle each handle is a single
piece so pretty pretty darn cool technology there these these have quite
the runtime on the mills these are a tough knife to manufacture and I do
really like the magnetic spring latch here I think that's a pretty cool
feature when you are flipping it keeps that latch out of the way and you don't
get the crazy bite marks on and the safe handle there when when that latch swings
around and smacks it so you see a lot of guys like pulling their latches off
other bali's or going with like a nylon not rope or something like that this you
just you really don't even have to worry about it with the 85 or the 87 so. that's
cool that's super cool right on man um well some really rad
stuff on the table like I said most of the stuff I think we've seen on the
internet but even we at Blade HQ hadn't handle it so stoked to get some
of it on the table and show some of it off now you know how it goes
at the end of this thing what do you got your pocket? I am carrying nine forty - one I told
you guys oh you got a new one huh I was searching high and low for mine the last
time we spoke sidenote I actually found my 940 - 2001
so it was a her pants that I never wear and pulled that out of the closet one
day when the the laundry pile was running a little bit low and I was
surprised to find that - two thousand one in there but I'm 40 - one's hard to
be I told you I love s 90 and carbon fiber so this is uh this is a knife that
dominates my pocket real estate more times than not. cool yeah and if you guys
haven't seen the video we did with Troy we sat down as what a month month or two
ago we sat down a month or two ago and talked top-five benchmade and he's got
some pretty good stories at losing that 940 - one constantly so go check that
out!
cool man well thank you so much for your time we appreciate it thank you so much
for showing off some of this new shiny stuff I think most of the stuffs
available or going to be available very soon I know we've
filled some pre-orders on our end so just check the website guys well some
links down in the description Thank You Troy and we'll catch you guys on the
next one! thanks guys thank you so much for watching that
video make sure to check out our spectacular knife weekend playlist here
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