Now as a small channel, who cusses a lot and who don't have the knife hookups- it's hard
to get to the good shit before all the tactical knife channels, the bushcraft channels, the
table tops channels, the chicks reviewing knives channels, the self defense knife channels,
the guys who makes knife channels, the dude standing on his back porch talking into the
camera for 20 minute knife channels, And I have to buy my own stuff mostly.
The bad joke cussing knife channels are bottom of the list.
So I'm pretty sure Benchmade was thinking of me when they released the 535 Bugout.
No previews months in advance at a knife show, no sponsored swag videos just your usual unboxing,
retailers promo videos, first looks eating up the clicks.
I can fuck with that.
Sorry I got requests for cussing.
The Benchmade 535 bugout isnt a revolutionary knife.
But it is light AF, isnt too expensive, and has a decent sized blade.
So lets look at the dimensions because that will help figure it out, like the overall
length, and weight.
Yep translation it doesnt have a liner.
The blade size and cutting edge.
The handle size and grip area.
The spine thickness and handle thickness.
And the tallness closed.
Lets start with the blade.
Benchmade was smart by making the drop point flat ground satin finished blade out of S30V.
Mostly because they knew that the internet thinks the 154cm found in the standard Amazon
sold griptilian is cheap garbage- I think they hated how quick and easy it sharpened
up.
And like paying more for S30V.
Dont worry S30V your day of reckoning is coming.
I have no problems with their S30V- it seems a bit harder to sharpen than the 154CM, but
thats fine I guess.
Youll notice mine is a 609/1000 limited first run edition, so I guess Ill take my prize
now?
What do I win?
Oh another knife I'll occasionally use!
The blade is deployed by beautiful electric blue thumb studs, unless you hate the color
blue.
It is a quick snap in place, and has prosper bronze washers on either side of the pivot.
As far as blade centering its that perfect-ly off center that Benchmade is known for.
I jest slightly not because its not accurate- because its not something I pay much attention
to, unless its rubbing.
And it aint here- just letting you perfectionists know that theyre the same old bench made youve
grown to love complaining about.
The axis lock is sort of stiffer, than my others While it deploys fast, the blade doesnt
fall nicely like my 940s or my Griptilian, and its a bit hard to flick closed one handed.
Youre like oh like a Ganzo!
I mean you can but you have to do a wrist flick.
The handle is a decent sized It fits my hand well and the Grivory which to me feels like
a slightly more sandy version of FRN.. gives some texture I would probably prefer some
G10 - but thats just me.
The back is opened back with some blue standoffs or spacers.
There is a small partial liner that serves mainly as an anchor point for the blade pivot
and lock if you have owned a 940-1, its pretty similar to that.
It doesnt feel super hollow and plasticy- sorry for the technical terms.. because the
underside has these reinforced grids, to help add some sturdiness.
Blade retention when closed is nice, and I cant fling mine open when closed even if I
fling hard.
The clip.
The clip, swappable to the right or left side, tip up only.
It's deep carry, and medium tight.
Its not super tight, but it aint quite as springy as my spyderco endura or delica.
People look for different things out of a clip.
I like deep carry, but i like a medium springiness something that wont rip fabrics.
This one is just a trad tighter than Id like but should loosen up with some use.
Ok lets do some comparisons- to help give context to the knife.
The 535 has been carefully considered it seems like Benchmade had a specific vision going
into it, alright boys let's keep it above $100 but giving the knife a useable handle
and blade size while keeping it ultralight It has one of the best size to weight ratios
of any of my knives and doesnt feel like its too small.
That said lets look at my Going Gear 940-1701 which is a variant of the 940.
The 535 is a bit lighter- like half an ounce- but I feel like unless your a gram counter-
or just have less money to spend- the 535 will not make you give up that knife.
2.4 ounces is still very very light, and the 940-1701 has a longer cutting edge and slightly
longer handle and deploys and closes much more smoothly.
The 535 is still noticeably lighter in the hand.
Lets take the griptilian sorry I dont own the mini grip.
Benchmade could always send me t free one though.
This now feels like a much more substantial knife it has a slower deployment and uses
a technology that's harder to patent.
But that's what the hole is for.
ploys and closes faster, has a thicker handle, and longer blade.
That said, I have never thought the griptilian with its jimping was the most comfortable
knife to hold in hard use.
I reviewed it, and you can watch that video.
The 551 has more areas that could be considered hotspots.
But it is cheaper.
And there's more to the knife.
Gotta keep those MSRPs up.
Ok how about the Spyderco Delica.
Since that knife is about $65, now it seems like an apt comparison.
The 535 is I think a step up from that knife.
Its lighter and has a longer blade.
Now the handles are a very similar size, and the Delca 4 handle curves a bit more.
Some handles curve and some don't.
The Delica is a lock back, so translated The 765 is a very similarly dimensions knife to
the 535 but its heavier , has nice sharp points near the pivot, has a slightly smaller cutting
edge, and is like $300.
The 765 deploys much much smoother and faster than the 535.
So I guess the money you spend on that one is for the heavy titanium and Bohler.
You're like it's titanium- so it's light.
Well, I get that's it's lighter than steel but for nearly every titanium knife I have
I have something lighter, in a similar size.
I feel like titanium isn't used as thoughtfully as much as it is- titanium brah!
In real world use the Bugout feels like a much more practical knife.
So beat on it and wrap it up.
Let's start off at first base with some regular old spine whacks, buy it dinner, and then
get to the heavy stuff.
You know what I'm talking about imagine a creepy wink and then we can baton with it.
Not that you should baton with it- but some people have expressed concerns on my instagram
that it ain't durable.
Let's call batoning probably the most abuse a knife should hypothetically endure- but
really shouldn't.
It's a folding knife i know- I'm just saying that because of all the guys who commented
over on serious knife channel Nick Shabazzs about how you shouldn't baton with a folder
anyway.
Yep I get it you shouldn't.
But this is youtube and not real life.
So I'm pretty impressed after the beating, and all the wood flying the knife had no additional
blade play, loose screws- unlike myself and the edge was still hair shaving sharp and
the lock didn't fail once.
I suspect that Benchmade at some point made their axis locks stronger because my Griptilian
lock would fail during this and all of my more recent ones hold up a bit better.
The Bugout is meant to be an ultimate weight to size ratio knife.
Is that a thing?
One of the lightest weight knives you can buy without sacrificing length.
I reviewed the kershaw fraction earlier this summer and only thats my only other sub 2
oz knife although the bugout is a larger proportioned knife.
Bench made is marketing this knife as a blade for gram counting backpackers, and I think
thats a good market.
They seemed to have really thought out a theme for this blade.
Extremely light but without sacrificing those things that make a large blade more useful.
I can appreciate that.
That said about the only thing this knife does better than my 940-1 is that it weighs
less and is cheaper.
I dont really know what I get out of a 1.85 ounce knife that I dont get out of a 2.5 ounce
knife with a bigger blade.
Maybe better balance, since the handle weighs next to nothing?
Now the handle is hollow, so some might expect it to be fragile- I dont think its any more
fragile that the 940.
I have yet to split G10 or FRN or Grivory handles, from beating on them- but I havent
tried stabbing a car hood yet.
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Thanks to the guy on Benchmades forums for risking his life try giving everyone a heads
up was already on eBay the day it was released.
Thanks for watching.