BruceRPA
Addicted Member
I have always carried a 2" Swiss Army knife, scissors, nail file, little pen, and an LED light. It comes in handy for many different things nearly every day but it is too small for some things. A number of friends have serious pocket knives and after receiving a few tips and demonstrations from some well informed folks, I was determined to get a decent, but larger, every day carry knife too. The brand that kept rising to the top in my online and in-store research was Benchmade. Everything that I read or saw online seemed to confirm what my friends had advised. Unfortunately, the online research raised some questions as I narrowed my search, so off to Field and Stream and then Cabella's I went. We have a brand new Field and Stream store not too far away but I was not able to make a selection after my visit there. I went to Cabella's yesterday and talked with a guy there that could easily have been right off the set of Duck Dynasty. Man, did he know his stuff about knives! As busy as the store was, he very quickly answered my questions and was able to show me why the more expensive model that I was considering was not going to be ideal for me. He also showed me why the other less expensive model that I had in mind was not only going to do the job but it was actually better in several key ways for my intended uses. I wanted a small, easy to carry, easy to conceal, and fast and easy to open knife with a high quality blade that was no longer than three inches. The suggested model was the Benchmage 556 Mini Griptilian. After doing some research I thought that I wanted a spring-assisted opening model like the Benchmade 586 Mini Barrage. It only took a few minutes to check both models at Cabela's. A brief discussion and demonstration by John "with the beard" behind the counter helped me to decide that the Mini Griptilian 551BKD2 was the best choice for me. He cleared up my confusion and misunderstanding about how both models actually operated. He showed me how, with a quick flip of the wrist, the Mini Griptilian could easily and quickly be opened or closed. It would take some practice to get really good at doing so but it sure worked well, even for a novice. He then showed me his personal full size Griptilian 556BKD2 and how the somewhat heavier blade worked even better. Wow, that is really sweet! Decisions, decisions... screw it! I came home with both!
I am really impressed with the quality of these two knives and enjoy handling and working with them. I am still intrigued by that spring assisted Barrage and may check it out again at some point in the future. If you have never owned a decent pocket knife, as I never did before, or have not checked out the Benchmade Griptilian series, I encourage you to do so. They are a joy use and hold in your hand. I also believe that they are an incredibly good value. There is a LOT of information on the web and lots of great video reviews on YouTube. There are few pictures below but you will be able to find hundreds more with a quick Google search. In spite of all that, there is nothing better than going to a store where you can check them out for yourself. I hope that you can find someone as good as John "with the beard" to help you as I did.
I am really impressed with the quality of these two knives and enjoy handling and working with them. I am still intrigued by that spring assisted Barrage and may check it out again at some point in the future. If you have never owned a decent pocket knife, as I never did before, or have not checked out the Benchmade Griptilian series, I encourage you to do so. They are a joy use and hold in your hand. I also believe that they are an incredibly good value. There is a LOT of information on the web and lots of great video reviews on YouTube. There are few pictures below but you will be able to find hundreds more with a quick Google search. In spite of all that, there is nothing better than going to a store where you can check them out for yourself. I hope that you can find someone as good as John "with the beard" to help you as I did.