Benchmade Mini Griptilian Variations

[philco]

Thanks Phil! Did you click on any of the items on the left? This one here, has a lot of Great Steel info.

http://www.zknives.com/knives/articles/ ... lfaq.shtml

I did a bunch of clicking. Learned a thang or two as well.

[orvet]

DALE - I READ SOMEWHERE (ferget where now) VG-10 AND AUS8 & AUS10 ARE ALMOST THE SAME EXACT THANG....... JUST DIFFERENT MAKER/STEEL FACTORY IN JAPAN.

I think a lot of the steels are very close to one another in composition, but from what I have heard the heat treat is what makes the steel preform or not. I had an fascinating conversation with Paul Bos a few years ago at the Oregon show. According to him the heat treat is what makes or breaks the steel in the knife. I guess it is no surprise that Buck routinely gets much better performance from their 420 HC than many companies get from their 440C.

I think a great heat treat on 440 can out preform a mediocre heat treat on a much better steel.
I learned from Mr. Bos that the heat treating is more important than the steel itself, within certain limits I am sure.
Mild steel won't make a good knife no matter how you heat treat it!

[jerryd6818]

My Mini-Grip came a little while ago. I had handled one at Gander Mountain and I don't remember it being this beefy. Had I bought the one with the thumb-stud it would have been a total bust for me. I'm like'n the mechanics of this Spidey hole a lot. I'm kinda getting used to the looks of it.

[gino]

Awesome knife Jerry, I own a couple mini grips myself they are a well made trustworthy carry! I need to get one with the hole I think its sweet!

[philco]

Jerry I still think you're going to love that knife if you'll use it a while and give it a chance to prove itself. I really like the spydie hole and personally prefer it to a thumb stud on the tactical type knives I use.

[jerryd6818]

Boys, the only thing that beats that hole (Spyderco or Benchmade) is Kershaw's SpeedSafe®.

Thumbstuds (for me) suck.

[Colonel26]

Good looking knife Cuz! I've been eyeing the full size version with the modified sheepsfoot blade myself. It looks like it'd be a real workhorse. And yes, as a spyderco fan, I'd much rather have the spydyhole or whatever it's called.

[orvet]

Congrats Jerry, nice lookin' mini-Grip!
I have not tried one with the hole, I think I would prefer a flipper opener though.
That would be great for me; Axis Lock and a flipper!

[FRJ]

Nice one, Jerry.
You're gonna love the Axis Lock.

[313 Mike]

My Mini-Grip came a little while ago. I had handled one at Gander Mountain and I don't remember it being this beefy. Had I bought the one with the thumb-stud it would have been a total bust for me. I'm like'n the mechanics of this Spidey hole a lot. I'm kinda getting used to the looks of it.

Fine looking Benchmade there Jerry! Glad to hear your are happy with it. I have a min grip as well, and it is a quality, trustworthy knife. That modified sheepsfoot has a nice look to it as well...

[jerryd6818]

That modified sheepsfoot has a nice look to it as well...

It does indeed.

If I recall correctly, your Mini-Grip is the much coveted orange handle variation.

[Oldredbone67]

Jerry, I really like your yellow mini grip you got. Very nice choice. I just traded for one with the Tanto blade. I believe it to be a 557. Here is a pic by the way, I don't like thumb studs, but this one is smooth.

[CheckSix]

I have a 556 in Pink under the tree for my wife. If she doesn't like it, I'm going to be totin' a pink mini-grip.

[orvet]

I’m glad someone brought this old thread back to life!
In spite of my earlier posts in this topic I did not post either of my mini Griptillians.

This little knife could be a collection all of its own! A person can probably put together 200 knives just in variations of the mini Griptillian along!

I did a quick check on eBay for mini Griptillian and pulled up well over 200 listings. I saw some with S30V, CPM 20CV and CPM-M4 blade steel though the standard blade steel seems to be154CM. 154CM is a really good steel, especially to be the baseline for the whole series. Upon doing some further reading I see the series was initially offered in 440C but a few years ago was upgraded to 154CM.

The blades seem to come in fine edge as well is partially serrated; there are spear point blades, sheepfoot blades and tanto blades; the blades come in satin finish as well as black; all that I saw feature the Axis Lock mechanism; some models have a thumb stud for opening others have a thumb hole. These are some of the variations I noticed in just a quick run through of the 200+ listings.
I noticed a number of different colors for the handles; black, gray, light blue, royal blue, coyote sand, OD green, pink and yellow. In addition to these factory handle callers there are also the Gold Class Series Mini Griptillians with anodized machined titanium handles and G-10 inlays these come in a variety of colors and prices, starting about $450 and going up to $1195. Those are just the ones I found listed today. There are also some upgraded versions available in limited quantities from about $180-$250.

In addition to all these factory offerings the mini Griptillian seem to have spawned an aftermarket in parts. There are a number of custom handles offered on eBay from micarta to G-10 offered in various colors and textured patterns. There are even a number of custom pocket clips for the mini Griptillian as well as special blue anodized titanium screws to hold on the pocket clips.

How can any knife collector not be excited about a knife that offers so much potential and so many variations to collect?
I may need to build a special room if I start collecting mini Griptillian variations!
Acvtually if I did that I would have to build a special house for me and my mini Griptillians; it would be called the “doghouse!”

[CheckSix]

Dale, start building the doghouse, then go for it! Maybe you can time the completion when the mini-Grips start coming in?

My wife liked the pink mini-Grip I got her for Christmas this morning. So, I'm going to be mini-Gripless, until I breakdown and buy another one.

[orvet]

Go for it Dave, grab another one.
They are great users!

I would love to try one with CPM 4M steel, but the $450 price dampens my enthusiasm a little.

[specgrade]

Boys, the only thing that beats that hole (Spyderco or Benchmade) is Kershaw's SpeedSafe®.

Thumbstuds (for me) suck.

As much as I love my Shallot, I never seen a hole break.

[jerryd6818]

Boys, the only thing that beats that hole (Spyderco or Benchmade) is Kershaw's SpeedSafe®.

Thumbstuds (for me) suck.

I never seen a hole break.

True statement. You should make that a part of your signature.

[colin.p]

Got my mini grip today. It was stiff as ol' he## when I got it, but that's the way BM sends their knives into Canukistan. Just a re-tweak with the T10 and a few (I have blisters on my thumb and forefinger) open/closes and she is as smooth as a baby's bum. Oh and she sure is sharp. I was trying out the best way to close the darned thing and it flew out of my hands and stuck in my knee.

[jerryd6818]

I'm sorry. I couldn't help but laugh.

[colin.p]

Ya, I thought it was pretty funny too.