Lignum Vitae, the wood of life, is a very important symbolic wood and tree in many cultures. In this case, it is just a beautifully finished scale on one of the nicest production gentleman’s folders on the market, the CRK Mnandi. The Lignum is a less common version of this knife, but not entirely rare.

This is CRK’s quintessential gent’s folder, and not really a tactical, but I figure its worth a review anyway since its such a great knife. Tactical build-quality and strength in a small office-friendly format, the Mnandi is a beautifully designed and executed knife with CRK’s typically good looks.

Blade
This is one of the older models that has CPM-S30V stainless steel, unlike current models that have CPM-S35VN steel, but is still a fantastic steel. In fact, most people wouldn’t even notice the difference. But of course as knife geeks, everything matters! The blade shape is a thinner profile drop point style blade with a large machined slot for one-handed opening. The slot is tastefully bead blasted to give it some variation from the satin flats and blade grind. Its a bit hard to open one-handed, especially if you have larger hands but I can manage to do it without too much trouble.

Handle
Here’s the unique part of this watch, the Lignum Vitae, which I touched on earlier. This is a beautifully tight-grained wood with a lot of density. The titanium framelock portion of it has bead blasted edges and satin finished flats. The Chris Reeve Integral lock is hidden under the Lignum handles and is hidden nicely giving it a very refined look. CRK has also done a nice job with the pocket clip on this one, machined out of a thick piece of titanium and secured nicely with a single screw… I think its one of the nicest features of this knife actually. Its pretty awesome. The knife is actually held together with 2 screws, one at the pivot and one at the pocket clip end – CRK minimalist at its finest!

Fit & Finish
What else can I say.. its a Chris Reeve Knife. His production knives are about as good as it gets, and are still a very good value, having gone up only incrementally over the years, unlike most of the competition. What they do, they do perfectly. They knives are minimalist, and their construction and tolerances are exceptional, allowing you to appreciate all the nuances of the design and execution.

Overall, the Mnandi has been, and continues to be the standard by which all gents knives are compared. I remember when the Mnandi was first introduced years ago.. and while I really loved the construction and design, I did find it a bit small. However, over the years, I have realized that it does not need to be fast-deploying and super comfortable in my hands because it is meant to be a small gents knife, and compromises must be made. I’ve owned many small knives now over the years and have realized that the Mnandi is among the best at this size.

Blade Material: S30V Stainless Steel
Blade Hardness: 58-59RC
Blade Finish: Polished hollow grind
Blade Length: 2.75″ (69.5 mm)
Blade Thickness: 0.090″ (2.30 mm)
Overall Length: 6.375″ (161 mm)
Handle Material: 6AI4V Titanium with Lignum Vitae Inlay
Handle Thickness: Per side: 0.135″ (3.429 mm)
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g)
Leather Pouch Included
Handemade in the USA

Phantom Steelworks is the name that Chris Martin releases his knives by, and as you can tell from the name, the knives are pretty bad ass and he makes no apologies for his extremely polorizing designs. The Skin Walker, as this knife is called, is a truly interesting knife design. It features a wharncliff blade, with a very short cutting edge, and the blade only opens to a 55 degree angle.

Blade
The blade is CTS-XHP I was told, though I am not 100% sure because it was purchase pre-owned. Its sharp as all hell, and features a variation of Chris’ “murdered” finish on the blade flats. Since the blade has a lot of flats due to the design, its a cool looking feature.

The blade grind on this example is very thick, which is evidenced by the very wide secondary bevel – you can clearly see this in the pics. The primary grind is a flat grind, with a satin finish. One of the first comments almost everyone says when they open the skinwalker for the first time is, “Is that all the way open?”. It definitely is a strange feeling knife to open the first time because it stops so early. I find this uniqueness charming.

Handle
The handle also features the “murdered” finish with bead blasted lows and polished highs. Its a nice looking and feeling finish, feeling a bit more smooth against my hand than a typical finish of this kind. The polished flats just make the handle comfortable enough without feeling rough in the hands. The handle is sufficiently large, around 4″ long and fits my medium sized laws with room to spare. The geometry of the knife design for me immediately brings up other self-defense designed knives like the Kabar TDI Law Enforcement and the Spyderco Spot. While most knives with this type of overall geometry are fixed blades, Phantom Steelworks has decided to execute the design in a folder, and it is successfully done in my opinion.

The solidly built framelock engages early, and leaves a lot of room for wear. It is also quite a long lock bar, which I always somehow feel are more reliable than shorter designs.

Fit & Finish
This knife is finished very nicely. The sculpted Titanium pocket clip is awesome, and features the murdered finish that is present on the rest of the knife. To be honest, I though that a fully sculpted clip was a pretty nice feature at this price point.

The knife exhibits no blade play, and the blade runs on nylatron washers. I would have liked it to have IKBS or another bearing pivot system like his flippers do. I am not sure if he offers this with a bearing pivot or not, but I would expect that he does.

Overall this is a damn cool knife that likely will not be for everyone. I think that the Phantom Steelworks knife designs are already polarizing enough as they are, and the Skin Walker simply isn’t for everyone. I love unique designs that knife makers let their creativity shine through on, and while it may be their Magnum Opus, it may not be everyone else’s favourite flavour and I’m okay with that. I’m not sure if that’s how Chris feels about this knife, but for me this is an attractive design that speaks to me, and when I saw it I had to have it – and I am very happy I bought it!

Specs:
Blade Length: 3.00″
Overall Length: 7.00″
Weight: 4.8 oz
Handle: Titanium
Blade Steel: CTS-XHP

While not strictly a “custom” knife company, Medford Knife and Tool’s knives are all handmade in-house from the ground-up. They pride themselves on their 100% American-Made pedigree, using primarily American-made tools and parts. This is great is you’re American, but if you’re not, it probably doesn’t matter much but at least should count towards a quality made tool. The Praetorian has become something of a icon in the knife world, and for good reason.

Medford has a very good reputation in the knife world for their excellent customer service, which is key when that is one of your brand values. When spending $600 on a semi-custom knife, the customer service HAS to be good, right? Well, MKT’s is among the best from what I’ve read. I’ve never had to contact them directly myself, so I can’t comment on 1st hand experience but all the reviews I have read have been very positive.

Now onto the knife. This is one bad-ass knife! For me, the Praetorian was the first super overbuilt knives that really got my attention. The Carillo Airkat, and other similar knives all seemed to gimmicky, but the Praetorian was magnificent. I finally gathered up the courage and funds to buy one, and I am in love with it. If you’re a fan of the big, wide and thick blades, the Praetorian doesn’t disappoint.

Blade
The wide spanto/American tanto style blade is perfect, both hollow-ground and flat ground at the tip in D2 Steel, which would be my only criticism of this knife. If it were in a steel like S35VN or something a bit more “super steely”, I would be even happier. D2 is perfectly good steel though. The blade is extremely thick, measuring in at .190″, and has a “blood groove” in it that also serves as the thumb opening system. That thumb stud looking thing there isn’t a thumb stud, but rather serves as the blade stop for the blade when it is open and closed.

Handle
The handle is much smaller in profile that the blade, which allows you to get a good grip on it, even with medium sized hands like myself. The G-10 is very grippy, and in ACU Camo, which is my personal favourite color. If I could get everything in ACU, I would. Even underwear, yes. All screws are torx except the pivot screw, which is a spanner and will need a special too for adjustment. The jimping is something serious – big deep, clean jimping that gives superb grip, though is a bit painful if pushed hard on. Perhaps designed more for glove use, but still does the job.

The back frame is Titanium and features a Frame Lock that locks up like a bank vault. On the back there is their signature glass-breaker that is made from hardened D2 Steel that is NP3 coated. The pocket clips on the Praetorians come in different variants and can be upgraded. The one on mine is just a basic model – this is the $600 base model here guys!

Fit & Finish
This knife has superb fit and finish, much better than the original hard use knife (Strider). The G-10 isn’t anything special, more like a premium version of a Spyderco G-10 finish, rather than a fully contoured custom job but it does the job, and is still beveled nicely. The Titanium has a nice blasted finish to it and is very clean looking. Black finish on the D2 blade is also clean and unmarred showing that Medford does care about how the knives look finish-wise.

The action is superb, and opens smoothly with no blade play at all. Nice job, Medford.

Overall
I can’t recommend this folder enough if you are a fan of the big and chunky overbuilt knives! This is everything that I could have ever wanted and more when I saw the pictures and got it into my grubby little paws it exceeded my expectations, and I think that’s the most important thing when I get a knife. If it looks awesome that’s one thing, but when it nails it in the ergonomics, fit & finish then you have something special. The MKT Praetorian G/T is indeed special.

Specs:
Total length: 8 15/16″
Blade length: 3 3/4″
Blade Thickness: .190″
Blade width: 1 3/4″
Scale thickness: 1/8″
Total thickness 1/2″
Closed Length: 5 1/4″
Weight: 8.3oz

Microtech has been synonymous with high-end, precision machined knives since their inception in 1994 in Vero Beach, Florida. They have collaborated with many high-profile knifemakers, and with this more recent release, the D.O.C., they have collaborated with Strider. The D.O.C. feels like an amalgamation of the Strider SMF and Microtech’s design flare for details.

The Microtech D.O.C. stands for Death on Contact, with the automatic version called The DOC Killswitch. You gotta hand it to the tactical knife companies these days, they sure know how to name their knives! Taking cues from Apple with the catchy names to describe relatively mundane and standard features.

The Microtech DOC was intially released as a custom knife for the NYCKS, and went on to be produced as a collaboration knife between Microtech and Strider. The knife features Striders design philosophy with Microtech detailing essentially in my analysis.

Blade
The blade on the DOC features a version of the Nightmare grind, made famous obviously by Strider. The finish overall is satin, with the flats satinized lengthwise, and the grind satinized in the direction of the grind. This gives it an overall attractive look. The blade steel is 154-CM, which means it was one of the later production models. The first 1000 pieces were produced with ELMAX blades, which is pretty cool. Seeing as this one is serial number 1991, I guess I am 991 pieces too slow!

The edge is sharp as hell, and pops hair without trouble. The blade is essentially a spear point type of profile, and works well for a majority of tasks, making it a good EDC blade shape.

Handle
The handle style is pure Microtech, from the beautifully machined and annodized aluminum to the grip tape inserts. The tri-wing Microtech screws are also nice and make the knife more difficult to disassemble. Its very comfortable save for the location of the pocket clip which causes it to dig into the palm of your hand when holding it in a regular grip. When the knife is choked up on in the finger choil, I find that it is more comfortable because the hand sits higher on the handle. I really love the ability choke up and the finger choil is nicely done in front of the flipper. The flipper is also made very well and makes the knife extremely easy to open. The big grippy thumbstud is also just as easy to use.

Fit & Finish
I had said that I felt that Microtech’s fit and finisher hadn’t been as good in recent years, but I have to say that this folder as well as the Whale Shark I had handled have been spectacular. I had handled some from around 2010 that were not to my expectations, but these are definitely superb. I cannot fault the fit and finish in any way. I do know that there have been variance in the amount of lock engagement on several different models, but that’s probably because it is a screw-in steel lock face and the additional parts can create some variation in tolerance.

Overall
In general, this is probably one of my favourite designs in terms of production knives. I’ve always been a fan of the SnG/SmF, and in this Microtech variation of the knife, it really does look pretty darn cool. The handles remind me a bit of a CC SnG, but with grip tape inserts. The addition of a flipper in between the choil and the rest of the handle is brilliant, and adds a whole new dimension to the functionality of this knife. The only thing I could complain about is the pocket clip as many others have, a bit uncomfortable in the palm and maybe could ride a bit deeper in the pocket too.

Otherwise, its pretty darn near perfect! Love this knife.

Specs:
Overall Length: 9.00″
Blade Length: 3.75″
Cutting Edge: 3.25″
Blade Thickness: 0.16″
Blade Material: 154-CM
Blade Grind: Flat
Handle Length: 5.50″
Handle Material: Aluminum
Weight: 7.17 oz.

Brous Blades, run by young Jason Brous, creates some very interesting, and well-made knives. This is one of his Mid-Tech pieces, not the custom one-offs that are about twice the price. Having handled the one-offs, the quality is on par, though the one-offs are much more customized and totally unique.

There are some that have not been too impressed with Jason Brous’ work, especially with the lightweight Bionic flipper and in general the fellow has rubbed some people the wrong way. However, most out there appreciate and enjoy his designs for the most part. I personally really like a couple of his knives like this Reloader and the Division flipper. Not quite ready to spend the $600 on a one-off from Jason, I elected to purchase one of his limited edition Mid-Tech pieces.

Blade
The blade features a blackout finish and is made of D2 High Speed Steel. D2 is a great steel and a very solid performer, though quite uncommon among high-end custom and mid-tech knives. It is a fairly heavy recurve design, very thick and has great tactical looking grinds in it. The blade is printed with the limited edition numbering on the front side near the tang, and “Brous Blades” on the spine. The blade measures 3.625″, so it is a fairly decent sized folder able to handle most tasks you would throw at a folder.

Opening of the blade is accomplished via an oblong slot cut into the top of the blade which serves to lighten as well as provide good purchase for opening the knife.

Handle
The handle on the Brous Reloader is one of my favourite parts, and what drew me to the knife in the first place: Great ergonomics, very comfortable, and superior grip. I think Jason Brous did a fantastic job here. 3D machined G-10 that looks and feels amazing in the hand. The Carbon Fiber version is even better looking! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get one of those – A bit out of my price range. The pocket clip is great as well and isn’t bolted onto the side like most, but comes out of the top of the knife to allow for deeper pocket carry.

I noticed that the pivot pin on this model is very close to the edge. I don’t like to see that on harder use knives because I believe it reduces the strength of the knife at the pivot. This would only be an issue if you were prying with the knife I think.

Fit & Finish
Spectacular fit and finish on this knife, on part with other high-end production pieces, though maybe lacks the “hand-finished” feeling that custom pieces will have. This feels like a production pieces when you handle and operate it – not something I can fully explain or quantify, just a feeling. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it doesn’t have that hand-crafted vibe to it. Probably because so much of it is machined and not done by hand.

Lock-up is fantastic on this one, with the locking bar travelling exactly how much I like to see it travel: Just enough for full engagement. One of the things I didn’t love was how the ball detent leaves a silver travel mark on the blackout coating, and this is because of the pivot location being so shallow as I mentioned earlier. It would be nice if that part was all black.

Overall
Overall I think Brous Blades did a great job with this knife, and some of the minor issues I mentioned may be overlooked if its just a great looking and ergonomic EDC you are after. The value for money is there, and because its a limited edition of 500 pieces it makes it a little bit more exclusive and collectible. I’m happy with mine and will be keeping it!

Specs:
Blade Materials: D2
Blade Length: 3.625″
Handle Materials: Black G10
Overall Length: 8.375″
Weight: 6.2 oz.

Jake Hoback is a well-respected, popular knifemaker that started making custom knives years ago as a young lad, and started professionally in 2003. His first big hit was the A10 folder, and the Kwaiback is probably his biggest hit yet. This is the Midtech version of the Kwaiback, which is influence by Japanese martial arts and of course his stout faith in God – probably the two most noticeable influences on this knife. I also have to say that this is one of the coolest knives I have picked up in a long time – I am very happy with it!

Blade
The Kwaiback is named after the Japanese Kwaiken knife, with its beautiful upswept 3.75″ blade and piercing point. The stonewashed blade is double-hollow ground from CPM S35VN stainless steel, and features a flipper opening system riding on Jake’s “Hoback Roller Detent” (HRD) system. The system was created by Jake but is not patented, but instead “open source” and free for anyone to use, so long as Jake is given credit for it. It gives the knife an exceptionally smooth opening combined with the Caged Bearing Pivot (CBP) system that the blade pivot rides on.

The blade is super sharp, and cuts very well and because it is only slightly upswept, still has decent tip control. All edges on the blade spine and flipper area are radiused and smooth to the touch. The thick jimping is grippy but nice on the hands.

Handle
The thick, machined titanium handle feels fantastic in the hand, and features two deep grooves for added grip on the front face and one groove on the lock side. The stonewashed finish on the handle matches the blade so the knife has a consistent look over the whole thing which is nice. The Hoback Roller Detent screw is visible on the locking bar and can be adjusted. Pocket clip is reversible from left to right hand, tip-up carry only. There is some nice deep wide jimping on the back of the handle spine that is a nice touch and gives some extra grip as well.

Fit & Finish
While this is not the most well-finished knife out there, the fit is superb. The flipping mechanism works like a charm, and fires smoothly and quickly. The HRD also allows makes opening smoother, and helps give the flipper the extra kick to open. Absolutely no play, in any directly, and locks up “solid as a bank vault” as they like to say. The finish level is not high, and that’s exactly what also makes the knife so cool to me. Like Strider, Jake almost intentionally makes it rougher, with specks and marks in the titanium, along with machining lines still slightly visible in the handle grooves. The full custom versions of this folder are much more well-finished and command 4 times the coin!

Overall, the midtech Kwaiback is one badass folder, and might be my favourite EDC folder in my collection. It ticks all the boxes and feels so amazing in the hand, while sporting a full-size 3.75″ blade it doesn’t feel too big in the pocket. Combined with the solid craftsmanship and top-of-the-line materials, it is a superb choice for anyone looking for a midtech folder in this price range for EDC or even collecting.

Specs:
Blade Materials: S35VN
Blade Length: 3.75″
Handle Materials: Titanium
Overall Length: 9.125″
Weight: 6.6 oz.

Here’s a classic that continues to be a fantastic EDC, and becomes an even better value nowadays as its price has come down in recent years. While it hasn’t been updated much and quite obviously feels somewhat dated in design, it is still a very effective tactical blade even though its been discontinued for 7 years.

Blade
This is one of the later generation 2 models, which features the VG-10 steel blade, but still has the old school stainless steel stabs, which are more solid than the generation 3 G-10 versions which also have a full flat grind instead of a hollow grind. The blade is 4 1/8″ long, but the knife is very sleek and slides unnoticed into a pocket very easily. The blade has a swedge grind at the top, creating a very fine piercing point. It is a fully serrated version, which is a bit more useful for Rescue situations if you want to cut through seatbelts, etc.

The “POLICE” word on the blade is a bit corny though.

Handle
The Spyderco Police has an extremely thin handle, like most of the stainless steel Spyderco lockback models which have mostly been discontinued now. The handle is quite long at 5 5/16″ long, but fits well in smaller hands due to the thinner profile. One drawback of the stainless steel handles is that they are very slippery, especially when wet. If you don’t mind modding your knives though, you can file or jimp the stainless steel handle to create more purchase. Even bead blasting it would help a little bit.

Fit and Finish
Standard Spyderco Fit and Finish for the time period, which is very good. They blade does rub against the handle slabs a bit, but it is a tight fit, and there is some play when the lock is not engaged, but it is solid one open fully. The lock is very strong and it instills confidence when in use. The 4 1/8″ blade is very nicely finished, as all the Japanese Spydies are as well. The satin finish is nicely done and quite attractive, especially with the swedge on the tip.

Overall its a fabulous blade that probably doesn’t get the recognition that it used to. It has been overtaken by the Spyderco Military as Spyderco’s most popular large main production folder it seems. The Military has a liner lock, as well as more ergonomic handles which seem to resonate better with buyers. However, the stainless police just has an awesome old school vibe and tons of usability that sometimes I reach for it instead!

Specs:
Blade Length: 4 1/8?
Closed Length: 5 5/16?
Overall Length: 9 1/2?
Weight: 5.6oz
Blade Steel: VG-10
Handle Material: Stainless Steel
Years Produced: 1991-2008

The Spyderco Large Manix is very popular knife that has undergone a couple changes, and this is the second model that was released. The original Manix C95 released around 2004-2007, with this Foliage Green sprint run version released shortly after in 2008. This is the heaviest of the Large C95 Manix knives.

This is a very solid knife, and a hefty 6.25oz. It feels great in the hand, and is probably part of the reason why it is considered such a great knife by many knife collectors. It features a solid compression lock, which locks up like a bank vault. Still in my mind one of the best EDC’s out there, Spyderco or otherwise.

Blade
The Spyderco C95GPFG features a CPM S30V Stainless steel blade, with a modified drop point blade profile in a satin finish. The blade of course has the Trademark Spyderco Round Hole and some nice jimping on the thumb ramp to give you some extra purchase and control.

Handle
The Manix features a typical Spyderco G-10 finished handle, in a Spyderco favourite color – Foliage Green. It also has the typical finish, which is a fairly rough and fine sandpaper-like feel. Its great for grip, but not so friendly with your pants pockets. The general ergonomics of the Manix handle are fantastic, and it can be held in most grips very comfortably. One of my all-time favourits in that respect.

Fit and Finish
Typical Spyderco Fit and Finish for a Boulder, Colorado manufactured blade. It has the slightly fraying at the screw hole edges, and standard “boring” Spyderco Blade and Handle finishes, but that also kind of what makes the knife cool. Its a Spyderco through and through, and makes no apologies for it. Designed by Eric Glesser, it doesn’t have the less conventional styling cues that some of Eric’s designs have, but stays closer to home and features a more conventional design but his same trademark ergonomics.

Overall a very good piece, typical Spyderco fit and finish. Nothing to complain about here, just a solid knife overall. I suggest getting one if you have the opportunity. I personally prefer these older versions with the compression lock over the newer ball bearing lock versions that were released in 2011.

Specs:
Blade Length: 3 3/4″
Closed Length: 5 1/16″
Overall Length: 8 13/16″
Weight: 6.25oz”
Blade Material: CPM-S30V
Blade Finish: Satin Finish
Blade Grind: Full Flat
Handle Material: G-10
Locking Mechanism: Compression Lock

The Benchmade 15020 Bone Collector is one of a series of knives designed in collaboration with Michael Waddell, professional hunter and host of hunting shows on the Outdoor Channel. The knives are designed in the spirit of the hunter, and feature many interesting details that they will appreciate.

The knife features some great specs and is very affordably priced and has some great ergonomics and great overall versatility to boot. The wide, sweeping blade is ideal for hunting as well as general utility chores. Heavily textured, yet smooth G-10 scales with multiple grip zones make it a very usable EDC blade.

Blade
Benchmade does a bit of a blast from the past with the use of D2 on the knife, which is a fantastic steel and can be tempered to very high HRC and holds an edge forever. The only reason I was a bit surprised is that its not one of the latest and greatest and also turns a few people off due to the poor rust resistance. D2 is a tool steel and often referred to as a semi-stainless and doesn’t do well in certain areas with high humidity like Florida.

Beautiful wide blade, with Spyderco-style round hole and Bone Collector logo etched on the backside. The Bone Collector sharpens up very nicely and is one of the sharpest Benchmade knives I own. Be forewarned, D2 is not a quick steel to sharpen, however.

Handle
The G-10 handle feels great in the hand, but overall I found it kind of weird. Its almost like they textured it, and then tumbled it smooth or rubbed fine grit sandpaper over it.. I’m not sure I like the texture that much. Its smooth and textured at the same time and feels “worn” giving the knife a used feeling out of the box.

The grooves along the back side of the handle scales serve to give your palm better purchase on the handle and actually work quite well in that respect. They are more comfortable than they look because of the rounded/worn finish of the G-10. Axis lock is easy to access and works quite well of course.

Fit and Finish
Fit and finish are okay on the Bone Collector. If it were any other brand, I might give some more leeway, but this is Benchmade, and I think the Bone Collector is not finished as well as most of the other Benchmades I have hand owned and handled. The blade cut-out shows some deep grooves in it including one fairly deep one that you can see in the pics. The satin finish is much rougher than I have seen on other steels, and its possible because D2 is generally considering harder to finish than most steels.

The ‘worn’ feeling of the handle was in my opinion well designed from a usability standpoint, but from a fit and finished perspective I found it lacking. I would have preferred something that was a bit less worn-feeling maybe with more crisp, beveled edges in order to soften the feel in the hand, but maybe this was required for the best outcome.

Overall its a good EDC blade if you’re not in a super humid environment, and if you don’t mind the lower-than-average Benchmade fit and finish. Price-wise, it is more affordable than many so that alone could make some of my complaints acceptable. However, I would probably look to other Benchmades before settling on the Bone Collector 15020.

Specs:
Blade Length: 3.36″
Blade Thickness: 0.125″
Handle Thickness: 0.735″
Blade Material: D2 Tool Steel
Blade Hardness: 60-62HRC
Blade Style: Drop-Point w/ Ambidextrous Thumb-Studs
Weight: 5.59oz.

The Benchmade 707 Sequel is the “sequel” to the once popular Benchmade 705, the smaller brother of the Benchmade 710. All three knives were designed by McHenry & Williams for Benchmade. The Benchmade 707 Sequel improved on a few things where the 705 was weak, including thinner handles and a wider profile blade.

Many find that the Benchmade Sequel 707 is still too small, and qualifies as more of a Gentleman’s knife than a true tactical/utility EDC knife. I will agree that it does feel a bit small in the hand when you’re wanting a full-size folder, but its good enough to get some decent purchase on it.

Blade
The blade is a modified clip-point style, very similar to the 705 predecessor. It is slightly wider, which gives it better cutting stability and allows it to perform like a larger knife. The 154CM Stainless Steel blade is satin finished, and measures almost 3″ in length, comparable to a small CRK Sebenza. Its a great utilitarian shape, and feels good for the size.

Handle
The 707 features hard-anodized aluminum handles with G-10 inserts for extra grip. The aluminum allows the knife to be slightly thinner than the previous 705, yet weighs slightly more. I personally love the look and feel of hard anodized aluminum handles, but generally prefer to carry knives that have full G-10 scales as they seem to be more resistance to scratching and scuffing. It doesn’t take long for Aluminum handles to get all scuffy.

Fit and Finish
Typical high-quality Benchmade Fit and Finish here. In fact, because of the G-10 inlay and machined aluminum scales, I think the knife gives off the appearance of even higher quality than the 705. The full G-10 scales tend to have a rougher, more utilitarian look to them that doesn’t show off as nicely as the aluminum. I think the 707 gives the appearance of higher quality fit and finish than the 705, and compares very favorably to similarly priced knives.

Overall its a nice little package on a 3″ folder, that is a bit of a crossover from tactical to gents. Its a small but significant improvement on its predecessor, and worth a look if you’re a Benchmade collector and fan of this size of blade.

Specs:
Blade Length: 2.95″
Overall Length: 6.75″
Closed Length: 3.80″
Blade Thickness: 0.100″
Handle Thickness: 0.420″
Blade Material: 154CM Stainless Steel
Blade Hardness: 58-60HRC
Weight: 2.60oz.