Griptilian Upgrading

[ugaarguy]

Benchmade is upgrading the Griptilians with a G10 handle and a CPM-20CV blade. GP and several others have them available for pre-order: http://www.gpknives.com/brands/benchmadeknivesandtools/benchmade-g10-griptilian.html.

20CV is Crucible's equivalent of Bohler M390 - http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=CPM 20CV , M390 &hrn=1&gm=0

 

[dh1633pm]

I carry a mini griptilian every day. Very durable. Meets my needs for a small carry knife.

 

[cdk8]

I may have to buy one. I love my 707 and 710 in M390...

 

[lemaymiami]

I received a new Griptilian a year or so ago - it would be hard to improve on it, but these days makers are always coming up with something new...

I did "improve" on mine - I added a heavy mono loop that goes around my wrist for use on the water. That blade resides on my skiff with other types of emergency gear. It's coated with Rig (an old school grease) and kept in a plastic sleeve to keep it in new condition. It will only see use if I lose or destroy my other blades - but working around saltwater daily on a small skiff it's nice to know that I have it as a backup...

 

[tiamat]

fyi, Doug Ritter now offers the RSK, his version of the griptilian, with M390 blades, which can be found for substantially cheaper at knifeworks.com. They don't come with G10 scales though, but I didn't think fiberglass was all that expensive.

 

[Yo Mama]

And of course they are not upgrading on the sheepsfoot blade with the thumb hole, because apparently BM hates thumbholes. :banghead:

Now I love BM, but at the same cost, and a bit lower, you can get the new Spyderco Para 2 in s110v steel, which beats the cpm-20cv in edge retention

 

[CZ9shooter]

I have avoided adding a Griptillian to my collection due to cheap feeling polymer handle. Nothing against plastic, just the way Benchmade does it. Spyderco uses it fantastically. Anyhow, I have always liked the design aspect of the knife. Now with G10 scales, I may have to add one to my wishlist, assuming they dont charge their typical carbon-fiber-and-titanium prices for pretty basic materials.

 

[tiamat]

I feel the same way about my mini barrage - the handle leaves an otherwise great knife with a cheap feel to it.
I'm guessing you didn't check out the prices yet - $165 - $191.

 

[Drail]

Yes sir - they want an awful lot of shekels for them knives........ and I used to think the old Griptilian was high priced. Not any more. Too bad our cash ain't nothing but trash now.

 

[19-3Ben]

I don't get it. The Griptillian was always the entry level knife to get an Axis lock. They could be had in the $90-110 range roughly.
Frankly, at that price, it darn well could have had G10 scales. It was just about the only knife in that segment that had cheap feeling nylon/plastic handle scales.

But now they are taking their basic knife, and upgrading it to where it canibalizes on the 950 Rift, 520 Presidio, 470 Emissary etc...

I just don't see the percentage. I really love the feel of the Griptilian, and gripes about handle quality aside, mine has withstood some serious heavy use for the last 8 years and I just can't justify replacing it with anything else. But this kind of eats at the heart of the Griptillian market, and I feel is likely to push more people over to the Spyderco Pm2, which i'm guessing is its biggest baddest competitor.

Those who know more about this than I do, can you shed some light on it for me? The guys at Benchmade are no fools, and if this is something they are doing, it's probably well thought out. I just can't see the logic.


Edit to add: My post above is assuming the new product line takes over and the existing Grip is DCed. If the existing Grip continues to be produced and this is just an optional upgrade for those who like the look/feel of the Grip, then it makes sense to me.

 

[tiamat]

In my honest opinion, it's all about increasing their bottom line based on what the market will bear, and they have seen that the market for new 'uber' steels and 'ultra-premium' materials (for fiberglass? really?) is alive and well, so they are taking advantage of that.

While I agree that the hollow Valox they use on the current models does lend itself to a cheap feel, I don't think it makes the knives any less effective, and certainly isn't worth the extra cost (for me). But someone will buy it, and so they will make it.

They already have their 'Gold Box' line of knives which for the most part are all the same knives just with different materials like carbon fiber and titanium and mother-of-pearl inlays, etc. Exclusivity comes at a cost I guess - its up to us as consumers to decide whether or not we will accept that cost or not.

 

[CopperFouling]

That's a lot of cash for a Griptilian. I do like M390, though.

 

[Clark]

I have been carrying a Griptilian for 6 weeks and really like it.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=791529

I dunno about upgrading, I am still in the honeymoon phase.

 

[ugaarguy]

And of course they are not upgrading on the sheepsfoot blade with the thumb hole, because apparently BM hates thumbholes.

No, Spyderco owns the patent on the circular thumb hole. Rather than using an oval or the like to get around the patent Benchmade does the right thing and compensates Spyderco for their use of Spyderco's patent.

Now I love BM, but at the same cost, and a bit lower, you can get the new Spyderco Para 2 in s110v steel, which beats the cpm-20cv in edge retention

While that's true I also went through two straight G10 scale Spydercos (One a Para 2 in fact, and the other a Native 5) that shipped with clip screws too short to fully thread into the steel liners underneath the G10 scales. Their customer service responded quite poorly to the issues and I still have a bad taste in my mouth from it. If I were to buy a new G10 handle Griptilian I'd have no doubt that it'd be be good to out of the box and stay that way. I've lost such confidence with Spyderco.

I have avoided adding a Griptillian to my collection due to cheap feeling polymer handle. Nothing against plastic, just the way Benchmade does it. Spyderco uses it fantastically.

I agree that Spyderco's FRCP itself and the texture they mold it into feels better than Benchmade's Valox and the texture they mold it into. On the other hand, the base model Griptilian has a roughly 2/3 length polished steel sub frame under the plastic, full length brass thread inserts molded in, a solid steel clip, and 154CM blade. Spyderco's most comparable model, the base version of the Manix 2 LW has an unlined plastic handle, a wire clip secured by single through handle post screw, and the blade is CTS-BD-1.

It's really hard to get a true apples to apples comparison between the brands.

 

[Yo Mama]

No, Spyderco owns the patent on the circular thumb hole. Rather than using an oval or the like to get around the patent Benchmade does the right thing and compensates Spyderco for their use of Spyderco's patent.

While that's true I also went through two straight G10 scale Spydercos (One a Para 2 in fact, and the other a Native 5) that shipped with clip screws too short to fully thread into the steel liners underneath the G10 scales. Their customer service responded quite poorly to the issues and I still have a bad taste in my mouth from it. If I were to buy a new G10 handle Griptilian I'd have no doubt that it'd be be good to out of the box and stay that way. I've lost such confidence with Spyderco.


I agree that Spyderco's FRCP itself and the texture they mold it into feels better than Benchmade's Valox and the texture they mold it into. On the other hand, the base model Griptilian has a roughly 2/3 length polished steel sub frame under the plastic, full length brass thread inserts molded in, a solid steel clip, and 154CM blade. Spyderco's most comparable model, the base version of the Manix 2 LW has an unlined plastic handle, a wire clip secured by single through handle post screw, and the blade is CTS-BD-1.

It's really hard to get a true apples to apples comparison between the brands.

No I understand Benchmade does the right thing and pays for each use to Spyderco, and apparently I was wrong they are using the thumb hole models on this new upgrade version as well.

 

[Clark]

20 years ago I designed battery chargers for a company that paid to use the algorithm to stop charging when the Voltage went up, to another company, AND my employer also paid to use the the algorithm to stop charging when the Voltage went down, to a third company.

I knew something was nuts, but I just kept doing MY job.