Benchmade Dacian

Newest fixed blade from Benchmade.

Today I get to give you my assessment of my newest acquisition. Always looking for the perfect knife, I've probably found it already in the past but I keep looking for the little extra.  This purchase was made for two reasons.

The first, I wanted to try a fix blade for an EDC, and the second, I wanted to try the new magnacut steel. I did a lot of reading and there are a lot of choices out here to fit what I was looking for. In the end for me, Benchmade nailed the design and the look. Plus they have the quality where you are not really guessing what you are going to get from them.

I have not used this knife extensively yet. I can't give you an assessment of how long it stays sharp. If it's anything like my last M390 blade though, it should stay sharp for years with moderate use. The pros so far are, it fits perfectly in my hand. I have large hands, not huge, but it's almost like it was made for me. The blade ...cuts and cuts well. It's currently razor sharp but I will get to a bit more on that a little later. And then of course, damn it’s a beautiful looking knife in my mind.

EDC carry. It fits in my pocket and has not been getting in the way. It has not gotten stuck on anything as I move around. In and out of the car, around the house, the knife stays as you put it and I don’t really feel it in my pocket ever. To be fair I have decided to carry it in pocket while using the clip pointed down. With that the blade part in the sheath stays full in pocket while the handle is exposed to the world.

Comparative to a folder, you have to be mindful when putting it back in its sheath. In other words, you want to make sure it goes back into its sheath and not something else. However, with a folder you are more than likely using its clip to secure it in your pocket anyway, so the timeframe to put it away is very similar in my mind.

Negatives. Benchmade knives come very sharp from Benchmade, but not as sharp as they could. I do not know the reason for this.  Is it a money issue? Is it to deliberately not make them razor sharp to not take people by surprise with a sharper knife than they are expecting? I do not know but recently I've honed my knife sharping skills to be what I would call “good” and with just a little effort I can put a razor-sharp mirrored edge on their knives that cut paper and cut hairs off your arm like it is a razor. Doing this while maintaining their suggest degree of sharpen angle. Not a big deal for me any more now that I can sharpen my own knives but what about the person who can't? Don’t get me wrong, the knife still comes sharp but not as much so as it could.

The other big negative in my mind is the sheath. First, sometimes the knife does not go in perfectly if you do not know to expect this. It will not lock into position if it's not aligned with the insides of the sheath. It binds up. Very annoying but once you realize it, you can work to make sure it doesn’t happen.  But that’s the thing, you must be mindful and work for it. 

The other thing is the sheath leaves streaks down the knife coating where the plastic is ever so slightly rubbing off on it as you move it in and out of the sheath. You should see a reflection of this in the pictures provided. Kind of minor I suppose as it is only aesthetic, but still. The upside is that you can put the knife in to face back or to the front without having to do anything special to the sheath to make that happen.

I have not put the knife through its paces yet. No batoning, no fire sticking yet. So far I can completely see myself as a fixed blade EDC convert with this knife with my experience so far. 

Background

Have used various knives for decades. EDC, outdoor, kitchen, tool.... I've become a bit of a collector not meaning to.