Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

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1967redrider
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Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by 1967redrider »

Enquiring minds want to know. ::nod::
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Sharpnshinyknives
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Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

I gave up on following Benchmade knives shortly after I posted that back some time ago. So I could not say with any accuracy that there are more or less now.
Back then it seemed that half were listed as lightly carried or carried but never used. After I got burnt on a counterfeit Paragon, I really gave up on collecting anything I wasn’t absolutely certain about. It seems that tactical knives are the most counterfeited of the modern knives, maybe I’m wrong about that but that is what is sold on Ali Express and other counterfeit sites the most. I really feel badly for Chris Reeves, they counterfeit his knives like crazy.
So to answer the question, I don’t know. It does pay to do your homework before jumping in. And it pays to ask questions here first. TFL’s response back then turned me away from trying to collect Benchmade knives, so I’m really glad I asked here first.
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Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by Captain O »

I have bought a few cheap copies and wound up stuffing them away. I prefer to buy nice knives for either use or collection. I have a "lightly used" Bat Cave Cutlery Sendoa coming my way. I'm not above having it ride in my pocket to be called upon at a moment's notice for medium-to-heavy cutting tasks.

I'll often carry my 6.25" Oreste Dibon Fishtail Picklock Automatic as a "pocket accouterment". I usually carry my Chrome Vanadium Yellow Delrin Case Peanut as a "backup" knife for daily cutting chores. These are carried either in the change pocket of my slacks or my sports jacket.

On long journeys, I'll carry a larger automatic with a pocket clip in my front slacks pocket. I rotate the larger automatics and will carry a the largest where the prospective situation demands it.

These are all contingent upon the situation.
Captain O

Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by Captain O »

Mark,

Many people buy these on impulse. A lot of knife buyers tend to purchase these items on an emotional basis, rather than thinking them through. They'll carry them a while and then stop when they realize the knife really isn't what they originally had in mind. The owners then sell them.

This is the very reason that I suggested to a number of knife manufacturers that they begin making gentlemen's pocket autos as they did before the Switchblade Control Act of 1957 had been passed. Encouraging responsible "pocket" automatic carry was, and is, never a bad thing.
Captain O

Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by Captain O »

Mark,

So many "knife nuts" (collectors/traders hobbyists) find themselves caught up in the "tacticool" syndrome. (The notion that, at any given moment, their pocket/carry knife will be called upon to be employed for self-defense).

In some of our large(er) cites this has all too often turned out to be the case. It was only Tuesday I had spoken with a worker in a Gladstone, OR pawnshop that told me of being stabbed at the Light Rail (Metropolitan Area Express, or MAX) station. He had refused a homeless man a cigarette and the bum stabbed him. His assailant sits in the Clackamas County Jail awaiting trial for attempted murder. :shock:

For the most part, this isn't the case. Most of us live our lives relatively untouched by street crime and egregious violence. We buy "tacticool" knives, and a month or three later we change our minds, realizing that we aren't consistently "living on the edge of violence" and subsequently sell the huge automatic knife we bought for a fraction of its price. ::dang:: ::hmm:: ::teary_eyes::

This is a highly logical answer to your question.
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cody6268
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Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by cody6268 »

I think the problem is in part due to social media/YouTube in which people build up a following posting knife/tool reviews. They only review them, then resell them later.

While usually not Benchmades (more along the lines of CRKT), I buy a bunch of stuff from a guy who does this, and relists them a few months later for near nothing.
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Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by GSPTOPDOG »

edge213 wrote: Wed Dec 26, 2018 1:35 am
royal0014 wrote:Just a theory here ....

So many 'tactical' knives out there, and they are mostly a sales gimmick.
How often do you find yourself in a 'tactical situation' ?


I spent 34 years as a career firefighter, I found them quite useful being able to deploy one handed while the other hand is busy.
Even though now retired I still have one in my right front pocket. Very useful while working on vehicles, home repair etc.

Definitely not keeping up with the Jones. Maybe "tactical" is just a bad name for them.


I don't leave home without a knife I can open with one hand (including my Leatherman Wave on my hip) There are many times I have been holding something and I have to cut a cord or rope or wire and I have just one free hand... (I scrap a lot of metal these days) Always good to have it and not need it then need it and have left it at home ::skeptic::
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orvet
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Re: Why so many “slightly used” Benchmade on eBay

Post by orvet »

I recall an older discussion somewhere here on AAPK; the discussion was afound, "What is a Tactical Knife?"

There was considerable discussion as to what constituted a tactical knife, was it the way it opened, the way it looks, was it the opening mechanism, the locking mechanism, or another aspect of the nice design?

As your might suspect, the discussion generated a fair amount of heat but very little light.

I wish I could remember which AAPK member made the following statement: "A tactical knife is whatever knife you have in your hand when the situation turns tactical."

That to me was the clearest statement of the entire discussion. It was like someone flipped on the light switch because it makes so much sense.
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