BM10400(Image removed from quote.)From benchmade's red class I am very suprised by how good this knife is. I ordered it as a throw-away sort of knife to lend out at work and abuse as I saw fit and it has suprised my by holding up very well.First Impressions:-Same as the mini-grip, the oval hole needed zip ties to work for me.-Opening this knife creates the most euphonious sound, a very loud and solid *CLICK*-Even though the knife has no liners the zytel(IIRC) handles feel very solid and have little flex to them.-The factory grind was uneven on the left side but the knife came sharp enough to shave and the 440C took a very good 20 degree edge on the lansky after about an hour of re-profiling.-Love the low profile/deep carry pocket clip. I carry this knife on campus clipped to my pocket because so little is exposed that I don't draw any attention.(Image removed from quote.)-Ergos on the knife are good but it's a little to thin to be perfect for me, the pebble texture doesn't really seem to help or hinder my grip. in the future I may just sand it down and stick some skateboard tape on there instead.-The lock feels very solid and seems to take enough force to disengage that i can't see it accidentally disengaging at all.Actual Use:-Hard to use with wet hands. I had to grip it so hard that my hand would cramp up after a few cuts.-Cuts very well and held an edge for a lot longer than a 20$ knife should. after reprofiling to 20 degrees the edge still shaves after almost 2 weeks of constant use. Resharpening is easy, the burr jumps out after a few strokes and is easy to knock off.-One handed closing is too risky without a Boye Dent. I wasn't paying attention and pushed to hard with my index finger while closing one handed and gave myself a pretty nasty slice on my middle finger. tightening the pivot could help this but I don't really need it.-This knife is strong. My workers used it for things no knife should ever see; screwdriver, chisel, prybar, hammer, etc. and it's still working great. They did manage to knock a big chunk out of the top of the handle when it fell onto a concrete floor from two stories up and broke a little piece of the tip off but it's still sharp and works great.
I've recently bought a couple of Red Class Benchmades after collecting and using only Blue Class. They're not bad. I've got the Vex and the Mini-Ambush.