Benchmade Knives command some of the highest respect and greatest prestige among folding knife brands. Their models are utilitarian, highly regarded by those that carry them, and made with premium steels and scale materials.
But if there were one thing you could say about Benchmade that drives value, it’s not any of these things.
It’s the lock type they pioneered way back around 1999, and which is now found on many of their most popular models, from the Griptilian to the Bugout and Osborne.
Here’s what you should know about it in the event you are not familiar.
It’s the AXIS Lock
The AXIS Lock is a bar-style lock that consists of a small cylinder of steel set in a channel between the knife frame and scales. The bar itself is accessible from both sides of the knife and is held under tension by a U or Ω-shaped spring.
When the knife is closed, the spring holds the bar itself in the open position and keeps the blade closed under tension.
When the knife is opened, the bar slides into a recess at the base of the blade, and the spring holds it in that locked position until the user manually slides the bar to the rear so that the blade can be swung closed.
On paper this doesn’t sound like a big deal. In practice it is revolutionary.
Not to mince words, but the AXIS Lock is probably the strongest folding knife lock that has ever been devised. For it to fail, either the blade, the bar lock itself, or the knife’s frame and scales have to experience a catastrophic failure or deformation.
By contrast, locking mechanisms like liner locks can fail if the liner deforms under pressure. It is nearly impossible to do that with a bar lock without utterly destroying the knife.
So, we have a lock mechanism that is not just stronger, but safer. It is also almost impossible to accidentally disengage the lock. A deliberate action is required to slide the bar to the rear. Contrasting this with a liner lock, which can be unintentionally disengaged under torsion, or a lock back, which can be accidentally depressed with a lot of pressure on the knife handle, and you start to get an impression of the strength of this lock.
Following on the concept of safety, unlike so many other knife lock types, the AXIS Lock enables a user to open and close the blade with one hand, and keep the fingers out of the path of the blade when disengaging.
AXIS Locks have advantages on top of this as well. They are intuitive, easy to use, and do not favor right nor left-handed users, unlike some lock types like liner locks and frame locks, or even button locks, which must be engaged from one side of the knife.
This is a short investigation into the AXIS Lock of Benchmade Knives, but it should paint a rosy picture of why this is one of the best knife locks ever designed, if not the single best. It should also serve as a strong testimony that many other manufacturers have ripped off the design, including Schrade, which calls it a Pivot Lock, Kershaw, which calls it a DuraLock, and Kizer, which calls it a Clutch Lock.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the AXIS Lock has been endlessly imitated.
Shop Benchmade Knives at River’s Edge Cutlery
Here not for information on the AXIS Lock, but for a new Benchmade? Shop River’s Edge Cutlery. They carry a wide range of Benchmade Knives; check out their website and if you have questions or need a recommendation, get in touch with them.
