My EDC for past six years.

Hello everyone!

This is my first post, and I thought I would introduce myself by showing everyone the most meaningful EDC item I have ever owned: My Benchmade 710HSBK.



The 710 was the first 'real' knife I ever bought myself, just over six years ago. I had searched for months on end, scouring forums, and finally found the knife for me. Six years later, and I could not have been happier with my purchase.

I have probably gone a total of no more than twenty or so days without this knife in my right front pocket, and it has certainly seen more than it's share of daily use. From cutting the easy things like paper and cheese, to stripping hundreds of heavy gauge wires (electrical field here), carving sticks and cleaning nails and prying nails (yeah, I know), I have done it all with this knife. I have kept it quite sharp with a Spyderco Sharpmaker and an Edgepro in tandem over the years, using the edgepro only once a year or so when I feel a true re-profiling is needed. The sharpmaker is used every couple weeks to every couple of months depending on my laziness and necessity for sharpness. Due to the fact that the steel used in this blade is M2, it is incredibly difficult to sharpen, taking many times longer than any of my other knives with 154CM or even D2 steel, although the length at which a usably sharp edge is kept is astounding. The blade has been chipped quite severely too many times to count, though they always sharpen out with a couple hours of elbow grease invested. I wish I had an identical yet brand new knife to compare mine to, as I sometimes wonder how much of the blade has been turned to dust! To those of you wondering about the rusting factor of an M2 carbon steel, I will tell you that I have never seen even a hint of rust on the blade or elsewhere, even living here in the Pacific Northwest where rain is the norm. I have never hesitated to put my knife in my pocket wet, and it has even been camping with me many times where constant moisture and wetness has been the environment for days on end.

When the knife was about two years old, one of the Axis lock springs broke, and I had the knife repaired @ the Benchmade shop, which happened to be only a twenty minute drive from my house. They replaced the washers on either side of the blade, and the spring, and the knife was back on my doorstep within the week. I am particularly amazed at how well the knife has held up over the years. I use it extremely roughly at times, and the lockup is still rock solid, with only the tiniest amount of side-to-side blade play (identical to when it was brand new, in fact).

I have tried to EDC many different knives in addition to my 710, though not one has ever even held a candle to it. This has led me in search of a second 710HSBK, though when I do see them on Ebay or whatever, the price is usually pushing $250, and that is quite high, seeing as how I paid $130 for it originally.

As you can see in my picture here, the blade's black coating has been heavily marred, and I have colored the scales with gold paint (mostly worn off), and I am always putting pieces of tape and stuff on it (I think it looks cool). Regardless though, this knife has been a workhorse through and through, and I would buy another in a heartbeat if I could find one at an affordable price.

Thanks for reading my long winded entry here. When you have a piece of equipment with such use and history, it certainly seems as though the respect is due.

Brevous