Pros: Lock Type, Blade Material, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Weight, Ease of Opening, Blade Sharpness
Cons: None
Nicely Done Piece of Equipment
Firstly, it’s a $400+ Benchmade special-purpose non-mass-produced knife. Considering the design, engineering, materials, construction, finish, quality, customer service, and warranty this maker includes with this knife, and the fact you could not re-produce one like it in your typical home workshop, the price is not unreasonable, just expensive. (Remember: a lifetime warranty from an unprofitable company isn’t worth the paper it’s written on!) About the knife: I have a large-size, medium-build hand, and the Infidel is very comfortable in size, shape and feel. The shape feels as good in my hand a brass knuckles without the rings, and both ends would serve well as an emergency pummel. All the edges on the handle are chamfered so it won’t chafe your hand in use. The serrations on the switch, however, are “almost” sharp, which is good. When you put your thumb on the blade, bare-handed or gloved, wet or dry, your thumb stays planted in place. Two spring pins fasten the switch so it’s not likely to ever just fall off. It takes about 6 pounds of pressure for auto-out and about the same for auto-in…less than the trigger pressure of a double-action handgun. Being an inertia driven blade, if you overcome the spring drive either way, there is no spring pressure on the blade, meaning if you deploy (or retract) the blade against resistance, it won’t penetrate or retract. So, if you open it in your pocket, it won’t go very deep into your flesh – maybe a half-inch or so just because it’s so sharp and pointed. The switch requires about ¾” of travel to operate, so no additional safety is used or needed. Also, when opening, if you do not release pressure on the switch, the blade still locks and stays locked until you intentionally retract it. This knife is extremely fast, locks up solid with just a barely noticeable amount of blade play, and is LOUD. When it opens or closes, you and anybody around you will know it. The aluminum handles sandwich the blade between stainless steel liners – one that matches the contour of the handle completely, and the other is the full width of the blade opening. Six T-6 torx screws on each side hold it all together. The stainless belt clip is, for obvious reasons, tip-down only, and is fastened with two T-6 screws. No lanyard hole/loop included or provided for, so tie a string to the belt loop if you’re worried about dropping it out of a tree or into the ocean. The nylon belt-sheath is intended for vertical carry. It has two horizontal “belt loops” sewn on, but only about 1”- 1.2” wide. Through those two loops is a removable plastic “adapter” that makes it fit vertically on a belt up to 2” wide (maybe 2.5” if you force it). This adapter is the only part of the rig I question – I suspect it will break over time, and you may lose your knife. The sheath has a flap closure with a large sturdy strap. This strap has a nice feature of Velcro on the outside of it, which allows you to quickly convert the sheath to a “pouch”. Your pouched Infidel would then be good to go, with no interference from the closure strap. I own this knife and I like it a lot. I want another one with a chisel-grind tanto blade.
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