In June, we took a survey to learn which pocket knives our readers believe should never be discontinued. Respondents were asked to name as many or as few pocket knife models as they wanted, and no brands or blades were off-limits. 404 respondents named a total of 268 models and the average respondent named 4.1 pocket knives. 20 out 404 respondents said that the Benchmade 275 Adamas should never be discontinued.
The big, bad, and overbuilt Benchmade 275 Adamas is the heaviest knife to make the Top 25 list. When it comes to the sort of things this knife was designed to do, that isn’t a bad thing. Benchmade has very close connections with the U.S. Armed Forces, Law Enforcement, and other first responders. They have an entire product classification called the Black Class, made up of knives specifically designed for individuals in these high-risk, high-demand professions. In many ways, the Adamas is the flagship Black Class folding knife. The weight, large blade, and industrial styling indicate that this is a knife meant to be used, and used hard. Knives don’t have to be heavy to be durable, but the Adamas’ extra bulk comes with a purpose.
The AXIS Lock is Benchmade’s signature lock. It was designed by Bill McHenry and Jason Williams in 1997. Les de Asis first saw the lock in action on a trip to McHenry and Williams’s native Rhode Island. It was mechanically simple enough to be mass produced, but reliable, robust, and innately ambidextrous. A year later the first Benchmade production folder with an AXIS Lock, the 710, debuted. By the time the Adamas released in 2012, Benchmade had been making AXIS Lock knives for more than a decade. It should come as no surprise that the Adamas is the strongest AXIS Lock knife Benchmade has ever produced, withstanding 1,717 in-lbs. of torque before exhibiting any sort of lock failure.
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(featured image courtesy of knifecenter.com)
