Hey everybody,

I've been knife shopping for a few weeks now after I lost my Benchmade Griptilian that I had for years. I enjoyed my benchmade, but while shopping around, found there are a lot more options since the last time I purchased a knife. Get's my head spinning with all the materials and available options. Anyhow, I think I might have a tall order in what I want in a knife. I've even considered buying 2 separate knives for the task I have in mind.

I work in an office environment and wear a suit everyday to work. With that being said, I'm an avid hunter and spend most of the fall season in the woods. I'm looking for an EDC knife that would most likely be used to open packages, cut down boxes, etc. but could also be used to field dress a deer in a pinch. I feel like that's opposite ends of the spectrum in needs, but I'll throw out what I've got it narrowed down to and see what y'all think.

I'm looking at the following to meet the requirements above:

Benchmade 698 Foray
Zero Tolerance 0532CF

With the possibility of dedicating the above knives to EDC and buying this knife as a hunting season pocket knife:

Buck Vantage Pro Small

Pictures below in order listed above. I'd really like to keep my options limited to Benchmade and Zero Tolerance for an EDC knife. But I'm open to different models by these manufacturers. You can see from the pics below, I like certain aesthetics in the knives and I like that they both share the same kind of "super steel". I want something sleek and useful that will last me a lifetime. The buck knife I threw in there as it is cheaper and I could just swap out for it when I'm heading out into the field. Any help or direction would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Shopko has a small linerlock that looks like a slip joint traditional small pocket knife for under 20.  
That will be nice and benign for the office.  
I have a small throw-away Barlow from 40 years back that will deburr mild steel or softer metals since I don't want to use my newer slip-joints for that.

I'd go with the ZT.

The Buck is crap. Sorry to say that so blatantly, but the Vantage is a poor design coupled with Buck's even poorer quality control. It looks and feels nice, but these knives are not made to withstand the test of time.

I'd skip the Benchmade for different reasons. Operating an axis lock with cold wet hands (like you might in the woods) isn't exactly an easy task. I don't know about that particular knife, but glove use can also cause issues. My issues with the axis lock in a work knife is actually why I only own flippers now.

That said, if you spend decent time in the woods, I would avoid super steels. They have merit for EDC, but a knife you can't sharpen with a simple stone in the field quickly loses practicality.

I actually have a foray. It is nice and slim, grip is slicker than I would like. blade shape is nice but it does have a slight recurve. Speculation on cold and axis lock does not hold true for me in Minnesota used with cold hands or gloves.

Of the choices, I'd go with the Benchmade Foray or the 940-1.

I've never had any problems opening an Axis lock under any conditions.

Super steels are fine, and pocket sized diamond sharpeners can be had for under 10 bucks, so field sharpening is not a concern.

Finally, I greatly prefer fixed blades for hunting, mainly because they are easy to clean. I sharpen other people's knives and it is fairly common to encounter last season's kill in folders of all types.

I usually use fixed blades in the field. There are rare occurrences when I need whatever knife I have on me, which usually ends up being a folder. This happens when I'm far away from my vehicle, or if the animal expires in an area where I can't get my vehicle and I need to lighten the load of the animal before dragging it to a place my vehicle can reach. Thank you for the information. I looked at the 940-1 and it's on up there in price. $200 was already eating my soul to spend. I've never owned a tanto or reverse tanto style knife either. Most of my knives are drop point with a few clip points in the mix.

After thinking about it more, I think it would be best to purchase 2 separate knives. A folder for edc task and possibly a small fixed blade or folder in S30v or similar steel for hunting use. Think I might be asking too much of one knife to perform both. Same reason I have multiple AR's, they serve different purposes. A light weight knife, with a good steel for everyday task should serve my purposes perfectly. Back to the drawing board on finding something that meets that criteria. Thanks fellas!

Thank you for the information. I'll look more into the vantage and it's pitfalls.

Are you happy your foray purchase Minnesota dude?

For economy, a Kershaw Skyline makes a great EDC/Office knife. It is light, and not at all "murdery." It gets super sharp, but edge retention is just OK.

For hunting a Mora will do nicely and you're all set for under 50 bucks.

I'm no Star_Scream, but I have dozens of folders and dozens of fixed blades, and these would be my high value picks.

I have a fixed blade mora that surprised me for the price. I'm leaning towards the Benchmade Hidden Canyon Hunter for my hunting season needs. It's small, so I'm more likely to carry it with me like a folder. And as you said, a fixed blade is preferred for hunting purposes.

Still in search of a "gentlemen's folder" for EDC/office knife. I think the Foray will fit the bill for that, or even the 0562cf (even though this one seems much larger then the foray), but am shopping around a little bit more before pulling the trigger and dropping $200. Also considering the 940-2 in G10. Thanks again!

yup I am happy with mine. was in my pocket when I typed the previous response. like I said the only thing I would change would be a little bit grippier and maybe ditch the recurve for sharpening. I guess i should add though I checked one out in cabelas and the one on display the bevel was visibly off centered and made me think wtf benchmade.

Seems like their QC has gone down. But their customer service department is great. Basically, their customer service department has become their QC department after the purchase. Which is not a good thing.