Benchmade 880 Dark Star
Folding Knife Review

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Benchmade Allen Elishewitz
880 - Dark Star

As one knifenut said, Dark Star is the knife that one should wear with a tux ;) Nice looking piece & very light as you can see from the specs. Handle has a good grip, but seems somewhat small to me. Spear point blade looks really cool, but the finish seems somewhat, how to say, not very god. Well, might be ATS-34 without coating, although as far as I know ATS-34 can be polished well. Don't really know what was the problem with this one :). I doubt I'll ever use it as a utility knife though.

Later on Benchmade switched from Hitachi ATS-34 to US made 154CM, which is pretty much identical steel. Ref - ATS-34 vs. 154CN steel comparison graph. As you can see 154CM has slightly more Manganese(Mn), but that's it. Although, I am not sure whether or not Darkstar was ever produced in that [154CM] steel. It was discontinued somewhere during that switch.

One of the biggest problems I've had with the Dark Star was it's liner lock. I don't like liner locks in general, and I don't like Titanium linerlocks even more. Contrary to the hollywood myths about Titanium swords and other stuff, it is a soft metal and not suitable for many applications, liner locks being one of them. That's my opinion of course, because lots of makers do use it in knife liner locks. On the other hand, Titanium alloys are fine in framelocks. Scott Cook Lochsa folder being the finest example of Titanium framelock.

I never really used this blade, had it as a show piece for a while and later on, gave it to my friend, as a birthday present, I knew he liked a lot. Can't say he's using it either, but he's not really a knife guy.

Specifications:

  • Steel: #880 Elishewitz Design
  • Steel: ATS-34 stainless steel 59-61 HRC
  • Blade: 95.25mm (3¾")
  • Thickness: 3.05mm (0.120")
  • OAL: 218.4mm (8.60") Closed: 123.8mm (4.875")
  • Handle: : G10 scales/anodized titanium liners
  • Lock Mechanism: Titanium locking-liner
  • Weight: 104g (3.70oz)
  • Warranty: Limited Lifetime
  • Acquired - 03/2000 Price - 115.00$

Last updated - 05/19/19

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