Benchmade 530 Pardue Design Knife

My favorite knife of many...too many
Knife Review:

I own a lot of knives. Let me list some: Recon Tanto, Microtech Scarab, Benchmade Butterfly, Sypderco Endura, Swamp Rat, Gerber Hunter, CRKT Tanto, etc... Now of all these knives (which is just a off the top of my head sample of what I own)...this is my favorite one. Here's why:

If I was going to live in a land like Jurassic Park out in the wild where I need a strong knife to defend myself with perhaps...but mostly to do heavy and light tasks with and have it last forever, I would want my Swamp Rat.

If I was going to go hiking on a long day hike where I might need a knife, I would take the Gerber Hunter.

If I had to impress some younger person I would bring the Butterfly.

If I had to fight an intruder in my house I would use the CRKT Tanto (over the Recon Tanto because of the better balance and skull crusher pommel)

If I had to take a knife out on the town, thinking I might run into trouble, and then have...
Excellent little pocket knife
I was looking for a replacement for my older Gerber knife, which has been a pretty dependable tool but was always a bit too thick, more than a little cumbersome and a tad heavy for me to use as a personal carry blade on a daily basis. Even though I preferred having another knife with a true opening assist function, I ultimated narrowed my choices to two knives that emphasized compactness, thinness and lightness above all else, not to mention choosing models that worked well with my smaller hands. This Benchmade 530 Pardue was one finalist, the other was a SOG Flash II which was roughly twenty bucks cheaper. I really liked how the Flash II felt in hand, but I couldn't get over the amount of wobble the blade had at its hinge point. In the end I went with the old adage "you get what you pay for" and bought the Benchmade...and I haven't regretted the decision one bit.

This Mel Pardue design opens easily with a flick of both thumb and wrist, and closes just as easily with a...
Super light! Your go-to sports knife...you'll forget it's on you!
First off...this review is for the 530S (S for partially serrated.)

I love this knife. Why you ask? What makes it unique or different from other folders or lock-backs? Here we go:

1. It is really light. I wear it in my nylon running shorts (waistband) and I don't even notice it. Actual weight on my scale is 1.94 oz (54.9 g.)

2. No other knife this light has such a proven and reliable locking mechanism, the Axis lock which Benchmade owns the patent to. It is among the strongest locking mechanisms made, and it's ambidextrous.

3. For such a lightweight knife, it has a very robust blade...a full 3.25 inches! I suppose it's on the thin side for Benchmade, but not so thin as to flex or make me wish it were thicker.

4. This knife is really thin (0.37 inches!) The handle is very slim (which helps it go unnoticed while wearing it,) but not too slim as to make it poorly functioning. The handle is made of a very tough plastic (they call it...

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