Benchmade Volli Knife Axis Spring Assisted (3.26" Satin) 1000001

This is it, man. This knife is the bee’s knees. The crème dele crème. Benchmade ought to just change their name to Benchmark because they set it with this knife. I carried this knife in my right pocket for the better part of a year and it never let me down. Not once. I carried it through tech school while I built fence on the weekends for some extra cash, and then I carried it once I got hired as a service tech. The only reason I do not carry this knife anymore is because I lost it somewhere. It still brings a tear to my eye, but that’s life. The Volli has a nice, big, domineering blade that slings out with the spring assisted open. At only a little over 4 ounces though, it’s nice and light in the hand and pocket. I don’t know why but this drop point blade with its flat grind always sort of reminded me of a ballerina who enjoyed logging in her spare time. The blade is graceful and nimble but at the same time rugged and hard. The tapered spine helped add to this knifes elegance and beauty. Typical HRC hardness is about 59-61 for S30V stainless steel, which puts it on the higher end of the “sweet spot” for Higher Rockwell Hardness. Without getting into the science of it too much that’s about 1.5% carbon and the V in S30V stands for vanadium carbides which is about 4%. In my opinion that is a great steel choice for all around performance and durability. It’s a tough steel that can handle daily wear and tear but its not impossible to sharpen. The pinnacle of this knifes ability really showed for me when I used it to cut about twenty 10’x10’ pieces of sod right from the ground. Forget about cardboard or tape, that sod was some serious abuse. It was wet and about twenty degrees outside. Not only did the SPM-S30V steel hold up like a champ but the dirt and grime did not seem to affect the foldability at all. In fact, I do not remember having much of a challenge at all cleaning it out. The contoured G10 scales were clearly brewed up in a mystical lab somewhere. They provide a ton of grip but slide in and out of the pocket unnoticeably. Like all Benchmades the pocket clip kept it snug in my pocket, which is huge for me. I don’t want to have to constantly worry about my knife falling out. I want to be able to ride a rollercoaster or bungee jump with it if I want and not have it fall out. I had this knife in and out of the pocket easily ten to twenty times a day and pocket clip never showed the slightest hint of coming loose. As a technician I want to be able to crawl and roll around on the ground without having to worry about the knife in my pocket. The Volli not only could handle any ground rolling abuse thrown at it but the black G10 kept it looking clean and crisp. Speaking of pockets, the Volli’s sleek design, as well as the backspacer seemed to be perfect for keeping pocket lint and dirt out of the axis lock. On my last day of carrying this knife I remember the lock sliding back just as well as it did right out of the box. I honestly as hard as I try, cannot think of one single thing I did not like about this knife. Kudos to Benchmade. This knife is really something special. And at the price I can’t recommend it enough. It really is the perfect EDC. I never felt over or under knifed. Its small enough for the most minute of tasks and big enough you feel secure.