Benchmade Bugout AXIS Lock Knife Black (3.24" Black) 535BK-1902

I have dozens of folders and this has become my new go-to EDC. It has a great blade, open action and it's incredibly light. Perfect blade size for real work, but not too big. Great knife and a good price.

This is perfect for me - I love the deep carry clip and the fact that the knife is light and doesn't make my pocket hang down. Steel quality is very good. Ergonomics also perfect for my hand. I'd buy it again without hesitation.

This is a great knife, my first Benchmade and it will be my last. This is my first expensive (for me), American made knife. Factoring the price, which is close to $150 after taxes, it's hard to stomach a blade with such an uneven grind. The knife is sharp and I'm sure it will serve me well and for a long time, but when I'm paying so much, I expect a better level of quality. The blade is the most important part of a knife and I'm really surprised a brand like Benchmade which I thought would be great quality, would ship a knife with an uneven grind. Furthermore, this is a BladeHQ exclusive, which means Benchmade is aware they were sending these off to people who A) are more likely to be discerning customers, and B) will have the inconvenience of not being able to hold the product before buying and unable to switch it without mailing it back. That is just such a huge miss for me, I will bring my business elsewhere. In retrospect I should have returned it before using it and requested a better quality knife. In the end, it's a great knife. I love the shape and it disappears in my pocket unnoticeable until I need it then it's out quick, and it's super sharp despite the poor grind. There's alot to love about this knife and I will use it for a long time, but when I spend that much I want better quality.

Got this after looking at several other EDC knives and this thing really fit the bill. Feels very high quality despite being surprisingly light.

This is my first Benchmade and it held up to everything good I've heard. Its incredibly light and comfortable to carry that at the end of the day I forget its there. I would recommend this to anyone,

This knife does everything an EDC knife should do. It is lightweight, slicey, ergonomic, and it comes with a deep carry clip. The Blackout color is what I needed to finally pull the trigger on buying one. Mine came perfectly centered from BladeHQ, and has taken the place of my ZT 0450 as my EDC knife.

I have been pleased with the Benchmade line of knives including the Bugout and have a couple of them. A light weight working knife - yes..but never considered them a great looking knife before...but this version is a looker too... Form, function, fashion and still light weight - its a great knife for the $. OK though the problem with this knife is I don't want to scuff it up...but that's what its for and it wouldn't be happy sitting around in the box.

Im not a big fan of thumb studs. Give me a flipper, or Spydie hole any day. But the Bugout may just change my thinking on that. It fires out using the thumb stud and the detent is as good as they come. Very sharp out of the box and haven’t had to sharpen it yet. I liked so much I bought another one...lol. Great knife, great EDC.

I Fidget a lot with my knives and the Bugout is by far the best to play with! You already know S30V is a good steel and that Benchmade makes reliable blades, so if your looking for an awesome knife to annoy people around you with, this is it!

I have read good and bad reviews for this knife. It's very light, easy to open and close, good fit and finish, sharp out of the box, and feels good in the hand. It's a pleasure to pull this knife out of my pocket and use it for about any task that I've needed a knife for since I got it. I love it. I also like the fact that it's black exclusive to Blade HQ.

The Blade HQ BUGOUT is all that a blade junky needs. It is hands down my new favorite knife. The black on black is how this knife should have always been manufactured. GET ONE BEFORE THE ARE GONE!

I'm a benchmade fan but I admit I was not in love with the bugout at first. I finally cracked and bought the blackout BladeHQ model (how could you not?). I've been using it as my edc since the release and love it. I've even worn it with a suit a few times, already. It is so light you'll forget it's there and it showed no signs of wearing out my nicer clothes. The knife was tuned perfectly and sharp right out of the box. Only thing that would have made it better would have been a BladeHQ logo on the blade, which is amazing. Next stop will be the Sierra's for fly fishing.

Love the completely blacked out Bugout. It is so slim and light weight. Easy to forget about, until needed. Highly recommend!!!

My second Bugout. Love the Ranger Green Bugout and now love the Blackout. Sharp right out of the box, has the best deep carry clip, cant even tell when its in my jeans pocket.

Wow. My favorite Bugout yet. S30V and
nice weight size and blade shape.
Great EDC knife style and Benchmade quality.
I especially like the AXIS Lock system
used in all the Benchmade knives.
Thanks BladeHQ for this exclusive.

Love the look of the all black Bugout. It's stealthy, slim and light weight. I almost forget that I'm carrying it with me. I would recommend it anyone for a light weight carry.

It’s great quality, small enough for EDC and very light. Mine came perfect. Opens well, no stiffness or sticking, and I love the black. Can’t go wrong with a Benchmade.

This is my second Bugout--I already have a Ranger Green which is my EDC (though the Blackout is angling to take its place). Otherwise, it's a Benchmade: great quality, super sharp.

Great EDC knife. Came in 4 days. Very sharp and light weight. Replaced my Blade-Tech Pro Hunter Magnum. Nothing wrong with the Blade Tech after 10 years, just wanted something lighter but high quality. Very Pleased.

Have a few other brands but saw this all black one and couldn't resist anymore. Extremely light-weight, can easily forget you are carrying it! The blade didn't come as sharp as I thought it would but still fantastic action and I love the AXIS lock. Would highly recommend this to anyone who asked.

Cool knife, but this is not a "bugout" type of knife. As others have stated, this knife feels very "flimsy" and almost has a "cheap" knife feel.

Pros - S30V Steel, deep carry clip, lightweight

Cons- Price, feel

Good knife overall, but i think the hype for this knife is extremely overblown for what it is.

Thats not a knoife...This is a knoife. Its benchmade, its blackout, lightweight, super sharp, quality blade. What is there not to like.

I love this knife for EDC the light weight makes it feel like it isn't there until you need it.

It's a Benchmade!! That's really all you need to say because everything they make is amazing and they back up what they make! I have two Bugouts now and I really like the all black look of this one!

Wanted a Bugout for awhile but I wasn't keen on the blue or green handles so when I got the notification that there was going to be a black handle version, I had to jump on it.

Blade is nicely centered, the knife is incredibly light and well suited for EDC. I still like my heavy duty folders but for office carry, the Bugout is going to be my go to.

This is still for me, THE KING of lightweight everyday carry. Para 3 LW comes next easy. Best blade-to-handle-to-weight ratio. Size is perfect even for sheeple. Pocket clip is perfect. Very thin in the pocket. I live in the Philippines so the whole BM debacle is a non-factor. The only thing I would change are the scales -- Jade G10 for that CPM-M4 look ;)

Blade centering was good and action is smooth. Grind is not perfect tho, it flares out toward the tip.
This is great for what it is made for, a slim and lightweight EDC knife. It is not a hard use knife. That being said, it rides great in the pocket and it is a pretty good slicer!

It's hard to say something new about the Bugout. It's incredibly light, takes up little room in the pocket, has an excellent blade shape, comes razor sharp out of the box, and stays sharp for a long time with normal use. It's my favorite EDC and hiking/backpacking knife.

Unfortunately, sometimes Benchmade slips up with quality control these days. I ordered three of these (that's how much i love the Bugout). One of them is absolutely perfect, one has blade centering that is just slightly off, no big deal. The other has blade centering so far off it's almost touching the scale.

Fortunately, Blade HQ has amazing customer service, so I was able to return the bad one no questions asked for a full refund. Benchmade's customer service is equally good, and they stand behind their products like few other companies. I have a blue Bugout that came severely off-center as well and Benchmade will be fixing that one for me.

In short, buy it! You won't be out anything if you happen to get a less than perfect example. One of these two excellent companies will take of you.

I absolutely love this knife. I have the blue and the ranger green but needed a all black version. The deployment is smooth as silk and the lock up is classic axis lock. You can't go wrong with Benchmade. When you carry this knife it is like nothing weight wise. Can't say enough good things about it. Great job Blade HQ and Benchmade.

Benchmade has always been good quality, but I have been more of a Spyderco guy over the years; nonetheless once I got the fit and feel and lightness of this blade; all I can say is I am amazed how light it carries and has a great deep pocket clip stock; for its intended purpose this is a great knife and the all black version is just a bonus.

The BHQ exclusive blackout is the cleanest looking of all the Bugout versions. Smooth action, sharp out of the box, very light weight.

My only negatives are that the Axis lock can stick at times (which may be a break in adjustment), and the handles do flex under stress.

However, for EDC and average use, you can't go wrong!

I have the green one and just bought the black. they are superb EDC knives. getcha one or two.

Not my first Benchmade, nor my first Bugout. Came out of the box a little stiff but its breaking in nicely. Fit and finish look good too. Love the BladeHQ exclusive black. Keep up the good work.

Bought this knife for my son for his birthday and he absolutely LOVES it! He already had a Benchmade and couldn’t wait for the Blackout Bugout to come out. In fact, on the day it was released, he sent me the link to your website and said “This is what I want for my birthday”, so of course I ordered it immediately. My son loves your knives and the Benchmade is a definite FAVORITE!!!

This knife works well for light to medium duty EDC tasks. It came with a great cutting edge and a well centered blade when closed. Opening and closing the knife blade is smooth and easy and did not require any additional lubrication. I especially like the black coated blade which does not shock non knife people when I use it when dining out at restaurants. I recommended this knife to anyone looking for a low profile EDC knife

I've had my ranger green bugout for a little over a year now and I love it and with the black colors I had to get it. I can recomend anyone this knife.

For the past 2 years or so I’ve only carried knives that were black on black. This was a perfect addition to my collection. I also love to fidget with my knives. My favorite part about it is that I can flip it over and over and since it’s so light it doesn’t make a loud clicking sound when flicking it open. I finally found a knife to play with that won’t send my SO over the edge!!! Thanks BladeHQ and Benchmade!!!! You might have saved my relationship!!

I carry my original everyday. Why not get another.

After giving this knife a fair trial, while others nay like it, this model will not make it into my EDC rotation. First, it feels too flimsy and I have serious reservation about it being able to hold up under normal use. certain tasks that I perform on a daily basis makes it feel like it may fail. You should be able to have confidence in your chosen carry.
Next, is the quality control. There are very different grind angles on each side of the blade. One side is ground back to expose over an 1/8 of an inch to the steel under the coating while the other side exposes less that 1/16. It was not sharp at all out of the box.
Overall, for the price point, I am completely unimpressed with the Bugout. I will carry this in my lunchbox for slicing fruit or meat.
Benchmade really missed the mark on this one.

Overall the one that I got was decent. The centering was good, the blade was sharp however the action was super sticky. I have since lubed it up and it works very well now but out of the box it was impossible to open it smoothly.

I'm a big fan of BM and the axis lock. I think my 940 and Mini grip must have spoiled me because the action on my Bugout was extremely stiff and even a little crunchy.

Looks like I need to move on to the Super Freek

Decided to add the blackout version to my collection after getting some great use out of my green bugout. Blade centering, action, and the factory edge were much better on this one than the first bugout I ordered. Benchmade does a pretty decent job of heat treating their S30V, but I'm curious to see how the coating holds up. If you're on the fence, go ahead and pick one up. It's well worth it!

This is my first Benchmade and first axis lock knife. Initially I was unimpressed with the feel of the scales they felt "cheap" to me but as I've carried it these last 2 or 3 days, the handle make this knife so light you seriously forget its there. Im having fun with it being my first axis lock knife and I even got a small cut on my palm trying to master this new locking system. I loved how sharp the knife came in and the packaging it came in. I will definitely put this into my EDC rotation

This is a great knife for lightweight every day carry. I ordered 2 of these and both came very sharp, with no blemishes, and perfect centering. Make no mistake, this isn't a hard use survival knife, but it handles everyday tasks with ease. This was my first Benchmade purchase and I will definitely be buying more in the future

I’ve always wanted a bugout but was never sold on the color choices. Once I saw this I had to have it. So far I love it. It is extremely light and doesn’t even feel like I have a knife in my pocket. Blade centering in right in the middle, blade is extremely sharp and the action is great. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a light weight edc knife.

Great sized pocket knife. So light and thin you don’t even know it’s there. First axis lock and i love it!

This is my 2nd bugout. Love it. Kudos to BladeHQ, I ordered Friday afternoon and received Monday afternoon here in NJ! Mine came perfectly centered, evenly ground, with the pivot just a tad too tight, but after backing it off a tick the knife if fallshutty!

I know benchmade was probably pumping these things out at the factory trying to fill a big order by the release date, so I’m not too surprised at the quality of this knife. Just like my last bugout I ordered 6 months ago or so, this knife came out of the box super sharp, the coating on the blade is super nice with no blemishes, action is alittle sticky but will break in. My problem is with the blade centering. I’m not a real centering snob, but no joke my blackout bugout out of the box was literally rubbing on the scale on the right side. The blade was literally TOUCHING the scale. I just don’t understand why blade HQ would accept that kind of quality. I think you guys need to start opening boxes and checking these things before they go out. Also, the grind on the edge is super uneven, high on one side, low on the other. Idk, just some thoughts guys. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get one of the good ones like I did the first time I bought a bugout.

I have carried the Kershaw Leek for a long time. I have wanted to change things up. I came across the Bugout and liked the look, so I ordered it. It is a very light knife, but it is going to be able to handle everything I would throw at it.

Waited a while to get one of these but finally jumped on this Bugout when it was released in BLACKOUT. Very nice quality materials and solid AXIS Lock. Will take a while to get used to it's light weight. Will update this review in a few months for sure after it's been properly carried and used. I am very happy so far and am glad I got it.

first and formost big props to blade hq for oustanding customer service and lightning fast shipping. this really is in my opion one of the best bang for you buck for a edc knife. excellent action disappears in the pocket super sharp out of the box graet steel and perfect quality i cant recomend this knife and blade hq enough.

Ordered this knife on Friday to see what all the hype is about, glad I did. Perfect centering, sharp and lightning fast shipping. I will be purchasing a Ben Blue in the future.

This is my first Benchmade knife. I bought it because of the all black color. My first impressions is that the handle material was cheap for the price of the knife, and the knife is small compared to my para 2. It is very lightweight, I was wearing basketball shorts when it arrived and I've never had a knife feel so weightless in my pocket, like its not there. after only a few hours of having it in my shorts and doing one handed flips, I fell in love with this little knife. It's very strong lockup and well built and feels so great in pocket. If you like to get the best bang for your buck there are better options like the para 3. as far as EDC this is everything that I want. and that batman look really hits the spot thanks BladeHQ

This is my 3rd Bugout (gots to color coordinate yo!), so was pretty much as expected... Super lightweight, sturdy, and can easily be dropped in the pocket or ruck sack and you forget it is there. Since it is new, the Axis lock needs a bit of a break in, but I can feel it getting better with each open. Agree with other reviewers... Grivory scales are a bit sharp on the butt end of the knife and dug into my palms a bit. Guess that is a small price to pay for how fun the Axis lock is to play with! :-)

Ordered after many many friends have told me how much they love the Bugout. I am beyond impressed with this blade.

I have been carrying a lightweight PM3 for about 6 months and wow this is going right in the left pocket opposite the PM3.

ALSO! How did you guys do it Blade HQ, shipped and delivered to me in 2 days? Ordered Friday and in my hands Monday after lunch? Across the country nonetheless!

Thanks and STAY SHARP Y'all!!!

I've been hearing great things about the Bugout since it release several years ago, but I never pulled the trigger because I was never a fan of the colors. I knew that they'd release a black eventually so I held off. I'm glad I did. Here's my thoughts about the Blackout Bugout.

Pros:
-Super lightweight
-Functional and versatile blade shape
-Axis lock is fidget factor 5000
-Deep carry pocket clip
-Good steel
-Thin blade stock
-Good sharpening choil

Cons:
-Grivory handle flexes under pressure (not a big deal, if you don't plan on chopping down trees and such)
-Edges of Grivory scales are sharp
-Price is a bit high for what you get

Overall I can see why people love the Bugout. This is a solid EDC for almost any user and I highly recommend it, if you're not on a budget. I don't think it will knock any of my favorites out of my pocket, but it will definitely work it's way into the rotation.