Benchmade Mini Griptilian AXIS Lock Knife Black (2.91" Satin Serr) 555S-S30V

I have carried this knife every day for six years now. It is a thoughtful and nearly perfect design. The axis lock is smooth and durable, and can be closed easily with one hand. I have disassembled and cleaned the knife exactly once in all the time I have owned it, and it remains fairly smooth. It has developed a little more play than it used to have, though I could probably replace the bushings and eliminate that. It isn't enough to bother me. Deployment is fast and consistent, even with gloves on– I love the thumbhole. The handle shape itself is no great shakes, but it's fine. The plastic has a lot of glass reinforcement to it and mine shows almost no wear even after years of use. Liberal steel jimping backs up the plastic handle where needed for excellent grip. The blade shape is wonderful, it gives you a very useful cutting edge that is very easy to work under one layer without damaging whatever is behind it. I have used it for cutting plastic wrap off palettes and clothes off of patients, and these kind of tasks are much more confident with this blade shape. Edge retention is pretty freaking good and it sharpens easily. Six years on, the tip is still intact in spite of, shall we say, using it a little harder than it was probably designed to be used. Two qualms with this knife, one very minor and one that might impact your buying decision. The clip is painted black which is a little chintzy for a knife this expensive. Mine started showing scrapes almost immediately and is now mainly silver. I have no idea why they wouldn't either powdercoat or chemically patina ("cold blue") this part if they needed to make it dark. Again, a pretty minor gripe. My more major qualm is with the serrations. The Spyderco-style "big little little" pattern is great out of the box. But did you know that even Benchmade's "Lifesharp" program won't sharpen serrations? After over half a decade of hard use mine are visibly worn and no longer offer a heck of a lot of utility, and there is, to the best of my knowledge, nothing to be done about this. I would heartily recommend this knife, but would encourage buyers to consider if they really need a serrated edge. If I lost this tomorrow I would buy it again in a heartbeat, but not with the combo edge.