Here are my initial thoughts on the 13150-1: This is a cool little knife. I say little because the handle is at my personal bare minimum of 4.25"....but, it met the minimum!


The clip is one thing that was a surprise. It is a polished heavy stainless steel clip with an unobtrusive Harley logo near the top.


The handle feels quite light, but for the price of a Grip, that's ok with me.


It has thumb jimping via jimped exposed liners and a little bit of formed ribbing on the plastic handle. The knife also has partial lineers...all of which are similar to that found on a Grip.

The Axis buttons and the thumb studs look like little motorcycle pistons, which is pretty cool, but they also feel great!

The D2 blade came dead centered and adjusted perfectly for doing an Axis-flip right out of the box. Getting a nice D2 blade was a big plus, and it is not skimpy on mass. It seems about right for this size of knife, and is the same thickness (0.112") as a 943 blade. The HD blade is 0.85" tall, where a 943 blade is only about 0.785". What this means is if you can live with a 943 blade, this one is even more massive. It measures 3.25" in length.

The blade was nice and sharp right out of the box, being able to easily slice through a whole sheet of type paper in one stroke...not a push cut, but one where you draw the knife at the same time....know what I mean? The grind on mine is a bit lopsided, with most of the grinding having taken place on the left side of the blade. I think that was just a fluke, and should easily sharpen back to the middle when the time is right.

The handle is a little slick, but with the nicely shaped underside, your fingers stay put pretty well. The back spacer is a separate rounded piece of plastic of some type that humps up slightly and feels great in the grip and its fit and finish are fine. The handle is also pre-drilled for left or right hand clip installation and it has a lanyard hole.

Adjustment and access: The pivot screw is "outside" of the handle and appears to be a T-6 Torx screw, as are the other handle and clip screws. Such a small Torx size on the pivot is a first for me, but I see no problem with it since the screw itself has a full 1/4" head.

The box is done up well with flame graphics for Harley-Davidson in black, white, aluminum & orange. The cloth bag is black with orange print that reads Harley-Davidson knives, and the owners manual bears the Harley logo as well as Benchmade's.

Here are the only things I would (or will) change: I'm not a big fan of Bowie-shaped blades that have a swooped upper edge. I may straighten that out to a spine like you'd see on a 943. Also, with the steel being D2, I would think it could handle a little taller grind...but remember, it is already ground a little taller than our old favorite, the 943, and so it should cut as well or better. Like SteveL, I may add a little mass to the inside of the handle, but if you don't, it is still ok as is.

All in all, I like the knife and am glad I bought it. For what you are getting, it's a bargain, and another winner for Benchmade.

-fj

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fastjan,

Great review, would love to see some pics.

I've beed eyeing that one up... maybe next month

Thanks for the review... I like the looks of this knife as well.. I love the blade shape, clip point bowie or whatever they call it... It works.. D2 steel, too... This knife can be found for a sweet price (well under msrp) and I want to pick one up as well... Unfortunately I spend way too much on knives, so its on the back burner for now .

Great review there, Fj. So does it have partial liners like a Grip and the 530?

Good review.

I look at the model as a reasonable alternative to the Mini-Griptillian.

Yes, the model does feature partial liners.

quote:

I look at the model as a reasonable alternative to the Mini-Griptillian.

Blade lenght it's more compatible to a large grip

Great review fj! Wish I had a way with words like you do...

Pictures please!

OK, I added a few pictures.

-fj

quote:

Trail Boss asked...So does it have partial liners like a Grip and the 530?

Yes, they look like the ones on a large Grip and I tried to show them in one of the new pictures, above.

-fj