For Benchmade fans, 2010 was a good year. We had the long awaited 755 MPR, and the super sexy, yet sleeper pick of the 741. And you would know it, my favorite knife of 2010 was a knife I assumed I would not like, or even buy. The Benchmade 790 Subrosa.

Don't get me wrong, it looked all well and good, but nothing really compelled me to run out and buy one. As a matter of fact, it was sort of an impulse buy for me. I had a deal fall through on a Spyderco Ti Military. I had the funds and wanted a knife. The Subrosa was there, and so I got one.

I was laid up from late August till early October from knee surgery, so I had a lot of time to play with the knife, and I really grew to love this knife.

The specs for the knife are available on the Benchmade site, so you can check them there. I will just say this... Lotta S30V, and a lot of Titanium. As a matter of fact, it should remind you a bit like a framelocked, titanium handled, S30V bladed version of the classic Benchmade 710. No not exactly, but pretty close. So in other words. If you like the 710, you might want to check this knife out. Handle a bit different, but the blade is pretty close, being a big old blade with a slight recurve.

I love/hate the clip. I like the paddle style clip, and have liked other knives with similar clips. The clip rises up and surrounds the pivot. Which at times looks OK, and at times has a strange Japanese cartoon-ish look to it. However you have to understand this has a function. The clip extends a bit into the travel of the lock bar, and functions as a lock bar limiter, which is a plus for a frame lock (to limit over travel).

As for carry, this is one of the best knives in the pocket for the size. The knife was much thinner than I thought it would be, and it carries like a dream. It does come tip down, which is standard for all liner/frame locked Benchmades.

The 790 uses the Nitrous Assisted Opening System, which is standard on a few Benchmade offerings. Not as slick and cool as the Assisted Opening Axis, but a clear second place winner as assisted openers go. The uniqueness of the Nitrous on this knife, is the application to a frame lock. All other applications have been with a liner lock. In short, the springs for the Nitrous have been made from the liners. On the Subrosa, space is milled into the handles for springs for the Nitrous System. I have always like the Nitrous System. On my 790, it has worked well. It is reliable and fires pretty hard and fast. Not quite up to the standard set by the AO Axis, but pretty close. The 790 does use the conical shaped opening stud, which is not great, but OK. My knife came pretty tight, and it did have a couple of failures to fire in the first 25-30 openings. Since it has broken in, there have been no misfires whatsoever.

The knife feels good in the hand, and the handle is fairly neutral. Meaning it works well in just about any grip or any edge presentation (even reverse grip/edge in). The frame lock works as it should. The tension of the lock is average for a Benchmade. It is not too stiff or strong, which might annoy some folks who like uber strong spring tension on the lock. It works, and is not too hard to unlock. I had heard of some issues with handle scratching. Keep in mind that titanium handles will scratch, but unlike aluminum handles that show ghastly scratch, titanium will scratch. However the underlying metal matches the color of the coating more, and it seems to darken with hand contact (over time). In other words titanium scratches, but keeps its good looks. That being said, the 790 did seem to pick up more notable scratches. I am happy to report, however, that with use the scratches seemed to darken and it behaved like most titanium handled knives, in regards to handle wear. The handle does not have a full backspacer, and wears the standard Devo hat spaces. I don’t love the slightly exposed lock bar lever on the 790, however with a frame lock, this is less of an issue for me than a liner lock.

The blade is your Benchmade standard (almost) 4 inch, slight recurve blade. The performance of this type of blade should be pretty established at this point. The use of S30V should be a plus. Yes, recurves are a challenge for some to resharpen, however using a modern sharpening system should help to overcome this challenge.

The knife works well. It feels secure in the hand without excessive use of “jimping.” People are nuts about jimping these days, and frankly I don’t get it. The most important aspect of grip retention is the grip. Jimping will do nothing but abrade the thumb as the hand slides onto the blade, and it also makes long term cutting chores painful. Proper grip is the keep to knife retention. Jimping gives the illusion of a stronger grip, but again, all it will do is sandpaper your fingers as the grip fails. This is another issue for another day, however worth noting at this point. The 790 feels good in the hand, without making it a sticker bush or a tractor tread.

Sometimes you just bond with a knife. It can be for a variety of reasons. I love the 806, the 420. The Spyderco Delica, the Emerson CQC-7… All for different reasons, some of which have little to do with the knife itself. I find myself bonding deeply with this knife. It is a solid knife. Benchmade makes a good frame lock, and for a fraction of what most other makers charge. The 790 is another example. Where the 741 was too big, and the 755 was too small… I think Goldilocks would say the 790 is “just right.”

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mark G.,

i agree mark !!!
the subrosa is by far my favorite too
it comes in my pocket even more than my 710 those times ... and that means a lot !!!
this 790 is surprising
and the few comments about it is surprising too
thanks to repair a bit that lack of interest

I'll admit it - I am a knife-slut. I EDC the latest acquisition - for a while. My 710 was all but replaced by my 755 - love that knife. The 755, in turn, was replaced by the then new 790... but the 755 snuck back in. Then - a second 630 was found - it went into EDC use... then back to the 'smaller' 790. Today - the 755. I'm fickle. I love the 755 - probably more than the 790. To me, my main detraction of the 790 is the assisted opening - but some days, I like it! Go figure...

Stainz

Great review Mark G, thank you. I love my 790, and the more I carry it the more I love it. It is one of those knives that the initial feel of the knife will not be the same 4 weeks down the road. I had some issues with the frame lock sticking, and with the help of a fellow forum member, the #2 pencil trick worked and now it is very smooth. I agreed with everything you said, from the 710 comparison to the pocket clip. Thanks again and keep the reviews coming.

I like my Subrosa in general, but find the Assisted Opening System over biases the blade shut, making opening much more difficult than desired IMO.

Nice review Mark- I gotta' check one out.

Drew

I have to agree the 710 and 790 are two of my favorites also. They are big knives that carry small, alot of time I just slide them into my pockets.but I hate assisted knives so I made mine unassisted.

quote:

Originally posted by DeS166:
...
I hate assisted knives so I made mine unassisted.

How did you do that?

Hey Mark, I just received mine today, and I think I got a defective knife (the blade is nearly touching the handle). I plan to exchange it, but I wanted to ask you a couple things that I noticed on mine (and was wondering if it's common):

Was your blade perfectly centered? Any blade play when the knife is in the handle? (Ignoring the fact that my knife was touching the handle, mine had ridiculous amounts of blade play).

Was your frame lock extremely sticky? (I had to use both hands to release the lock)

Was your blade razor sharp? (Mine was kind of slightly sharp... couldn't cut paper smoothly all the way).

I know it wasn't a second hand knife for sure (the knife was immaculate), so I'm REALLY hoping my knife was just a single case...

All in all, I really like the knife (design, features, and function), but I just hope the second one I get will not have the same problems. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to put this knife on my "failure" list (and I hate to do that since Benchmade has been amazing for me).

I just got mine today, and I can answer a couple of your questions. My blade is perfectly centered, and there's no play at all. The frame lock just has a slight bit of stick to it. It's not razor sharp, but will cut paper pretty cleanly.

I've been looking at the 790 for a while, and finally today decided I had to go get it. I love it!

Mark, thanks (I think!) for the review. It was the final straw, after reading it I decided it was just a question of when. Today that question was answered :-)