Gear Nerding: Benchmade 555 Mini Griptilian
Exposing my small-mindedness here, but I don’t really understand how anybody can operate in their day-to-day life without a pocketknife. I use mine several times a day. I have a handful of them - none of them are fancy or terribly expensive. But this is the one that is in my pocket every day, and the only one I really need.
It’s a Benchmade Mini Griptilian - this particular model has a thumb hole rather than a thumb stud. That’s how you open it - you position your thumb in the hole and flick it open. I have knives with thumb studs and the hole works much better for me.
When I originally bought it a few years ago, it was around eighty bucks. More now, I’m sure. That might seem expensive if you’re not into pocketknives, but I promise it’s not. Eighty bucks for a tool that will last you a lifetime is nothing. You can easily spend five or ten times as much for a pocketknife that won’t offer any more functionality.
In fairness, you can spend half as much, too. But USA-made choices in this price range (or below) are few and far between. Lightweight, small but not too small, durable, and the Axis Lock blade locking mechanism is much less likely to fail compared to a liner lock.
This post also gives me an opportunity to take a snazzy lifestyle/product shot. Excuse the scratches - like I said, I actually use the thing.