Benchmade - Mini Emissary 470-1 Knife, Drop-Point Blade, Plain Edge, Satin Finish, Black Handle, Made in the USA

I'll spare the gushing over this knife seen in other reviews on the 470. To summarize, it is excellent. Solid, smooth, lightning quick. It will be my EDC for years and years.A few other notes:1. Your blade may have a touch of play in it (mine did), just tighten the pivot screw and it will be perfect with zero movement. There is a very small tolerance in this screw between a tad too tight which slows down the opening and being fast but with blade wiggle. I'm talking like 1/8th a turn. I recommend a tiny dab of blue loctite on the pivot screw before you start tinkering. Without it, the opening recoil of this knife will definitely start to back that screw out a tiny bit each time and with such a small tolerance on how tight that screw needs to be you will get blade play . I would be very surprised if this voided your warranty, but cannot confirm. You could call benchmade if you are concerned.2. I went ahead and put some loctite on the clip as well. Careful when tightening these screws. I semi-stripped one of them while doing this. Doesn't bother me at all since those screws are nice and snug with some loctite and i'll never need to get them out. I wish they recessed the clip into the knife handle so it would be flush. The screws can just slightly catch your pocket and require a second jiggle to get fully down. This is a very minor inconvenience. The knife sits nice and low in the pocket. I wish the clip were either matte silver or black instead of mirror finish so it would be less obvious that I am carrying a knife, but it's not a huge deal. It does look pretty good on there.3. The coating seems like it is going to scratch up fairly easily. Mine already has a few tiny grey scratches from only a few days of EDC. I'm not at all concerned about this, some might be.4. The knife takes a good 100 openings before it really smooths out. When it first came out of the box I was sort of disappointed. The axis-lock was crunchy and the mechanics just didn't seem like they were to my expectations. However, after fixing the pivot screw and playing with the knife for a while the action is beautiful now. The axis-lock still kinks if i try to only use my thumb instead of thumb and index, but this is not at all a concern to me. I personally never one-handed close the knife.5. The blade was definitely very sharp out of the box and will be just fine for 9/10 people. It will easily go through paper but won't shave your arm. It can be improved with a bit of a touch up.

Just got this knife in the mail and I love it. The mini is smaller in the hand than I thought it would be. It seems to be about the same size as the mini griptillian. It fits well in the hand but what I love most is the aluminum casing. It’s light, smooth and doesn’t smudge with handprints. The blade came razor sharp and seems like it has a strong blade. Came out of the box a little tight but can be adjusted. I work in an office and dress business casual but am an outdoorsman at heart. This knife goes nicely with business or casual. I only wish it came with other blade options like serrations and black. I don’t think that I’ll carry it more than my mini griptillian but I still like it a lot. The spring assist is very cool (my first one) and even unlocked I’m not worried about it coming open in my pocket as it is very secure. I think I’ll start shopping for another benchmade (Made in America!). I had been considering the 940 and mini barrage but ultimately choose the mini emissary and am glad that I did.

Pros: great steel (s30v). Holds a very nice edge. Lightweight. Assisted opening. Been carried daily for a year and a half and has very few signs of wear. Grip is made of scratch resistant material. Benchmade quality tool. Benchmade offers a life time warranty for repairs and sharpening.Cons: grip is a little slippery (my opinion) but not enough that it matters for EDC tasks. Blade has a tiny bit of wiggle out of the box. With the proper tool, 1/8 of a turn snugged it right up and has stayed tight ever since. Comes with a safety, but that is buyers opinion. Generally i don't like knife safeties, I just made it a habit not to engage it and it has never been an issue. The safety has a positive click to lock and I have never accidentally engaged it.Price is a little high in my opinion, however it is a premium steel and back by one of the best knife companies around. This knife is a fantastic EDC option, although it would be limited in any serious camping/backpacking application.