Benchmade 730 Elishewitz

         I just came across a pristine Benchmade 730BT Ares designed by Allen Elishewitz.  It’s an amazing knife, and I'm lucky to have it pass through my hands.

Let’s walk through what we can find out about it.

Benchmade 730BT by Allen Elishewitz

The Benchmade logo has changed over time.  This logo says Benchmade across the butterfly and has two antennae.  Under the butterfly, you'll find U.S.A. printed.  This was the logo Benchmade used from 1999 to 2002.  The back side of the blade says Elishewitz next to his logo.  Above this, on the false edge, it says 154CM.

The 1999 to 2002 Benchmade Butterfly

Blade Forum claims the original release in 2000 was with ATS34 steel.  The following year, 2001, the steel was listed as 154CM.  Other variations were released, but the next important marker was in 2003.  The knives produced then did not have Elishewitz name or his logo on the blade.

This makes me think the knife was produced sometime during 2001 or 2002.  Pretty cool!

You only need to look at one of his knives and you would know Allen Elishewitz was born to design knives.  Actually, Allen was born in Texas and spent a good part of his childhood living in Southeast Asia.  Allen played a variety of martial arts and later became a Recon Marine.  This background gave him well-defined ideas of what makes a good knife for either self-defense or as a utility tool. 

The ARES is designed to allow the user to move the pocket clip to left or right carry.

The Benchmade 730BT Ares has an icy purple and black G-10 handle.  G-10 is a fiberglass/epoxy resin composite.  Fiberglass has the advantage of not absorbing most liquids, like water, beer, or blood.  G-10 has excellent dimensional stability and extreme resistance to normal environment hazards.

The blade is black coated 154CM steel.  You could describe it as a drop point, saber grind blade.  The blade is free of jimping, but the steel liners near the axis lock are jimped.  The blade has for all practical purposes a full length false edge.  The combination of grind line makes the blade interesting.

154CM steel is an interesting stainless steel.  It was developed and manufactured in the United States by Crucible Materials Corporation (now Crucible Industries).  154CM is a modification of 440C stainless.  Molybdenum was added to beef up its edge retention, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening properties. 

In case you’re interested, here is the formulation:

Carbon 1.05%  Chromium 14.00%  Manganese 0.50%  Molybdenum 4.00%

Silicon 0.30%  Iron 80.15%.

All this is very interesting, but you know what really matters?  It's how it feels in your hand.  And Allen’s design feels excellent.  The blade opens smoothly and locks in place with a click.  I like that.  The click tells me the knife is locked open, ready for whatever task I assign it.  The G-10 handle has two steel liners, so the weight of the open knife is kept in the hand.  The balance point is about an inch behind the axis lock.  This makes for a lively, controllable blade.

I like it a lot.  As I said earlier, it's just passing through my hands.  But then, it may stick around for a while.  Who knows?