Greetings Rob :) What a surprise - I literally picked up a Volli yesterday! I personally am really liking the assist - I normally stay far away from assisted knives but on this one I feel Benchmade got it right, from the amount of tension needed to start the opening to the speed and force with which the blade comes out. I agree about the safety, but on mine it seems to stay out of the way when not in use. I also love the handle, although I do find that the clip screws dig into my hand a little bit when gripping the knife hard. This is only my second Benchmade so I am glad that it gets Apostle P approval :) Grace and Peace to you too brother, from half way around the world.
Like auto transmission cars, people buy them everyday instead of manual. LoL, I personally like it be assisted. It's just something different to carry around instead of my manual Stryker or Grip. If anything, I can always send it to Benchmade to sharpen and have de-assisted. You can't make a manual knife an assisted.
I have the Shot Show limited edition version of this with the M390 blade and blue/white scales. It's fantastic. I put on a Lynch deep-carry Titanium clip, and now it's perfect.
Thanks - I totally agree. I have 2 Vollis and love them. I have hand problems, so the assisted opening is wonderful for me and the G10 is easy for me to keep a grip on.
Hi, Rob. I totally agree with you: assist mechanism, whichever they are (and whatever clever they are), are a pain compared to a smooth opening of a good manual folder. And I believe that designing and making a good, well balanced and easy, manual opening folder is much harder than resorting to the gimmickry of assisted mechanisms. I recently purchased a Benchmade Torrent and it was pretty hard to regulate the assist mechanism without loosening the blade pivot too much and discentering the blade! Thanks for the upload -- your reviews are, as usual, excellent!
the Volli was my first BM..i felt the handles were nearly as pretty as Carbon fiber ...but i mostly remember the feeling of.."ok, now i have a real nice folder"....and wanting to own more...the silver Benchmade Butterfly logo on my BK/serr blade was imprinted on my brain synonymous with baddass quality....i have a second de-assisted Volli ..it makes sense
Simply remove the spring for the assist. That what i did. Mine was a gift from my union hall engraved and all. Took 5 mins to remove the spring. Does not cause any blade play or anything and blade is still centered perfectly. Also ez to put back in for any warranty ;)
Call me crazy but I like assisted knives manual is great smoother feel but I just always like the dependability of the open I get from assisted but I see how it has draw backs I had my brand new kershaw needs work come out of my hand and blow out the tip from the energy in the opening
I love the looks and shape of this knife, but I'm not particularly fond of assisted openers. I'm thinking about getting one of these and also removing the assist mechanism. You mentioned that you felt doing so would make it fragile. Do you think it would be too fragile without it? Anyway - thanks for the review.
It's not the removal of the mechanism that makes it less robust. it's the design of the mechanism around the assist hardware that's less strong than the unassisted design of a similar Benchmade pivot and lock. It's worth mentioning, either is plenty strong for most EDC tasks.
TheApostleP Thanks Rob! I watched Benchmade's "use" video after seeing yours. There's no way I'll use it that hard. BTW I managed to win a best offer bid for one on eBay and should have it in about a week. I'd have bought toadstkr's, but it was already gone by the time I saw the video. Mick
Why yes, yes you can :). That's all well and good, but then you're still left with a pivot / suspension mechanism that isn't as strong as it would be if it had just been made manual to start with. There are many more individual parts in an Axis Assist mechanism than in a manual Axis Lock knive, and the pivot adjustability is a bit more tricky too.
I bet if enough knife knuts contacted them with a request of makin' an un-assisted version, they would listen and grant the wish. ( Well, I wouldn't bet, but surely they would consider & perhaps jump on the opportunity to drum up some more business for themselves. Makes sense, but ya never know until.......)
Greetings Rob :) What a surprise - I literally picked up a Volli yesterday! I personally am really liking the assist - I normally stay far away from assisted knives but on this one I feel Benchmade got it right, from the amount of tension needed to start the opening to the speed and force with which the blade comes out. I agree about the safety, but on mine it seems to stay out of the way when not in use. I also love the handle, although I do find that the clip screws dig into my hand a little bit when gripping the knife hard. This is only my second Benchmade so I am glad that it gets Apostle P approval :)
Grace and Peace to you too brother, from half way around the world.
You're gonna love this knife! Thanks for checking in, brother!
I really don't see the need for auto knifes when you have manual ones like your 940 that deploy just as fast.
Like auto transmission cars, people buy them everyday instead of manual. LoL, I personally like it be assisted. It's just something different to carry around instead of my manual Stryker or Grip. If anything, I can always send it to Benchmade to sharpen and have de-assisted. You can't make a manual knife an assisted.
I have the Shot Show limited edition version of this with the M390 blade and blue/white scales. It's fantastic. I put on a Lynch deep-carry Titanium clip, and now it's perfect.
Thanks - I totally agree. I have 2 Vollis and love them. I have hand problems, so the assisted opening is wonderful for me and the G10 is easy for me to keep a grip on.
Wanted to try one. I'm just years past the assist opening mechanism. Totally agree!
Hi, Rob. I totally agree with you: assist mechanism, whichever they are (and whatever clever they are), are a pain compared to a smooth opening of a good manual folder. And I believe that designing and making a good, well balanced and easy, manual opening folder is much harder than resorting to the gimmickry of assisted mechanisms. I recently purchased a Benchmade Torrent and it was pretty hard to regulate the assist mechanism without loosening the blade pivot too much and discentering the blade! Thanks for the upload -- your reviews are, as usual, excellent!
the Volli was my first BM..i felt the handles were nearly as pretty as Carbon fiber ...but i mostly remember the feeling of.."ok, now i have a real nice folder"....and wanting to own more...the silver Benchmade Butterfly logo on my BK/serr blade was imprinted on my brain synonymous with baddass quality....i have a second de-assisted Volli ..it makes sense
Simply remove the spring for the assist. That what i did. Mine was a gift from my union hall engraved and all. Took 5 mins to remove the spring. Does not cause any blade play or anything and blade is still centered perfectly. Also ez to put back in for any warranty ;)
Would you recommend the volli or the mini barrage?
Call me crazy but I like assisted knives manual is great smoother feel but I just always like the dependability of the open I get from assisted but I see how it has draw backs I had my brand new kershaw needs work come out of my hand and blow out the tip from the energy in the opening
I actually bought a mini emissary caz of your review on it
I love the looks and shape of this knife, but I'm not particularly fond of assisted openers. I'm thinking about getting one of these and also removing the assist mechanism. You mentioned that you felt doing so would make it fragile. Do you think it would be too fragile without it? Anyway - thanks for the review.
It's not the removal of the mechanism that makes it less robust. it's the design of the mechanism around the assist hardware that's less strong than the unassisted design of a similar Benchmade pivot and lock. It's worth mentioning, either is plenty strong for most EDC tasks.
TheApostleP Thanks Rob! I watched Benchmade's "use" video after seeing yours. There's no way I'll use it that hard. BTW I managed to win a best offer bid for one on eBay and should have it in about a week. I'd have bought toadstkr's, but it was already gone by the time I saw the video. Mick
"factoid" well you don't hear that everyday on youtube
sweet blade!
good chassis for sure.
looks like an apostleP knife, just take out that assist : )
Amen!!! Word is sharp
...sharper than a two-edged Sebenza.
And also to you, that you might stand.
Somebody's been watching my channel... and knows The Word :)
Apostle, you can take the assist out....
Why yes, yes you can :). That's all well and good, but then you're still left with a pivot / suspension mechanism that isn't as strong as it would be if it had just been made manual to start with. There are many more individual parts in an Axis Assist mechanism than in a manual Axis Lock knive, and the pivot adjustability is a bit more tricky too.
I bet if enough knife knuts contacted them with a request of makin' an un-assisted version, they would listen and grant the wish. ( Well, I wouldn't bet, but surely they would consider & perhaps jump on the opportunity to drum up some more business for themselves. Makes sense, but ya never know until.......)
I hate assisted , but remove this cause blade pay !?
Why not just buy an unassisted Benchmade? Every video I've watched so far has de-assisted the thing.