Benkey Abalone Seashells Damascus Pocket Knife

High quality workmanship, Very sharp san mai blade, Very smooth exterior and mechanics, Great gift, Have purchased 3 so far. Is it Damascus or acid etch ? But looks nice. Leather sheath++ The value could not be better.

Update from original review: The seller contacted me after reading my original review. They said they made some modifications to solve the issue with opening. They said they would send me a new knife if I wanted! Sure! Send me a new one to see if it works better. When they saw my US address they said it would be too expensive to ship it from China so they would tell the Amazon warehouse to send me 2 knives at random! The warehouse still had some of the old versions. So, will I get 2 old versions or 2 new versions or 1of each? Very shortly I got the 2 knives… BOTH were the new versions!! (I lucked out!) They Both had silky smooth opening!! Perfection! Not only is it beautiful, with a great blade, now it opens easily! Now I can completely recommend this knife, if you get the updated version with a smooth opening. I updated my rating from 3 stars to 5 stars. This is the way flip opening should be. So if you buy this knife & happen to get an old version with a stiff opening return to exchange & hopefully you’ll get a new version with the smooth opening. 10 stars for thus seller & the customer service! THEY contacted me on their own & made the replacement offer on their own!!! This is a responsible seller that backs up its products. For all of you who badmouth any & all Chinese products & sellers, this seller is a Good One with integrity! Feel confident to buy from them!! I am very happy with their customer service and the overall results. ————— Original review: I bought the regular Abalone shell version. The first one arrived and was impossible to open. I tried and tried, using different lubricants and it was so difficult to open it was painful to my finger. I send it back for a replacement. The 2nd one was a tiny bit easier to open, and the blade was sharper than he first one. Once again I tried different lubricants, to very little effect. I tried to loosen the screw on the rotation disc but t wouldn't unscrew, it would just spin in the knife. I then spent several days literally opening and closing the knife HUNDREDS of times to see if I could wear it out a little. I think it worked a bit but my fingers sure hurt. Its difficult to get past the closed stage at 1st. Once past the initial closed stage it flows smoothly to the fully open position. When closing it flows smoothly until just almost closed, then it snaps shut. Its almost feels like an "assisted Closing" device instead of an assisted Opening device, then stays shut, I know its not assisted closing but the internal design snaps it closed and wants to keep it stuck closed. Hence the amount of force needed to get past this stuck closed position to open the knife. Sometimes its easier than others to open it. I think this is its major design flaw: the difficulty in opening it. It requires a lot of pressure/force, at the right angle to open it. I think the flipper could also be 1-2mm taller and that might help, or the angle of the flipper when closed could be changed for better leverage. Once the knife is open it feels great in the hand. The flipper turns into a small finger guard that feels comfortable. (Maybe they designed the flipper to feel good as a finger guard but didn't take into consideration how ineffective it was as a flipper to open the knife!) The Abalone shell scales are beautiful and feel good in the hand. The scales are a little thick so may not always feel totally comfortable in your pocket, but its manageable. The leather sheath seems ok. The knife fits very snugly in it so its a chore to take it out. I can put it in with the flipper sticking out so I can use the flipper as leverage to pull the knife out, but its a slow deploy. It is only a vertical carry. I wish more sheath makers made horizontal carry an option as well. The tiny "lanyard" is joke and useless and would always catch the tip of the blade making it impossible to open. I took it off. The written description says it has both a flipper AND a thumb hole to open. NOT TRUE! IT DOESN'T HAVE A THUMB HOLE!! The pictures show it accurately. The written description needs to be corrected. There is a DIFFERENT knife, by a different seller that does have a thumb hole but not this knife. And now to the blade: The description and pictures *CLEARLY* state it is a VG10 CORE, sandwiched with Damascus SIDES. Some people complain it is not true damascus. Well, sure. it’s not *solid* damascus through and through, but the description doesn't claim it to be. It *CLEARLY* show the layering, sandwiching. The only lie in the description is the thumb hole. Everything else is accurate. The damascus design on either side of the core is beautiful. VG10 is a great blade steel. It took very little to hone it to supper sharp and it retains its edge.Perhaps it might even have a better edge then some full damascus blades? It depends. Matter of opinion. But the VG10 core is excellent and nothing to be ashamed of. It will serve you well. Overall, would I recommend you buying this blade? If you like its beauty and not going to be using it a lot, and don't mind the pressure needed to open it, yes. But if you want it as an EDC to use a lot, not really, unless you're willing to ignore the constant discomfort and struggle with the opening flipper process. I have other flipper knives the are silky smooth and still stay safely closed. This knife is not one of them. It wants to stay stuck in its locked position, And it is uncomfortable, and sometimes painful to open, depending on the force/pressure needed to open it on any given day. Some days are easier than others. But you might get lucky and get one that opens more smoothly than mine. Good Luck! As they say in Forged In Fire, "A knife should not hurt the end user." It is a beautiful looking knife and nice blade,

This is a Fantastic knife! I have read several review that this is not real Damascus, that is NOT true!! You can see the core and layers in the picture I posted. It has Super Fast opening! the handle is Real Abalone Shell that was cut in pieces and covered with the clear hard substance. There are a few bubbles on top of the abalone, you can see them in the close up of the handle. The bubbles are Very Small, not noticeable without looking very closely. Came shaving sharp!! The sheath is Very Good also! Yes, this is considered a "budget knife", but it does NOT look, feel or open like one!! If you are trying to decide if you should buy this knife, BUY IT!! Worth Every Penny and much more!!

I bought it because I really like the shape of the blade there’s no weak point that’ll take all the abuse it’s very evenly distributed and balanced the handle fits perfectly in your hand and it feels great it seems really sturdy no play in the blade and deploys well after the first flick or two looks pretty crazy in a good way never seen a knife with so much character,it’s sharp as hell and has a strong pocket clip that’s important to me.the case ain’t bad either it’s real leather and the knife blade does look to have a core with other metal on each side being Damascus so I give it 5 stars for the price it’s nice it ain’t no benchmade but I won’t be afraid to use it either so definitely worth buying and I’d probably get the titanium handle if you don’t like the flashy one.

Its a great blade, beautiful, and it's durable. However, mine does not lock in the open position. I'm not sure if it is just mine, but, by looking at the opening mechanism, it's clear that it should be able to.

I bought this as part of my EDC, to match an abalone fountain pen and an abalone-handled waiters tool I carry at work (I work in the Beverage Sales industry). First, off, this knife is MUCH larger than I thought it would be, so it's a little big for a "gentleman's knife", but not too big for daily carry. It arrived RAZOR sharp, has beautiful damascus steel patterns on the blade, and the abalone handles are very attractive and eye-catching. Locking mechanisms (open AND closed) are solid and secure. The closing detent is a little too tight for my liking (you REALLY hafe to flick the opening lever hard to open it), but I think I can adjust that. Once you figure out the force needed to open it, it DOES open lightning fast, and locks securely in the open position. Overall, I'm VERY pleased with this knife, and it has gotten a LOT of compliments from co-workers and friends.

I absolutely love this knife. It's my every day carry. Durable and holds a sharp blade very well. I hope to get more from Benkey in the future.

I bought this for my grandson and he absolutely loved it and I should’ve had it engraved because somebody else stole it from out of his truck but it’s nice and I’m gonna buy a new one and have it engraved

Me encantó, es muy bonita y la calidad excelente. Trae bastante filo. Al igual la funda es muy bonita y se siente de muy buena calidad.

Excelente calidad, muy bonita navaja.!

El acero damasco

Una navaja muy estética y funsional, sólida y muy afilada, no se descarapela como otras y tiene un clip muy resistente para usar en pantalón, la funda es de cuero auténtico resistente y duradera.