HOW YOUR WORLD WORKSDEVON^ JARVIS/STUDIOD;PROPSTYLIST:^ CAROLINE^ COLSTON/HALLEY^ RESOURCES(^28) June 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
Benchmade’s Aller
is a 1.8-ounce
friction folder with a
1.6-inch blade...and
screwdriver/pry tip
and micro-bit slot
and money clip and
bottle opener.
Go Blazers!
The 940’s “reverse
tanto” design makes
for a super-tough
blade. Good for open-
ing mail and scraping
out cow hooves.
in the closed position. But it earned the awe
of knife pros worldwide with the year 2000
introduction of its touchstone 940 series.
Recognized among a handful of quintessen-
tial EDC knives, every 940 knife is hand-built
in Benchmade’s 144,000-square-foot facility,
which employs more than 400 workers in the
Portland suburb of Oregon City. Standard
S30V or S90V—a super-steel produced at
Crucible Industries in Syracuse, New York—
makes the 940 handy for everyday chores like
cleanly slicing a mushy tomato, or, by at least
one account, field dressing a deer.
At $205, the 940 is pricier than most
EDCs. That’s partly because it passes
through a dozen or more different pairs of
hands during construction and quality con-
trol. And because they’ll factory sharpen it
for you for free.
More to the point, it’s because it’s the
product of a unique conflu-
ence of circumstances and
influences that haven’t just
led to Portland’s commit-
ment to knives but to its
obsession with them.
PICTURE A CHAOTIC Ven n
diagram with hundreds
of circles representing the
world’s knife laws. Califor-
nia’s limits on button-release
switchblades. U.K. laws
restricting lock knives. Japan’s
ban on blades exceeding six
centimeters.
Now imagine the middle of that diagram as the only sweet spot for legal knives. Inside
it you’ll find the compact Benchmade 380 Aller ($160), a new everyday-carry (EDC) knife
designed to keep travelers in compliance with local regulations virtually everywhere they land.
It’s the latest product from Benchmade Knife Company, one of the leading knife makers
in Portland, Oregon. If that doesn’t sound like a fully formed endorsement it’s likely because
you don’t know that, goat yoga and hemp beer aside, Portland is known in blade circles as
the knife capital of the country. Seki City, Japan, and Solingen, Germany, are cutlery con-
tenders, but for pocketknives, sporting, and utility blades, Portland is the world leader.
Coast Cutlery and Gerber staked claims in Oregon in the first half of the 20th century.
Kershaw, Leatherman, and Columbia River Knife and Tool followed their trail. Today, some
of the United States’ most blade-friendly laws and a regional aerospace-industry supply
chain (providing easy access to high-grade materials) have helped create the
highest concentration of knife and hand-tool companies in the country— 19
in the Portland metro area. By one estimate, 80 percent of the multiuse tools
sold nationwide originate around everybody’s favorite hipster whipping post.
Founded in 1987, Benchmade launched its brand around balisong or “but-
terfly” knives—two handles that rotate around a tang pivot concealing a blade
Knife City
Portland, Oregon, is home to more
knife companies than any other U.S.
city. These blades explain why.
/ BY CHUCK THOMPSON /