This is the Benchmade Adira, it’s a drop-point folding pocket knife that’s made in the USA. Each blade is laser-cut from CPM-MagnaCut stainless steel, then hand-polished to a razor-sharp edge.
The Adira was designed for use outdoors, specifically with fishing and/or hunting, but it’s a good general camping and adventure knife also. It has a tough Grivory® handle, full stainless steel construction, a manual AXIS® lock, and an ambidextrous design to fit comfortably in either hand.
This is Les deAsis, the founder of Benchmade, taken back in the 1980s not long after the company first started out. Image courtesy of Benchmade.
History Speedrun: Benchmade
Benchmade started out back in 1979 in California as Bali-Song, a company that made its bread and butter producing high-quality butterfly knives. These knives, also called balisongs, became a huge hit in the 1980s and well into the 1990s. They featured in many films and TV shows, often being skillfully flicked open and closed in the hands of a nefarious character.
The company was founded by Les deAsis who proved highly adept at pivoting the firm to keep it both relevant and successful.
The name was changed to the Pacific Cutlery Corporation in the early 1980s as proposed legislation threatened to outlaw the butterfly knife, the company then changed its name to Benchmade in 1988 – a reference to the fact that each knife is made by hand, on a bench.
In 1996 the company moved over to Oregon City, Oregon, into a 35,000 square foot factory, and they remain in this same facility today. The company logo consists of a butterfly with “Benchmade” across its back, with a small “USA” below to signify where the knives are made.
The Benchmade Adira
The Benchmade Adira is a folding drop-point pocket knife that is made in the USA. Each blade is laser-cut from sheets of high-grade CPM-MagnaCut steel which was chosen as it’s highly-resistant to corrosion, and it maintains a sharp edge even with frequent use.
The knife has a lightweight Grivory® handle which is milled and machined in-house, as well as a manual-open AXIS® lock with stainless springs, to keep the blade securely locked open when in use – so it doesn’t close on your fingers by accident.
The knife weighs in at 4¼ oz and it measures 9″ when open, 5.12″ when closed, and it has a 3.88” length blade.
It has an ambidextrous design that fits comfortably in the right or left hand, and each one comes with a paracord lanyard with a nylon bead. The knife weighs in at 4¼ oz and it measures 9″ when open, 5.12″ when closed, and it has a 3.88” length blade.
It’s now being sold on Huckberry with free US shipping, free US returns, and a best price guarantee. You can visit the store listing here if you’d like to read more about it or get your own.
Images courtesy of Huckberry
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
