Benchmade Barrage Vs Mini Barrage [Which Knife Is Best For You?]

There are a lot of things I love about Benchmade…

But one of the coolest things they do (in my opinion) is make Mini versions of their popular knives…

They’ve done this with their most popular knife (the Griptilian), and they’ve done it with a number of other cool knife designs as well, including…

And in this Benchmade Barrage Vs Mini Barrage comparison, we’re going to examine the major similarities and differences between these two great knives in the following categories…

Blade Steel And Materials
Blade Shape And Handle Design
Locking Mechanism
Pocket Clip And Carry Position
Size And Dimensions
Price Comparison

In the end, I’ll tell you whether I prefer the Barrage or its little brother the Mini Barrage, and you should have all the information you need to determine which knife will work best for you…

Let’s start by going over the similarities…

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Blade Steel And Materials…

The Benchmade Barrage and it’s little brother, the Mini Barrage, are both built using very high quality materials…

Both knives do have a version that uses M390 blade steel (the 581 Barrage and 586 Mini Barrage) which is a fantastic steel…

But the most common versions of both knives (the 580 Barrage and the 585 Mini Barrage) actually have 154CM blade steel…

154CM is considered a high-end knife steel. It’s actually one of my favorite steels for a few reasons. First of all, it does a great job of resisting corrosion, but it also maintains an edge very well…

In addition to that, it’s usually not a crazy expensive blade steel, so you don’t have to spend an outrageous amount of money on the knife, and it’s also fairly easy to sharpen…

So like I said, I really like 154CM, and I think it was a great choice by Benchmade to go with it on both the Barrage and the Mini Barrage…

Now the handle material on both the Barrage and Mini Barrage will also depend on the version you get, but that being said, the most common versions of both knives will use a handle material called Valox…

Valox is a kind of reinforced resin. It’s a little bit similar to the FRN handles that Spyderco uses on knives like the Delica and Endura, but it’s a little bit harder of a material…

It’s a fairly strong handle material, and it’s also pretty lightweight which is something I like because I think it makes both of these knives very suitable for everyday carry…

It also feels comfortable in your hand, and overall, I think it’s a pretty high quality handle material that, again, both the full size Barrage and the Mini Barrage feature.

Blade Shape And Handle Design…

Since the Mini Barrage is just a scaled down version of the full size Barrage, they both have a very similar (and attractive) blade shape…

Both knives feature a drop point blade with a swedge and a flat grind. Again, I think both blades look great, and I really like that they feature that flat grind because it makes both knives great cutters and slicers…

There is a version of the Barrage (the 583) that features a tanto blade, which I think is pretty cool, but all other versions feature a drop point blade (the drop point on the 581 Barrage and 586 Mini Barrage is slightly different than the drop point on the standard Barrage and Mini Barrage)…

Now both the Barrage and Mini Barrage can be had with a satin finished blade or a black coated blade, and you can get both with a simple plain edge or a serrated edge if that’s what you prefer…

I personally prefer a plain edge on my EDC knives because it just makes them easier to sharpen, but I know there are a lot of people out there who really like serrated blades as well, so I’m glad that Benchmade gives you that choice with both of these knife designs…

Both knives also feature a thumb stud, and the blade snaps out very easily because of the AXIS Assist locking mechanism, which I’ll go over in a minute…

Now like I mentioned earlier, the handle on both the Barrage and the Mini Barrage is made from Valox which is a strong and lightweight material…

And the handle shape is very similar to the Benchmade Griptilian, which is a great thing because the Grip-tilian is known for having an awesome grip…

So naturally, both knife handles are pretty ergonomic and comfortable in your hand, and it’s easy to get a good purchase on both knives when you’re using them as well.

As a final note, I will say that the grip on the full size Barrage is just a touch more comfortable in your hand than the Mini just because it’s larger…

…but that being said, the handle on the Mini Barrage is no slouch when it comes to comfort, and it’s also a little easier to carry around in your pocket all day because it’s a smaller size.

Locking Mechanism…

The locking mechanism used by both the Barrage and Mini Barrage is the AXIS Assist mechanism…

It’s basically an assisted version of the famous AXIS Lock system that Benchmade has been using since the 1980s…

The AXIS Lock system incorporates a spring-tensioned bar, a track in the liners and handles, and the tang of the blade, and it creates a smooth deployment and a secure lock out of the blade…

The AXIS Assist system adds an extra spring into the mix, and because of that spring, the blade will snap into position with very minimal effort on your part…

I really like the AXIS Assist locking mechanism because it just makes it so easy and quick to deploy the blade on your knife…

And I think it was a great choice by Benchmade to use the AXIS Assist on both the Barrage and the Mini Barrage. In fact, the Barrage family of knives was the first to feature the AXIS Assist system…

So it’s a proven mechanism that has been working great for over 10 years now.

Pocket Clip And Carry Position…

The pocket clip on both the full size Barrage and the Mini Barrage sets you up for tip up carry and can be swapped to either side of the knife…

I personally prefer tip down carry when I can get it, but I’m perfectly happy with tip up carry if that’s all that’s available on a knife design that I like (and I like both the Barrage and Mini Barrage)…

I do like that Benchmade gives you a little bit of flexibility in terms of clip position by allowing you to swap the clip to either side of the knife because that allows you to optimize for either left handed or right handed carry…

Now both knives leave a little bit of handle exposed when you’re carrying them around in your pocket because neither knife features a deep carry clip…

But even though both knives don’t completely disappear in your pocket (with just the clip showing), they’re both still fairly discrete and they’re both pretty comfortable as well…

Now like I said earlier, the Mini Barrage is a little bit more comfortable to carry around all day just because it’s a smaller and lighter knife (we’ll get into the size and weight in a little bit)…

But that being said, the full size Barrage is also pretty comfortable, and it doesn’t take up too much space in your pocket.

Life Sharp Service…

Both the Barrage and the Mini Barrage come with Benchmade’s Life Sharp service. This is a service in which you can send your knife back to Benchmade and they’ll repair it, lubricate it, and sharpen it for you (and it’s all for free)…

I really like that Benchmade offers this service because I think it shows they’re willing to take a little extra care of their customers, and it shows that they stand behind the lifetime and quality of their products as well…

In addition to that, I think this is a really valuable service if you don’t like to sharpen your knives or if you’re just not that good at it…

It’s great that you can just send your knife back into Benchmade, and they’ll put a razor sharp factory edge back on it for you.

Benchmade Crooked River Vs Mini Crooked River – How Are They Different?

Size And Dimensions…

Benchmade Barrage

I think of the Benchmade Barrage as a medium sized knife. It has a blade that measures in at 3.60 inches long, and the handle measures in at 4.75 inches long…

That brings the overall length on the Barrage to 8.35 inches when the blade is fully deployed…

In addition to that, the weight on the Barrage comes in at 4.31 ounces. That’s not super lightweight, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s overly heavy either…

Benchmade Mini Barrage

As I mentioned earlier, the Mini Barrage is obviously a scaled down version of the full size Barrage…

It has a blade length that measures in at 2.91 inches long, and it’s handle measures in at 4.00 inches long…

That brings the overall length on the Mini Barrage to 6.91 inches long when the blade is fully locked out…

So compared to the full size Barrage, the Mini Barrage is 1.44 inches shorter when both of their blades are fully deployed…

In addition to that, the Mini Barrage weighs in at 3.40 ounces. Again, that’s not super lightweight, especially compared to other small knives like the Benchmade Bugout…

…but it’s almost an ounce lighter than it’s big brother, the full size Barrage, and that makes a difference when carrying it around in your pocket all day.

Price Comparison…

Unfortunately I won’t be able to give you exact numbers in this category because the prices on these knives are changing all the time…

But that being said, in general, you’ll usually find that the Mini Barrage is around 15 to 20 bucks less expensive than the full size Barrage…

Both knives use the same materials, but the fact that the Barrage is larger and uses a little bit more of those same materials probably accounts for the slightly higher price…

Honestly, 15 to 20 dollars isn’t that much of a price difference in most people’s minds, but if you’re on a tight budget and want to keep the price as low as possible, the Mini Barrage is probably going to be the less expensive option for you…

Benchmade Crooked River Vs Mini Crooked River – Final Thoughts…

So to sum everything up, the full size Barrage and the Mini Barrage are similar in a number of ways, but they do have some important differences…

First of all, in the Blade Steel And Materials category there are a lot of similarities…

Yes, there are versions of the Barrage and Mini Barrage that come with M390 blade steel (again, a fantastic steel), but the most common versions of both knives will come with 154CM blade steel…

Like I said earlier, I really like 154CM blade steel because it resists rust pretty well, it holds an edge well, and it’s not too difficult to sharpen…

In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category, both the Barrage and the Mini Barrage have a drop point blade…

…with a flat grind which performs very well at cutting, slicing, and dicing, and both knives have a very comfortable and ergonomic handle.

Next in the Locking Mechanism category, both knives use the AXIS Assist locking system, which allows you to deploy the blade very easily and quickly and locks out the blade very securely as well…

In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, both knives have a clip that sets you up for tip up carry and that can be swapped to either side of the knife…

And last, both knives come with Benchmade’s Life Sharp service, which means you can send your knife back into Benchmade for repair, lubrication, and sharpening all for free…

Now the major differences come in two areas. First of all, in the Size And Dimensions category, the Mini Barrage is around 1.44 inches shorter than the Barrage when both of their blades are fully locked out…

…and the Mini is also lighter in terms of weight too. Also, in the Price Comparison, the Mini Barrage is usually around 15 to 20 dollars less expensive than the full size Barrage as well…

So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Mini Barrage…

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I prefer the Mini Barrage for a couple of reasons. First of all, I love the size of the Mini Barrage…

I think it’s a better fit for everyday carry because it’s smaller and lighter and that makes it more comfortable to carry around in your pocket all day…

At the same time, it’s not too small of a knife either, and it can still handle pretty much any EDC task I can think of…

In addition to that, the Mini Barrage is a less expensive knife than the full size Barrage. So it will end up saving you some money as well.

Now if you prefer a larger knife and you don’t mind paying a few dollars more, then feel free to go with the Barrage because it’s still a great knife…