Benchmade knows how to make a great EDC knife…
They’ve been doing it for a long time, and their designs continue to be very high quality and very functional for a lot of different everyday tasks…
Right now, two of their most popular utility (or everyday carry) knives are:
| Image | Products |
 | Benchmade Bugout (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
 | Benchmade Griptilian (Check Price And Reviews On Amazon!) |
And in this Benchmade Bugout Vs Griptilian comparison article, we’re going to put these two knives up against each other and see how they stack up in the following six categories…
- Blade Steel And Materials
- Blade Shape And Handle Design
- Locking Mechanism
- Size And Dimensions
- Pocket Clip And Carry Position
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll reveal to you which of these two great knives I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine which knife is gonna be best for you…
Let’s jump into the comparison!
Blade Steel And Materials…
Benchmade Bugout
The Bugout has become an extremely popular design for Benchmade in recent years, and to me it’s really no surprise…
Part of the reason why it’s developed such a large following is because of the high quality materials that Benchmade uses in it’s construction…
For example, the blade steel on the Bugout is CPM S30V, which is one of my favorite blade steels. It’s considered a premium steel because it’s strong, it does a good job of resisting corrosion, and it maintains its edge very well…
It’s also not too difficult to sharpen, and if you do wear down the edge on your knife, Benchmade offers a service called Life Sharp…
…which basically means you can send your knife back in for repair, lubrication, and sharpening all for free (for the life of the knife).
I really like that Benchmade offers this service because it shows that they’re willing to take care of their customers and that they stand behind the quality and life-span of their knives…
Now the handle on the Bugout is made from a glass-filled nylon called grivory. I think it’s a good handle material for a utility knife because it’s strong and extremely lightweight…
It also feels good in your hand, and allows you to get a solid purchase on the knife when you’re using it to cut.
All in all, I’m pretty impressed by the materials that Benchmade chose to use in the Bugout.
Benchmade Griptilian
The Griptilian is probably Benchmade’s most popular selling knife design (along with the 940), and at this point, I consider it a classic EDC (everyday carry) knife…
It comes in a variety of blade steels, but the most common version you’ll find uses a steel called 154CM. 154CM is considered a high end blade steel, and I like it because it’s strong, it’s rust resistant, and it also does a good job of holding an edge…
It won’t hold an edge as long as the CPM S30V steel on the Bugout, but it’s still a high quality and very respectable blade steel…
Additionally, Benchmade offers the Life Sharp service with the Griptillian as well, so if you ever wear down the edge on your blade, you can send it in to them to get that razor sharp factory edge again…
Now in addition to coming with a variety of different blade steels, the Griptillian comes with a variety of different handle materials too…
That being said, the most common handle material you’ll find on the Griptilian is grivory (glass-filled nylon) just like the Bugout…
Again, I think this is a great handle material for a utility knife because it’s strong and lightweight, and just as with the Bugout, it feels pretty good in your hand.
Blade Shape And Handle Design…
Benchmade Bugout
The Benchmade Bugout has a very attractive looking blade in my opinion. It’s a traditional drop point, which is a blade shape I’ve always liked, and it has kind of a high flat grind, which makes it great at cutting and slicing…
You can get the blade with either a plain edge or an edge with serrations on the lower half of the blade, and the knife comes razor sharp right out of the box…
Personally, I prefer to go with a plain edge on most of my folding knives because it just makes them easier to sharpen, but I like that Benchmade offers the serrated blade for those who like serrations…
In addition to that, you can get the blade with a satin (metallic) finish or with a black coated finish if you want a blade that keeps a low profile in low-light conditions…
There’s also a thumb stud on the blade that allows you to open the knife with one hand, and the blade deployment is very smooth…
Now like I mentioned earlier, the handle on the Bugout is made from glass filled nylon, and it’s very ergonomic and fairly comfortable…
It also has texturing that really locks the knife into your hand, and even though it is a fairly small grip, I think it works really well for most everyday carry tasks…
Last, you can get the Bugout in a number of different handle colors such as black, tan, and blue. Personally, I really like the tan handle with the black coated blade, but there are a lot of cool color combinations available in my opinion.
Benchmade Griptilian
The Benchmade Griptilian comes in a few different blade shapes, but the most common is a drop point. It is a slightly different take on a drop point than the Bugout though, with almost a bit of a clip point at the top…
In addition to that, it has a hollow grind, so it can get extremely sharp, and it also comes to you razor sharp right from the factory…
Just like with the Bugout, Benchmade offers the Griptilian with a plain edge or a serrated edge, and it comes with a satin finished blade or a black coated blade…
Again, I prefer the plain edge, but that’s just my personal preference for most of the knives I own. If you like serrations, then I think the serrated option will probably be a good fit for you…
There is a little bit of jimping on the spine of the blade, which gives you a little extra control for precise cuts…
And the thumb stud allows you to open the blade very smoothly with one hand. Now the handle on the Griptilian is extremely ergonomic and comfortable…
The knife is called the ”Grip-tilian” after all, and I think the handle design definitely lives up to its name. It’s larger than the handle on the Bugout (we’ll get into the dimensions later in the comparison), and it just feels a little bit better in your hand…
Benchmade also offers the Griptilian handle in a number of different colors such as black, orange, tan, and green, and overall, my favorite is (again) the tan handle with the black coated blade (haha I guess I have a type).
Locking Mechanism…
Both the Bugout and the Griptilian utilize the AXIS Lock locking system. This is a locking mechanism that incorporates a spring-tensioned bar, a track in the liner of the handle, and the tang of the blade…
It’s a system that locks the blade out very securely, and it allows you to deploy the blade very smoothly as well…
It was created by knifemakers Bill Mchenry and Jason Willians, and Benchmade acquired the patent for the Axis Lock back in 1988. So it’s been around for a long time, and it’s a proven mechanism…
I think it’s a great system for both the Bugout and the Griptilian, and it’s the type of locking mechanism I would expect to see on high end knife designs like these.
Size And Dimensions…
Benchmade Bugout
The Bugout was built from the ground up to be a compact and lightweight utility knife. The blade length is 3.24 inches long and the handle length measures in at 4.22 inches long…
That brings the overall length on the Bugout to 7.46 inches when the blade is fully locked out. In addition to that, the Bugout only weighs 1.85 ounces…
It’s an extremely lightweight knife even though it’s still a medium size, and that makes it a joy to carry around as an EDC blade.
Benchmade Griptilian
The Griptilian is also a medium-sized utility knife, but it’s built to be a little larger and beefier than the Bugout…
The blade length on the Griptilian is 3.45 inches long, and the handle is 4.62 inches long. That brings the overall length to 8.07 inches when the blade is fully deployed…
When compared to the Bugout, the Griptilian is 0.61 inches longer when both of their blades are fully locked out…
In addition to that, the Griptilian weighs in at 3.88 ounces. That’s not too heavy, but the Bugout is much less weight to carry around in your pocket…
In the end, I think both knives are great for everyday carry, but the Bugout is designed to be more compact and lightweight, and the Griptilian is designed to give you a little larger and beefier knife.
Pocket Clip And Carry Position…
Both the Bugout and the Griptilian are set up for tip up carry, and you can swap the clip to either side on both knives…
Personally, I prefer to carry tip down, but I don’t mind tip up carry too much when I’m carrying a knife design that I really like (and I like both the Bugout and the Griptilian)…
I do like that Benchmade gives you the flexibility of changing the clip to either side because that allows you to set up the knife for right handed or left handed carry very easily…
And like I said, the tip up carry isn’t that big of a deal for me even though I prefer tip down carry. Now both knives sit fairly low in your pocket with just a little bit of the handle visible…
They’re both pretty discreet and easy to get to, but that being said, the smaller size and thinness makes the Bugout just a little bit more comfortable to carry around…
That doesn’t mean that the Griptilian isn’t comfortable in your pocket because it is, but I definitely give the advantage to the Bugout when it comes to comfort while carrying around in your pocket.
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to give you exact numbers in this category because both of these knives have different versions, and the version you get will have an impact on how much the knife costs…
That being said, you can usually find the Griptilian for around 15 to 35 bucks less expensive than the Bugout…
That’s not really a huge difference, but for some people who are on a budget, 15 to 35 bucks could definitely have an impact on which knife you decide to go with…
So if you are trying to keep the price as low as possible, you’re probably going to want to go with the Griptillian.
Spyderco Benchmade Bugout Vs Griptilian – Final Thoughts…
So to quickly summarize everything, in the Blade Steel And Materials category, the Bugout has CPM S30V blade steel and the Griptilian has 154CM…
Both are good blade steels, but the CPM S30V on the Bugout is a little bit better and will hold an edge on your knife longer…
In the Blade Shape And Handle Design category, both knives have a version of a drop point blade, and both have a grivory handle…
That said, I prefer the flat grind on the Bugout’s blade over the hollow grind on the Griptilian, but the Griptilian’s handle is a little bit more hand filling and comfortable…
In the Locking Mechanism category, both the Bugout and the Griptilian use the AXIS Lock locking mechanism, which is a strong system that operates smoothly and locks the blade out very securely…
In the Size And Dimensions category, the Griptilian is around 0.61 inches longer than the Bugout when both of their blades are fully deployed…
In the Pocket Clip And Carry Position category, both knives are set up for tip up carry and the clip can be swapped to either side of the knife…
And last, in the Price Comparison, the Griptillian is around 15 to 35 dollars less expensive than the Bugout…
So which of these knives do I prefer? I prefer the Benchmade Bugout…
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I prefer the Bugout for a few reasons. First of all, I prefer the CPM S30V blade steel that you get on the Bugout over the 154CM blade steel on the Griptilian…
The CPM S30V is just a little bit better, and it will hold the edge on your knife for a longer amount of time. I also like that the Bugout is a little bit more compact and lighter than the Griptilian…
It’s still plenty large for any EDC task you might have for it, but it’s just a little slimmer and more comfortable to carry around in your pocket all day…
Last, I like the blade shape a little better on the Bugout. I personally think it looks a little cooler than the Griptilian’s blade, and I like the high full grind because it makes it a great cutting and slicing knife.
Now if you want a little beefier knife, you don’t mind the 154CM blade steel (still a great steel!), and you want to save a few bucks, then feel free to go with the Griptilian because it’s still an awesome knife…
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You won’t go wrong going with either of these two knife designs because both of them are built with very high quality materials and to a high standard…
They’re both gonna perform at any EDC task you have for them, and because they’re both Benchmade’s, they’ll both look good while doing it.