When I was 15 or so my friend who worked at the only hunting shop in town showed me the First Benchmade stryker , everything about that knife was cool. It had a pocket clip, G10, liner lock and disk opener. Couldn't really afford that knife at 15 and have already regretted not picking one up (along with many 42's).
This friend of mine still to this day works at that same store, he manages it now and they are the only gold class Benchmade Dealer in the State of MA. My friend of course did have that stryker and carried it for years, and still carries it to this day. He and I grew up together and have both amassed large collections of knives and weapons (toys as our wifes would call them). THe only thing about the old stryker that bugged me with the tip down carry also I was never a huge fan of the liner lock as I had one close on my hand years back. A few months ago my friend sent me some pics of the new Stryker and it had everything that 15 year old kid wanted and more. Tip up carry pocket clip ( that's also low rise), axis lock and thumb stud ( I am more of a spydie hole opener guy now ,but cant have everything right?). So, now as a adult I am lucky enough to afford such things and had him put a order in for one post hast. He just got the first production runs in a 909 and a 904 (one of each). He like me also needs one of these knives but being the guy he is decided to let me have it first. So as it sits next to me as I typed this my new favorite knife. The 3'' blade is ideal and the handle size lends it to do almost any task. I carried all sized knives over the years and this is really the perfect size, weight vs strength and durability. Also, it has a bad ass run #666. Size wise its almost identical to the Mini Grip with a tad more weight but it feels far more substancial and the added weight of the blade made it for an easier one handed axis lock open. I have also managed to get this knife to open Emerson wave style by catching the thumb stud on my pants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvEAPHAYMFk (I'm pretty drunk BTW in that video, so please disregard the goofiness)
This friend of mine still to this day works at that same store, he manages it now and they are the only gold class Benchmade Dealer in the State of MA. My friend of course did have that stryker and carried it for years, and still carries it to this day. He and I grew up together and have both amassed large collections of knives and weapons (toys as our wifes would call them). THe only thing about the old stryker that bugged me with the tip down carry also I was never a huge fan of the liner lock as I had one close on my hand years back. A few months ago my friend sent me some pics of the new Stryker and it had everything that 15 year old kid wanted and more. Tip up carry pocket clip ( that's also low rise), axis lock and thumb stud ( I am more of a spydie hole opener guy now ,but cant have everything right?). So, now as a adult I am lucky enough to afford such things and had him put a order in for one post hast. He just got the first production runs in a 909 and a 904 (one of each). He like me also needs one of these knives but being the guy he is decided to let me have it first. So as it sits next to me as I typed this my new favorite knife. The 3'' blade is ideal and the handle size lends it to do almost any task. I carried all sized knives over the years and this is really the perfect size, weight vs strength and durability. Also, it has a bad ass run #666. Size wise its almost identical to the Mini Grip with a tad more weight but it feels far more substancial and the added weight of the blade made it for an easier one handed axis lock open. I have also managed to get this knife to open Emerson wave style by catching the thumb stud on my pants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvEAPHAYMFk (I'm pretty drunk BTW in that video, so please disregard the goofiness)
