The Benchmade Bugout & A Peek Inside Benchmade’s Oregon City HQ

The Benchmade Bugout & A Peek Inside Benchmade's Oregon City HQ

Today I've got something special to share from a recent trip to the Benchmade Knife Company's facility in Oregon City, Oregon. Having grown up in Oregon and living in the Portland metro area, it’s pretty well known that Portland as a city is a “knife city.” Benchmade is one of many premium knife makers alongside Leatherman, CRKT, and Steelport knives, just to name a few. However, most people don’t know that. That’s why I’m excited to share my recent adventures with you guys at the Portland Knife Center of Excellence. Today, we’ll be talking about my mini adventure at Benchmade, just a short 20-minute drive from where I live. If you're an EDC junkie like me, you know Benchmade is a name that carries weight—pun intended. This wasn't just a tour of their factory; it was a chance to roll up my sleeves and build my own Benchmade Bugout as the team there had set up a small activity for tour attendees to see what their team does every day on the factory floor. Today, we’ll go over the history of Benchmade, their amazing Oregon facility, and why the Bugout's minimalist design is pure genius for an affordable, high-quality EDC blade.

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The Benchmade Bugout & A Peek Inside Benchmade's Oregon City HQ

Benchmade's Roots and the Oregon City Vibe

Benchmade's story kicks off in 1979 when Philippino-Portugese Les de Asis started Bali-Song, a small outfit focused on butterfly knives – hence why many will refer to any butterfly knife as a Bali-Song. By 1988, they rebranded to Benchmade, a nod to blending handmade quality with factory precision. The move to Oregon City in 1990 was a pivotal move, letting them scale up while keeping that craftsman's touch. Walking into their facility, you feel the history, decades of innovation in every corner, as there is a life-size mural with this history right on the walls of the Benchmade HQ. The next room over (the factory floor) hums with CNC laser cutters and machines carving out blades, laser engravers adding custom touches, and quality control folks obsessing over every detail. It's a mix of high-tech and human skill that makes Benchmade knives stand out as both a prolific and high-quality knifemaker.

The tour gave us a front-row seat to the action. From raw steel sheets being laser-cut to finished folders and fixed blades, every step is dialed in. The pros on the floor? They're like knife-making ninjas, assembling complex models like the Bugout in less time than it takes me to brew coffee. Watching some of them work was humbling, especially when it was our turn to try assembling our own knives. Spoiler: it's harder than it looks.

The Bugout: Light, Simple, Perfect

If you haven't handled a Benchmade Bugout (model 535), you're missing out on one of the best EDC knives ever made. Released in 2017, this thing weighs a ridiculous 1.85 ounces, with a 3.24-inch CPM-S30V blade and Grivory handles that keep it slim at 0.42 inches thick. It's the kind of knife you forget is in your pocket until you need it, whether you're slicing open an Amazon box or prepping kindling on a backcountry trip. The AXIS lock, a Benchmade staple, is buttery smooth and ambidextrous, making it a breeze to open and close without risking your fingers, at least if you’re assembling it correctly.

What makes the Bugout shine is its no-nonsense design and simple set of components that make it a more affordable option with a very good blade at its core. The drop-point blade is a slicer's dream, with a thin 0.09-inch profile and a high flat grind that tackles everything from rope to venison. The Grivory handles—basically a fancy nylon-polymer—keep the weight down, though some folks gripe about slight flex under hard use. Me? I think it's a fair trade for a knife this light. Benchmade's gone wild with variants, too, like the 535-3 with carbon-fiber handles and an S90V blade for those who want a premium super corrosion-resistant option. But the base model? It's all you need for most EDC tasks, and since they come in virtually any color and can be custom engraved by request, they make great personal gifts too!

My Bugout Build: Not as Easy as the Pros Make It Look

The real fun came when our tour group got to build our own Bugouts. They handed us a kit: a stonewashed S30V blade, Grivory scales, AXIS lock parts, a deep-carry clip, and a handful of tiny screws, thread locker and oil. Sounds simple, right? Nope. The pros made it look like a two-minute job—line up the blade, pop in the AXIS bar, secure the pivot, and tighten everything down. Meanwhile, most of us were fumbling like we'd never held a screwdriver before. I dropped a screw (classic), misaligned the blade once, and spent way too long making sure the AXIS lock clicked just right and the blade would swing free without being loose. The springs in that lock mechanism? Tiny and unforgiving.

A cast is not recommended for assembly

It took me a solid 15 minutes to get my Bugout together, and I wasn't alone—most of the group was in the same boat, laughing through our struggles. This process really gave me a whole new appreciation for both the manual labor that goes into some of Benchmade’s knives, as well as the automation processes they’ve been able to implement so that repetitive and frustrating jobs can be done more quickly and let employees attend to other tasks that require a more human touch.  Simply put, it was a stark reminder of the skill behind every Benchmade blade, even if most of that skill has been put into designing and programming a machine that can keep things consistent for the customer and for Benchmade. When I finally finished, I held up my Bugout. It felt personal, like I'd earned it even though it’s a regular off-the-shelf item from Benchmade that rules their EDC blade lineup.

The Benchmade Bugout & A Peek Inside Benchmade's Oregon City HQ

As a final added treat on top of a great tour and a fun learning experience, Benchmade had our knives laser-engraved in-house with our names. A nice feature you can also take advantage of when you order a knife from Benchmade.

Final Thoughts

The Bugout's a legend for a reason. It's not just the weight or the lock—it's how it fits into your life. Hikers love it for its ultralight carry; urban EDC folks dig its slim profile for jeans or slacks and shorts. At around $190 for the base model, it's not the cheapest, and some argue you can get close with a Spyderco Para 3 or Hogue Deka for less. But Benchmade's LifeSharp service—free sharpening and tune-ups for life makes it a better option in my opinion if you’re a heavy user. My only gripe? The Grivory can feel a touch plasticky if you're used to G10 or metal handles, but it's a small price for that weight savings.

Building my own Bugout at Benchmade's facility was a bucket-list moment. It wasn't just about the knife; it was about connecting with a company that's been perfecting its craft for over 40 years in my hometown. The Oregon City plant is a love letter to American manufacturing, and the Bugout is proof you don't need bells and whistles to make an EDC blade great.  What's your favorite EDC knife? Drop it in the comments, and let's talk gear!

The Benchmade Bugout & A Peek Inside Benchmade's Oregon City HQ

The Benchmade Bugout & A Peek Inside Benchmade's Oregon City HQ

The Benchmade Bugout & A Peek Inside Benchmade's Oregon City HQ

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