It is not possible to type the letters E, D, and C in close proximity to each other on the internet without that one guy reflexively parroting, “Just get a Bugout!” Or often, an entire chorus of them. It seems this is one of those laws of nature. Sun comes up in the east, spring follows winter, punters on the internet all have the same opinion.

(Watch out – Rugged in-the-rain photo!)

So, Benchmade’s model 535 Bugout has been what “everyone knows” is the best EDC knife. The default choice. The starting point. It’s svelte, lightweight, easy to use and carry, and has that trusted Benchmade quality. So everyone says, at least, sounding suspiciously like the brochure for the damn thing.

It is time, therefore, for the slaying of a sacred cow. The Bugout is just an alright knife. I actually don’t like it very much.

The Bugout is part of Benchmade’s “500” family and certainly the most ubiquitous of the bunch. Its siblings include the 532 Mini Bugout and the 537 Bailout, which we’ll get to in due time. All three of these knives share very similar construction methodologies. So does the current incarnation of the Griptilian series, sort of. The major difference between all of them is size.

The Bugout is the medium sized one: 7-3/8" long open, 4-1/4" closed, with a 3-1/8" blade made of fancy S30V steel. The blade is flat ground with a drop point profile, and is actually rather thin at 0.089" at the spine.

The entire knife is very thin, which is really its entire deal. All in, not including the clip, it’s only 0.389" thick. It’s very light, too, just 51.1 grams or 1.8 ounces. Hence, the “easy to carry” bullet point all the sales-brochure-memorizers are always so keen to bring up.

The Bugout’s got the now popular, bordering on mandatory deep carry pocket clip. It’s reversible and for tip up carry only. The handle halves are spaced out by a pair of machined aluminum diabolo style spacers, brightly anodized in whatever color you choose.

Mine is desert tan, with gold spacers and thumb studs. The available colorways on offer seem to change constantly with the moon and tides; Benchmade’s sole contribution to proceedings lately seems to be fidgeting around with those offerings incessantly. I’m surprised they don’t list “Bold New Graphics!” as a bullet point on the spec sheet, like Kawasaki does.

It is, of course, an Axis lock knife. That part of it is very nice. Of course it is; Benchmade invented the Axis lock as I’m keen on harping on about all the time, and I’d be surprised if they of all people didn’t get it right. The pivot rides on brass washers, it opens nicely, closes nicely, and you can flick it either way with the lock held back with no problem.

The handles are made of Grivory, a fiber reinforced injection molded Nylon. That is to say, not the handle scales. The handles themselves.

The Bugout exhibits Benchmade’s current fascination with making pretty much the entire damn knife out of plastic. It does not have steel liners like most knives. Instead, there are just a pair of short steel plates to support the lock crossbar and endstop pin.

Here’s what that looks like.

Benchmade bill this as, “Designed for the modern outdoor adventurer, incorporating the lightest, best performing materials in an extremely slim yet ergonomic package.” And, yes, ditching the liners does indeed make the knife very light.

But it also compromises the rigidity significantly. The Bugout is a wet noodle in the hand. Fiber reinforced though the material may be, stiffening waffle pattern it may have, but it still doesn’t take much of a pinch at all to bow the handles in like this. The flex is also highly noticeable when the knife’s in use as well. And regardless of what the math might say about the mechanical properties of the plastic, the feeling still doesn’t inspire confidence.

You can ask any backpacker and they’ll tell you that to achieve lightness some sacrifices have to be made. That’s fine as far as it goes. And it would be if the Bugout were a $40, $60, or even $80 knife.

But it isn’t. It presently costs $180.

That makes the Bugout a fantastically awful value for the money. And we’re supposed to be suggesting this thing to first time knife buyers, non-knife people, like it’s some kind of gold standard? That’s really starting off on the wrong foot.

The other slap in the face is Benchmade’s recent price hikes on this and indeed all of their knives. The ones left that aren’t currently inexplicably discontinued with no replacement, I might add. I touched on this before, but in 2019 the Bugout was $105 which was already not a great deal. But even adjusting for our recent hyperinflation, that should only be about $130 in today’s money. So don’t ask me where they pulled $180 from.

Yes, it’s made of S30V which appears to be the current supersteel darling of the knife world. Fine, but does a plastic handled mini-EDC designed for light duty occasional use actually need to be? The majority of people will probably use this for nothing more than opening their mail, Amazon boxes, and slicing the tops off of their backpacker’s meals. Would they endure any detriment if it were made of D2 or 14CN or 440C, but for half the price?

By way of usual comparison, here’s the CQC-6K. A little larger, easier to deploy, with full steel liners and a quarter of the price. You won’t be afraid to use the CQC lest you scuff your resale value, and no one will get mad at you for throwing away the box.

Compared in terms of thickness, though, you can see just how thin the Bugout is. If that’s what you want, the Bugout’s got it. Expensive, thin, and light: The iPhone of knives.

I’ll also point out at this juncture that I don’t like the Bugout’s clip. I like it in theory: It’s nicely proportioned and a deep carry design. But it’s too tightly sprung, and it plus the combination of the diamond texture on the handles which isn’t interrupted underneath the clip’s contact area makes the thing cling to your pocket like grim death. It’s entirely too difficult to draw, and to make matters worse the exposed square corner at the heel of the blade tends to snag on the fabric as well. This knife is a seam-ripper, and while Benchmade will sharpen it for free if you mail it back to them I don’t think that offer extends to also mending your pants.

The Inevitable Conclusion

The Bugout is an expensive but middling knife. Its humongous price tag isn’t backed up by much if you ask me. We ought to stop suggesting it to everyone left, right, and center all the time. We can do better for less.