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Benchmade 710
In 1999, a collaboration between Benchmade and custom makers Bill McHenry and Jason Williams produced more than another folding knife. The Benchmade 710 Seven Ten was the first knife to carry the AXIS lock, the mechanism that went on to define the brand and change how the industry thought about one-handed, ambidextrous lockwork. More than twenty five years later, the 710 remains the knife that started it.
The McHenry & Williams Design and the First AXIS Lock
Bill McHenry and Jason Williams, a father and stepson team of custom makers with watchmaking roots, engineered the AXIS lock and brought it to Benchmade, and the 710 was the knife designed to showcase it. The mechanism earned its reputation fast: fully ambidextrous, strong in both directions, and operable with one hand without ever putting fingers in the blade path. The 710 collected Shooting Industry's Knife of the Year award and set the template that hundreds of later Benchmade models would follow. When collectors search the McHenry and Williams name today, this is the knife they are looking for.
Benchmade 710 Specs and Performance
The 710 runs nearly four inches of recurve drop point blade, a profile that excels at both push cuts and long draw cuts, with enough belly and length to do genuine work. Phosphor bronze bushings give the pivot a low-friction glide that lets the blade fly through its arc, and the AXIS lock closes it up with zero play. It is a full-size folder in the truest sense, sized for users who want serious cutting power in the pocket rather than a compromise.
The 710-25 Anniversary Reissue and Limited Editions
The current 710-25 reissue honors the anniversary of the AXIS lock with black aluminum handles and a satin M390 recurve blade, pairing the original geometry with a modern super steel the 1999 knife could only dream of. Benchmade has also run the Seven Ten through limited treatments over the years, including Gold Class builds; our breakdown of Benchmade's knife classes explains what those tiers mean. Reissue runs are limited and sell through quickly, so if the 710 shows in stock as an authorized dealer allocation, it is not a listing to sit on.