Pre Benchmade Benchmade

[larphred]

I have a friend who has an automatic knife that was made in Oregon. Evidently, Benchmade took over their production and the knife is like a prototype for the Benchmade autos. Anybody know the name of the company in Oregon or the approx. value of the knife?

[84SS]

IIRC benchmade was preceeded by a company called Pacific Cutlery which dissolved in the early 90s.I think the knife your friend has is made by benchmade in the time frame of 91~93. It looks almost exactly like the AFO. except it is sterile and there is no pocket clip.how these came about is AL MAR knives wanted an updated and automatic version of their SERE made on a limited production run with AL MAR markings on the blade.the blade shape was a modified clip point,plain or serratted,bead blasted ATS~34 steel.the SERE run was limited to several hundred pieces. I do not recall exact numbers.the benchmade version was available after the SERE run sold out.I paid 125 for the sterile benchmade way back when.it came in a plain white cardboard box with a made in USA sticker on it and a black nylon sheath.current value ?