Benchmade’s New Knives Should Be Catnip for One NBA Team’s Fans

Is the combo of handles and timing on these Mini Bugouts mere coincidence, or is something deeper going on?

Published October 3, 2024

·

Updated October 4, 2024

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

Let me begin by saying, I’m pretty much the furthest thing there is from a conspiracy theorist. I know there are sketchy things going on behind the scenes at some of our most vaunted institutions, but the majority of the hints and allegations I’ve heard just don’t add up.

Hell, I haven’t even seen Oliver Stone’s JFK — although I do have questions about Joe Pesci’s hair in the movie.

That being said, I’m totally busting out the evidence board for the two Mini Bugouts Benchmade dropped today, because the colors and timing of these new pocket knives are hard to miss.

Benchmade Mini Bugout Dark Purple Grivory

$190 at Benchmade

Cold hard facts

Before things get wacky though, let’s play it straight with the info. A spinoff of Benchmade’s best-selling Bugout EDC knife, the Mini Bugout looks very similar to the original — just a bit smaller.

That means a 2.82-inch blade, an open length of 6.49 inches and a weight of 1.51 ounces, versus the full-size version’s 3.24-inch blade, 7.46-inch length and weight of 1.85 ounces.

benchmade mini bugout daybreak grivory open — Like pretty much all Bugouts, the two new Minis feature a reversible deep-carry pocket clip.

When it comes to materials, the baseline versions are strikingly similar, both featuring reliable CPM-S30V Premium Stainless Steel and durable, grippy Grivory handles.

Both knives have appeared with various upgrades over the years, boasting ingredients such as carbon fiber and aluminum handles and higher-end knife steels, not to mention custom options — and of course they are offered in wide variety of colors.

Which brings us to today’s two new Mini Bugout handle colorways, Dark Purple and Daybreak. (Just a moment as I don my tinfoil hat.)

The truth is … out there

They can call these knives whatever they want, but together, I see them only as purple and gold. What’s funny about those colors? Well, let’s see, they are only the main colors of one of the most famous teams in sports, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Don’t you find it a little odd that these two colors — and just these two colors — would come out on the same day? Especially when that day is the day before the new NBA season tips off.

The one thing I couldn’t figure out is why Benchmade, which is based in Oregon City, Oregon (near Portland, home of the Trail Blazers) would be trying to sneak the colors of their Western Conference rival to the south past us. But then I remembered that the brand’s founder, Les de Asis, is from California.

benchmade mini bugout dark purple macro — Benchmade’s patent AXIS Lock ensures deployment is smooth and sturdy, time after time after time.

Specifically, de Asis is from Oakland, which would point more toward the Golden State Warriors, but he later attended LA-based USC, bringing the string on this board back around.

What does it all add up to? One of a few possible scenarios, as far as I’m concerned.

The most innocuous: Mr. de Asis was a huge Laker fan and these new releases are a nice little tribute to the man who brought Benchmade, then called Bali-Song, to life way back in 1979.

More subversive: Benchmade’s presumably numerous Blazers fans are using these new colorways to pull a classic reverse jinx on the Lakers and their fans.

However, there’s also a third scenario: I’m completely out of my gourd and should probably take a long break from writing about pocket knives and just relax on a beach somewhere with plenty of sunscreen and a huge margarita, before my theories go even more off the rails. But come on, that’s just crazy right? Right??