Which Benchmade Knife

bozeman

WKR
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
2,639
Location
Alabama
So I have read the numerous threads on knives through the search function. I have had a few custom knives (L Rosi, G Ingram) and while they were nice, they were too nice for me to use and just sat in my safe. I have narrowed this down to an SV30 fixed blade knife to use hunting (whitetail, elk, turkey). Benchmade seems to be a highly respected company and I have never owned one of their knives. They have:
Bush Crafter ($190)
Crooked River ($185)
Saddle Mountain Skinner ($150)
Grizzly Creek ($175)

I have no issue spending this money as I know it will be used in hunting and paired with a Havalon. Looking for an all around tool to be used. Skinning, joint cutting, camp, etc........Thoughts from the brain trust on this?

Thanks in advance for the help.
Bozeman
 

weedwacker42

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Messages
240
Location
Kansas
I have a SMS, Grizzly Creek, and a Steep Country. I love all 3. Grizzly resides in my bino pouch and use it for odds and ends, but not breaking down animals, although I'm sure it would do a fine job. I just don't care for trying to clean the fat and grime out of folders. The Steep Country is my primary dressing/skinning/quartering knife. I love the grip on the handle and the orange is nice to keep from misplacing it. The SMS gets rotated into use if the Steep Country starts dulling on subsequent hunts. Honestly, I've only broken down one deer with the SMS because the Steep Country holds its own well enough. But the SMS really feels nice in the hand as well. At the end of the season, I send the two fixed bladed in for the Lifesharp treatment that Benchmade provides. Love that service. I haven't used the Bush Crafter, but it looks nice.
 

MTarrowflinger

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
275
So I have read the numerous threads on knives through the search function. I have had a few custom knives (L Rosi, G Ingram) and while they were nice, they were too nice for me to use and just sat in my safe. I have narrowed this down to an SV30 fixed blade knife to use hunting (whitetail, elk, turkey). Benchmade seems to be a highly respected company and I have never owned one of their knives. They have:
Bush Crafter ($190)
Crooked River ($185)
Saddle Mountain Skinner ($150)
Grizzly Creek ($175)

I have no issue spending this money as I know it will be used in hunting and paired with a Havalon. Looking for an all around tool to be used. Skinning, joint cutting, camp, etc........Thoughts from the brain trust on this?

Thanks in advance for the help.
Bozeman




I have the Bush Crafter and it's a hell of a knife. Will certainly work for everything listed as well as plenty of other uses. I was going to say I'd let you see mine because I'm in Bozeman and then realized that you're not in Bozeman.

The Bush Crafter is a fairly heavy knife, though, so it'll probably stay home on anything more than a day hunt.

I don't know if you're opposed to it, or not; but, I also have the Steep Country and take it on all of my hunts. It's a bomber knife for breaking down animals.
 

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
Well as you know its all about the steel and temper with these knives.

I've been using the steep country in S30V for a few years and its excellent, holds an edge.....small and light. My only issue with it not being THE perfect knife for me is the metal on the tang catches on my latex gloves.

I highly recommend that^ knife. That CPM S30V is good stuff.

I EDC a Benchmade mini Grip in 154CM....good steel but S30V is a little better.

I might try a PMA 11 blade [much harder steel] this year. I picked up one of those spyderco mules [the blank $59] in that high speed steel and made some walnut scales for it. Its light....and that steel is very hard....a bit harder to sharpen than S30V or S20v when playing with all 3 side by side.

I was thinking about a S90v or S110V blade....but it might be approaching the "so hard its a PITA" category like this PMA 11...[similar to Maxamet]

I will give it a shot on a couple elk and see. /grin
 

Elkhntr08

WKR
Joined
Nov 3, 2016
Messages
1,078
Saddle Mountain Skinner was my choice and I’m glad I made it. Good balance, strong blade and holds an edge. Not sure how it sharpens, not had to do it yet.
 
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
8,161
Location
Central Oregon
I'm pretty much benchmade thru and thru these days, quality and just a good company to deal with.

The hidden canyon hunter may be smaller then u want but to me it's a great blade. Big enough for a good grip and will do it all without the weight penalty.
 

Mosby

WKR
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
1,910
If I bought a new hunting knife right now it would be the Benchmade Altitude. I really like that knife.
 

mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
2,671
The Bushcrafter is a good knife for heavy work but has a thicker blade than I prefer for processing game. If you were going to use a Havalon for most things and wanted a really stout knife you could baton through wood or otherwise abuse it's a good choice. Mine with a simple aftermarket Kydex sheath to cover the blade in my pack weighs 9.6oz.

The Saddle Mountain skinner is probably my pick to pair with a Havalon if you would be hard on a knife. It's not quite as stout as the Bushcrafter but is still a pretty thick bladed knife. I've had mine dull and re-sharpened it fine, it's not to hard to sharpen. With the factory kydex sheath it weighs 7.1oz. Mine has held up to quite a bit of abuse. I used it around the ranch for a while to dull it so I could make sure I could re-sharpen it with the stuff I'd have in the field. It held an edge well.

I haven't tried the others listed. I have a D2 knife the size of the Steep Country that I like. If I don't think I'll have to abuse the knife or its not real wet I like it. It's a little lighter weight even with the super stout leather sheath and feels really good in my hand.

All are really good choices, just depends on what size you want and what camp use means to you.
 

snowplow

WKR
Joined
Sep 25, 2016
Messages
693
Location
Washington
Me and dad got the saddle mountain for an all arounder that can handle game, camp, and bushcraft tasks. I like reflexed knives.

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
 

boom

WKR
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
3,185
i actually find Benchmades S30V kinda difficult to sharpen. it seems very hard to me. it even sounds and feels different on a stone.

i have one in my pocket right now that needs a better edge. i might send it to them and let them do it for now.

all part of that give/take between edge retention and sharp-ability, i suppose.
 

mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
2,671
i actually find Benchmades S30V kinda difficult to sharpen. it seems very hard to me. it even sounds and feels different on a stone.

i have one in my pocket right now that needs a better edge. i might send it to them and let them do it for now.

all part of that give/take between edge retention and sharp-ability, i suppose.

I can get a good usable edge on it with their Worksharp field sharpener, I keep one at camp or in the truck on trips. At home I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker. When I first got knives with the S30V and better steels I did some looking on knife forums and that one seemed real popular. Both those have a way to make it easy to keep the angle right. A ceramic steel is what I usually carry in my pack for a big critter like an elk where I might need to touch up a knife. It's about 3oz and I just use it quick a couple times during the process.
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Messages
29
can't go wrong with any of these knives mentioned. it comes down to what u like.
I have learned over the years of breaking down animals in the field, is that if you use the gut hook to work around, up and down the legs and on all the initial hide cuts it will help save your blade and stay sharper longer.
 
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
375
Location
Oklahoma
I use my bench made gut hook to spilt the skin and a Havalon to peel it. Then use my fixed blade to dissect the carcass.

I have used my hidden canyon hunter on two elk and it actually works awesome and is very packable. Felt good in the hand; just long enough and stout enough.

I also have a nimravus on my LBE and just really love that knife as an all around great camping knife. It’s uber sexy
 

jaredg

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 19, 2017
Messages
117
Location
N. Utah
My light and fast kit has two BM Altitude (1.67oz ea) knives and one Bugout (1.85oz) for a total of 5.19ozs. My truck kit has A BM Nestucca (discontinued) and a BM Hidden Canyon. I am also using a Busse Ratmandu and a Victorinox Master Mic smal and large. If you can find a Nestucca, I highly recommend it, we really like the Altitude knives also. I also use the BM 10 Hook as my guthook, much more cutting area than a traditional guthook. The guthook is actually part of their rescue line, and not listed as a guthook at all.
 
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