Meateater - Benchmade Boning Knife Meatcrafter

[coloyooper]

Just down the road is Rapid River knife works? I didn't know marble arms made knives ever. Their 'store' in Gladstone doesn't really do P2P sales. They almost turned us away getting some .22 speed loaders last year or the year before.

Check it out.

 

[coloyooper]

Just down the road is Rapid River knife works? I didn't know marble arms made knives ever. Their 'store' in Gladstone doesn't really do P2P sales. They almost turned us away getting some .22 speed loaders last year or the year before.

My camp is in bark river. Used to spend a lot of time downstate so we’d drive by Marble all the time.

 

[Medardlefevre]

I mean, it looks nice lol

 

[Marbles]

At home, where I have bench stones, lower grade steel does not bother me as it is easy to sharpen. So my fillet knives are just Rapala. I do really like good steel though. In the field, where I don't want to bother with sharpening, I like my S90V and M390 knives. Both hold an edge longer than any of the VG-10, D2, 154CM, 440C, or S30V knives I have used. I have not used S45VN, but will venture to guess it is a great steel. If I did not have other things I wanted to put my money towards, I would be willing to give this a try. Just don't have a compelling need.

Most of my knives are Benchmade now, as I have been happy with their products. For edge quality, ease of sharpening, and price carbon steel cannot be beat, however I don't like the corrosion issues that come with it and am willing to pay to have easier maintenance.

 

[MichaelO]

Very overpriced victorinox boning knife. And I know for a fact that those work great, don’t go dull and won’t break under hard use.
Glad I discovered those and they are less than 50 dollars

 

[Mike Islander]

Very overpriced victorinox boning knife. And I know for a fact that those work great, don’t go dull and won’t break under hard use.
Glad I discovered those and they are less than 50 dollars

It's not a Victonox. It's a Benchmade. It doesn't use X55CrMo14 steel. It uses S45VN. Closest Victonox Boning Knife is their Grand Maître Wood Boning Knife, which is $115, not $50. It also uses X55CrMo14. Meatcrafter is made in USA.

STEEL: Meatcrafter has 5x the wear resistance of the VNox. Also has 5x the working hardness. Finally, and most importantly, Meatcrafter has 4x the edge retention over VNox steel. Materials matter.

Their are $12 knives that work just as well. They will need much more frequent sharpening and will wear away much faster, but they will work just fine. Performance is not what we're buying, although it's part of the equation. No need to trash it just because you aren't interested. And when you do that, you are intentionally ignoring the reasons that lead people to buy this knife.

"Because it's cool" is plenty reason to buy anything if you have disposable income. Personally I like that the materials and design are top of the line. I think it looks awesome, and it definitely works fantastic based on my experience. Finally, I like supporting two USA companies.

 

[MichaelO]

I know it’s not a vitora

It's not a Victonox. It's a Benchmade. It doesn't use X55CrMo14 steel. It uses S45VN. Closest Victonox Boning Knife is their Grand Maître Wood Boning Knife, which is $115, not $50. It also uses X55CrMo14. Meatcrafter is made in USA.

STEEL: Meatcrafter has 5x the wear resistance of the VNox. Also has 5x the working hardness. Finally, and most importantly, Meatcrafter has 4x the edge retention over VNox steel. Materials matter.

Their are $12 knives that work just as well. They will need much more frequent sharpening and will wear away much faster, but they will work just fine. Performance is not what we're buying, although it's part of the equation. No need to trash it just because you aren't interested. And when you do that, you are intentionally ignoring the reasons that lead people to buy this knife.

"Because it's cool" is plenty reason to buy anything if you have disposable income. Personally I like the materials and design. I think it looks awesome. I like supporting two USA companies.

I know it’s not victorinox but it damn sure looks like that’s what they are attempting to copy. Slow your roll fanboy. You want to spend $$$ on something for a name you go right ahead.

Having a ridiculously hard knife steel isn’t always best. Your talking about a knife design that is meant to be used against bone. A 14 degree angle blade isnt meant for nothing but cutting meat into smaller chunks. I don’t care how hard it is you will at best roll the edge or at worst chip the blade if you run that thing against bone a lot.

And I’m not just someone talking out their ass about knives. I own and operate a knife sharpening company where people pay good money for me to sharpen and fix knives. Typically that shallow of an angle is seen on Asian knives or filet knives. Not something you debone a deer with.

spend your money how you want though. By all means support meateater. They have done a lot for the community but watch the near future as they are pushed to put out ridiculous product offerings due to being pushed for revenue by new stakeholders. I truly hope Steve draws the line somewhere before the mossy oak steering wheel covers.

 

[Mike Islander]

I know it’s not a vitora

I know it’s not victorinox but it damn sure looks like that’s what they are attempting to copy. Slow your roll fanboy. You want to spend $$$ on something for a name you go right ahead. Having a ridiculously hard knife steel isn’t always best. Your talking about a knife design that is meant to be used against bone. A 14 degree angle blade is meant for nothing but cutting meat into smaller chunks. I don’t care how hard it is you will at best roll the edge or at worst chip the blade if you run that thing against bone a lot.

And I’m not just someone talking out their ass about knives. I own and operate a knife sharpening company where people pay good money for me to sharpen and fix knives. Typically that shallow of an angle is seen on Asian knives or filet knives. Not something you debone a deer with.

I can put any angle on it I want. Not a problem. I could as easily say Victorinox copied boning knives invented 500 years ago.

Why the hate?

 

[JakeSCH]

I've been causally looking into getting a more "sturdy" knife to take in lieu of my havalon. I looked at this knife closely but it was bigger than I wanted, so I went to Siembida and am getting a great custom knife for a little less.

 

[SpookySpectre308]

So if a guy were to get an insider discount to the tune of over 50%, would there still be a question on if it's worth it?

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[robie]

So if a guy were to get an insider discount to the tune of over 50%, would there still be a question on if it's worth it?

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Sign me up.

It was inevitable this thread would get somewhat off track.

I started it to hear from some knife people and they chimed in. Thank you everyone.

I like the look of the knife. I haven't rushed out to grab one but wouldn't be upset if I got it as a gift. Or at a discount.

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[rileybassman]

So if a guy were to get an insider discount to the tune of over 50%, would there still be a question on if it's worth it?

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For sure IMO. Honestly, for knife people who care about materials and warranty etc... I don't think it's that out of line... It's top end of what I would pay for a production knife... But probably will get it at some point. I like the Vic's as much as the next guy, but having a quality steel and higher end materials is appealing.

Ruger Americans are sufficient for a hunting gun... Cheap knives are too... Nicer guns and nicer knives give a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment to the user... Some find that appealing/some are willing to pay for it... Some don't see the value and aren't... Both responses are fine... But just about everyone has categories of "toys" that they are willing to pay for

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[rileybassman]

Ok so I picked one up in preparation for a hopefully busy fall of meat processing... Don't want to re kindle any expensive cutlery haters...but I enjoy a good blade and wanted to pass on my thoughts.

Couple pics next to my other butcher knives. Slight optical illusion inside since it's closest to my phone but you get the idea... It's same league as the Vic and bark River... The barkie has a longer blade but shorter handle. The Benchmade is about same overall length.

It's a nice knife - flex is in-between the Vic and bark River and I think will be great for a boning knife. I think the ergos are the best of the group... Handle is thinner then I expected, but for meat processing, I like that as I do a lot of pinch grip.

It's thinner behind the edge then the others... The wusthof is close tho. I woulda chose a slightly thicker tip (or gotten rid of the swedge and carried full thickness full way) but it's not bad at all. The bark River feels more robust, but the meatcrafter feels more nimble and feels very well put together.

It has more belly then I was expecting... Not bad, just an observation.

I'll report back with steel observations... But on a custom I have, I'm really appreciating s45vn. I notice a decent improvement from the Vic to the wusthof in the edge retention department... And then an additional improvement from the wusthof to the bark River (CPM154). I expect probably an additional improvement over the bark River in the edge holding department.... Percentages are tough but I would expect 2.5-3x the edge retention of the Vic with the Benchmade... The bark River is prolly around 2x better edge retention already and I expect s45vn will out perform CPM154.

I have read some hate on the sheath... But I actually liked it better then I expected. It's not designed as a belt knife... And it's a better protective cover then I have for my other kitchen knives. Once you get the hang of putting it in, it's not bad... With an upswept blade, you always need to ride the tip towards the eyelet side of the sheath and it goes in just fine.

All in all its a nice blade... I think I prefer it to the bark River... It feels a little high for the price... But not crazy or out of line... I would say $250 feels like a good price... So it may drop down to that soon idk...

Is it 10x better then a Vic, 7x better then a wusthof, or 1.25ish x better then the bark River? Idk that's for each person to say... I would rather have it then 10 Vic's... And I like the Vic's a lot. But that's just me. I'll try and report back after some meat cutting... If it does as well as my other s45vn custom, I'll be very happy.

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[qwerksc]

Fish mangler knives, when you want more meat on the bone

 

[Shraggs]

Ok so I picked one up in preparation for a hopefully busy fall of meat processing... Don't want to re kindle any expensive cutlery haters...but I enjoy a good blade and wanted to pass on my thoughts.

Couple pics next to my other butcher knives. Slight optical illusion inside since it's closest to my phone but you get the idea... It's same league as the Vic and bark River... The barkie has a longer blade but shorter handle. The Benchmade is about same overall length.

It's a nice knife - flex is in-between the Vic and bark River and I think will be great for a boning knife. I think the ergos are the best of the group... Handle is thinner then I expected, but for meat processing, I like that as I do a lot of pinch grip.

It's thinner behind the edge then the others... The wusthof is close tho. I woulda chose a slightly thicker tip (or gotten rid of the swedge and carried full thickness full way) but it's not bad at all. The bark River feels more robust, but the meatcrafter feels more nimble and feels very well put together.

It has more belly then I was expecting... Not bad, just an observation.

I'll report back with steel observations... But on a custom I have, I'm really appreciating s45vn. I notice a decent improvement from the Vic to the wusthof in the edge retention department... And then an additional improvement from the wusthof to the bark River (CPM154). I expect probably an additional improvement over the bark River in the edge holding department.... Percentages are tough but I would expect 2.5-3x the edge retention of the Vic with the Benchmade... The bark River is prolly around 2x better edge retention already and I expect s45vn will out perform CPM154.

I have read some hate on the sheath... But I actually liked it better then I expected. It's not designed as a belt knife... And it's a better protective cover then I have for my other kitchen knives. Once you get the hang of putting it in, it's not bad... With an upswept blade, you always need to ride the tip towards the eyelet side of the sheath and it goes in just fine.

All in all its a nice blade... I think I prefer it to the bark River... It feels a little high for the price... But not crazy or out of line... I would say $250 feels like a good price... So it may drop down to that soon idk...

Is it 10x better then a Vic, 7x better then a wusthof, or 1.25ish x better then the bark River? Idk that's for each person to say... I would rather have it then 10 Vic's... And I like the Vic's a lot. But that's just me. I'll try and report back after some meat cutting... If it does as well as my other s45vn custom, I'll be very happy.

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Very nice, informative and objective review!

thanks

 

[rileybassman]

I got asked about more of a direct comparison between the bark river and benchmade... I'll upload a few more pics of those two in hand... basically, I think I prefer the benchmade in hand. The handle is longer and the guard is more pronounced. The bark river gets you right up to the edge (similar to their fox river for those that have handled one... however, for some reason the fox river feels a little more safe... maybe the first finger "choil" is deeper idk...)
The bark river also has a forward palm swell... which pushes your hand towards the blade - which usually I love and have other knives do the same, however, when there isn't much of a guard, it can feel slightly precarious. The handle is also smaller on the bark river.... I'm a s/m hand size and it's good - but if you are an XL or up I would say go with the benchmade.

May not be a big deal for others... and hey I've cut up probably 4 elk, 4 deer, and 4 antelope with the bark river without getting cut... but it's on my mind.

In hand I prefer the Benchmade, blade shape, perhaps I prefer the Bark River at this point... but I want to use it before really making that decision.

If I had to pick one, probably the benchmade - but again, I need to use it on a few critters first.

 

[fishslap]

Excellent review and pics. Thanks. I might put this on my Xmas list instead of white tube socks.

 

[Gobbler36]

I’ll stick with my 24.99 victorinox boning knife I bought at the kitchen supply store. I do love my bench made steep country and my iron will knife

 

[cjohannsen54]

Anyone have a meatcrafter they are willing to part with?
Thanks!

 

[battleborn54]

benchmade is usually pretty solid