Benchmade 162 Bushcrafter Knife

The B.M bushcrafter has been a great all purpose knife. It is a good size, and unobtrusive in the pack. Nice to see a bushcrafter making use of some great advanced materials.

It is made out of a high quality Stainless S30V that was extremely sharp out of the box, holds an edge and due to the high grind and good edge geometry is easy to sharpen. The Stainless blade is a nice feature on this modern take of the Bushcrafter as there is no real worry of rusting in the field. Same goes for the G-10 handle, impervious to most environmental conditions. I took some sandpaper to the handle to round the edges a bit, applied some gun oil to the g-10 and now it is dialed in! The Titanium tubing is a nice touch and is practical as it offers a place to use as lashing points on the knife. I like a low maintenance knife in the field!

I have used this knife in the snow, rain and in the desert, on a 5 day hiking trip and has performed well. The blade is thick enough to baton without fear of breaking.

Sheath is decent and also considering having a kydex sheath made for it.

One tuff knife.

This is an excellent knife, and if you read the reviews above you already know that. However Ill add my voice to theirs. Excellent blade. The material, design, and grind are spot on. Most bushcraft knives are carbon steel with a Scandinavian grind, this blade however is premium stainless steel (s30v is the only steel made specifically for cutlery purposes) with a full flat grind. This mean the blade is ALOT less likely to rust and holds a very good edge for a very long time. I batoned the knife through 6 old hardwood logs and the knife was still sharp enough to shave hair off my arm with minimal effort. The handle design looks odd at first but when you understand the different grips it's designed to accommodate you realize it is well executed. G10 is indestructible so pound away. The back of the blade throws a mean spark off any fire steel. Should this be your only blade in the wilderness? No, but only because the golden rule of bushcraft is: two is one and one is none. I carry the light my fire mora as a back up blade, which is much cheaper and an excellent bushcraft blade in its own right, also available at REI.

I have had a Bushcrafter from Benchmade since it came out this year. It is a great design by Shane Sibert. I use this knife for sereveral camping and fishing trips. I have also used this knife while hiking. This knife has preformed effortlessly from remedial tasks to splitting kiddling. I would consider this one of the best bushcraft style knives on the market. The sheath is also very nice. Do not hestiate to get this knife. It will be a great add this up coming season.

The knife is well designed and engineered. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because of the sheath. It is uncomfortable to wear on your belt because the belt loop is too low making the knife handle pock your ribs. Also the "D" loop and the fire striker are frivolous.