Benchmade 15085-2 Mini Crooked River Knife Review

Benchmade has a rich history that dates back over 30 years. The current company is the product of many dedicated employees, a never-quit demand for excellence and the de Asis family’s vision and total commitment to culture, service and innovation.

In 1979, the Benchmade adventure really began. Les de Asis wanted a knife that reflected the latest in materials and manufacturing technology to replace the cheap butterfly knives, known as Bali-Songs, that he had played with when he was a child. He used his high-school shop skills blueprinting his dream knife before eventually meeting Victor Anselmo, who helped him grind the first ever pre-Benchmade Bali-Song prototype. Les paired this with handles that he had sourced from a small machine shop in California. He assembled and finished his first Bali-Song in his own garage. He was proud enough of his creation, so he took this first Bali-Song into a local gun store, where the owner asked him, “Could you build 100 more?”

The next year, he incorporated as Bali-Song, Inc. and rented a small shop in a second story mezzanine in California. He used the basic technology available to him at the time and began building handmade custom Bali-Songs, along with Jody Sampson, who ground all the blades. Over the next seven years, the company expanded its product offerings into fixed blades and conventional folding knives, and evolving its name form Bali-Song, Inc. to Pacific Cutlery Corp.

A few years later, he filed for bankruptcy and the company was dissolved. In 1988, the company was reintroduced with a new version of the famous Model 68. This new company needed a perfect name. He recognized that there was “handmade” and “factory-made,” it was really “Benchmade” that described the quality of Les’ product. He was building and operation that made precision parts, but with hand assembly on the finished products. This was a “bench” operation and Les wanted the name to reflect the marriage of manufactured and custom. In short, it describes Benchmade’s position in the market—even to this day.

To this day Benchmade continues to focus on innovation, customer needs, responsible business ethics and operations to bring the highest quality products to the world’s elite.

 

The Series:

This knife is part of Benchmade’s HUNT series. Benchmade lists some of the competitive advantages to using a knife from this series. For stares, edge retention is one of the most important features while field dressing an animal, and they make sure that the CPM S30V blade will deliver. Second is durability. They say, “A powdered metal steel, the durability of CPM S30V outperforms other blade steels thanks to its uniform grain structure. Third is corrosion resistance and because CPM S30V steel is a true stainless steel, it requires little maintenance and out performs other steels such as D2 by 619%. With a Benchmade HUNT knife, you know that you are getting all of the qualities that you need to succeed and survive.

 

The Blade:

The blade is made out of CPM S30V stainless steel that has been hardened to a 58-60 HRC. This steel is made by US based Crucible specifically for high-end premium pocket knives as well as expensive kitchen cutlery. Crucible knew what they were designing this steel for, so they made sure to pack it full of all the qualities that you want out of your knife blade. For starters, it resists rusting and corroding with ease. It also has excellent edge retention. The two of these characteristics make for an excellent hunting knife, because it keeps maintenance time down. This is especially important if you are going on a long hunting trip and don’t want to long a sharpener and all of your cleaning supplies with you. To keep this steel in top shape, wipe it down, make sure it’s dry, and oil it occasionally. Crucible added vanadium carbides to bring extreme hardness into the steel alloy matrix. The vanadium carbides help this blade steel have the perfect balance between edge retention, hardness, and toughness. Unfortunately, because of the extreme hardness, it does prove harder to work with and sharpen. This should not be a major issue, but if you are a beginner sharpener, don’t expect to get a pristine edge on it.

The blade is finished satin, which is the most common blade finish on the market today. The satin finish is created by repeatedly sanding the blade in one direction with an increasing level of fine abrasive, usually a sandpaper. This finish gives a classic look by showing off the bevels of the blade while showcasing the fine lines of the steel. This finish also reduces glares, reflections, and increases the ability to fight rusting and corrosion. Hunting knives usually have a more classic look to them, so the satin finish was the perfect option for this knife.

The blade has been carved into a clip point blade shape. This is an all-purpose blade shape. The shape is formed by having the back edge of the knife run straight from the handle before stopping about halfway up the knife. At this point, it turns and continues to the point of the knife. This cut-out portion is curved and is known as the “clip” of the knife, which is we=here the blade style got its name from. Because of the clip, the knife looks as if the spine has actually been clipped off. Another thing that the clip creates is a lowered point, which gives the user more control when they are using the knife. This characteristic is key when looking for a hunting knife, because you need all the control that you can get when you are field dressing an animal. You do not want to slip and nick an organ, which would ruin the meat. The clip point especially excels at stabbing, because the tip is controllable, sharp, and thinner at the spine. These features let you stab quicker with less drag. Lastly, a clip point blade is versatile because of the large belly that it has. The belly is the slicing edge and the larger the slicing edge, the easier it will be to slice. Out of all the great features, the clip point does have one major drawback. Because of the relatively narrow tip and how sharp it is, the tip does have the tendency to be weak and break fairly easily, especially when used on harder objects.

Like all great hunting knives, the blade has a plain edge. The plain edge gives cleaner cuts and slices, is easier to sharpen in the field if needed, and lets you take on a wider variety of tasks.

 

The Handle:

The handle of the Mini Crooked River is made out of contoured stabilized wood. Wood is one of the materials that have been used for knife handles since knives came into existence. When you have a quality wood handle, like on this knife, the knife is going to be durable and attractive. One of the other benefits to a wood handle is that it adds so much personality and beauty to the knife but it is still an inexpensive material.

Stabilized wood is wood that has been injected with a chemical stabilizing solution. The stabilized wood can be worked with normal wood working tools. So it doesn’t make it any trickier to create a knife handle. Stabilizing the wood is going to make it more durable and less prone to warping or cracking compared to natural or untreated wood. This is especially important in a hunting knife like this one, because it is going to be around plenty of fluids.

To stabilize the wood, it is placed in a container with the stabilizing solution. It is then put under a vacuum and then high pressure to ensure that the solution completely penetrates the pieces of wood. After the wood has been injected with the stabling solution, it is heat cured, which turns the liquid stabilizing solution into a solid.

The handle on this knife is curved to fit comfortably in your hand no matter how long you have to use it. The wood attaches to a steel bolster for durability. There is a deep finger groove which not only gives you a more comfortable grip, but it also gives you a more secure grip on this knife. The spine of the knife bulges outward in a shallow curve, which also works to provide you with a very secure grip. On the butt of the handle, there is a lanyard hole. The biggest advantage that you can use with the lanyard hole is to wrap the lanyard around the handle to give it more texture while you are in the thick of dressing your game. This will give you extra texture so that you don’t slip and cut yourself.

 

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip on this knife is designed for tip-up carry only, but it is reversible for either left or right handed carry. This is a benefit because it allows the user to carry the knife more comfortably throughout their hunting experience. The pocket clip is a split arrow clip, which means that it is shaped like an arrow. The arrow shape helps the clip to cling more securely to your pocket, adding an additional element of security inside of your pocket. The clip is slightly skeletonized, which is why this style of clip is known as the split arrow.

 

The Mechanism:

This is a manual knife that has no mechanical assist. It is equipped with both a thumb stud as well as Benchmade’s AXIS lock.

Because this knife is a manual knife, you don’t have to worry about the strict knife laws that would accompany an automatic knife. While a manual knife won’t open as smoothly or efficiently as an automatic knife, the maintenance will be a little bit easier. While there are still moving parts inside the handle, there is not a spring that can wear down and ruin the mechanism of the knife if it falls apart or breaks down.

The thumb stud is a simple mechanism to get the hang of. It was designed to replace the nail nick that is used on older and more traditional knives. This is a small barrel that extends off of the blade. You use your thumb to push on this barrel until the knife swings open and locks into place. While you can open the knife with only one hand, it does place your fingers in the path of the blade. Make sure that you practice carefully opening this a couple of times while you get the hang of it. One of the other common complaints with this opening mechanism is that the stud gets in the way because it does extend off the blade.

Benchmade says, “A patented Benchmade exclusive, AXIS has been turning heads and winning fans ever since its introduction. A 100 percent ambidextrous design, AXIS gets its function from a small, hardened steel bar that rides forward and back in a slot machined into both steel liners. The bar extends to both sides of the knife, spans the liners, and is positioned over the rear of the blade. It engages a ramped tang portion of the knife blade when it is opened. Two omega-style springs, one on each liner, give the locking bar its inertia to engage the knife tang. As a result, the tang is wedged solidly between a sizable stop pin and the AXIS bar itself.” This locking mechanism is known for being strong, durable, and crazy reliable.

 

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 3.4 inches long with a blade thickness of 0.114 inches. The handle has a length of 4.50 inches long with a thickness of 0.52 inches. The Crooked River weighs in at 3.29 ounces. This Benchmade knife is made in the United States of America.

 

Conclusion:

Benchmade says, “The standout Crooked River now in a smaller, everyday carry size. Featuring the same traditional profile, modern technology, and style that pushes the preconceived notions of what a hunting knife should be.” You can pick up this brand new knife today at BladeOps.