Our new hunting buddy: Benchmade's Crooked River Knife

All hunting knives are not equal. Some are classics. Some are strictly utilitarian, and some – well – some are worthy of showing off to your friends every time you go hunting. That is definitely the case with Benchmade’s Crooked River knife.  To be honest, I can’t stop popping it out of my pocket to look at it and play with it. This hunting knife definitely lives up to the hype, and as Benchmade tells us, it certainly “pushes the preconceived notions of what a hunting knife should be.”

First and foremost, we know that Benchmade makes high quality knives, and the Crooked River is no exception. The 4″ Clip Point blade is made of CPM-S30V stainless steel, which means it keeps its edge extremely well and has a high HRC scale rating. The flawless wide grind and swedging on the 1/8″ thick blade make it perfect for most hunting applications.

As a one-hand opener (and closer) the Crooked River performs magnificently. It sports dual thumb studs, which makes it perfect for left hand or right hand users, and it has an axis lock that is not only durable but allows you to easily flip the knife open or closed with one hand.  The action was smooth, easy, and locked into place regardless of which hand we used.

At 5 1/8″ closed, the Crooked River is a good-sized hunting knife that fits the hand well, and the handle embellishments are gorgeous. There’s modern blaze orange around the pivot and on the G-10 spacer along the spine. The Crooked River comes in two different handle styles: wood and G-10. We got to play with the G-10 version and it was both comfortable and gorgeous. It’s topped off with an anodized aluminum boster (where the axis locking mechanism resides) and a decent-sized lanyard hold in the back. It also comes with a reversible, tip-up pocket clip that sits well in the pocket.

If you want an excellent “hunting buddy” this year, you cannot go wrong with the Benchmade Crooked River. There are a couple of links below that will help you find these.

Benchmade Crooked River with G-10 Handle

Benchamde Crooked River with Wood Handle

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