Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Review

It lastly occurred. After a decade of telling folks I might “simply fill my tag on opening day of archery and be performed with it,” the bull screamed into my bugles an hour into the opener. It dropped 75 yards away after my arrow hit the mark.

However as any hunter price their quiver will inform you, placing an elk on the bottom is just the start, particularly should you absolutely course of the meat your self. So I set my 13-year-old bow apart and pulled out a model new Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner from my kill equipment. Certainly, it was time to get to work.

For a lot of the subsequent week, it was me and the Saddle Mountain Skinner, together with my mother and father, just a few different knives, and a few associates, who turned that five-by-five bull into sufficient steaks, burgers, and brats to feed me and my household for the following 12 months. And in spite of everything that work, it’s develop into one among my favourite knives of all time. Right here’s why.

Briefly: The Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner ($280 for the S90V mannequin examined right here) is the platonic splendid of a looking knife. The 8.7-inch fixed-blade knife has a deep-bellied drop-point S90V blade. The blade form is right for subject dressing, skinning, and processing huge sport. The Richlite deal with feels superb within the hand, even after hours of exhausting use. Steel ridging alongside the again of the deal with, an ergonomic palm swell, and aggressive jimping make the blade each secure and cozy to make use of for lengthy hours of meat processing.

Evaluate the Saddle Mountain Skinner with my choice of the very best looking knives.

Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Assessment

A mature bull elk is an enormous job to interrupt down and course of. It’s one of many few occasions after I’d inform somebody to anticipate to make use of a knife — exhausting and nonstop — for 8 hours plus straight. And that is what I did with the Saddle Mountain Skinner. It was essentially the most brutal, exacting take a look at of a looking knife I’ve skilled in my practically 4 many years of elk looking.

To start, a accomplice and I started by quartering and breaking down the bull on the aspect of a mountain. In fact, it died in a small ditch, making the whole course of more durable. However with teamwork and sluggish, regular work, we broke the meat into manageable quarters over the course of somewhat over an hour. We eliminated backstraps and neck meat, and cracked rib bones to take away meat from contained in the cavity with the gutless methodology.

Within the subject, the factory-keen Saddle Mountain Skinner proved extremely sharp. It took little or no strain to pierce the disguise and comply with the muscle teams, splitting the primary rear quarter right down to the hip joint in a matter of seconds. I took my time, cautious to not break into the intestines as I adopted the joint round, the knife chopping like a laser.

The Saddle Mountain Skinner is obtainable in S90V metal with Richlite and G10 handles, or S30V metal with a stabilized wooden deal with. I examined the premium S90V model, and was blown away by how effectively it held an edge.

A buddy and I labored on chopping down the bull for most likely 2 hours in whole, from eradicating quarters all the best way to choosing off the final bits of neck meat and batoning the blade by way of the neck (extra on this later) to take away the top.

And that was simply day one. By the point we hauled the final of 5 masses off the mountain, the Saddle Mountain Skinner was nonetheless very sharp.

The Solely Searching Knife You Want?

The passage of time could harm, but it surely additionally items information if we listen. As I method my fourth decade as a hunter, my opinions about the very best looking knives have developed. This 12 months, the Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner taught this previous canine just a few new tips.

For the primary time in a number of years, I by no means reached for a scalpel. Detachable-blade knives like Havalon are a go-to for a lot of hunters for good purpose. A contemporary blade simply works. I’ve used them many occasions, and I’m certain I’ll once more. However with the unreal sharp and sturdy S90V metal of the Saddle Mountain Skinner, I by no means wanted a contemporary blade.

That truth continued for days as I moved from the sector to a storage. There, my crew and I skinned the quarters and broke them down into muscle teams. We turned them into steaks, burgers, and brats. Then we packaged all the pieces into freezer paper and saved it away.

It’s an enormous job. We labored for shut to 3 full days to finish the whole job.

The Saddle Mountain Skinner stayed in my hand for a lot of it. Sure, we had 4 or 5 knives working at any given time. However I often went again to the Benchmade for one particular purpose — the deal with.

Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Deal with

I really like, critically love, the deal with of the Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner. At 4.5 inches lengthy, it has a delicate palm swell that offers method to a thumb groove subsequent to the heel of the blade. Mixed with the grippy nature of the Richlite scale materials, the knife felt safe even when moist and bloody. It instilled confidence that I wouldn’t slip or minimize myself.

Shifting again, the backbone of the deal with could be very distinctive. It permits the metal tang to indicate by way of the scales, and even protrude previous the scales in an undulating nature. This enhances the grip much more, giving the rear of the knife traction in your hand in a spot that wants it most throughout exhausting cuts. It’s a genius design that I’ve not often seen (if ever) on one other knife.

I cherished the added safety and grip, particularly when chopping frozen chunks of meat for the grinder after a number of hours of exhausting chopping.

For transparency, I’ve fairly average-sized fingers and normally put on medium gloves. These with bigger fingers would possibly discover this deal with on the smaller dimension, however the suggestions I’ve gotten from different hunters can be very constructive.

Blade Form and Metal: Wonderful, With Downsides

The Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner has superior metal and a virtually excellent blade form.

Form

The knife has a deep stomach on a drop-point blade. There’s nothing dangerous right here. This knife is a time-tested form, confirmed by way of many years to be just about excellent for cleansing huge sport.

The tip itself shouldn’t be tremendous aggressive, however lots sharp sufficient for poking by way of disguise or making wonderful cuts in shut quarters. It’s a pleasant compromise as a result of, whereas not a really acute angle, it’s sufficient to get the job performed. And by not being tremendous pointy, as one could discover in a clip level, it’s a lot harder than a wonderful level.

From there, you get again into the core of the knife, its stomach. That is the place a lot of the work will get performed when making huge lengthy cuts. I really like a knife with a deep, pronounced stomach just like the Saddle Mountain Skinner, as a result of it provides you plenty of edge to work with and extra size to get the job performed.

In use, the form proved to work nice. It minimize, poked, and even batoned. After beating the heck out of the knife for 3 days, it had just a few small chips however was nonetheless serviceably sharp.

Sheath

For such a beautiful knife, the Saddle Mountain Skinner’s black and orange “Boltron” plastic sheath is meh. It does a great job of defending the knife, sure, and it’s nice for throwing the knife in a pack or kill equipment. That’s the particular aim of the knife, and it is sensible.

However for a virtually $300 knife, it could be good if it had at the very least a way of attaching it to a belt. Because it ships, the slots are a lot too slender to suit a regular belt. For $20 extra, you should purchase a Teclock Belt Clip from Benchmade for a safe carry system. Or, for $35, Benchmade sells a pleasant leather-based sheath for the Saddle Mountain Skinner.

Each are viable choices if you wish to carry it on a belt. Personally, I depart my looking knife in my pack whereas within the subject and maintain a small EDC knife in my pocket for non-hunting use. Nevertheless it’s price noting these limitations.

Metal: S90V and S30V Choices

S90V metal is epic. It’s actually, actually exhausting and holds an edge unbelievably effectively. However like all metal, it should finally uninteresting. S30V can be glorious metal. It’s older, cheaper (the S30V possibility retails for about $60 much less), and doesn’t maintain an edge fairly as lengthy. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless excellent.

I selected S90V for testing. And that’s the compromise. In contrast to gentle steels which might be straightforward to place an edge on shortly, S90V is a bit more difficult to sharpen, though I discovered it solely doable with a guided sharpener.

It additionally tends to chip extra simply than gentle metal. I put a number of small chips into the blade whereas batoning the knife by way of bone. On reflection, I wouldn’t do it once more. However impressively, the knife held as much as the beating with just some small chips. And I used to be capable of take them out by way of sharpening.

So, what should you contemplate when buying a Saddle Mountain Skinner: S30V (barely softer, extra sharpenable) or S90V (very exhausting, holds edge endlessly, barely more durable to resharpen)? I’m personally keen on very exhausting, long-wearing metal. I solely wish to pull out the sharpener when it’s actually wanted on the finish of a hunt. So S90V it’s. And that’s what I examined.

Reporting again, the knife was nonetheless depraved sharp after subject processing an elk, though it had misplaced its hair-popping edge. By the tip of three days of processing, it must go on the sharpener. So now I’m going to go sharpen this factor and see how I can do with the S90V.

Sharpening

I slapped the blade of the Saddle Mountain Skinner right into a Depraved Edge sharpening system. As a result of I had chipped the blade, I opted to sharpen it aggressively and take away a modest quantity of metal. That may do away with the chips and get the knife again to razor sharp in a single go.

I used to be shocked how shortly the 600-grit sharpening stone wore by way of the S90V metal. Whereas exhausting, the metal proved actually fairly straightforward to sharpen. After about 5 minutes of honing each side and a slight reprofile of the sting, the chips have been gone. It took me longer, most likely quarter-hour, to work by way of the higher-grit stones and construct successive burrs.

However after lower than half an hour, I had a super-sharp edge — sharp sufficient that I minimize myself after I barely brushed the blade whereas washing off the Sharpie that I’d used to mark the sting for angle-finding. I suppose I’ll by no means study, which is why I maintain Band-Aids round.

So remaining evaluation? Sure, S90V is tough, however as an novice sharpener, I had no drawback bringing it again to an excellent sharp edge.

For many who don’t wish to undergo the trouble or don’t personal a great sharpener, Benchmade will sharpen it for you for all times, however you must spend $35 for delivery to get it there and again. I did it myself and am pleased with the outcomes.

Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Assessment: Who Ought to Purchase It

Finally, the Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner may be the one and solely looking knife you personal. In fact, I personally would add a pair extra and a Havalon with contemporary blades to your equipment. You by no means wish to be left with a uninteresting blade, and by no means know should you’ll get referred to as in by buddies to wash a number of animals in a day.

But when I had to decide on a single knife for all my looking and sport processing for the remainder of my life, I might strongly contemplate the Saddle Mountain Skinner. I’ve dozens of knives. It’s my job to check them, so I’m somewhat spoiled.

However darn it if the Saddle Mountain Skinner doesn’t examine off nearly each field. Its solely actual draw back is being somewhat on the heavier aspect. However after utilizing it for days on finish, I recognize that modest heft. It doesn’t really feel fragile. And if I would like to make use of it in a survival state of affairs, splitting wooden or constructing a shelter, I’ve little doubt it’ll be as much as the job.

The Saddle Mountain Skinner is a superb knife. In case you’re a critical hunter or outdoorsman who needs one knife that may do most all the pieces, that is it. Nonetheless, should you want a knife you possibly can sharpen within the subject, I’d cross and search for one thing with carbon metal.

However for many who need a looking knife that may deal with an entire elk in a single go, look no additional. This looking knife will deal with something you possibly can throw at it. And while you lastly put on that edge uninteresting, hop within the bathe earlier than throwing it on the shapener. As a result of I’m certain you’ll be as toast as I used to be after an enormous, profitable week within the woods and on the butcher desk.