You never really know what you are going to find when you visit the Benchmade booth at the ATA show, but there is one thing you can be certain of; It is going to be sharp and built to last! This year, Benchmade released two new products in their successful and ever-growing HUNT series of knives. Both of their new knives are uniquely awesome for different reasons. The Nestucca Cleaver and the Crooked River Folding Knife are both sure to turn heads once they hit the market.
The Nestucca Cleaver is odd-looking enough that it is all but certain to create enough intrigue that you have to pick it up, and once you do, you won’t want to put it down. The Nestucca is based on the traditional Alaskan Ulu. The handle placement is much more similar to a small hatchet, but the Nestucca sports a 4.41 inch long blade with a huge radius, further increasing the total cutting surface and drastically increasing edge retention. Additionally, the Nestucca features a large cutout in the middle of the blade intended to be used as a place to insert your index finger, making the grip much more similar to that of the Ulu.
The Nestucca Cleaver was designed to be an all-purpose blade around camp with its most common uses being for skinning, food preparation, etc. But after handling the Nestucca, I doubt there is much you couldn’t do with it in a pinch.
The other new knife Benchmade revealed was the Crooked River folding knife. The crooked river has a 4 inch blade and features Benchmade’s patented Axis Locking Mechanism. An aluminum bolster, option of either Gray G10 or Dymondwood scales, and a large anodized aluminum pivot ring make the Crooked River look much more like a custom knife than a hunting knife, but a hunting knife it is. One that is primed to become a top seller within Benchmade’s HUNT series of knives.
Both the Nestucca Cleaver and Crooked River feature blades made out of the same premium CPM-S30V steel as the rest of the HUNT series of knives. CPM-S30V is one of the sharpest and toughest steels made today and is capable of withstanding some serious punishment in the field. Read some of our other Benchmade HUNT product reviews for more information on CPM-S30V blade steel.
If you are in the market for a new hunting knife, I highly recommend you go to Benchamde’s website at www.benchmade.com and check out their new for 2016, and pre-existing knives. From small folders to larger fixed blade knives, Benchmade’s HUNT series of knives has you covered.