Benchmade 162

Bobby3326 said:
How easy does it sharpen? I've heard mixed opinions. What do you use for sharpening at home and at what angle? I typically use a work sharp ko for most my knives except the scandis but feel it wouldn't be good this style knife.
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Benchmade does an excellent job on their s30v. It sharpens quite easily. Of course, I use an Edge Pro Apex to sharpen my knives...

Bobby3326 said:
It appears to be a excellent knife and I'm glad I got it, especially since I was able to talk the gal down to $90. The lady said she had bought it for her ex and just wanted it gone. The pawn shop only offered her $50 so she gladly accepted $90.
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Now that's a deal and a half! Good job!

FW JSB said:
It doesn't become any less of a knife because it costs more. Less of a value, perhaps, but its usefulness as a toll is not lessened.
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Your point? He mentioned the price of the knife, so value was implied.
 
loonybin said:
Benchmade does an excellent job on their s30v. It sharpens quite easily. Of course, I use an Edge Pro Apex to sharpen my knives....
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Thanks for the reply, yea it definitely sharpened up easy and took one hell of an edge. I tried at first stropping on sandpaper over glass and it sharpened up but wasn't as sharp as I'd like. However once I used the diamond stones that came with that worksharp 320, &600 grit followed up with a fine ceramic and then a strop loaded with black then green compound it took an amazing edge.

Now to go test it out and test edge retention.
 
That's my formula as well; 320, 600 and stropping. (On my Apex...) I like a little bite in general and so steer around any finer levels.
 
Bobby3326 said:
I went to check out that field sharpener yesterday when I discovered there new guided sharpener. It's like the field guide on steroids, and dummy proof. You should check it out, it put a wicked edge on the 162.
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I have my home sharpening set up dialed in

I did read up on the guided sharpening system. If I was just starting out again Id be all over it. What a great deal.

Here's my field sharpening options.
 
Well after some use I'm not completely sold on the Bushcrafter yet....using it side by side with my tops bob and bk2 the bushcrafter takes allot more time and strokes to carve thru wood. I made 3 tent pegs, the fastest and easiest was my bob followed by the bk2. The Bushcrafter took 4x as long to complete the task. It's also not bc it's dull, I sharpened and profiled it at 17° and it'll pop hairs with ease. The only task it preform better at was fine carving, and well that's bc it was removing minimum material to begin with...
 
I find its a great well balanced outdoor knife with a great handle for large hands to get a powerful grip as close to the edge as possible for great carving cuts. Saber grinds don't carve as good in my opinion

Here my list for wood carving

1.Convex
2.scandi
3.saber or flat
4.hollow


It's just so comfortable to use and the steel is great.

Ymmv

Love my BK 2 as well. Its my Monster Truck knife.

Don't care for the B.O.B knife though
 
DeadboxHero said:
I find its a great well balanced outdoor knife with a great handle for large hands to get a powerful grip as close to the edge as possible for great carving cuts. Saber grinds don't carve as good in my opinion

Here my list for wood carving

1.Convex
2.scandi
3.saber or flat
4.hollow


It's just so comfortable to use and the steel is great.

Ymmv

Love my BK 2 as well. Its my Monster Truck knife.

Don't care for the B.O.B knife though
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Well I tweaked the edge a lil and im actually liking it allot more. The edge thou sharp was really shallow before, I widened the secondary bevel a lil and its performance vastly improved.

I didn't really like the bob either until I tweaked it's edge as well. It had a really shallow convexish secondary bevel, but I increased the convex again widening the secondary bevel. After that it's was like a whole new knife, extremely sharp and holds it a long time. It's a good 1 knife option capable of heavy tasks while also handling the finer tasks with ease.

The bk2 is my most used and abused knife, it's been my go to beater knife for the last 3 years. I also convexed it which made it perform better as an all around knife, but still doesn't preform as well for the finer tasks.

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I have not used my 162 much but I have to admit the grip does take some getting used to. If I choke up on the blade, the grip is fantastic. I would love to see Benchmade offer a 3 1/2 -4 inch FFG with the same grip. Would make one heck of a camp/ kitchen knife.

Ninety bucks for yours was a super buy.
 
sabre cat said:
I have not used my 162 much but I have to admit the grip does take some getting used to. If I choke up on the blade, the grip is fantastic. I would love to see Benchmade offer a 3 1/2 -4 inch FFG with the same grip. Would make one heck of a camp/ kitchen knife.

Ninety bucks for yours was a super buy.
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I'd fondled it in the store before and never really liked the handle and the color especially for the price. After actually using it thou it's surprisingly comfortable with constant use, and the color has grown on me. Once I reprofiled the edge a lil bit it cuts and slices really good. I'm glad I got it for $90 cause I would've missed out on this great knife. Definitely worth the retail price.
 
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Love mine. The sheath needed some TLC.
Love the steel, heat treatment. hair shaving, Edge retention for days sharpens quick.

The forest green is the color of the Cascade mountains

Love the grip the best. My large hands are cramp free when "bushcrafting"

The grind would perform better if it was a full zero convex grind to the edge. But alas, it is much quicker to sharpen and easier for field sharpening with the saber grind.

The saber grind doesn't remove wood fast but everything has a tradeoff
 
DeadboxHero said:

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Love mine. The sheath needed some TLC.
Love the steel, heat treatment. hair shaving, Edge retention for days sharpens quick.

The forest green is the color of the Cascade mountains

Love the grip the best. My large hands are cramp free when "bushcrafting"

The grind would perform better if it was a full zero convex grind to the edge. But alas, it is much quicker to sharpen and easier for field sharpening with the saber grind.

The saber grind doesn't remove wood fast but everything has a tradeoff
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Since reprofiling mine it's almost on par with my tops bob for wood removal. I slightly convexed the edge on it and it made a drastic change in performance. Still holds that sharp edge forever and just need stropped a lil to return to razor sharp.
 
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Nice, I've been keeping mine stock it adds a saber grind to my collection for performance comparisons.
 
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