MidCurrent Tested and Trusted: Benchmade Meatcrafter Knife
A knife is an essential tool for the outdoors. Whether you’re a fly angler, a hunter, or even an avid hiker, carrying a knife with you in the woods or on the water gives you a leg up for almost every task. You can use a knife for simple things like cutting fishing lines and sharpening sticks, or for more complicated jobs like butchering game and as a tool for building shelters. There are 1001 uses for your average knife that we otherwise take for granted. Having a good knife can even save your life.
I still remember the day that I slipped in the river while trying to cross a set of rapids. The current filled my waders and pushed me downstream, where I collided with a log that pinned me to the bottom. I was able to cut my shoulder straps so I could kick my waders off and pull myself free of the drag of the water. If I hadn’t had a knife on my wading belt, I might not be here today.
While there are dozens of different knife types and styles out there, I’ve never found a more versatile or better built blade than the Benchmade Meatcrafter.
The author’s Meatcrafter has proven useful in so many outdoor situations. Photo: Kubie Brown
A Thousand Uses
The Benchmade Meatcrafter knife is a blade built for the outdoors. Designed as a hybrid hunting and kitchen knife with a fixed blade, the Meatcrafter is the perfect knife for everyday outdoor tasks and especially for cleaning and butchering fish and game. The smooth 28 inclusive edge angle of the knife and extremely sharp blade featuring Benchmade’s SelectEdge™ technology make it perfect for trimming, deboning, or slicing your preferred cuts of meat. The Meatcrafter is a particularly good filet knife for fish, as the flexibility of the blade allows you to bend it along boney rib cages without missing your cutting stroke.
Aside from its use as a butcher knife, the Meatcrafter can be used as field utility blade as well. With a thicker blade base made of CPM-154 stainless steel, you can use the blade for chopping, slicing, and splitting almost everything from thick rope to kindling with equal efficiency. It’s a great camp tool and kitchen knife that can make even the roughest areas of the outdoors feel as comfortable as home.
Built to Last
I’ve had my Benchmade Meatcrafter for years now and have yet to have it fail or break. With proper care, the stainless-steel blade won’t rust, nor will it weather, making it a tough knife that’s been able to handle everything I’ve thrown at it. I’ve used my Meatcrafter to slice and pound meat on rocks for camp-side meals, used it to fillet a salmon, and then to cut through thick lengths of tangled anchor rope on the same day. And through it all, my Meatcrafter has never even needed to be sharpened beyond a few quick flicks with a whetstone.
Benchmade Meatcrafter knives are laser-cut from sheets of high-grade steel and then ground, sharpened, and beveled with precision. The handles are made of high-grade plastic that are fitted to one piece of steel, making the Meatcrafter a full-tang blade. With over 30-years of manufacturing experience going into every Meatcrafter knife, it’s the type of blade that will take a licking and keep on cutting. That’s why it’s guaranteed by the Benchmade company to last a lifetime.
A Sharp Investment
Admittedly, Benchmade Meatcrafter knives are a bit on the expensive side. Depending on where you buy it and the style of the knife, the blades can cost anywhere from $200 to $400 dollars. Yet they’re worth the price. With a lifetime warranty and Lifesharp service, which guarantees Benchmade will re-sharpen your knife to a factory edge for free, the Meatcrafter is a knife you invest in. Because once you buy one, you’ll have a good blade at your side whenever you need it.
