Review Benchmade 200 Puukko

Cypress said:
Sounds like you're doing a great job :D
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Thanks. I assume this will be like any other knife - some folks will like it and some folks won't. Everyone has their own preferences. I just noticed that there were a number of questions and comments on the knife by folks who haven't had a chance to handle it so I thought I'd put my impressions out there. I don't like to do that because I don't have any special qualifications, but hopefully it will be somewhat helpful.

Now on to the "real outdoors" test. The "real outdoors" was a pile of branches and scrap wood next to the fire circle in my yard. I have read other reviews and have a general idea of the things people do when they test a knife, so here we go. I probably should mention that I normally carry a folding saw and a chopper, either a machete or a hatchet, when I am heading out to enjoy some time in the woods, so I do not have to rely solely on my belt knife.

Fire prep:
Short version: It did a great job.
I delimbed with a machete, then used a saw to cut four 12" long and slightly less than wrist-diameter straight-grained pieces of half-dried wood with relatively tight rings. I think the wood was probably pine. I debarked the wood, which went smoothly, then used a baton to split the wood vertically into flat pieces. It did a good job. I then worked the splits down into the usual assortment of sizes - pencil lead, pencil, thumb size, and larger. For part of the "making little pieces out of big pieces" I held the wood vertically, placed the knife on top, then used the heel of my hand to tap the blade down through the wood. This is another area where I appreciate having a softened spine - it is easier on the hand when you are tapping on it, although the more intelligent alternative would be to use a small baton. The second method I used was to lay the split flat, hold the knife with the edge facing away from me, tap the knife through the wood using the heel of my hand, then draw the wood toward me to split it into the real small pieces. I was surprised that tapping on the butt of the puukko's handle wasn't uncomfortable. I assume that was partly the shape and partly the material. I am not confident that the handle material would hold up well to being smacked on the butt with a baton as some people would do to drive it through wood. Making feathersticks also went well.

Other wood-related tasks:
Tent pegs: Pretty easy task. It notched well and had no trouble putting a pointy end on the peg.
Various notches: I found a hardwood branch that had been lying around for about half the summer. It was still fairly green. I did a few of the notches that you see on try sticks, including a vee notch, a semi-circular notch, a notch with vertical sides and a flat bottom, and a dovetail notch. The 200 did an excellent job on all tasks. This is the only area that involved any cross-grain batoning, and it was pretty minor - no more than two or three light taps on the spine. Yes, the knife sank easily into the wood, but since I have a saw and a chopper to do that sort of stuff, I will leave it to someone else to do a more realistic test.

Other observations:
1. The blade geometry worked well for all outdoor tasks.
2. The blade is still sharp. I had noticed that a lot of makers have been using 3V on their outdoor blades, but hadn't paid much attention to it. It appears to have been an excellent choice and Benchmade seems to have done a very good job with it.
3. The handle. I have put about five hours use on the knife. That has included the full range of tasks for which i would use a knife. I really like the handle. I have no complaints about it, which is something I rarely say about a knife. For reference purposes, I wear a size large glove, but my hands are on the smaller end of that size range. My fingers are also a pretty average length, perhaps slightly shorter than normal. I have some arthritis in my knife hand, which for me means that I shy away from smaller handles because they are harder to grip comfortably. The handle material is comfortable. The handle shape is comfortable both with the blade edge facing away (normal cutting grip) and with the edge facing you. The handle size is big enough to comfortably fill my hand without being overly large.
4. Overall impressions of the knife: For my purposes, it is an excellent general-purpose knife. I can't think of any areas where I had any complaints at all. I also like the sheath. Again, this is just the opinion of an average knife user, but I think Benchmade put together an excellent package at a great price.

For what it's worth.
 
I really like the design and materials, looks like a great user to me. The price is oretty good for what you get too. I would like to try one eventually for sure. The sheath doesn't look terrible, not much different than an ESEE HM sheath. Its usable but if you really like the blade you could upgrade.
 
Browsing through my local Army Navy Surplus store (Portland, Oregon), glanced at their knife counter and lo and behold they had a BM 200 Puukko. Just one. Paid $125. And it was #26 first production. I guess being 15 miles from the Benchmade factory helps. Just the right size for my needs. First impressions....haven't taken a first cut yet, but for the money, favorably impressed with the quality, CPM-3V and consider it worth the price. Sheath is ok. Although I prefer micarta or wood, which BM will probably option in later,, the santoprene handle feels quite good in the hand. Considering the scarcity of trying to find these online right now, I was lucky to have spotted one locally.
 
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So,
What's up with this knife?

Did the machine break??

Did we lose the As-Builts?

Problems or issues??

Looked really cool.
Hit the market to rave reviews,
and then POOF!
Gone never to be seen again??

Will these be back in stock before I have to rig a sheath to my Hoveround??
 
I know. I ordered a 200 from REI well before Thanksgiving and it got back-ordered before they could fulfill it.

Maybe it proved to be a bit more popular than they thought?

Maybe they're having trouble getting CPM 3V?

Maybe those guys in the Netherlands bought them all up to sell on their website?

This release got me thinking about puukkos again, and I dug out my old (and worse for wear) Tapio Wirkkala to play with. Wish I'd bought a few more of those when I had the chance.
 
Thanks! I'm tempted to go there, but I'm a bit broke from Christmas spending. Just got an email from REI on my back ordered 200. They cancelled the order though I had asked them to keep it open. Apparently Benchmade cancelled their order, so they weren't going to receive any stock to fulfill my order. It sucks because I applied a promotional gift card and had it coming a good price.

Kind of reminds me of trying to get a Bugout when it first came out.
 
so i just bought one at DLT and looked for this thread to say that they're in stock there. and d'oh!...i see one on the exchange right now for less. :rolleyes:

[edited: removed the link]
 
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TPVT said:
so i just bought one at DLT and looked for this thread to say that they're in stock there. and d'oh!...i see one on the exchange right now for less. :rolleyes:

[edited: removed the link]
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That would be mine. I have too many knives and could use the money to pay for college crap. Still, it won't hurt my my feelings if it doesn't sell and I just keep it.
 
Jhansenak47 said:
That would be mine. I have too many knives and could use the money to pay for college crap. Still, it won't hurt my my feelings if it doesn't sell and I just keep it.
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i wish i saw your FS thread before i bought it. figures. good luck in your sale. off topic: i've always wanted to try that splinter too. :thumbsup:
 
I bought this knife to replace my Mora Kansbol as my outdoor knife, I was looking for something better quality and a bit better looking. I gotta say the knife. grip is great, very sharp edge with great edge retention, but I really wish it was a scandi, in my opinion in my opinion my mora did way better outdoors. I’m hoping that changes once I turn it into a scandi, has anyone tried it?
 
57-59 HRC is perfect for 3V since the toughness is the reason to choose that steel. Beyond that hardness, the toughness decreases dramatically. I would go cpm cruwear or PD1 instead for the higher RC route.
 
For wood carving, i put it against a mora companion carbon. Thinner blade and scandi grind. In the beginning i was convinced the mora would outperform it by far. Not really. Around 40% better, depending on the task. In all the other knife tasks, i definitely like the benchmade more. It is not a puuko, but it is the best woodlore clone i ever saw, outperforming the original due to the materials used.
 
Well, the stars finally lined up and I have a Benchmade Puukko inbound. Snagged it off the For Sale Forum.

Pretty excited about it.

As luck would have it. I already own a Mora Kansbol. I love that knife. It has worked extremely well for me. So I will try and put it side by side with this new Puukko.

I have to be honest. For me and my uses. The Kansbol punches way above its weight. So if the Puukko is as good, or better it should be a stellar knife.
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