Why Did Benchmade Design The 162 Bushcrafter Handle Like It Is?

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harris2

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I have had my 162 Bushcrafter for a few weeks. As some others have commented in other threads/reviews, the blocky and front-bulging handle is a little hard to get used to. I have mixed emotions about it so far. It is a little uncomfortable when holding with a normal center-grip hold, but is better when held further forward with the my thumb on either the spine or in the built-in thumb recess. For whittling or delicate work (fire starting shavings, etc.) this hold works well and is comfortable for short periods of time, but for longer periods it does cause "hot spots" if firmly gripped. It makes for a good camping/survival knife but not so good for stabbing. :)

I am trying really hard to like it. Only after much more time and use will I know for sure. One thing that doesn't need any getting used to is the blade - it has a great shape, nicely balanced and is beefy. The edge was sharp too, but it looks like Benchmade used an extra-course belt to sharpen it. Oh, and strangely, the knife is smaller than it looks in the pictures.

Now my question for you real-life Bushcrafters or handle designers! :)
Why did Sibert/Benchmade design the handle to feel like a two-by-four? :confused: If it is a Bushcrafter profession specific design why is the blocky style so useful to Bushcrafters when in the outback/wilderness?
 
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Jastab said:
You could always sand it down to your liking.
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If you do, be very careful, know your risks, G10 dust is highly toxic

Stolen from Obsessed with Blades

G-10 is a laminate of resin and fiberglass. Both are dangerous (very) if inhaled, for different reasons. The resin is toxic, when heated and the fumes get into the lungs. And the fiberglass is just that: glass. Once those shards get into your lungs, they'll likely never come out. Use a mask or respirator when sanding or grinding it.

Many recommend grinding it WET, so the airborne dust is controlled. Then it would be a good idea to cleanup & remove as much of the stray dust collected on surfaces, so it won't get airborne again.


David
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Jastab:
Thanks for the suggestion. I was considering what you suggest, but am a little hesitant to give it a try. I guess a file, dremel tool, and sand paper would make it easy, but it's a one way trip since mistakes would not be reversible.

rajincagin:
Wow, you probably saved my lungs. Preventing inhaled G10 dust is not something I would have been thinking about.


I'm still wondering if the blockyness is there as a desired feature used by Bushcrafters when in the outback/wilderness. :confused:
 
Making a knife handle shape is ALWAYS a one way trip. Trick is go slow and test fit in your hands often. And wear a respirator when sanding. Its really not that hard man.
 
harris2 said:
Now my question for you real-life Bushcrafters or handle designers! :)
Why did Sibert/Benchmade design the handle to feel like a two-by-four? :confused: If it is a Bushcrafter profession specific design why is the blocky style so useful to Bushcrafters when in the outback/wilderness?
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I'm not a handle designer, but I think I have a good idea how a designer thinks. This knife is designed to appeal to a large amount of users, so it is sized and designed accordingly, the handle is sized for medium hands. I have largish hands, so I find the handle a tad small, well designed, but it is really at the lower limit for me, i would not call it blocky in any case. You must have smaller hands.

And by the way, I find the care given to shock absorbtion in the handle really cool (lack of glue, use of vulcanized rubber spacers and flexible titanium tubes), although it is hard to assess how efficient is that in real life, I imagine it's not completely useless.
 
Bogdan M.:
Thanks for the input. I believe my hands would be considered "average" - I wear size 5 gloves.


My original question still stands; Why did Sibert/Benchmade design the handle to feel like a two-by-four? If it is a Bushcrafter profession specific design why is the blocky style so useful to Bushcrafters when in the outback/wilderness?

After viewing other manufactures and knife builders' "Bushcrafter" handle designs it looks like the majority use the same blocky style. So my conclusion so far is Bushcrafters desire the blocky style for their profession, but since nobody (including Benchmade customer service) can tell me why the blocky handle design is desired for a Bushcrafter environment the people buying the 162 Bushcrafters must not be using it professionally ;). The quest for an answer continues. :)
 
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According to http://rockymountainbushcraft.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/review-benchmade-bushcrafter-knife-has.html, "The design of the Bushcrafter's handle seems to have generated controversy right from the start. Shane Sibert designed the handle to make the knife more secure while chopping (hence the swell on the end of the handle), and also to make it fill the hand better while choking up on it to make feathersticks and other fine carvings. This unusual design has caused more than one Youtube reviewer to pan the handle, saying that people might get hot spots from it. I have not seen any of these reviewers spend an appreciable time in the field with the Bushcrafter to come up with this conclusion, so I decided to focus on this aspect in a long-term field test before posting this review. The verdict? No hotspots on my hands during months of testing. True, the handle is not as comfortable as the handle on a Mora Clipper or Mora Black Carbon, but compared to many survival and heavy duty bushcraft blades I've tried, I found it very comfortable. In fact, I found the shape of the handle to be quite useful and innovative. The swell at the end of the handle turns the Bushcrafter into an effective mini-hatchet for chopping, due to being able to securely hold the knife at the very end of the handle. In fact, I enjoyed chopping with the Bushcrafter, and it came in handy when needing to limb saplings for bedding material, or for chopping off pine knots to harvest pitchwood for fire-making. The swell in the forward part of the handle turned out to be an asset during fine carving as well, allowing for a more secure grip when choking up than most knives I've used."
 
Glenn Jones said:
According to http://rockymountainbushcraft.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/review-benchmade-bushcrafter-knife-has.html, "The design of the Bushcrafter's handle seems to have generated controversy right from the start. Shane Sibert designed the handle to make the knife more secure while chopping (hence the swell on the end of the handle), and also to make it fill the hand better while choking up on it to make feathersticks and other fine carvings. This unusual design has caused more than one Youtube reviewer to pan the handle, saying that people might get hot spots from it. I have not seen any of these reviewers spend an appreciable time in the field with the Bushcrafter to come up with this conclusion, so I decided to focus on this aspect in a long-term field test before posting this review. The verdict? No hotspots on my hands during months of testing. True, the handle is not as comfortable as the handle on a Mora Clipper or Mora Black Carbon, but compared to many survival and heavy duty bushcraft blades I've tried, I found it very comfortable. In fact, I found the shape of the handle to be quite useful and innovative. The swell at the end of the handle turns the Bushcrafter into an effective mini-hatchet for chopping, due to being able to securely hold the knife at the very end of the handle. In fact, I enjoyed chopping with the Bushcrafter, and it came in handy when needing to limb saplings for bedding material, or for chopping off pine knots to harvest pitchwood for fire-making. The swell in the forward part of the handle turned out to be an asset during fine carving as well, allowing for a more secure grip when choking up than most knives I've used."
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Excellent review!
 
Yes, very good review. He does explain a lot about the traits of a Bushcrafter knife handle. I now understand, even though I disagree with a few things he states. I do get "hot spots" if used with a firm grip or for longer periods of time and find the blockiness uncomfortable if held certain ways. Well, I guess until they invent an adjustable handle it will be hard to satisfy everyone. :)

I will still keep mine because I sure like the profile, length, and thickness of the blade and since I am not a professional Bushcrafter it will not see the hard use where the blockiness would affect its usefulness for me. For everyday camping it will be fine.
 
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Just chiming in. The benchmade bushcrafter is almost a carbon copy of Mr. Sibert's Cascadia bushcrafter, which is an amazing knife in its own right. The only real differences are materials (162: s30v/g10, Cascadia: 3v/micarta) and the cascadia has jimping to increase spark production on a fire steel, and a fuller. So it's not really so much a benchmade/Sibert design decision, so much as benchmade making a cheaper (relatively) production version of an already highly popular Sibert design. It's pretty much the same thing that benchmade did with the MPR. I have two 162's and I love them. One is in my EDC pack and the other lives in my hiking pack.
 
The 162 grip is designed to accommodate several different holds for various bushcraft chores. I was skeptical at first but after using mine extensively on everything from fire making to shelter construction, the handle feels like part of my hand. The S30V holds a fantastic edge and the spine is sharp enough to throw a nice spark from a ferro rod. I own a lot of camping knives and if I had one to chose the BM 162 Bushcrafter would be it.

 
I have used my 162 for about 5 months now. I am outdoors a lot and I carried this blade through all of my bowhunting and scouting trips this year.

I am not sure why the handle was designed exactly the way it was, but I like it. Like has been mentioned, I read a lot of posts on sites by people saying it would create "Hotspots". I have not noticed it. The knife does many things very well. Blade shape is great. It carves pretty well. It field dresses deer well, It cleans fish well, and it does fire prep and camp chores well.

I have not built any shelters with it, but I have brushed in hunting blinds. I have not carved for hours on end or carved netting shuttles, but carving simple camp things has been easy. I don't baton big logs with it, but fire prep and fuzz sticks are easy. It chops very well for a knife this size. The blade steel has amazing edge holding abilities.

In short. The handle works for me. I have spent a lot of time actually using this knife instead of just doing a table top review on youtube. It is a quality tool that will serve you well and last a lifetime. Benchmade nailed this one.
 
In short. The handle works for me. I have spent a lot of time actually using this knife instead of just doing a table top review on youtube. It is a quality tool that will serve you well and last a lifetime. Benchmade nailed this one.
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I couldn't agree more! I'm fairly new to bushcraft, 6 months, but I've carved spoons and batoned the heck outta this knife, going through knots too, I actually TRIED to get it to fail:D needless to say, I've bought two more since then, mostly because of the price adjustments, this knife IS worth $200, but getting them for $140 is just sweet!:thumbup:
 
Personal theory based on experience is that smaller handles require more exertion to maintain control over the blade when performing repetitive or fine tasks. This would translate into increased user fatigue. A bushcraft blade, used as intended, gets an awful lot of work. A handle with a larger profile would theoretically mitigate the need for increased exertion when performing repetitive or fine tasks.While a smaller profile handle feels very secure and if properly contoured will stab very well, a larger handle will present more surface area to interact with the users hand. Properly contoured, the larger handle will resist rotation etc. without requiring a corresponding increased exertion on the part of the user. Of course, this is all a matter of degrees. A handle thats too big will be, well, too big and require increased exertion to maintain control of the blade just as a handle that is too small will. In the case of production blades, it's a matter of trying to achieve the optimal size for the broadest spectrum of potential users. Not everyone is gonna like the way they fit.
 
If you watch one of the best reviews on the tube you'll note the "true" bushcraft handles fall short in many cases when performing any task other than a few wood cuts. After mods to the blades to make them better he started on new handle designs. He is working on a custom crossover handle, which is what this 162 already has on it. The designer of the 162 knew the short falls of the bushcraft design and built a better handle. I've tested mine and also found no hot spots. Despite the blocky looks, it fits the hand much better in more positions and is a knife that can truly be used for anything!
 
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