A knife is your backcountry best friend. Whether you're out on an ATV, riding some singletrack, off on an adventure in your UTV chasing big, majestic animals with your bow, or just heading out on the water, a pocket knife, in my experience, is worth its weight in gold. And that's especially true of a good pocket knife.
Knives that not only stay sharp but don't knick easily, have a good retention clip, and fold upon command are hard to come by these days, as you'll always find trade-offs of one attribute or another. Few do everything, and few do all those with a lifetime guarantee. But Benchmade has always been some of the best around, and the brand routinely puts out knives that tick every box.
One box, however, that I really haven't considered is how the knife looks, though. It's almost unnecessary for the potentially life-saving use-case, right? You don't need a knife to look good to function. Function over form, as it were.
But Benchmade just released the new Slipridge pocket knife that does everything the brand is known for, while also giving you a knife that looks like one of those old-school, fabulous-looking knives of old. Or rather, as if it was passed down from generation to generation. And it absolutely will be one you pass along as well.
The star of the Slipridge aren't the knife's specs, as just look at the handle and how it works with the Magnacut blade finish. It's a gorgeous-looking, old-school knife. The handle itself is a stabilized wood, which means it won't degrade over time, but will get better and better looking with age, as the oils in your hand, water, and possible big game blood will weather and give the handle a patina that's lustworthy after a while. Add the small flourishes in the handle's carveouts, and you've got the makings of a great hunting or backcountry knife.
For those who don't want the wood handle—what's wrong with you?—you can get a G10, Micarta, or carbon fiber handle, too. There's also a deep-carry pocket clip, and the brand's Axis lockbar for ambidextrous opening. Obviously, you also get a 3.5-inch Magnacut blade that comes with a satin finish, and is in the style of a modified clip-point, which means it could handle skinning and processing duties, along with regular woods-based fixes on your powersport vehicles.
I may have had to break out my own knife a weekend or so ago after putting my foot down on my Can-Am's fender flare and slightly breaking it, only to fix it with some twine and a ratchet strap...
As with any Benchmade, the Slipridge also comes with the brand's lifetime warranty, its lifetime sharpening guarantee, and its legendary construction. I've repeatedly tried to kill all my Benchmades and have repeatedly failed to do so. Price wise, it ain't cheap, but no Benchmade is, and in this instance, you're absolutely getting what you paid for, with the Slipridge demanding a $300 MSRP.
But for a knife that looks this good, and will last multiple lifetimes, that's not a terrible price to pay.
