This seems to be a pretty popular blade here on Rokslide. I figure some people may have a choice between old and new, so maybe this will help someone. At the end of the day, this is going to come off as an odd review. Ill save you some time....If you can get the older model at a discounted price, Id jump on it before they are gone. But thats not to say I dont like the new version.
Just to get this out of the way...the original Benchmade Steep Country 15008 is my favorite hunting knife, or any type of knife for that matter, of all time. This also happens to be the least expensive fixed blade knife if the hunt lineup. The original SC, Ive used it to break down 40-50 animals - from beginning to end. Ive touched the blade up after each one, but I cant recall having to touch it up in the field. I havent done an elk - Im working on that part. Any revision or refresh of this knife was going to have its work cut out for it.
Last week Benchmade released the Steep Country 15006. Benchmade has updated the Hidden Canyon, Saddle Mountain and now the SC in 2020. Mostly it was an update of the blade shapes, and adding s90v as an option on some models.
What it amounts to is that theyve changed the things they shouldnt have, and then changed other things in ways that it didnt compliment the changes they didnt need to make. Ill try to explain that.
First, the blade and blade shape. Both blades are S30V steel. The original SC had a high saber grind with a slightly thicker bladestock. The new version is thinner bladestock and a full flat grind. That part I can get on board with, we're good so far. The jimping locations on the bladestock on the original for the index finger position seemed slightly too far forward. So Benchmade moved the jimping back to the right spot...BUT, they changed the blade shape which changed how it feels in hand. To my hands, the new jimping location would be perfect on the old blade. Next, the blade is taller on the new knife and just looks and feels a good bit larger than the original which traveled the middle of the road between nimble for detailed work and burly for popping joints and cutting tendons. I easily prefer the blade shape on the original as of now.
The handle on the new SC feels thinner in hand. There is a more pronounced belly in the finger area that does feel better than the original There is a more aggressive 'knurling' on the santoprene handle which also was a good move for when your hands are slick with blood. But the large jimping that sticks out of the santoprene on the top side of the hande was squared off and aggressive which helped when you really needed traction on the original. On the updated version those are rounded off, and just dont seem to have the same bite. Another situation where I prefer the new handle feel, but wish they wouldve kept the more aggressive squared off knurling on top. If you didnt like the aggressive handle knurling on the original, youll be pleased with the update.
As far as the sheaths go, the original sheath was so poorly done that damn near anything short of cardboard wouldve been an improvement. Well, they did do better than cardboard, but this is easily the most disappointing part of the update for me. It appeared as though the new boltoron sheath would be an upgrade. It is orange on one side, and black on the other. Looks nice. But thats about the extent of nice. The knife fits very poorly in the sheath. Rattles around as bad as any knife Ive owned. If it were thin and low profile, I could get over it. But the design on the thumb ramp leaves overly large wings sticking out both sides of the sheath and just takes up more space in a kill kit than it needs to. It is better than the originals sheath, but in ways Ill never understand, only marginally. Im already thinking about cutting down the 'wings' to see if I cant make it less cumbersome. I bought a kydex sheath for the original (shown below) and I may end up having to do the same for this one.
A lot of these things are feel, which will change from person to person. Ultimately, they changed things on the knife for the better, and also some I wish they didnt. I still think the new version is a top of the line hunting knife. I wish I could have the blade on the original and the handle on the update. But since thats not happening, Id say I prefer the original as of now. If you can still find the original at the discount price (i think it was $85 at a few online retailers) Id grab one of those. If not, I think the new version is still the best of the hunt line for Benchmade. Ill update the thread once Ive used the update hopefully on a buck this weekend.
In all of these pics, the new knife is on top and the original on bottom. Thanks!
Just to get this out of the way...the original Benchmade Steep Country 15008 is my favorite hunting knife, or any type of knife for that matter, of all time. This also happens to be the least expensive fixed blade knife if the hunt lineup. The original SC, Ive used it to break down 40-50 animals - from beginning to end. Ive touched the blade up after each one, but I cant recall having to touch it up in the field. I havent done an elk - Im working on that part. Any revision or refresh of this knife was going to have its work cut out for it.
Last week Benchmade released the Steep Country 15006. Benchmade has updated the Hidden Canyon, Saddle Mountain and now the SC in 2020. Mostly it was an update of the blade shapes, and adding s90v as an option on some models.
What it amounts to is that theyve changed the things they shouldnt have, and then changed other things in ways that it didnt compliment the changes they didnt need to make. Ill try to explain that.
First, the blade and blade shape. Both blades are S30V steel. The original SC had a high saber grind with a slightly thicker bladestock. The new version is thinner bladestock and a full flat grind. That part I can get on board with, we're good so far. The jimping locations on the bladestock on the original for the index finger position seemed slightly too far forward. So Benchmade moved the jimping back to the right spot...BUT, they changed the blade shape which changed how it feels in hand. To my hands, the new jimping location would be perfect on the old blade. Next, the blade is taller on the new knife and just looks and feels a good bit larger than the original which traveled the middle of the road between nimble for detailed work and burly for popping joints and cutting tendons. I easily prefer the blade shape on the original as of now.
The handle on the new SC feels thinner in hand. There is a more pronounced belly in the finger area that does feel better than the original There is a more aggressive 'knurling' on the santoprene handle which also was a good move for when your hands are slick with blood. But the large jimping that sticks out of the santoprene on the top side of the hande was squared off and aggressive which helped when you really needed traction on the original. On the updated version those are rounded off, and just dont seem to have the same bite. Another situation where I prefer the new handle feel, but wish they wouldve kept the more aggressive squared off knurling on top. If you didnt like the aggressive handle knurling on the original, youll be pleased with the update.
As far as the sheaths go, the original sheath was so poorly done that damn near anything short of cardboard wouldve been an improvement. Well, they did do better than cardboard, but this is easily the most disappointing part of the update for me. It appeared as though the new boltoron sheath would be an upgrade. It is orange on one side, and black on the other. Looks nice. But thats about the extent of nice. The knife fits very poorly in the sheath. Rattles around as bad as any knife Ive owned. If it were thin and low profile, I could get over it. But the design on the thumb ramp leaves overly large wings sticking out both sides of the sheath and just takes up more space in a kill kit than it needs to. It is better than the originals sheath, but in ways Ill never understand, only marginally. Im already thinking about cutting down the 'wings' to see if I cant make it less cumbersome. I bought a kydex sheath for the original (shown below) and I may end up having to do the same for this one.
A lot of these things are feel, which will change from person to person. Ultimately, they changed things on the knife for the better, and also some I wish they didnt. I still think the new version is a top of the line hunting knife. I wish I could have the blade on the original and the handle on the update. But since thats not happening, Id say I prefer the original as of now. If you can still find the original at the discount price (i think it was $85 at a few online retailers) Id grab one of those. If not, I think the new version is still the best of the hunt line for Benchmade. Ill update the thread once Ive used the update hopefully on a buck this weekend.
In all of these pics, the new knife is on top and the original on bottom. Thanks!
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