BenchmadeCrooked River 15080 EDC Knife with Gray Aluminum & Wood Handle (15080-2)

This was my first axis lock knife, and definitely one of the highest quality folders I own.The good:It looks fantastic with the wood and aluminum, part modern part traditional.The orange ring around pivot is actually a nice touch, but if you custom order from benchmade you can change that (I think brass would look awesome).Knife came wicked sharp, shaving no problem and slicing through paper like there is nothing there. Really is the sharpest factory edge, just barely nicked my palm when flicking closed and it drew blood.Knife feels great in the hand and isn't tooo big in the pocket, feels smaller than it is loose or clipped.Very smooth open and close. (has break-in period)Nice weight.Nice blade length, fairly large but that pretty obvious, its a big 4 inch chunk of s30v.On the topic of s30v, it is fantastic. Not horrible to sharpen and holds a great edge. If you think its not a good enough steel then you should shut the f*** up because it really is a great steel. In your beloved folding knife life or death hardcore survival situation, how much better will your M390 blade perform compared to a s30v blade?The bad:I have average size hands and it is too big for me. The axis lock is hard to disengage properly because of the way I have to hold it.The axis lock also came very stiff, left deep imprint in my thumb after messing around with it. Opening and closing a bunch fixed that a little bitThe orange G 10 backspacer is a little out of place, it just doesn't look quite right on the knife. It still looks great, and I suppose it could help you find the knife if you drop it, but I doubt it. It has a little bit of "jimping" that is really just some grooves that do nothing, but not a big deal.Only other problem is the infamous benchmade quality control that everyone blows out of proportion. Yes it should be damn near perfect when your spending $200 for a pocket knife, but thats clearly not the way it is. If the possibility of a minor defect that doesn't affect the way it performs or how fun it is to mess around with the axis lock, then so be it... Everything on the knife is perfect except the grind lines, they just are not even. picture doesn't show it too well, but they are pretty far off. Again, this isnt a big deal, still an awesome knife that cuts great.This really is a massive folder. There is just something about it that makes it feel even bigger than other large folders, I have a picture of it next to the CRKT fossil that shows that. I really dont know what it is, but it just feels massive, not necessarily in a bad way. Handle is just really big.If you have large hands, this is a great folder. I love it, but its just too big for me so i will probably end up selling it and buying the mini crooked river.

**UPDATED REVIEW: 7 YEAR REPORT**Amazing knife. I have had a lot of knives over the decades and am not easily impressed. This is the best quality knife I have ever owned. Solid feel, mechanism, and a grip/handle that fits perfectly in a man's hand. The knife opens and closes extremely smoothly and the blade is RIDICULOUSLY sharp (unusually sharp- be careful!).This is a big knife however. I would not descibe it as a "pocket" knife, more like a man's tool. It will fit in your pants pocket, but it is a not an inconspicous knife at all! Benchmade's warranty and service is second to none. They will clean, lubricate and re-sharpen the blade (back to its factory ridiculousness) for its life.**APRIL 2018: I've used this knife for over 2 years now and it is still the best knife I have ever owned. Also, it is still DANGEROUSLY sharp! I accidentally jabbed myself with the point this last weekend (totally my own negligence) and it cut into my palm like butter. What better endorsement could there be?!**JAN 2024: Really great knife. The action on the knife, once broken in, is smooth as butter. Knife is ready for sharpening, cleaning, and oiling- which Benchmade is doing for FREE under the lifetime warranty. I can comfortably say this knife is the best I've ever owned. This model is apparently discontinued- so buy them while they last!**

This is a really nice looking knife, I'm not big on the color orange, however given the price verse custom making one on benchmades website to get rid of the orange I felt this was the way to go. After using it now for a couple weeks the blade is holding up fine, its not much of a slicer, the blade is big and the edge is pretty big so it's meant for hard use and cutting thick things. I find I need a lot of pressure behind it when I am cutting things like rubber hoses or cardboard. The tip of the knife is fantastic it is a great knife if you like to pierce and than cut. As far as quality control the knife I received was dead center, no play side to side or forward to back. There was two little blemishes which you can see in the photo, the scales on one of the handles is not flush so it has a little lip that catches my hand and pants sometimes. The second being a weird line on the scale that looks like a crack even though it's not. I read a lot of other reviews where people said the blade is too big for every day carry, and for me while it is on the bigger side this knife is actually pleasant to use for EDC as I have not hit any limits of what I could not cut. If you like to have a box opener/zip-tie cutter I think this is the wrong knife for you as it's not a fine edge that is super sharp. This is definitely more of an everyday use knife for multipurpose that you can beat up.