Benchmade 15020 Bone Collector Knife Review
The Benchmade 15020 Bone Collector is one of a series of knives designed in collaboration with Michael Waddell, professional hunter and host of hunting shows on the Outdoor Channel. The knives are designed in the spirit of the hunter, and feature many interesting details that they will appreciate.
The knife features some great specs and is very affordably priced and has some great ergonomics and great overall versatility to boot. The wide, sweeping blade is ideal for hunting as well as general utility chores. Heavily textured, yet smooth G-10 scales with multiple grip zones make it a very usable EDC blade.
Blade
Benchmade does a bit of a blast from the past with the use of D2 on the knife, which is a fantastic steel and can be tempered to very high HRC and holds an edge forever. The only reason I was a bit surprised is that its not one of the latest and greatest and also turns a few people off due to the poor rust resistance. D2 is a tool steel and often referred to as a semi-stainless and doesn’t do well in certain areas with high humidity like Florida.
Beautiful wide blade, with Spyderco-style round hole and Bone Collector logo etched on the backside. The Bone Collector sharpens up very nicely and is one of the sharpest Benchmade knives I own. Be forewarned, D2 is not a quick steel to sharpen, however.
Handle
The G-10 handle feels great in the hand, but overall I found it kind of weird. Its almost like they textured it, and then tumbled it smooth or rubbed fine grit sandpaper over it.. I’m not sure I like the texture that much. Its smooth and textured at the same time and feels “worn” giving the knife a used feeling out of the box.
The grooves along the back side of the handle scales serve to give your palm better purchase on the handle and actually work quite well in that respect. They are more comfortable than they look because of the rounded/worn finish of the G-10. Axis lock is easy to access and works quite well of course.
Fit and Finish
Fit and finish are okay on the Bone Collector. If it were any other brand, I might give some more leeway, but this is Benchmade, and I think the Bone Collector is not finished as well as most of the other Benchmades I have hand owned and handled. The blade cut-out shows some deep grooves in it including one fairly deep one that you can see in the pics. The satin finish is much rougher than I have seen on other steels, and its possible because D2 is generally considering harder to finish than most steels.
The ‘worn’ feeling of the handle was in my opinion well designed from a usability standpoint, but from a fit and finished perspective I found it lacking. I would have preferred something that was a bit less worn-feeling maybe with more crisp, beveled edges in order to soften the feel in the hand, but maybe this was required for the best outcome.
Overall its a good EDC blade if you’re not in a super humid environment, and if you don’t mind the lower-than-average Benchmade fit and finish. Price-wise, it is more affordable than many so that alone could make some of my complaints acceptable. However, I would probably look to other Benchmades before settling on the Bone Collector 15020.
Specs:
Blade Length: 3.36″
Blade Thickness: 0.125″
Handle Thickness: 0.735″
Blade Material: D2 Tool Steel
Blade Hardness: 60-62HRC
Blade Style: Drop-Point w/ Ambidextrous Thumb-Studs
Weight: 5.59oz.