Benchmade Narrows Review: A Great Blade at an Offensive Price

The dimensions are impressive on paper. This is about an eight-inch knife with a 3.44-inch blade, titanium handles and M390. The listed weight is just 2.41 ounces. Stupid light, and I mean that in a good way. For a knife this size, that weight really is impressive.

The blade stock I reported was about 0.076 inch, with a handle around 0.275 inch thick. That thinness is the defining feature of the Narrows. Whether it actually makes the knife better is a different question.

I wasn’t sure whether this revised mechanism was still called an AXIS lock. It is a crossbar lock.

Then there is the price. At $522, this was an expensive knife before I had even started comparing it with anything else.

I deliberately kept the comparisons American-made. There are plenty of overseas knives I like, but I wanted to give Benchmade as fair a comparison as I could on manufacturing location.

First, there is my modified Hogue Deka in MagnaCut and my modified Spyderco Shaman. The Narrows is a little bigger than the Deka and measures up reasonably closely to the Shaman. The Deka prices I was discussing were roughly $120 to $180, while I believe the CruWear Shaman had been about $220 a few years earlier.

Then there is my TRM Atom with titanium scales and a 20CV blade. I recalled the combined knife-and-scales cost being around $400. Beside it is my KnifeWorks-exclusive full-size Ritter Hogue with milled carbon fiber and MagnaCut, which I remembered being somewhere around $220 to $250. I was not certain of that exact price.

Every one of those gives me a strong alternative well below the Narrows’ review price. In quality, craftsmanship and appearance, I consider them on par with or better than this example.

The price really does hurt the Narrows. But I want to be very clear: price is not my only issue with it.

The blade itself is the part I actually like. I reported about 0.013 inch behind the edge, and the edge on this example was razor sharp. This is by far the sliciest Benchmade I had handled up to this review. Very, very slicey. That is a good thing.

My use was limited. This was a supplied review sample, not my knife, and I had not carried it or used it to its full potential. I ran it through paper as I do with knives out of the box, and it went through that paper beautifully.

The thin blade, flat grind and deep sharpening choil are all good aspects of the design. M390 is the listed steel; our knife steel guide covers its broader tradeoffs.

I also want to be clear that I like Benchmade knives. I own and enjoy a Mini Adamas, a 940 and a Bugout with scales I fitted myself. My 940 was even in my pocket when I asked my wife to marry me. This is not about disliking the brand across the board.

At $522, however, I expect a well-centered blade. This example arrived off center. My own 940 and Mini Adamas are centered very well, so seeing this on the more expensive knife is disappointing.

There is also a blemish on the blue thumb-stud finish. Wear after use is one thing. Finding it on a brand-new $522 example is another, and I do not think it should be there.

The edge is very nice. The off-center blade and that blemish are not.

Moving into the handle, the extreme thinness creates a much bigger problem for me. It feels like a flat skipping stone in my hand. The shape and thickness together are awkward, and the area ahead of the normal grip is not a useful forward choil for me.

I can get four fingers on it, but I am just getting them on there and can feel the end of the handle. It simply does not feel good in my hand.

The TRM Atom is already a thin knife, yet the Narrows is noticeably thinner beside it. My Bugout has aftermarket scales, so that thickness comparison is to my modified example. To me, Benchmade has taken a useful idea so far that it feels more like a novelty than a comfortable everyday knife.

There is a pleasant surprise: the handle has less flex than I expected. I can get a little flex from the thin titanium, but when I squeeze it, it does not move nearly as much as I anticipated. The well-spaced rear standoffs are something I like about the construction.

I really, really like the crossbar controls, too. They are nice to use and add an enjoyable fidgety element. That is a positive, but it does not turn this into a $522 knife for me.

The clip is another frustration. It is the familiar Bugout-style mini deep-carry clip. At this price, I wanted something more distinctive, perhaps a milled clip made for the design. Reusing that familiar clip on this expensive knife feels like a missed opportunity to me.

The action is very smooth. It truly is. Smooth does not necessarily mean great, though.

My example has very little resistance holding the blade closed, and I can shake it open much too easily for my liking. When I try the same movement with my Deka, the blade starts to move a little but stays retained.

Thumb-stud deployment is not satisfying, either. I have to make a very deliberate effort to put force behind the studs to get it open reliably. I spent the first day getting those incomplete openings, and it is frustrating.

I did not take this supplied knife apart. I wondered whether wider bearings contributed to the smooth movement, but I had not inspected them. Whatever is going on internally, I like the smooth travel much more than the actual deployment and retention.

At the end of the day, I think this is a very nice blade in an overall terrible knife at an offensive price. That is how strongly this example disappointed me. It feels like a slap in the face to the knife community.

Even if it had been $250, I personally still would not buy it. I would have fewer problems with the value at that price, but the handle still would not be a comfortable everyday carry for me.

A diehard Benchmade collector may be more interested in the engineering and thinness than I am. For someone looking for a new EDC knife, I cannot recommend this one on the strength of my experience with it.

Benchmade makes knives I really do enjoy, and I know it can do better. Here, the blade is the highlight. The rest of the package, especially at my review price, leaves me very disappointed.