Overall, Benchmade is a top-notch knife brand with a tactical, outdoor focus. However, with a few new releases, it seems to be experiencing a brand metamorphosis.
If you look at its Bugout line, there are recently released wild color combinations like a black-coated blade with burnt brass handle scales and an electric blue thumb stud. Moving into the Shootout line of Out The Front (OTF) knives, you have colors like white, dark purple, and sage green. For a tactical knife, it’s polarized albeit appealing. But all of this is just colors, right? It’s not a big deal.
So what is going on with its new compact, EDC fixed blade, the Dacian?
Where Benchmade has long relied on common forms like drop point and tanto blade shapes, the Dacian is a long and flowing spear point blade with jimping that runs down the length of its spine. Instead of being black Cerakoted or stonewashed steel, this knife has blue titanium Cerakote.
It feels like an extension of the Bugout line, which is aimed at the EDC crowd. But instead of being a light-duty folding knife, it’s a workhorse fixed blade. Where Benchmade fixed blades long have felt as if they were aimed at the military and bushcraft crowd, the Dacian is made for the next generation of knife users.
Who is that? I don’t know. Maybe it’s you and me, which is why I needed to take this dandy of a knife on a blessed hell ride with me into the outdoors. Bring a little color into my earth-toned, rugged life.
In short: The Dacian is a compact, multi-functioning, fixed-blade knife meant to replace or complement your pocket folding knife. It’s suitable for general use, utility, and EDC. Due to its overall size and shape, it can be worn on your belt, in your pocket, or on a pack strap.
Shopping around? Check out our guide to the best survival knives.
- OAL: 7.57”
- Blade length: 3.54”
- Blade steel: MagnaCut
- Blade shape: Spear point
- Sheath: Ambidextrous molded
- Weight: 3.4 oz, 4.4 oz with sheath
Pros
- Cerakoted MagnaCut steel
- Sculpted Micarta scales
- Attention to detail
- Compact size makes it great to carry
Cons
- Belt clip doesn’t fit all belts
- Colors will throw some people off
Benchmade Dacian Fixed Blade Knife Review
Design & Features
Benchmade offers two versions of the Dacian. Both are made from MagnaCut and Micarta and have the same forward-thinking form. They’re both also interesting color combinations that, in all honesty, have grown on me over time.
The version with stonewashed MagnaCut, denim blue Micarta scales, and copper hardware has been out since August. That comes with a chocolate brown molded sheath. As I mentioned, I was sent the Blue Titanium/Brown Micarta version resembling a chocolate-covered blueberry. And I am digging it.
You can’t go wrong with MagnaCut and Micarta as your main materials. MagnaCut steel is well-balanced regarding abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, toughness, and edge retention. Cerakoting it just makes it better.
Micarta is my favorite of all the available and familiar materials for handle scales used in the production knife industry. Benchmade has done a hell of a job shaping these, which includes an indent that allows your fingertips to index.
The Dacian is a little over ⅜” thick, so reducing its thickness further is a gamble — but one that works for me. I can see people with longer fingers having to find their own sweet spots to perfect their grip.
In terms of its overall shape, this knife looks fast. It looks like someone took a picture of a kitchen knife flying through the air and said, “That’s it!” The knife has a traditionally styled handle shape, but the spear point pulls the profile out a bit, making it seem longer than 7.57”. This slim and long profile will prove how universal the Dacian is. You should expect to cut, slice, pierce, chop, shave, and sculpt with it.
What’s in a Name?
Now, what’s this name? Well, the Dacians ruled the land of roughly modern Romania around the first century. Many people believe they had a direct link to wolves, which makes the name of this complex knife just as complex as its form.
Looking at the Dacian, I feel it belongs in the movie “Princess Monanoke”. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll have to take my word for it — but I urge you to watch it when you can.
This still doesn’t explain the wild, off-brand symbol on the Dacian’s sheath, but I hope to figure that out before I send this review to my editor. (Update: No clue what that symbol means.)
First Impressions
Nothing about these color combinations that Benchmade is offering up is crazy. We’ve been seeing knives like this from Gerber and SOG for a few years now. But this is Benchmade. Even the fact that the brand used hunter orange had some people scratching their heads. However, I still like it.
I also like the direction the brand is going. If it is looking to appeal to a younger crowd, knives like the Bugout and Dacian are the way.
My ideal belt knife is under 8” and can be carried inconspicuously. It’s not a hunting knife or the knife you’re going to build a shelter with. But you could. The Dacian, for me, represents the evolution of a utility knife. It’s fancy, but it’s also aggressive and can be applied to everything from food prep to processing game to getting kindling dialed in for a fire out in the snow.
Out of the box, I tried to put the sheath on my belt, but the clip was too small. So, I just put the knife in my pocket. When I wear overalls, I can slide into the opening on the side above the buttons.
This is the kind of knife that disappears until you need it. That being said, as society continues its overt mission to frown upon knives and firearms, a knife like this is the direction you want to go in if you want to go unnoticed.
In the Field
I glossed over the fact that the clip on the Dacian sheath won’t fit on my belt. Chances are it won’t fit yours, either. But don’t let that dissuade you.
I have found that this knife easily fits in any side pocket of a good pair of Carhartts — and even in its fifth pocket on its double-knees. This, to me, ups the knife’s EDC claims a few degrees. More and more people are starting to pocket carry fixed-blade knives. Mark my words, it’s going to be a big thing in 2025.
Regarding how the Dacian handles and performs in the great outdoors, it’s got a real “come at me, bro” feel, lending to the fact that it can do anything you want. Sure, it opens mail and Amazon packages like a champ. But it also slices beef and poultry thin and more efficiently than any kitchen knife in your cutlery corral. If you’re doing a roast or prime rib, you might want something bigger.
The jimping on the back of the blade is there for control. It looks cool, but it functions better. It allows you to work down closer to the tip and really control piercing and puncturing. Anyone who hunts will tell you that this is a big deal, as is keeping your blade razor sharp.
Benchmade supplies some of the sharpest knives on the planet, and when you pair that with a spear point, you have something that will either make working through tasks easier or require a lot of stitches.
I’ve had the Dacian since July and have fallen low-key in love with it because of how easy it is to carry. The clip doesn’t bite down on fabric as hard as something like a ULTICLIP, but the sheath has been molded to find the perfect balance between tight and tight enough. This makes both retrieving the knife and putting it back away easy.
Almost 4 months in, and though the knife shows that it’s been used, it doesn’t look abused. Also, there hasn’t been a need for me to rehone the edge, which is one of the admirable features of MagnaCut.
Trending
Part of what I do here for GearJunkie is stay ahead of what’s up and coming. Pocket-carrying small-form-factor fixed blades aren’t new. However, they’re growing. It’s been pretty low-key for a few years now in the EDC world, and now that brands like Benchmade are jumping on it, expect it to spread like wildfire.
In Conclusion
Jerry Garcia once summarized the Grateful Dead by saying, “We’re like licorice. Not everyone likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice.”
Not everyone will “really like” the Dacian based solely on the way it looks. But the people who do will covet the knife and rely on it for years to come. There is no middle ground with a knife like this.
Do I think that will impact its sales? No. I think if anything, just like the expanded color options of the Bugout and Shootout, that the colors of the Dacian will eventually come second to how it carries and ultimately performs.
The knife industry is past saturation. Many brands are making knives that look like knives from other brands. Even within a brand, you might find a knife resembling another model in the lineup.
Benchmade has always stood out because of the materials it uses and the quality of its products. Maybe it decided to stand out for how its knives look, too? Either way, I’ve found the appeal in both the form and function of this knife, and I am sure there are a few of you out there who will too.
