Bushcrafters & Survivalists Unite, This Gnarly Knife Is Just for You: Benchmade P.S.K. Review

If 2024 has proven anything about Benchmade, it’s that the Oregon knife-maker is all about coloring outside the lines in its quest to innovate — literally. A couple of months ago, Benchmade launched the Water Collection, a well-rounded series of knives aimed at “the wilderness that lies beneath the surface.” All six knives sport MagnaCut steel, new color combinations, and radical style lines — all to appeal to more people across a wider demographic.

But these additions aren’t just about form; Benchmade baked bits of functional innovation into these new knives. Benchmade’s idea of adding a rainbow of blade coating options to the Bugout series and Shootout series is a boost in both form and function; an added layer of blade protection colored to complement the knife handles is a brilliant way to keep a product line relevant.

It’s an exercise in appeal that appears to be working.

Another of its latest offerings splits its form and function — this time between a survival knife and a bushcraft blade. The P.S.K. (Personal Survival Knife) is a hard-use folder with the trademark Axis lock and a few design cues from the Bugout and Adamas knives. Its build and size are like unlike anything I’ve seen from a Benchmade knife.

But perhaps most notably, it carries OD green G10 handle scales with gray G10 bolsters. It’s a color combination similar to the now-discontinued 496 Vector that fits the environment a survivalist or bushcrafter could be in any given day.

In short: The Benchmade P.S.K. is a full-size, abuse-ready folder designed to get you through anything. From its Cerakoted MagnaCut blade to its G10 handle scales, bolster, and AXIS Assist opening and locking mechanism, the only thing this knife is missing is a safe word.

Benchmade P.S.K. Review

Design and Features

With an overall length of 8.4 inches and weighing 5.32 ounces, you might consider the P.S.K. to be too big and too heavy for an EDC knife. By common knife standards, you would be correct. However, this is a heavy-use knife built to be your one and only knife in a survival situation. Its size and weight lend it to being more reliable than the standard folding knife.

MagnaCut is a well-balanced EDC steel that is tough, has good edge retention, and is easy to resharpen. Benchmade chose to Cerakote this blade, making already corrosion-resistant steel impervious to corrosion. The coating also increases the overall wear resistance of the blade. 

On the handle, G10 provides a good foundation for a knife meant to be used and abused. However, the addition of a full set of steel liners makes the P.S.K. prime for twisting, turning, digging, and chopping.

The P.S.K. is an AXIS Assist knife, meaning that it has a spring-assisted opening. Unlike automatic knives that have a dark legal cloud hanging over them (depending on what state you live in), spring-assisted knives don’t fall under that scrutiny.

This feature allows the knife to deploy smoothly and fast, which could give you an advantage in a survival scenario. If you’re into knives you can fidget with, the P.S.K. can also provide that fix. 

First Impressions

I thought Benchmade already finished releasing its 2024 lineup of knives, so the addition of the P.S.K. came as a nice surprise. As someone who enjoys a big, beefy knife destined for work, it was love at first sight. But I didn’t really appreciate what this knife was going to get me into until it was in my hands.

The handle on the P.S.K. provides a full, four-finger grip that’s captured between its contours. The G10 scales and bolsters are scalloped, improving the grip, especially if you’re wearing gloves. Its smooth, flat spine gives you a nice place for your hand to rest, which allows you to easily transition from a standard handhold to a pinch grip.

Pinch grips allow you to choke up on the blade for carving and drilling. It’s a similar grip to how you would hold an oyster knife, and on the P.S.K. Benchmade added impressions to the blade to help you index your hand and give you more control.

Though the P.S.K. is able to navigate around the laws and regulations that automatic knives face, it’s still a two-hand knife. Like an auto, you can open (with gusto) with one hand, but the knife requires both hands to close it down. It’s par for the course, and one could argue that a two-hand closure isn’t as important as a one-hand opening, but I still feel it’s worth mentioning. 

In the Field

A major boon in having a flat Cerakote finish on a knife that will see use in a variety of environments — for a limitless variety of tasks — is that nothing sticks to the blade. Whether you’re cutting veggies, digging in the dirt, or sharpening a gooey sapling branch, you can easily wipe the P.S.K.’s blade clean for its next task. Additionally, a ferro rod can leave behind a lot of soot that could stain the finish of a blade. Not so with Cerakote.

So, where it might seem silly to coat a blade that is already highly corrosion resistant, the Cerakoting aids in the function of the knife, not just the appeal of its form. This, in turn, preserves the life of the knife and helps keep it in good working order.

Beyond that, the P.S.K. eliminates any need to carry a fixed-blade knife. You might even consider leaving your hatchet at home (but still bring a saw).

This palm-filling folder not only makes kindling collection and prep an easy task, but it can also aid in shelter building too. Feel free to dig a hole with this big beauty if you need to set an animal trap, or switch up to the pinch grip to carve, whittle, or process meat. This knife performs many tasks, and all of them well.

There was one area where I called B.S. on the P.S.K. and was happily proven wrong. Cerakoted blades cannot throw sparks on a ferro rod. Ferrocerium requires direct contact with steel in order to throw a spark.

Benchmade knew this, and fully coated the P.S.K. in Cerakote, save for a small spot in the choil.

In its product description for the P.S.K., Benchmade states that the knife has “a dedicated striking choil at the base of the blade for fire starting with a ferro rod.”

When I first saw the dedicated spot, I wasn’t impressed. There was very little exposed MagnaCut in the choil. Fast forward 5 minutes, and the fireworks display that came off that Überleben Hexå ferro rod wowed me. 

When I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong. Also, I threw such a bouquet of sparks that I melted part of the screen protector on my phone trying to videotape it. The things you do for love, amirite?

Benchmade Survival Knife: Should You Buy?

If Bilbo and Frodo Baggins can carry one ring to rule them all, then you can carry one knife to kick all ass. To say I am impressed with both the form and function of this oversized knife would be an understatement. For my EDC, I like a knife that’s just south of 8 inches in length. But considering the P.S.K.’s build and purpose, anything shorter would have made it bulky.

And while the P.S.K. may fill your hand in all directions, it’s not bulky at all. I found it very comfortable to use and abuse even in demanding situations like digging and boring. This, of course, is aided and amplified by the flowing contour of the handle shape and the scalloping of the G10 scales and bolsters.

All said, the P.S.K. feels more like a modern bushcraft knife with survival capabilities to me.

If you’re looking for a heavy-duty knife that you can rely on in hard-use situations, the P.S.K. has your name written all over it. This is the action-packed, innovative knife that you all wished you had on your last adventure, now available for your next one.