Early last year, Benchmade announced the Water Collection of knives—a new set of six high-quality fishing knives made of the new corrosion-resistant CPM-MagnaCut steel. Then, at the following ICAST, the Water Collection knives won Best of Category – Cutlery, Hand Plier, or Tool, in the New Product Showcase. Of these four award-winning knives, I am reviewing the Fishcrafter 9″, the larger of the two fillet knife options from the collection. It is a nice semi-rigid fillet knife that I have used to break down everything from panfish to large pelagic predators for almost a year now. Let’s see how this fillet knife has held up.
Benchmade Coverage on OutdoorHub
Specifications – Benchmade Fishcrafter 9″– Water Collection
- Overall Length – 13.94″ inches (35.41 cm)
- Blade Length – 9.05″ inches (22.99 cm)
- Blade Thickness – 0..09 inches (2.29 mm)
- Handle Thickness – 0.67″ inches (17.02 mm)
- Blade Material – CPM-Magnacut Stainless Steel (60-62 HRC)
- Blade Style – Trailing Point
- Mechanism – Fixed Blade
- Blade Finish – Stonewash
- Blade Color – Polish
- Handle Material – Santoprene
- Handle Color – Depth Blue
- Lanyard Hole – Yes
- Ambidextrous – Yes
- Weight – 3.7 ounces (104.89 g)
- Sheath – Molded
- Retention – Friction
- Sheath Weight – 2.55 ounces (72.29 g)
- Country of Origin: USA
- MSRP: $260
The Fishcrafter 9″, like all the Water Collection knives, comes with two guarantees from Benchmade. The first is the LifeSharp Guarantee, which ensures free knife sharpening for the lifetime of your blade. Fill out a form and send it to Benchmade, and they will send it back with a sharp new factory edge. Second is the Limited Lifetime Warranty, which covers all other issues that could occur during the life of the knife as long as you aren’t trying to use the knife like a meat cleaver on bones or something crazy for a fillet knife.
Material Selection and Design – Benchmade Fishcrafter 9″ – Water Collection
The blade of the Benchmade Fishcrafter 9″ is made of CPM-Magnacut Stainless Steel (60-62 HRC). This is a new steel alloy that was first made in the USA back in 2021 by Crucible Industries. While it is a stainless steel, it scores high in toughness and hardness, making for great sharpness and edge retention. On top of that, the alloy is very corrosion-resistant, even more so than many other stainless steel alloys on the market. The handle of the knife is made of deep blue-colored santoprene, a high-performance vulcanized thermoplastic elastomer that looks and feels like rubber but is a lot more durable than traditional rubber. This handle material holds up well to UV and oil exposure and has good grip quality even when wet or slimy.
The nine-inch trailing point blade has a full flat grind with a bit of a swedge in the middle, giving it a nice flat surface that helps the knife glide along the bones as you remove the fillets of the fish. There is a good belly to the blade, giving the user a lot more cutting-edge. The blade is a bit stiffer than most think for a fillet knife, but I honestly prefer a stiffer fillet knife. The handle is a very sleek design that fits nicely in the hand and has jimping built in for added grip when doing push cuts. It also has a built-in lanyard loop, which could help with making sure your knife doesn’t end up in Davy Jone’s Locker.
On The Water – Benchmade Fishcrafter 9″ – Water Collection
As I said before, I used this knife to clean almost every fish I kept this past year—everything from crappie and white bass to mahi and king mackerel. If I went fishing, this knife came with me. The knife excelled at its job no matter the size of the fish. The profile and belly of the knife gave me plenty of edge real estate to make nice smooth cuts when I was taking the sides off of fish. The hardness and durability of the Magnacut steel were top-notch for a stainless steel knife, giving the knife excellent edge life. Normally when I clean fish, I remove the head first. The Fishcrafter had no issues pushing through fish spines and ribs, I experienced no chipping or rolls in the edge even when doing this with larger saltwater species.
I was initially concerned about the handle profile. When I first picked up the knife, I was worried the smaller handle would become uncomfortable when cleaning a lot of fish. But I found that not to be the case. Yes, the handle is smaller in profile than other knives I have used. I found it oddly comfortable and ergonomic in the hand, with various grips while cleaning fish. The Santoprene material of the handle has the perfect amount of grip for a fillet knife. That, plus the jimping near the heel of the blade, made it so I had no issues with the grip being slippery when wet or slimy.
Lastly, the Fishcrafter did not have a single issue with corrosion or staining. The CPM Magnacut stainless steel really lived up to the hype, and I had no issues with salt and blood exposure. I purposely left blood and saltwater on the blade before putting it into the sheath several times just to see how far I could push it. Leaving the blade wet for days at a time, and besides just a wipe down and wash with some soap the blade came out no worse for the wear.
In the Woods – Benchmade Fishcrafter 9″ – Water Collection
Just because the Fishcrafter 9″ was designed with fishing in mind doesn’t mean it couldn’t be used in other situations. Along with all the fish I cut with it over the past year of use. Me and my buddy used it to butcher a few whitetail deer and a turkey as well. The Magnacut steel edge held up well even when cutting along and scrapping the deer and turkey bones. The curvature of the blade near the tip was excellent at following along bones to pull out big muscles off the bones. The knife edge closer to the heel easily pushed through connective tissue and cartilage while splitting joints.
The nine-inch length of the blade made for great clean cuts when I was portioning out the meat, easily slicing through a backstrap in one go. I do have to say the one time I did sharpen the fillet knife last year was after butchering the second whitetail deer. The edge hadn’t chipped, but I did notice a small roll in the edge that was easily cleaned up on the 1000-grit whetstone.
Final Thoughts – Benchmade Fishcrafter 9″ – Water Collection
After a year with the Fishcrafter 9″ I feel like this is one of the last fillet knives I will ever need, it cuts incredibly well and still looks great. But there are a couple of things I need to talk about before saying that everyone should go out and get one. The first thing is the elephant in the room: the price, with an MSRP of $260, which is a good bit of change for a fillet knife. I’m not saying this knife isn’t worth that, especially when you consider the materials, lifetime warranty, and lifetime sharpening from Benchmade. I see this again as a “buy once cry once” situation, these are high-quality knives that could potentially last you a decade with proper care, so as long as you don’t drop it overboard you should be golden.
Second I want to talk about the knife itself, the blade design is great for filleting and deboning fish, while I had the large 9″ knife, the profile of the blade tip makes for more delicate work on smaller fish still possible. Even the larger width of the blade made it so I could easily ride along the bones of smaller panfish. But, I have a separate skinning knife to use alongside the Fishcrafter because I’m not the biggest fan of skinning fillets with this knife. That same blade width I love for filleting and deboning fish kind of gets in the way when taking the skin off the fillets. The slightly stiffer nature of the Fishcrafter 9″ blade, I have been told the Fishcrafter 7″ is more flexible, plus, the blade width just doesn’t get as close to the skin as I would like. So my solution is something I was taught during my sushi restaurant days, have a separate skinning knife. But if that’s a deal breaker for you, the Fishcrafter 9″ might not be the fillet knife for you.
Besides those two things to consider, I see this as one of the nicest fish-cutting knives I currently own. With how well the steel and handle material are holding up to the elements, I can see myself using this fillet knife for years, if not decades, to come.
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