The Only Hunting Knife You’ll Ever Need: Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Review

It finally happened. After a decade of telling people I would “just fill my tag on opening day of archery and be done with it,” the bull screamed into my bugles an hour into the opener. It dropped 75 yards away after my arrow hit the mark.

But as any hunter worth their quiver will tell you, putting an elk on the ground is just the beginning, especially if you fully process the meat yourself. So I set my 13-year-old bow aside and pulled out a brand new Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner from my kill kit. Indeed, it was time to get to work.

For most of the next week, it was me and the Saddle Mountain Skinner, along with my parents, a few other knives, and some friends, who turned that five-by-five bull into enough steaks, burgers, and brats to feed me and my family for the next year. And after all that work, it’s become one of my favorite knives of all time. Here’s why.

In short: The Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner ($280 for the S90V model tested here) is the platonic ideal of a hunting knife. The 8.7-inch fixed-blade knife has a deep-bellied drop-point S90V blade. The blade shape is ideal for field dressing, skinning, and processing big game. The Richlite handle feels amazing in the hand, even after hours of hard use. Metal ridging along the back of the handle, an ergonomic palm swell, and aggressive jimping make the blade both safe and comfortable to use for long hours of meat processing.

Compare the Saddle Mountain Skinner with my selection of the best hunting knives.

Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Review

A mature bull elk is a big job to break down and process. It’s one of the few times when I’d tell someone to expect to use a knife — hard and nonstop — for 8 hours plus straight. And this is what I did with the Saddle Mountain Skinner. It was the most brutal, exacting test of a hunting knife I’ve experienced in my nearly four decades of elk hunting.

To begin, a partner and I began by quartering and breaking down the bull on the side of a mountain. Of course, it died in a small ditch, making the entire process harder. But with teamwork and slow, steady work, we broke the meat into manageable quarters over the course of a little over an hour. We removed backstraps and neck meat, and cracked rib bones to remove meat from inside the cavity with the gutless method.

In the field, the factory-keen Saddle Mountain Skinner proved incredibly sharp. It took very little pressure to pierce the hide and follow the muscle groups, splitting the first rear quarter down to the hip joint in a matter of seconds. I took my time, careful not to break into the intestines as I followed the joint around, the knife cutting like a laser.

The Saddle Mountain Skinner is available in S90V steel with Richlite and G10 handles, or S30V steel with a stabilized wood handle. I tested the premium S90V version, and was blown away by how well it held an edge.

A buddy and I worked on cutting down the bull for probably 2 hours in total, from removing quarters all the way to picking off the last bits of neck meat and batoning the blade through the neck (more on this later) to remove the head.

And that was just day one. By the time we hauled the last of five loads off the mountain, the Saddle Mountain Skinner was still very sharp.

The Only Hunting Knife You Need?

The passage of time may hurt, but it also gifts knowledge if we pay attention. As I approach my fourth decade as a hunter, my opinions about the best hunting knives have evolved. This year, the Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner taught this old dog a few new tricks.

For the first time in several years, I never reached for a scalpel. Removable-blade knives like Havalon are a go-to for many hunters for good reason. A fresh blade just works. I’ve used them many times, and I’m sure I will again. But with the unreal sharp and durable S90V steel of the Saddle Mountain Skinner, I never needed a fresh blade.

That fact continued for days as I moved from the field to a garage. There, my crew and I skinned the quarters and broke them down into muscle groups. We turned them into steaks, burgers, and brats. Then we packaged everything into freezer paper and stored it away.

It’s a huge job. We worked for close to three full days to complete the entire job.

The Saddle Mountain Skinner stayed in my hand for much of it. Yes, we had four or five knives working at any given time. But I regularly went back to the Benchmade for one specific reason — the handle.

Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Handle

I love, seriously love, the handle of the Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner. At 4.5 inches long, it has a subtle palm swell that gives way to a thumb groove next to the heel of the blade. Combined with the grippy nature of the Richlite scale material, the knife felt secure even when wet and bloody. It instilled confidence that I wouldn’t slip or cut myself.

Moving back, the spine of the handle is very unique. It allows the steel tang to show through the scales, and even protrude past the scales in an undulating nature. This enhances the grip even more, giving the rear of the knife traction on your hand in a place that needs it most during hard cuts. It’s a genius design that I’ve rarely seen (if ever) on another knife.

I loved the added security and grip, especially when cutting frozen chunks of meat for the grinder after several hours of hard cutting.

For transparency, I have pretty average-sized hands and usually wear medium gloves. Those with larger hands might find this handle on the smaller size, but the feedback I’ve gotten from other hunters is also very positive.

Blade Shape and Steel: Excellent, With Downsides

The Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner has awesome steel and a nearly perfect blade shape.

Shape

The knife has a deep belly on a drop-point blade. There’s nothing risky here. This knife is a time-tested shape, proven through decades to be pretty much perfect for cleaning big game.

The tip itself is not super aggressive, but plenty sharp enough for poking through hide or making fine cuts in close quarters. It’s a nice compromise because, while not a very acute angle, it’s enough to get the job done. And by not being super pointy, as one may find in a clip point, it’s much tougher than a fine point.

From there, you get back into the core of the knife, its belly. This is where most of the work gets done when making big long cuts. I love a knife with a deep, pronounced belly like the Saddle Mountain Skinner, because it gives you lots of edge to work with and more length to get the job done.

In use, the shape proved to work great. It cut, poked, and even batoned. After beating the heck out of the knife for 3 days, it had a few small chips but was still serviceably sharp.

Sheath

For such a gorgeous knife, the Saddle Mountain Skinner’s black and orange “Boltron” plastic sheath is meh. It does a good job of protecting the knife, yes, and it’s great for throwing the knife in a pack or kill kit. That is the specific goal of the knife, and it makes sense.

But for a nearly $300 knife, it would be nice if it had at least a method of attaching it to a belt. As it ships, the slots are much too narrow to fit a standard belt. For $20 more, you can buy a Teclock Belt Clip from Benchmade for a secure carry system. Or, for $35, Benchmade sells a nice leather sheath for the Saddle Mountain Skinner.

Both are viable options if you want to carry it on a belt. Personally, I leave my hunting knife in my pack while in the field and keep a small EDC knife in my pocket for non-hunting use. But it’s worth noting these limitations.

Steel: S90V and S30V Options

S90V steel is epic. It’s really, really hard and holds an edge unbelievably well. But like all steel, it will eventually dull. S30V is also excellent steel. It’s older, less expensive (the S30V option retails for about $60 less), and doesn’t hold an edge quite as long. But it’s still very good.

I chose S90V for testing. And that is the compromise. Unlike soft steels that are easy to put an edge on quickly, S90V is a little more challenging to sharpen, although I found it entirely doable with a guided sharpener.

It also tends to chip more easily than soft steel. I put several small chips into the blade while batoning the knife through bone. In retrospect, I wouldn’t do it again. But impressively, the knife held up to the beating with just a few small chips. And I was able to take them out through sharpening.

So, what must you consider when purchasing a Saddle Mountain Skinner: S30V (slightly softer, more sharpenable) or S90V (very hard, holds edge forever, slightly harder to resharpen)? I’m personally fond of very hard, long-wearing steel. I only want to pull out the sharpener when it’s really needed at the end of a hunt. So S90V it is. And that’s what I tested.

Reporting back, the knife was still wicked sharp after field processing an elk, although it had lost its hair-popping edge. By the end of 3 days of processing, it needs to go on the sharpener. So now I’m going to go sharpen this thing and see how I can do with the S90V.

Sharpening

I slapped the blade of the Saddle Mountain Skinner into a Wicked Edge sharpening system. Because I had chipped the blade, I opted to sharpen it aggressively and remove a modest amount of steel. That would get rid of the chips and get the knife back to razor sharp in one go.

I was surprised how quickly the 600-grit sharpening stone wore through the S90V steel. While hard, the steel proved really quite easy to sharpen. After about 5 minutes of honing both sides and a slight reprofile of the edge, the chips were gone. It took me longer, probably 15 minutes, to work through the higher-grit stones and build successive burrs.

But after less than half an hour, I had a super-sharp edge — sharp enough that I cut myself when I barely brushed the blade while washing off the Sharpie that I’d used to mark the edge for angle-finding. I guess I’ll never learn, which is why I keep Band-Aids around.

So final assessment? Yes, S90V is hard, but as an amateur sharpener, I had no problem bringing it back to a super sharp edge.

For those who don’t want to go through the effort or don’t own a good sharpener, Benchmade will sharpen it for you for life, but you need to spend $35 for shipping to get it there and back. I did it myself and am happy with the results.

Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner Review: Who Should Buy It

Ultimately, the Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner can be the one and only hunting knife you own. Of course, I personally would add a couple more and a Havalon with fresh blades to your kit. You never want to be left with a dull blade, and never know if you’ll get called in by buddies to clean multiple animals in a day.

But if I had to choose a single knife for all my hunting and game processing for the rest of my life, I would strongly consider the Saddle Mountain Skinner. I have dozens of knives. It’s my job to test them, so I’m a little spoiled.

But darn it if the Saddle Mountain Skinner doesn’t check off almost every box. Its only real downside is being a little on the heavier side. But after using it for days on end, I appreciate that modest heft. It doesn’t feel fragile. And if I need to use it in a survival situation, splitting wood or building a shelter, I have no doubt it’ll be up to the job.

The Saddle Mountain Skinner is a great knife. If you’re a serious hunter or outdoorsman who wants one knife that can do most everything, this is it. However, if you need a knife you can sharpen in the field, I’d pass and look for something with carbon steel.

But for those who want a hunting knife that can handle a whole elk in one go, look no further. This hunting knife will handle anything you can throw at it. And when you finally wear that edge dull, hop in the shower before throwing it on the shapener. Because I’m sure you’ll be as toast as I was after a massive, successful week in the woods and at the butcher table.