BORELLI CONSULTING: Recreational Equipment Reviews

Benchmade Nimravus Fixed Blades
5 March 2007

I was once taught that a combat blade needed to have a minimum blade length of 6.5" for proper penetration of the human thorax. As combat isn't something we anticipate doing with a knife we carry on a recreational outing we need to realize that there are a host of fixed blade knives ideally suited to the general purpose use often found on hiking, backpacking and camping trips. One of the knives that has proven to be efficient for general utility use is the Benchmade Nimravus. The Nimravus' 4.5" blade in various configurations, and provided in a sheath that has multiple mounting / carrying options, has come to be the "go to" knife for many outdoorsman. Let's take a closer look at it and what makes it so valuable as a general purpose field blade.

The above photo shows Benchmade Nimravus knives as represented in the Blackwater Gear line. Tanto style blades on the left and drop point blades on the right. Serrated spines are shown on all and both colors of grips / handles are also shown. Matching sheaths are available as shown. For the sake of accurate reporting I should mention that, on the Benchmade sight, I can't find any available Nimravus knives with a serrated spine. That may be a feature they produced only for Blackwater Gear.

The Benchmade Model 140 Nimravus sports a 4.5" blade made from 154CM or D2 Tool steel. The Rockwell Hardness runds between 58 - 61 depending on steel used. Overall length of the knife is 9.45" which means you have just under 5" of handle. That's enough for a nice secure grip, and the deep finger groove provides for additional security of grip in wet or other slippery conditions.

According to Benchmade's website you can get the Nimravus with a plain edge or combo edge (about 1" of serrations near the base of the blade), with a Tanto style blade or a modified drop point. Now, let's talk about what these will (or won't) cut.

As with all knives I test the Nimravus ended up on my side in the backyard near my shed. My shed is the source of all material to be cut up / destroyed / chopped by the knives I test. Inside my shed is an assortment of string, twine, rope, cord, plastic buckets, nylon webbing, and more. I tend to cut or chop these items in some sort of progression. The Nimravus had no issues with any of the cloth items such as string, twine and hemp rope. The nylon rope gave it some pause but the knife eventually won. The nylon webbing was easy. The plastic bucket took quite a few hits from the knife as I tried to chop a chunk out, but the weight of the knife is not really set up for this and while I didn't damage the knife I didn't cut the chunk out of the bucket either.

With a blade thickness of about 1/8", the knife isn't meant to be used for prying anything either. So, to my way of thinking, the knife is really set up for cutting organic material, shaving wood, etc. It really is a nearly ideal camp knife. With that in mind I went to my outdoor fire pit and used the Nimravus to shave some fire starter material off of an assortment of wood piled up. It performed well. Using it edge-on, I managed to split some small kindling from the seasoned oak as well (that took some work on my part, but the knife held up well).

After all that abuse, I brought the knife in and thoroughly cleaned it. It's next chore was cutting the steak I grilled for dinner. It handled that with no issue what so ever. Nice clean easy cutting. I think my next test for it will be cleaning fish but I'm going to wait for spring to settle in a little better first.

I recommend the Nimravus as a general purpose hiking / backpacking / camping knife. It's obviously not a combat or "survival" knife, but I submit to you that any knife you have when you get lost or injured or otherwise unexpectedly caught in the wild IS your survival knife. Take proper care of it so it can properly care for you.

BE SAFE!

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Don't forget to check out our Tactical Equipment Review about some proven handheld "tactical" lights.

This week's Training Article, discussing one Tae Kwon Do philosophy on character and skill development.

For a listing of all reviews in chronological order, GO HERE.

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