Benchmade 15032 North Fork Review | Tested & Rated

The 15032 North Fork is the improved version of the 15031-2, and we find the improvements thoughtful and appropriate. The heritage design should appeal to many, as it is meant to be a portable, hunting-specific workhorse. Additions of orange accents and more prominent ridges on the spine help in that direction. The blade will hold an edge through an entire large game field dressing and be easily cleaned afterward due to its simplified construction. We can attest that it performs well year after year. One will appreciate these same attributes for all camping needs while it also doubles as a more pedestrian 'everyday carry' option.

You can think of the North Fork folding knife as a special edition of Benchmade's other top offerings. Especially popular among the outdoorsman, it (purposefully) includes fewer customizable options (only available with one blade steel option, for example), no open assist action, and a heritage-style wooden handle aesthetic. It comes with a premium price tag but is undeniably a fantastically designed and high-performing knife.

The blade and edge on the North Fork are indicative of what we've come to expect from Benchmade products - a smart, simple shape with no factory flaws to speak of.

Workhorse products like this tend to have taller blades with a deep belly, and that wider surface with a shallower angle helps as a wedge to finesse the cut surfaces apart more aggressively and will be more resistant to accumulating nicks during heavier-duty tasks. The well-regarded CPM-S30V alloy further advances its utility. Originally developed as a bearing steel for high-temperature operational integrity, repurposed as a knife steel, it offers a stellar balance of top-notch corrosion resistance and edge retention, useful for long stints in the wilderness.

One very notable difference between generations here: the excellent recurve in the belly of the cutting edge is now gone. The current blade features a more common straight edge with a high sweep up to the tip. A slight concave curve, as seen in the Gen 1 product, is popular on hunting knives and war blades of antiquity, as it helps keep the blade from slipping during high-pressure cuts and during specialized tasks such as field dressings. Our guess is that Benchmade got enough complaints about difficult resharpening (which is tougher with recurve blades, though Benchmade's Lifesharp program makes this task a non-issue) and made the change for a wider appeal.

Ergonomics is a strong suit on the North Fork's, helping to place the knife at the top of our rankings for this metric. It is remarkably comfortable to grip tight and use during lengthy or difficult cutting tasks, mainly due to the thoughtfully crafted, rounded handle shape. The forefinger scallop lets our hand seat just right, with the handle sitting fully in our grip. It is a 'compact' knife, but we find our pinkies sit right at the end of the handle with nothing left over. In our opinion, it's the perfect size, suitable for nearly all tasks while being small enough to be considered when space or weight is at a premium.

The stabilized wood handle scales look and feel fantastic, too - natural and comfortable while maintaining a secure grip in the presence of slick substances (such as blood). The species of wood is not specified, but it is impregnated with resin for moisture and temperature resistance and cut with some very minor but effective ridges along the length of the knife. We notice it now has a lighter color, with grain more visible and amber undertones, as compared with the darker look of the first generation.

A couple more improvements include orange highlights throughout and some added jimping (ridges to hold your thumb on the blade) in two locations along the spine. Those ridges allow you to choke up and have a choice in the placement of your thumb on higher positions for improved leverage and pressure. More knives should include this simple feature. The orange accents (a ring around the pivot rivets and some bigger ridges at the butt of the handle) are a not-so-subtle signal to the North Fork's intention as a hunting knife.

The Axis blade lock, one of Benchmade's most well-known calling cards and one of our favorite locks on the market, but is a little out of place on this particular knife. Axis is well known for being a safe, easy, and intuitive blade lock. But even the non-assist open Axis is a complicated little mechanism and is difficult to fully clean after use in an especially messy situation - not ideal for a hunting knife.

The North Fork was clearly designed as an attempt to hit the sweet spot between heavy-duty performance and portability. An EDC (everyday carry) hunting knife. For the most part, it walks that tightrope quite well.

To be fair, at 0.53 inches, the North Fork is just about the thickest knife we've tested. As covered above, the sculpted handle helps immensely with comfort and 'filling' out the grip but is inherently thicker than the flat handles seen on many of its contemporaries. That hinders its portability score. Still, the more rounded shape helps by eliminating any 'sharp' edges or points that could rub a hole through a pocket over time, and we found that our model sat pretty unobtrusively in the pocket despite that heft; it's also on the heavier end of our tested lineup at 3.25 ounces.

The strength of the pocket clip is a bit much for our tastes, and we feel it would tear up a pocket edge over time (but that may not be a deal breaker for everyone). The clip here is two-position modular, so it can be switched from one side to the other as needed when optimizing use for a lefty, although it can't switch ends. At least the North Fork is oriented tip-up in the pocket, which means it would be pulled off the edge of a pocket with the hand already in position to flick the thumb stud open without much maneuvering - ideal for quick deployment. However, we should mention that the opening action is stiff, and a pretty forceful thumb flick of the dual stud on either side of the blade is needed to open it.

In the heavily saturated Pocket Knife market, we've found that manufacturers represented in our test lineup generally seem to focus a lot of energy and effort on delivering high-quality construction over all else. A brand will simply not survive if it carries a reputation for shoddy quality control, slop in the hinge design, or a tendency for the edge to chip or mar.

The North Fork, as expected from a premium offering, is exceptionally well made. The blade is perfectly centered with about 1mm of clearance on either side when closed, and there is no slop whatsoever in the pivot or action. We would feel confident twisting and prying in hardy material (to a point… pocket knives can't realistically hold a candle to fixed blades in this regard). The materials chosen are top-notch and thoughtfully utilized.

Our one gripe is that we did notice our test model had a tendency for the lock to get (mildly) stuck with the blade open, even before testing could have gummed anything up. This is very uncharacteristic of the manufacturer, who is known for its high-precision, reliable engineering.

For those discerning users, the quality of the Benchmade North Fork is self-evident and will be well worth the cost. For the price, you get great quality and lasting design in a beautiful, vintage-looking package. However, we cannot call it a great value. It is a boutique piece of equipment, and losing such an expensive pocket knife out on a camping trip could qualify as a tragedy for many users.

The Havalon Piranta is another hunting-specific knife with a very different design strategy that may end up being far more practical for some users. But if you're enamored with the performance and style of Benchmade knives, it is well worth your time to consider the similarly well-performing but assisted open style of the Mini Barrage or the impressively slim profile of the easy-carry Bugout. On the more budget end of the spectrum, we really appreciate the top-notch steel included in the low-cost, high-value CIVIVI Button Lock Elementum II as well as the spring assist action in the similarly well-priced Gerber Fast Draw. The compact frame and recurve blade in the CRKT Drifter make it another low-cost option we'd be very happy to point you toward.