Forging The Future: benchmade’s newest technology solves common problem for hunters
Benchmade’s Newest Blade Technology: CodeX87 Horizon Edge
The Real Work Starts as soon as the tag is punched
My back is on fire. My right hand is cramping. It’s only 60 degrees but I’m sweating. This was my reality on my once-in-a-lifetime North Dakota elk hunt.
I had just tagged an amazing bull – giant fronts, sweeping beams that seemingly went on forever, and mass that us antler addicts dream of. He was the perfect bull in every way. You’d think I’d have been dancing with joy, but instead I was paying for it physically. The reason? I was working on caping and quartering this 8 ½ year old bull with a dull knife – actually, two dull knives.
keeping a knife sharp sounds easy, right?
If you’ve hunted long enough you’ve likely experienced this same thing – skinning, caping, or butchering an animal with a dull blade. It’s a tale old as time – keep your skinning knife sharp. It’s always been easier said than done. No matter how hard we try to keep that blade away from hair, hide, tendons, and bones, the chances of caping and quartering an elk from start to finish with a sharp blade are about as good as the odds of drawing that once-in-a-lifetime North Dakota tag.
One Knife, Too Many Jobs
You must cut the hide to get in. You need to separate joints and tendons to get those quarters off the mountain. There’s no way around it — quartering big game forces your knife to do multiple jobs, and most blades aren’t built for that reality.
The Problem Benchmade Set out To Solve
This is the exact problem Benchmade set out to solve with their new CodeX 87 Horizon Edge. Benchmade found a way to combine two different metals into one continuous edge. By using two well-known steels — Hakkapella Damasteel for the base blade and Rex 121 applied to specific portions of the cutting edge — Benchmade can create a single blade designed to handle two very different tasks.
Benchmade CodeX87 Horizon Edge showing where the two metals meet
Extending Edge Life Where It Matters Most
The first launch of this new technology is on the proven Saddle Mountain Skinner — already a favorite amongst hunters. The idea isn’t to replace good knife habits or sharpening altogether, but to dramatically extend usable edge life where it matters most. Now, with this bi-metal technology, hunters can realistically do all the jobs required to quarter and pack out game with a single blade.
Why This Matters on The Mountain
Each season I quarter somewhere between four and eight animals — that’s up to 16 hip joints, 32 lower leg joints, and 32 shanks with one knife. Imagine how fast a standard edge dulls under that workload, and how often you’re stopping to touch it up or swap blades. Now picture using the CodeX 87 with a cutting edge designed for both skinning and working through joints — less downtime, less hand fatigue, and more time to focus on enjoying what you’ve accomplished.
Looking Ahead
I for one cannot wait to put the CodeX 87 Horizon Edge to the test this fall — not because it’s flashy, but because anything that lets me focus more on the moment and less on fighting my gear is worth paying attention to.
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