Folks that are, or were, in the military know the old joke—you wouldn’t call something “military grade” if you knew how bad most of the gear is. Well, the Benchmade H2O was made specifically for elite military divers, and that joke couldn’t be further from the truth. I can say this not just as a diver, but also as a military veteran—this is one of the best knives, not just underwater knives, you could find.
I’ve been a big fan of Benchmade knives for a long time. To me, when it comes to outdoor, tactical, and daily use knives, it’s hard to beat a Benchmade. But I had never used any of Benchmade’s “water collection,” so I was excited to test the H2O out.
During the testing phase, the H2O performed exceptionally well. It’s easy to get in and out of the sheath, regardless of your glove thickness, whether they’re simple, thin wreck gloves, or extremely thick 7 mm mittens.
It also cuts, to borrow another common expression, like a hot knife through butter—except we didn’t use butter for testing. We cut nylon 550 paracord and thick ¼-inch braided “dock rope.” The straight edge, the serrated, and the line cutter cut through the 550 cord with ease, and the straight edge and serrated edge both cut through the braided dock rope easily.
My one nit to pick is with the sheath. While it is ambidextrous and easy to get the knife in and out, you have to make sure it goes in the sheath facing a certain way. That shouldn’t really be a problem if you pull the H2O out with one hand, keep it in that same hand, and put it away. However, if you’re switching hands, just make sure you have it in your original hand in the same manner you pull it out.
