Benchmade 9CB Hook Safety Cutter Review

Manufacturer: Benchmade
Model: 9CB-YEL
Price: $25
Buy Now

The
Benchmade 9CB Hook Safety Cutter is super lightweight and has a handy
carabiner carry clip, built in bottle opener and a retractable cover
that protects the blade when not in use. This little tool is designed
with the ability to cut up to 1/2″ diameter rope, seat belts,
nylon straps, webbing or just about any other material that might be
in the way when you are trying to rescue someone or release
something. Just to show the fun side of this rescue tool, there is a
built in bottle opener so that you can crack open a cold one after a
tough day. In all seriousness any outdoors guy or emergency response
professional would do well to have one of these clicked on to a piece
of gear, or their belt loop, for one of those just-in-case moments.

The
Benchmade 9CB Hook Safety Cutter is part of the “Black Class”
of knives from Benchmade. The Black
Class products are designed and developed for extreme duty and
special purposes. Typically they are marketed towards law
enforcement, public safety and military troops which is a good place
for this tool. One of the first things we noticed when we opened the
black slip case box was how light the knife was. The biggest reason
for the lack of weight is that the entire tool, other then the blade
and the spring gate to the carabiner is make of Grivory. Grivory is a
brand name for a type of thermoplastic synthetic resin of the nylon
family that is highly heat resistant, extremely tough, and nearly
impervious to most chemicals. The blade is recessed into the handle
and is made of a premium stainless steel. The black blade cover
slides on grooves and it clicks in both the open and closed positions
so it does not move until you flick it with your finger.

Benchmade
9CB Hook Safety Cutter cut all kinds of things with ease

Testing and use

Since
the 9CB Hook Safety Cutter is a pretty specialized tool, testing was
easy. The claim was that it could cut up to 1/2″ diameter rope
so that’s where we started. While we were at it we also tried our
hand at slicing bungee cords, a few different types and sizes of rope
and and some heavy tie down strapping. The blade proved lethal
against all these. With the deeply recess blade, there is a much less
of a chance of harming someone when cutting their seat belt away. The
handle angle worked well to put the pressure of the blade at just the
right point to leverage though the tougher materials we tried it on.
Of course, at the end of the day we used the “other”
function of the 9CB and popped the tops off a few cold ones.

Benchmade
9CB Hook Safety Cutter makes for a great bottle opener too

Conclusion

At
first glance the market might be kind of limited for the Benchmade
9CB Hook Safety Cutter but that’s by design. And we have to say that,
after we played around with it for a while, we think it is one of
those types of tools that is actually quite handy for anyone to have
around. You never know what emergency might arise and it is better to
be prepared then to be without. While we are not in the emergency
response field, we are avid outdoorsmen that enjoy activities like
climbing, hiking, off shore fishing and base jumping off national
monuments (OK we made that last part up). In all of these areas,
there are opportunities that have come up where having a tool like
this would have definitely been good. For our Performance rating we
gave this knife a 9/10 since it quite simply works and does exactly
what it was designed to do. For our value rating, we gave it an 8/10
given that it has a lifetime warranty and comes at a very reasonable
price compared to most of the other offerings from this company.

Specs

• Blade Thickness: 0.055″
• Handle Thickness: 0.522″
• Blade Material: Premium Stainless Steel
• Pocket Clip: Carabiner
• Lock Mechanism: Retractable Blade Cover
• Overall Length: 5.19″
• Weight: 0.80oz.
• Class: Black
• Warranty: Lifetime