These knives were ordered specifically for this review. They were passed around so everyone here could use them for a day or two and report back with their thoughts. Surprisingly, we all came to similar conclusions about each knife.

From left to right in the above photo:

• Meyerco Necklance
• Benchmark BMK001
• Ka-Bar Johnson Piggyback

These knives are available for under $20.00 each including postage. We picked the twenty dollar limit because that is about what it would cost to purchase a similar unfinished blade blank and the sheath materials to do the job yourself. All of these knives are imported.

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Meyerco Neck Lance

Specs:

• Blade Length: 2.870″
• Blade Thickness: .112″
• Blade Steel: 440 Stainless, Flat ground, Matte finish
• Overall Length: 6.130″
• Country of Origin: China
• Cost: $10.00 (approx) including shipping

This is a decent little knife. It’s a Blackie Collins design. The sheath and grip are both glass-filled nylon and are deeply checkered for a positive grip. The sheath retention is pretty good. It grips the knife by a notch on the blade’s spine and a dimple on each side of the grip. This is NOT a full tang knife. A magnet test showed that the blade extends into the handle just past the thumb and finger rests. You could call this a half-tang blade I suppose. I wasn’t able to locate any details about the steel type or hardness, all of the sites that I found simply call it 440 stainless. The edge has been very durable. It arrived very sharp and has retained it’s edge so far.

This is the only knife out of the three that came with a neck cord. I’m seeing these on ebay now with paracord wrapped sheaths. You could potentially turn this into a pretty nice dual carry knife by improvising a belt loop. This model is a drop point design. There is also a dagger style blade and a fully serrated river knife available.

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Benchmark BMK001

Also called the Benchmark Backpacker, here’s the specs:

• Blade Length: 2.75″
• Blade Thickness: .131″
• Blade Steel: 1095HC, Hollow ground, Polished finish
• Overall Length: 6.062″
• Country of Origin: China
• Cost: $20.00 (approx) including shipping

The quality of this knife is surprising considering it’s cost. There are no grind marks or tool marks on the blade whatsoever, there are some indications that the micarta scales were hand shaped. The blade was sharp out of the box and successfully withstood general use around the shop.  This knife has micarta grips on a true full tang blade. Some texturing or contouring on the scales would be nice.

The sheath is amazingly well built. It’s made from kydex and the molding  is sharp and clean. The carabiner is chrome plated and seems to be low quality. It will most likely be removed. There is a spring steel belt clip riveted to the sheath that adds another way of carrying this knife. This knife is noticeably heavier than the other 2 knives in this review. No neck chain or cord was supplied with this knife.

Ka Bar Piggy Back

Officially known as “KaBar / Johnson Adventure PiggyBack Neck Knife.  #5599

Specs:

• Blade Length: 2.562″
• Blade Thickness: .120″
• Blade Steel: 5CR13, Hollow ground, Polished finish, Hardness 55-58C
• Overall Length: 6.062″
• Country of Origin: China
• Cost: $15.00 (approx) including shipping

We  actually had the highest hopes for this blade after reading the reviews about the rest of the KaBar Adventure line. We were really let down when we actually got the chance to inspect and handle this knife. The cutting edge of our knife was rolled and had to be honed as soon as we got the knife. Otherwise, the cosmetic quality of the knife is very nice. The shape and angle of this knife felt uncomfortable. When you couple that with the lack of scales, this knife is extremely awkward to use for general chores. There is a forward finger rest that gives the user excellent control for fine work like small animal skinning. The knife is very comfortable to use when held with the forefinger on the front rest and the rest of the hand slightly forward on the tang.

The sheath is made from two hard plastic sides that are melted or glued together. It grips the blade but we all agreed that it’s durability is questionable. There is just one small detent on the sheath that looks like it is being cut away by the edge of the tang. Eventually, this sheath will no longer retain the knife. The neck cord loop looks like it would accept a beaded chain but the sheath material is very thin at that point as well. At best, IMO, the sheath makes a great place to store the knife but I wouldn’t count on it in the long run.

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Overall, we liked all of these knives. Having a working knife easily available to either hand that can double as a self-defense tool is a good thing. After all, few things say “Get out of my space” better than a quickly deployed piece of sharpened steel.  Personally, I like the neck knife concept but find it hard to get into the habit of wearing a knife hanging from my neck. Another drawback, in my opinion, is having a piece of cordage already wrapped around your neck and available to an attacker.

If this were a competition for best “all-around” neck knife, the Benchmark would win, followed by the Meyerco. We can absolutely say that those two knives are worth the money. The little KaBar, in our opinion, would be a fine knife to keep in your camping kitchen for skinning and food prep but for daily carry and general cutting chores it just doesn’t fit.

Justus