How Benchmade Made One of Its Best EDC Knives Even Better

Benchmade brings MagnaCut to the Osborne — and makes it gorgeous.

Published July 23, 2024

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Benchmade is considered by many to be the benchmark of the EDC knife space. The brand’s reputation for impeccable build quality and its history of innovation in the space, like its trademark Axis Lock, have made Benchmade one of the first names in knives.

Some of the brand’s knives are practically household names, like the EDC standard Bugout and the workhorse Griptillian. Then there’s the Osborne. In many ways, it’s Benchmade’s ultimate premium everyday folder — with a price to match — and has a dedicated cult following in the EDC community.

The Osborne has long been where one might go when looking to pick up the best Benchmade pocket knife possible, but now the Oregon brand has made the high-end knife even better thanks to the addition of MagnaCut super steel.

Benchmade Osborne Burnt Copper

$300 at Benchmade

What’s the Deal with MagnaCut?

MagnaCut is arguably the hottest new thing in knife steel, having just debuted back in 2021. The material was developed exclusively for EDC by metallurgist Dr. Larrin Thomas, who set out to create a steel that combined the properties of several other popular knife steels without compromise.

Typically, a knife steel will excel in some areas while performing less admirably in others. For example, CPM-4V steel is very hard with great edge retention, but it isn’t stainless. On the other side of the coin, stainless steels like 20CV and S45VN have very high corrosion resistance but lack the hardness and edge-retention of CPM-4V.

benchmade pocket knife closeup — The beauty of MagnaCut is that it combines traits of other great knife steels without prioritizing one trait over any other.

MagnaCut essentially eliminates these kinds of tradeoffs by combining these features into a single alloy. The super steel has the same toughness and edge retention of CPM-4V while also matching the corrosion resistance of 20CV and S45VN.

There are knife steels out there that can beat MagnaCut in terms of toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance, but not all at once, making MagnaCut compelling as an all-around steel choice. What’s more, the steel is made in the USA and produced exclusively at Crucible Industries in New York.

The Osborne Gets Burnt

Benchmade’s new addition to the Osborne family is the Burnt Copper collection. It’s available in three styles of the Osborne — the original folder, the Mini Osborne and the Auto Osborne — and all three boast MagnaCut blades, marking the alloy’s debut in the Osborne line.

The knives’ reverse tanto blades have a hardness rating of 60-62 HRC and sport a DLC “Battlewash” finish, giving them a handsome aged appearance out of the box that will only get better as the years go by.

a benchmade pocket knife on some red clay — MagnaCut’s introduction to the Osborne line is amplified thanks to a gorgeous “Burnt Copper” aesthetic.

The knives all have the same handles made of lightweight 6061-T6 aluminum in a Burnt Copper colorway with an ambidextrous, tip-up, black oxide-finished pocket clip that rounds out the collection’s rustic aesthetic.

All three knives are also equipped with Benchmade’s sliding Axis Lock mechanism, and the differences between the trio are quite minor. The standard Osborne and the Auto are almost the exact same size — they share 3.4-inch blades and boast identical lengths when closed and opened — but the Auto version is .25 ounces lighter and about a half-millimeter thinner at the handle.

mans hand holds a benchmade pocket knife — In addition to two manual folders, the Osborne Burnt Copper is also available in an automatic version.

The biggest difference between the two is obviously their opening mechanisms. The regular Osborne is a manual folder with a thumb stud, while the Auto has a circular button for automatic opening. This makes it illegal is several states and jurisdictions, so check and make sure it’s legal where you live before purchasing.

The Mini Osborne, as you have undoubtedly guessed, is simply a smaller version of the regular, non-automatic Osborne. It has all of the same specs but its blade clocks in at a reduced 2.92 inches. It’s more than an inch shorter overall when opened and over a half-inch shorter when closed.

Pricing and Availability

If there’s one complaint people have about Benchmade knives, it’s their price. And I won’t sugarcoat it for you, the new Osborne Burnt Copper knives are expensive.

But, like most things, you get what you pay for. These are EDC pocket knives with one of the best steels on the market, superior build quality, an industry-leading locking mechanism and they look downright gorgeous. So take all that into consideration.

The Mini Osborne Burnt Copper is the “cheapest” at $290, the standard is just ten bucks more at $300 and the Auto is the priciest at $340. All are up on Benchmade’s website but aren’t quite available for sale yet. However, you can join the waitlist to purchase a knife once their available at each respective product page.