BPS Knives Adventurer Bushcraft Knife Review
BPS Knives have been around for a while now, but these Ukraine-made bad boys seem to be getting a lot more attention lately. In particular, the BPS Adventurer Bushcraft Knife has become a hot ticket among low-cost bushcraft knives.
This knife has been on all the ‘best budget bushcraft knives’ lists recently. So as you’ve probably already guessed, I just had to buy one so I could find out for myself.
Part of the popularity of this knife has certainly come from its backstory—BPS Knives has been giving them out to Ukrainian soldiers since Russia invaded earlier this year—but I wanted to know if there was more to the Adventurer than just a good story.
BPS Adventurer Bushcraft Knife: First Impressions
The BPS Knives Adventurer has a handsome (if somewhat unfinished) look to it. The blade is slick-looking and sturdy, with an almost mirror-like polish, and was oiled prior to shipping to prevent corrosion. The knife is also quite a bit lighter than I expected, and exceptionally sharp right out of the box.
One of the big selling points of this knife for me was the sheath, which is made of natural leather. It comes with a ferrocerium rod that slips into its own little pocket in the sheath, which is also a nice touch.
The BPS Knives Adventurer measures 10 inches from tip to pommel, with a 5 ⅓-inch blade and a 4 ⅔-inch handle. The blade is 0.1 inch thick and 1.2 inches tall (or wide, if you prefer). The knife itself weighs just 5.7 oz. The sheath and ferro rod bring the whole package up to 10.2 oz.
Blade Shape & Grind
There’s a lot to like about the BPS Adventurer blade. It has a full tang, with a 90-degree spine designed to spark well when struck with the accompanying ferrocerium rod. There’s actually a bit of a burr to one side of the spine, which you can feel with your thumb. I wouldn’t normally love that, but it does let you know that they went out of their way to square it off.
It’s a drop-point blade, which is nicely sharpened all the way to the tip with a true Scandi grind. That particular grind is really great for a survival/bushcraft knife, and the Adventurer is typical of Scandi grind knives in that it excels at both making deep cuts and whittling paper-thin shavings.
The big thing I want to emphasize here is that the Adventurer is wickedly sharp. I was able to shave the hair off my arm with it right out of the box, which isn’t something I can say about a lot of knives. It’s also easy to sharpen at the original angle, which in this case is 18 degrees.
Blade Steel
Okay let’s talk steel. The blade of the adventurer is 1066 high carbon steel, which, I must admit, is a bit on the low-grade end of the spectrum. Still, just because it’s cheap steel doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad steel for this particular type of knife.
The easiest way to talk about 1066 is to compare it to other steels in the 10XX range of carbon steels, of which 1095 high carbon steel is probably the most common. The 1066 steel used to make the blade of the BPS knife contains 0.66% carbon, compared to 0.95% carbon in 1095 steel.
In short, that makes the blade of this knife a little softer and less wear-resistant than 1095 steel, but also less brittle and prone to breaking. It doesn’t keep an edge quite as well, but is also super easy to sharpen. Its hardness comes in at 56-57 on the Rockwell scale
Ultimately, while it’s not great steel, I think it’s pretty good steel for what is essentially an excellent entry-level bushcraft knife. One thing to be aware of is that it rusts really easily. You’ll want to oil your blade often, and always rinse and wipe it dry after use.
Handle & Ergonomics
As I said, the BPS Adventurer is a full tang bushcraft knife. The scales are made of natural walnut wood, and are perfectly contoured to the tang so there’s no noticeable seam where the pieces meet. The wood is lightly finished with Danish oil, but has a nice raw, natural look to it.
This knife feels quite comfortable in my palm. The wood is sanded very smooth, but the grain provides just enough texture that the handle never feels at risk of slipping. Length-wise, it should fit well in almost any sized hand, though it is a bit thinner in diameter than many bushcraft knife handles, and I have heard of users with larger hands finding it a bit dainty.
That being said, one of the nice things about the wood scales is that they’re held together with a pair of easily removable hex screws, so if you need to replace them, or just want to take the knife apart for maintenance, it’s no trouble at all.
Ferro Rod & Sheath Included
The sheath that comes with the BPS Adventurer Bushcraft Knife is beautiful natural leather with nylon stitching. It has a belt loop and hanger, making it easy to carry as a belt knife. The lightness of the knife itself makes it comfortable to carry that way without feeling like it’s clanging around and getting in the way too much.
And hey, you gotta love it when a bushcraft knife comes with its own ferro rod. The striker that comes with the Adventurer is a pretty basic one, but it makes a great spark off the knife’s 90-degree spine.
Final Thoughts on the BPS Adventurer
I put my BPS Knives Adventurer through some pretty rigorous testing, and it performs very well. The blade shape and grind in particular makes it really effective as a camping or survival knife, and it slices through softwoods like butter.
In particular, the Scandi grind makes this an excellent knife for fine tasks like shaving tinder and creating feather sticks. It’s not the ultimate knife for food prep, but it actually handles cutting up food better than most Scandi-grind bushcraft knives, perhaps because the blade is a bit thinner than some.
You can baton with it too. That said, I would use caution, as the wood scales are much less resistant to breakage than the blade itself, and one hard, stray blow from your baton could do them in. Luckily, they’re easy to replace if you have to.
If the BPS Adventurer has an Achilles heel, it’s moisture. The 1066 high carbon steel really rusts like crazy if you let it, so be sure to keep your steel oiled, and always dry the knife after every use. Oil the wood handle occasionally too, so it doesn’t dry out.
This knife tends to get pigeonholed based on its price. It’s commonly called one of the best budget bushcraft knives, or one of the best bushcraft knives for beginners. Personally, I think it’s a really excellent all-around bushcraft knife, and not just for newbies.
At around $45, the BPS Adventurer is in a similar price range as the Morakniv Bushcraft knife, so if your Mora bites the dust and you’re ready to try something new, I’d certainly recommend giving this knife a go.
The DBK Boys had another awesome video review. I did order the knife before I saw their video, but if their review doesn’t make you want to buy one, nothing will!
BPS Adventure Specifications:
Blade: carbon steel 1066
Hardness, HRC: 57-59
Total length: 250 mm / 9.9 in
Blade length: 120 mm / 4,7 in
Blade thickness: 2.8 mm / 0,1 in
Weight: 200 g/ 7,05 oz
Handle: walnut wood
Handle length: 130 mm / 5.11 in
Origin: Ukraine
Carry system: sheath & Ferro Rod included
https://bpsknives.com/product/adventurer-cshf-camping-knife/
Blair Witkowski is an avid watch nut, loves pocket knives and flashlights, and when he is not trying to be a good dad to his nine kids, you will find him running or posting pics on Instagram. Besides writing articles for Tech Writer EDC he is also the founder of Lowcountry Style & Living. In addition to writing, he is focused on improving his client’s websites for his other passion, Search Engine Optimization. His wife Jennifer and he live in coastal South Carolina.
