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Benchmade 202 Leuku Voted Best New Outdoors Fixed Blade 2020

December 2, 2020

Presented by: Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpeners

The Benchmade 202 Leuku is the KnifeNews Readers’ Choice for Best New Outdoors Fixed Blade 2020! Benchmade’s powerful puukko pulled ahead of the pack, beating out the Case Kyle Lamb Hunter, LionSteel B41, Spartan Blades Damysus, and TOPS Mini Tanimboca.

Sometimes, a follow-up to an existing knife needs to do things quite differently; a major redesign must occur. Other times, a simple change makes all the difference in the world. That’s the case with the Leuku, a scaled up version of Benchmade’s 200 Puukko, which was a hit for the company in 2018. While the original was a traditional interpretation of the puukko heritage, the Leuku beefed up the dimensions, creating a hybrid outdoors knife that retained some of the all-purpose utility of traditional puukkos, while adding the durability and cutting power of a chopper.

Ryan Dickman, Senior Industrial Designer at Benchmade, had this to say about the 202:

This one was designed to be a modern take on the classic or historical “do everything” outdoors knife.  More of a generalist, you can split wood and tackle larger camp tasks.  The 3V makes it virtually indestructible. So if you are willing to carry a little extra weight, it really does give you more heavy duty capability.

While the differences are what makes the Leuku what it is, it really isn’t a replacement for the Puukko. Rather, one compliments the other; between the two of them, there won’t be many outdoors chores that you can’t accomplish.

So it’s fitting, then, that the 200 Puukko was also a Readers’ Choice Award winner in 2018 – in the same category, no less.

Tune in tomorrow afternoon to find out which knife won the KnifeNews Readers’ Choice Award for Best Kitchen/Culinary Knife 2020!

AWARDS SCHEDULE

Monday, November 30th: Best New Tactical Fixed Blade (WINNER: Spyderco Nightstick)

Tuesday, December 1st: Best New EDC Fixed Blade (WINNER: Mora Eldris LightDuty)

Wednesday, December 2nd: Best New Outdoors Fixed Blade (WINNER: Benchmade 202 Leuku)

Thursday, December 3rd: Best New Kitchen/Culinary Knife

Friday, December 4th: Best New Slipjoint/Non-Locking Knife

Monday, December 7th: Best New High-End Knife (MSRP of $300 or more)

Tuesday, December 8th: Best New Value Folder (MSRP of $100 or less)

Wednesday, December 9th: Best New Folder

Thursday, December 10th: Best Knife Upgrade

Friday, December 11th: Best Overall Lineup

Knife in Featured Image: Benchmade 202 Leuku

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