A closer look at older stock - with pics

Gassy

Gassy

Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Messages
774
Greetings Beckerheads,

Well I finally received my BK5 a few days ago, Firstly I will say its a great feeling blade in hand, feels like it cold be very aggressive, but a wonderful kitchen knife for carving meat etc, however this is not a BK5 review, but rather a comparative discussion.

Up until now all of my Becker's are the new etched models with the rough coating and this was my first of the older stock production models. Like Blender45, I had my concerns even before opening the box noticing immediate difference, it raised red flags for me having so many Becker blades and not having experienced this, immediately thinking this guy (my supplier) was flogging me off old stock. So where did I come - straight here to research differences and stumbled on Blender45's BK5 thread. I now feel somewhat fortunate that I received this blade.

Now this thread will not be breaking any new ground for seasoned beckerheads, but I thought the following information could be a good reference point or resource for those who are receiving the older models, and perhaps set their minds at ease. I hope you enjoy the pics and please feel free to address anything I may have missed.

Boxing/Packaging - No outer sleeve, Is this just my supplier removing it? or is this how they were distributed?



Sheath Differences - New on the left old on the right, Not overly keen on the old sheath





The Coatings - The rough and the smooth - The smooth coating is highly suited to the BK5, especially for kitchen duties. I cut onion last night with it - wow!



Etching on the BK9 - and the stamped on the BK5 I like the stamped version, although some claim it is a point of weakness that can lead to hairline fractures.



No cardboard sleeve on the older production knife BK5



Even my dog was wondering why things seemed different!



The two side by side

 
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Haha! You cracked me up with the dog! I'm still grinning as I type this.
Anyway... It seems as most people have been receiving these lately they have been smooth and stamped. I asked for photos of etched in the other thread and got a response later with only one as I'm sure you've noticed. I'm not sure how that goes as far as distribution of old/new stock is concerned but there are a few differences in your and my products.
As far as the blade goes, we received identical products, however I had an outer box sleeve, a blade sleeve, and the newer style sheath. Was yours shipped with the knife inside the sheath? I've never received a brand new KaBar knife already in the sheath.
Bottom line:
Who cares! You got a helluva blade bud! And congrats on the new addition!
Now go hug it, and pet it, and squeeze it, and name it George...
 
IIRC, As far as the "breaking" problem, that wasn't very often and only on knives being used for batonning chunks of wood. Since the 5 is seldom, if ever used for batonning, I doubt you will encounter that problem.

All Kabar Beckers I have received "new" had the yellow sleeve.

Since I don't have anything to connect "molle" to, the sheath difference would be a wash for me.
 
Your old box and everything is exactly normal. There were no sleeves, no cardboard sheaths (and having never purchased a new laser engraved big Becker, I didn't know they came with such things.). I also was unaware that they'd changed the sheath that much.

As far as coatings go, I guess I like the older one better, but really I prefer my blades stripped anyway, so its no big deal.

Grats on the new steel :).
 
as for older stock, as long as it's a KaBar, it warranteed...

if you break a 5 chopping... wow. good job. it's a decent chopper, though not the best, so you probably were wailing on it

unlike Camillus (mostly), KaBar is evolving a LOT of things, constantly. many updates, tweaks, fixes... that's good.

it always means a lot of variation and churn. doesn't mean the older stuff is bad, just different.
 
have some BK5 reference: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...s-Knife-Specs-and-Data)?p=8961793#post8961793

1048079694_8DvzE-XL.jpg


o KaBar Era
oo Shape: clip
oo Edge Angle: 20 degrees
oo Grind: flat
oo Steel: 1095 CroVan
oo Rc hardness: 56-58
oo Blade length: 8.0 inches
oo Overall length: 13.5 inches
oo Blade thickness: 3/16 inches (.188, .190 with coating)
oo Knife Weight: 12.0 oz (0.75 pounds / 11.9 ounces measured specimen)
oo Handle: Grivory-GV-6H
oo Sheath: Black nylon with liner && a built in sheath for a BK-13 Remora (not included)
oo Origins: knife made in USA, sheath made in China
oo MSRP: US$128.04


1048075098_xYQzb-XL.jpg



480108152_hCP4R-XL.jpg
 
Huh, you must have gotten old stock, by BK5 is stamped but came with a cardboard sleeve and newer sheath. My blade must have been just laying around and they paired with new stuff and shipped it out to a vendor.
 
they changed sheaths before they changed the blade
 
Mine had the cardboard blade sleeve, and the packaging sleeve (both "old style")
I didn't pay any attention to the sheaths, as the 5s haven't been in them, yet - I'll look tomorrow.
 
If I remember correctly when they started doing the etching and new coatings the BK5 was deliberately excluded, which began drumming up the "BK5 is being discontinued" discussions. I do wonder if they are still producing them this way, or everything we are seeing now is previous stock. I have not seen a etched, and rough coated BK5 at all.

As far as any "performance" differences, the newer coating is more resilient but the older coating seems to be easier to strip. Not a big dealio at all :thumbup: The whole "stress fractures from stamping" stuff I wouldnt even worry about, and it seems to me that the majority of the broken at the stamp Beckers were actually Camillus blades. Could be wrong, I'm going from memory.

I recommend that you inject this knife into every facet of knife related activities in your life. Put that sucker on your belt and go gallivanting around proudly. Jerry Fisk/ Ethan Becker/KA-BAR have really put out on awesome blade there, and its only gets better the more you use it. :thumbup:

Have fun!
 
Bladite said:
have some BK5 reference: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...s-Knife-Specs-and-Data)?p=8961793#post8961793

1048079694_8DvzE-XL.jpg


o KaBar Era
oo Shape: clip
oo Edge Angle: 20 degrees
oo Grind: flat
oo Steel: 1095 CroVan
oo Rc hardness: 56-58
oo Blade length: 8.0 inches
oo Overall length: 13.5 inches
oo Blade thickness: 3/16 inches (.188, .190 with coating)
oo Knife Weight: 12.0 oz (0.75 pounds / 11.9 ounces measured specimen)
oo Handle: Grivory-GV-6H
oo Sheath: Black nylon with liner && a built in sheath for a BK-13 Remora (not included)
oo Origins: knife made in USA, sheath made in China
oo MSRP: US$128.04


1048075098_xYQzb-XL.jpg



480108152_hCP4R-XL.jpg
Click to expand...

That's awesome Bladite - thank you..
 
iwouldhurtafly said:
If I remember correctly when they started doing the etching and new coatings the BK5 was deliberately excluded, which began drumming up the "BK5 is being discontinued" discussions. I do wonder if they are still producing them this way, or everything we are seeing now is previous stock. I have not seen a etched, and rough coated BK5 at all.
Click to expand...
No, they switched to the rougher coating & laser etching...but the smooth/stamped stock is still out there. There is a picture of the laser etched 5 in this thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1265337-Bk5-question



As far as the sheath goes, Gassy, what you have are not new and old...but, rather, new and not so new.
I believe this one predates your "old" one; though there were a couple of versions before it.


**Edited to add**
Your BK5 sheath looks rather like the Camillus nylon sheaths, but in black.

(the color looks off - it's Camillus green)
 
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Even my dog was wondering why things seemed different!




Gassy,
My wife has instructed me to ask you if your dog has a brother an to put it in a crate with plenty of food and water and ship it to the states. Looks like a very cool little guy! He has human eyes!
 
What kind of a dog is that? Is it a "Chug" (Chihuahua/Pug Mix)?
 
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It's very Aussie lookin, reminds me of the guy that flies the gyrocoptor in MadMax haha
 
NCSlice said:
Even my dog was wondering why things seemed different!





Gassy,
My wife has instructed me to ask you if your dog has a brother an to put it in a crate with plenty of food and water and ship it to the states. Looks like a very cool little guy! He has human eyes!
Click to expand...


Little turd keeps digging up my plants, I'll put him in a crate and ship him out to you with a one way ticket. He is an apple head Chihuhua. One parent is tan and one is chocolate in colour.

And thank you hhmoore for the info, definately good to know. I'm actually glad I got the older model.
 
Both mine have the outer sleeve, the cardboard "sheath" and the newer model sheath, but both are stamped, not laser etched. Helluva knife!
 
I wouldn't mind that 5 with the hole in it, looks brilliant. Almost like a butchers blade.
 
The hole in that particular bk5 was for the pin retention lock on the sheath. Although the it is in a pretty good place for a forward lanyard hole ( a la busse).

Anyone have photos of that one in the sheath? I don't think I've ever actually seen one of how the pin locking mechanism works up close.
 
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