All around knife choice of RD7 BK7 or Scrapyard in 7"?

A

Agent Iron

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Feb 5, 2005
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I have not handled any of these knives, but all seem to have great reputations. I know the Scrapyard is the strongest followed by the Ranger, but I don't intend to use the knife as a jack to pick up my truck, so....which knife is the most fuctional? Which knife will feel best in your hand to accomplish a wide range of cutting tasks? It looks like the RD7 compares closely with the Scrapyard New to be released Son of Dogfather in design with different grips. It looks like on both of these you can choke up on the choil making the knife "smaller" for detail tasks where you can not on the Becker. I believe between the three there are differences in blade grind as well. Price is not a consideration, function only.
Thanks in advance
AI
 
You'll get some good answers, but what it really boils down to is which one you subjectively prefer. You can get by just fine with any of them, so don't sweat it too much. I don't have a Scrapyard, but do have the RD7 and BK7, and there is very little (nothing really) not to like about either. One might fit your hand better, but you won't know that unless you had all 3 right there in front of you for comparison.

:thumbup:
 
Availability is the biggest issue here. I think a full sized resiprene C handle (scrapyard only these days) is the best handle for a large heavy duty blade you can get, but it doesn't matter much if you can't find/afford the knife you want. The RD7 will be the easiest to find, and I'm not sure if kabar has started bk7 production yet, you may need to find a camillus on the exchange. Since you say price is not an issue, maybe look into finding an older camp tramp or basic 7, they're all tougher than any knife should need to be, and you get res-C + better edgeholding than with SR77. I wouldn't put grind as a main consideration. They're all a bit on the thick side, a bit of work to thin the edge will go a long way to making them high performance cutters.
 
Wow, thats a tough question. Based on the way you devalued absolute strength, I would go with the Ranger. It is more available and if you get it without a coating it might be more functional all around, but it won't be the strongest. It will have a great choil, but the feel in your hand is way too subjective for most people to give you advice. If you get either and don't like it, it will be easy to get rid of.
 
I haven't gotten to use one of the Ka-Bar Beckers yet, but remain quite a fan of the line from when they were made by Camillus. The larger Becker knives IMO are outstanding designs, very high cutting performance for their size/class.

The Becker's handle is loved by some -- myself included -- and disliked by others. You'll just have to use one to know. An advantage to the Becker handle is that it is designed so that you don't need a choil for more precise work: the way it's designed, your hand is fairly close to the working edge anyway, and by placing your thumb on the blade over the generous front edge of the handle, you choke up on the blade very effectively.

One other comment ... I personally find a 9" blade much more useful than 7", not only a better chopper (usually, anyway) but much better for two-handed use like a drawknife, IMO indispensible in the outdoors and around a camp. So you might want to consider the BK9, which most places sell for only a couple bucks more than the BK7.
 
Thanks a bunch fellas!

Is there a problem with edge holding in SR 77? I would think the Resprine grip would be very compfy, it just seems like there is a large choil that would put your hand pretty far back. Great for chopping, but seems detail work would be lacking. The SY knives for the most part seem to scream chop with me, but am not sure about anything else.

I know that the Beckers are online, and the Rangers will be very soon. I already have three 7" knives that would likely last a lifetime. I can still do some detail work with them, but feared a 9" might give me some limitations, although I was really temped by the RD9. Perhaps I am missing valuable things that the 9" can do, that the 7" won't do so well. Is there a real reason to go BK7 or BK9? Seems that the 9" would not be a great slicer due to the .25" blade...but then again it is right with the Ranger and the SY. Perhaps it is a better comparison. I read alot about the other beckers, but less about the BK9. I did watch Noss punish the Becker much quicker then the other two knives...I also don't think the Becker warranty will match the other two with no questions asked replacement...... I really like Justin......but Ethan seems really nice.....SY is unique.....I need one of everything....AAAHHHHH!

Help please before I go broke.... :-)
AI
 
Go with a Ranger. For the price you wont beat it, and you'd have to do something absurd to make one fail on you. I've handled all 3, and you will find the Ranger to be with 5% of your impression of the other two.
 
It's not that the scrapyards have poor edgeholding persay. It's just that it's the nature of S-7, it's a shock steel that emphasizes break resistance over all else. The beckers are the best cutters out of the ones you mention, they're actually ground fairly thin compared to scrapyards and rangers.
 
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