BA-KOR Knives?

C

confederatewolf

Joined
Mar 26, 2014
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2
Morning all.

My family and I are into bushcraft and camping.
Over the years our knife collection has grown.
Everything from custom, TOPS, WTG, Red Beard Blades, ect ect ect.
Well my daughter come to me with a request for a new knife she found on Amazon shopping.
Its a knife made of DC 53, made by a maker i have never heard of..... Ba-Kor . Their prices are very very "budget" friendly LOL.

Does anyone one hear have any experience with their knives?
If so can you give me some input?


THANKS
 
Don't know anything about the maker, but "DC53 steel is a high carbon cold work steel produced by Daido Steel based in Japan, it offers excellent toughness and wears resistance similar to most high-end steel. It is an improvement of D2 steel with the capability of achieving a high hardness of 62-64 HRC", according to Knifebasics.
 
Never heard of that steel, a quick search showed me some refer to it as "d2 on steroids" but people seem to like it on the places I've searched.
 
Ba-Kor is one of those brands that started by making knock-offs and "inspired by" knives. Now they're trying their own designs, Youtube channel "WeAllJuggleKnives" has tested some using real world tests, and had good luck with the DC-53 blades. He's honest, so I'd trust the review.

One thing I'd look at though, is that a lot of these Chinese knives aimed at the American and Euro markets are needlessly chunky, so watch overall thickness dimensions, etc.....
 
Don’t do it.

Explain to your daughter that for certain items, like knives, firearms and food, it’s almost always better to avoid the “bargain bin” and buy something that is more likely to be of acceptable quality.
 
Here's a video, from the site mentioned above by tltt.


Is it cheap? Yes.
Will it chop and baton? Yes.

If you want to get your daughter, an inexpensive knife to beat on, go ahead.

The problem I have, they're marking the knives Ba-Kor "USA!" Not one part of that knife is made here. At least be honest, about where it's made/from!
 
Mk-211 said:
The problem I have, they're marking the knives Ba-Kor "USA!" Not one part of that knife is made here. At least be honest, about where it's made/from!
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Didn’t realize that!

Great - another teaching opportunity!

Now you can also show your daughter that this company seems to be practicing false advertising. You can explain that once a company (or person) has made it clear that they will lie to you to get your money, you can expect that they will lie to you about what steel they use for their blades. ;)
 
scdub said:
Didn’t realize that!

Great - another teaching opportunity!

Now you can also show your daughter that this company seems to be practicing false advertising. You can explain that once a company (or person) has made it clear that they will lie to you to get your money, you can expect that they will lie to you about what steel they use for their blades. ;)
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Pretty sure these are from China , although I've been unable to find a straight answer anywhere .

I agree that being lied to, by implication at least , does not inspire my confidence / trust in a company or its products . :mad::thumbsdown:
 
scdub said:
Don’t do it.

Explain to your daughter that for certain items, like knives, firearms and food, it’s almost always better to avoid the “bargain bin” and buy something that is more likely to be of acceptable quality.
Click to expand...
I disagree. For a child, who probably won't take great care of her knives, something less expensive, that will perform, makes sense.

I've always gone with USA made knives from the major brands, or Taiwanese manufactured at the minimum. I've had some bad luck with Chinese made knives from some of the well known brands, so I stay away from them. However, I've never purchased from one of these companies that isn't a Chinese company, but solely manufacturers their knives in China. From what I've seen from the testing videos, so of them are quite good. Meanwhile, the very first high carbon steel fixed blade knife I purchased, a standard Ka-Bar, is a complete piece of crap, and always has been. I have absolutely zero use for it. I tried to sell it, and people offered me half of the purchase price, despite the fact that it's never been used. I'm definitely suspicious that Chinese manufactured knives are claiming a certain steel, but what you're actually getting is very different. However, testing videos have become more prevalent lately. Most knife testers would bother testing these knives in the past. Many will test them these days.

To make my comment more clear, I wouldn't trust a knife from a well known name brand that's manufacturers in China. However, I'd be more willing to trust a brand that solely manufacturers it's knives in China, and makes no bones about it.
 
The name alone is suspiciously close to KA-BAR. Just seems sleazy.

Never too early to teach a kid about ethics and quality. In my experience these early purchases are important. Buy her something good from a reputable company and start her off right.

I bought my kids MORA Companions for first knives. They all still have them.
 
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DDDYLN said:
I disagree. For a child, who probably won't take great care of her knives, something less expensive, that will perform, makes sense.
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Less expensive, high performance knives are readily available from reputable companies though. Why support an unknown manufacturer that appears to be lying about their product??

DDDYLN said:
I wouldn't trust a knife from a well known name brand that's manufacturers in China. However, I'd be more willing to trust a brand that solely manufacturers it's knives in China, and makes no bones about it.
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That’s not this company. They imply that they’re US made.

I’m afraid I don’t understand where you’re coming from at all - sorry.
 
scdub said:
Less expensive, high performance knives are readily available from reputable companies though. Why support an unknown manufacturer that appears to be lying about their product??


That’s not this company. They imply that they’re US made.

I’m afraid I don’t understand where you’re coming from at all - sorry.
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There are a lot of US and Western based knife companies, that solely manufacturer their knives in China. Heck, the majority of name brand knife manufacturers sell a lot of products made in China: CRKT, Kershaw, SOG, Cold Steel, etc. Then there are the lesser known brands which are Western companies that design knives, but manufacture them solely in China. There are a bunch of them. Some are better than others. The only way to know if the knives are any good, is by watching test videos. I'm definitely not a fan of supporting Chinese made products, but that's the way the world is these days. For people that don't have the money for $150-$350 knives made in the US, Japan, Taiwan, or other places that are known to make quality steel, these knives serve a purpose. I personally wouldn't buy one, but not everyone has the money for a Becker or more expensive knives made in the US.
 
scdub said:
Less expensive, high performance knives are readily available from reputable companies though. Why support an unknown manufacturer that appears to be lying about their product??


That’s not this company. They imply that they’re US made.

I’m afraid I don’t understand where you’re coming from at all - sorry.
Click to expand...
I don't personally know if Chinese DC53 steel is any good. A lot of these Chinese knives are advertised as a certain type of steel, when they're actually some sort of CrMov Chinesium steel. However, after watching some of the YouTube tests, they seem to be pretty good.
 
So Amazon had a bunch on sale so I grabbed 2 and 2 from their supposed sister company GTKII. I'd say GTKII is a level below in quality , even their kydex sheaths are very cheap kydex. I got the Pioneer and Japanese models from BaKor. From GTKII I got the GTK1 and GTK47.

The Pioneer is pretty damn cool, I've actually split actual rounds of firewood with it and easily. Edge showed no problems at all, not bad for seasoned red fir. The wood sheath is actually pretty cool and the firestarter it comes with works well enough. There is a little wiggle on the handle but the wood seems dry as hell too, I might just throw it some water and see if a little moisture is what it needs. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but I can test the stainlessness of it too.

The Japanese tanto style thing is pretty impressive. I'm not sure it's actually full tang but I also probably wouldn't chop with it either so I'm not sure I care. Handle is made of nice material and is near 2 handed and the sheath is pretty good if you like kydex. Sharp as heck out of the box and has a very nice overall feel.

The GTK47 is a beast, a 1 cm thick blade so we are approaching half inch thick. It's less sharp and the leather for the sheath is pretty cheap but it seems workable as is. Weighs a ton and I think with a bit of fine tuning the chopping power is gonna be very high, I think it would be a great woods knife if you don't mind the weight, itll be great for anything you need chopped. As is it's more splitting axe than axe but it does chop.

The GTK1 is.....ok. Blade style is nice, I got mine with a design on it that's not terrible but not really my thing, it was significantly cheaper than one without and I don't have anything like it so why not? It's got a thinner blade but chops decently. I'm not a fan of the grips though, very " cheap nylon" feeling and the sheath is the cheapest kydex I've ever touched.

All in all though they are very worth the money though. Would I use the Japanese or GTK1 over my BK9? No but they are great knock about knives
 
theAntihero said:
So Amazon had a bunch on sale so I grabbed 2 and 2 from their supposed sister company GTKII. I'd say GTKII is a level below in quality , even their kydex sheaths are very cheap kydex. I got the Pioneer and Japanese models from BaKor. From GTKII I got the GTK1 and GTK47.

The Pioneer is pretty damn cool, I've actually split actual rounds of firewood with it and easily. Edge showed no problems at all, not bad for seasoned red fir. The wood sheath is actually pretty cool and the firestarter it comes with works well enough. There is a little wiggle on the handle but the wood seems dry as hell too, I might just throw it some water and see if a little moisture is what it needs. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but I can test the stainlessness of it too.

The Japanese tanto style thing is pretty impressive. I'm not sure it's actually full tang but I also probably wouldn't chop with it either so I'm not sure I care. Handle is made of nice material and is near 2 handed and the sheath is pretty good if you like kydex. Sharp as heck out of the box and has a very nice overall feel.

The GTK47 is a beast, a 1 cm thick blade so we are approaching half inch thick. It's less sharp and the leather for the sheath is pretty cheap but it seems workable as is. Weighs a ton and I think with a bit of fine tuning the chopping power is gonna be very high, I think it would be a great woods knife if you don't mind the weight, itll be great for anything you need chopped. As is it's more splitting axe than axe but it does chop.

The GTK1 is.....ok. Blade style is nice, I got mine with a design on it that's not terrible but not really my thing, it was significantly cheaper than one without and I don't have anything like it so why not? It's got a thinner blade but chops decently. I'm not a fan of the grips though, very " cheap nylon" feeling and the sheath is the cheapest kydex I've ever touched.

All in all though they are very worth the money though. Would I use the Japanese or GTK1 over my BK9? No but they are great knock about knives
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I'll have to look up the company and model numbers you're referring to. I'm glad your experience was a positive one. At this point in my life, I own all the high quality knives I'll ever need. That said, people are willing to pay a lot of money for older blades that are no longer available to purchase, like the OKC SP10 Marine Raider Bowie, South African Cold Steel machetes, etc. I'm certainly willing to sell my older knives, hatchets, tomahawks, and machetes for a nice profit, if there are less expensive alternatives that work as well or better.
 
Your daughter found a knife she likes that looks decent enough.

I suggest making her happy and getting her the knife she likes, so that she feels pride in choosing and using the knife she wants. She can always upgrade later, and as you said you have plenty of more expensive knives.

Not every purchase has to be a major teaching/learning experience or a lecture in politics and economics.
The list of countries/areas people "should be ethically allowed :) " to buy knives from seems to be shrinking daily.....

Let her have fun and God bless.
confederatewolf said:
Morning all.

My family and I are into bushcraft and camping.
Over the years our knife collection has grown.
Everything from custom, TOPS, WTG, Red Beard Blades, ect ect ect.
Well my daughter come to me with a request for a new knife she found on Amazon shopping.
Its a knife made of DC 53, made by a maker i have never heard of..... Ba-Kor . Their prices are very very "budget" friendly LOL.

Does anyone one hear have any experience with their knives?
If so can you give me some input?


THANKS
Click to expand...
 
So as an update I just put the handle in some water for a half hour and no wiggle at all.

It's not exactly a perfect knives but it is impressive. I'll see how long the water bath helps the handle.
 
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