Becker BK-7

[Mistwalker]

I thought since this is the Becker Forum I might put the review I am working on here as well just in case some people looking in this forum do not go to the W&SS section. If being redundant is a bad thing just remove it.


I just got another knife a couple of days ago. Mother Nature is not exactly cooperative today hasn't been for days now. This one is the Becker BK-7 made by Ka-Bar. Though I am sure most here are familiar with it. It has an over-all length of 12.5 inches or 31.75 cm, a blade length of just over 7 inches or roughly 18 cm tip to handle, and it is 1.62 inches or just over 4 cm at the spine area between the thumb ramp and the swedge. It is made of 1095 CroVan steel

This is how it comes…

and even though I have long accepted globalization (didn't it actually start even before Marco Polo), it is nice to see this label does still exist in the world of production knives. However...neither the little utility knife nor the sheathe are U.S. made, but at least this partial globalization does still support American jobs and the key element of the set is domestically made.

It is a full tang design with the Grivory (not sure what that is yet) handle scales held on by three 5mm socket head bolts. It has a protruding tang that looks to be great for tasks such as breaking glass or plexi-glass, cracking skulls, or even batoning into ice to make a hole or gather ice to melt for water. The handle fits my hand near perfectly. I get a great grip in the conventional grip, the reverse grip, and in a rearward hold.

The sheath is made of Cordura and has multiple attachment points for carry options. It comes with a small utility blade included, and it also has a great cargo pocket that is a lot larger than most. The retention strap securely holds the knife in place and allows very little movement.

The cargo pouch is large enough that besides the utility tool, which has it’s own sheath inside the pouch, it will also hold a multi-tool, a magnesium firestarter, and an Army model Swedish fire steel. I could haven gotten a few thinner things into it such as sticks of fatwood if I’d thought about it. It has an elastic webbing band around the opening to allow the pocket to expand and contract as need which also serves as a good place to tie off the firesteel and firestarter to secure them in place.

 

[Mistwalker]

The knife comes shaving sharp…

and had no trouble whittling thin shavings.

It made very quick work of chopping through a 1 1/2 inch Hickory limb

and even after that and just repeatedly whittling and chopping off larger shavings from that hickory limb…

it is still shaving sharp, and I can’t wait to get it out in the field for a while and work with it some.

It rained like crazy here today so I didn't get to do much with it. I did check it out at cutting a couple of small saplings though and it did really well.

and this is the best shot of the balance I have been able get so far. I'll try to get another shot tomorrow. This thing has nearly perfect balance but just barely blade heay, and the rounded shape of the handguard makes it near impossible to balance it...or there was some major problems with gravity today ...one or the other because I couldn't get it to be still.

 

[knarfeng]

NICE!

I don't use outdoor knives much anymore, but I am always curious and to me the Becker seems to be one of the best deals available and a great design.

I know you do a lot of reviews of individual outdoor knives. I hope you might think about a comparison review comparing one to another at one point or another. (Although the foofooraw that would accompany such an article would take a brave man to weather.)

 

[dawsonbob]

Hey, I'm with knarfeng on this. mistwalker does some really good reviews, and some comparisons would be cool. Unfortunately, as knarfeng says, you might take a lot of flak. Such comparisons would be interesting, but maybe not worth the resulting heat.

 

[Jake Bauer]

Great review. I already wanted a BK7, but this review has made me want one more so. Great pics too!

 

[Mistwalker]

I'm not sure about a comparison review at the moment...I really hate to be compared to other people.... I prefer to just measure what the knife will do and let others decide which they prefer. As you noted...that could cause some serious flack. The only comparison I might ever do would be incontext...not as in better over all but maybe more in line with one being better for survival and one being more suited to combat but honestly I figure most here can see that for themselves.

Anyway…the rain finally gave me enough of a break to go out back and work with the BK-7 for a while today.

I found a nice seasoned Apple limb about five feet long and roughly three inches in diameter.

and proceeded to chop it into four pieces. It handled that very well and took about eight or ten minutes, I was just too glad to be outside to time myself. I am not sure how familiar any of you may be with Apple wood but while it isn’t the hardest wood in the world it sure isn’t the softest either once it has seasoned some.

Then it was time to see how it handled batoning. It took about six or seven licks to get through each piece, and the swedge did eventually do in the little mimosa baton I was using and for the last piece I had to use one of the pieces I had already split for a baton.

The blade handled all the chopping and splitting just fine, though there was some wear in the coating. The bolts did loosen a bit during the course of this and each one had to be tightened a turn and a quarter to a turn and a half, but in all honesty I forgot to check them for tightness out of the box. I have had to tighten the bolts on other manufacturers knives out of the box before and this is one reason I do not like ”hidden” bolts…I tend to be rough on my knives and like being able to tighten them back up.

There was no blade distortion at all afterwards

And…even after that…the knife still shaves.

Also I got a better balance picture, maybe I should have put the thong on it before…lol, made it much easier to balance it.

 

[dawsonbob]

Another good review, mistwalker. Clear and to the point with good pictures. The bolts may need a little blue LokTite on them. Oh, and about the coating; now it looks well loved.

 

[Mistwalker]

I'm still debating lok-tite, I'll decide later after I chop some more. I've heard others mention them loosening up after use, but I have had pins and hidden bolts loosen with use and abuse also and at least this way they can be tightened back up afterward. I want to try the Micarta scales before I attempt any other changes to it.

With me things tend to not look new for long.

 

[dawsonbob]

I'm still debating lok-tite, I'll decide later after I chop some more. I've heard others mention them loosening up after use, but I have had pins and hidden bolts loosen with use and abuse also and at least this way they can be tightened back up afterward. I want to try the Micarta scales before I attempt any other changes to it.

With me things tend to not look new for long.

I can certainly see waiting for the micarta. Yeah, things don't look new and pretty around me for long either. I try to keep them serviceable and in good working order, but they're not always pretty.

 

[Mistwalker]

I can certainly see waiting for the micarta. Yeah, things don't look new and pretty around me for long either. I try to keep them serviceable and in good working order, but they're not always pretty.

Lol, I'm just not one to let a perfectly good knife get lonely sitting in a case. Serviceable yes, but they definitely get used. I definitely want to check out those micarta scales.

 

[dawsonbob]

Lol, I'm just not one to let a perfectly good knife get lonely sitting in a case. Serviceable yes, but they definitely get used. I definitely want to check out those micarta scales.

Of course they should be used. A knife in a case is a paperweight, without the paper: it's of no value, it has no purpose. A knife is alive only when it's fulfilling its intended purpose, which is to cut things (or chop them or baton them or, if you have the BK-2, you can beat the snot out of things with the spine).

Yeah, I've been waiting to try the micarta scales since they were first announced a couple of months ago. It's been kinda "are we there yet, huh? Huh? Are they ready?" Now, finally, we know that they'll be available At Blade. About bloody time.

 

[snorkels]

Enjoyed reading the 'review'. Enjoyed some trimming with my 9 a few weeks back. Can only imagine how you would have enjoyed your 'testing' even more if it were a 9. I'm always impressed each time I use it. That extra 2" with the balance going to the blade effort is what works for me. I was going to do my trimming of a 6" thick arborvittae I had recently chain-sawed down, by using a sawzall, but I decided to trim off all the branches with the 9. Boy, was it fun. Burned a few calories and felt much better for it.

 

[riz_aaroni]

Awesome review. Minus the handles, it looks like a great knife and not a bad price for it either.

 

[Jake Bauer]

dang... choped all that wood, batonned all that wood... and still shaving! Thats way to impressive.

 

[Mistwalker]

dang... choped all that wood, batonned all that wood... and still shaving! Thats way to impressive.

Not just impressive because it still shaves, but which part of the blade I shaved with....I wish there had been some hair left on my left arm. If you look at these two pics and pay attention it is pretty impressive as I have yet to take a stone to this blade...haven't needed to yet.

and if you take a good look at this pic..

this is what it looked like before I started chopping.

So far I am very impressed with this knife.

 

[theedge13]

Awesome review! Cant wait til i get another Becker!

 

[Long.Rider]

Excellent review I like my Beckers so well they are ruining knives for me. I am hard put to put out $200, $300 or $400 for an excellent 1095 high carbon knife when I have a Becker that is of equal value that I spent far less for.

 

[Mistwalker]

Excellent review I like my Beckers so well they are ruining knives for me. I am hard put to put out $200, $300 or $400 for an excellent 1095 high carbon knife when I have a Becker that is of equal value that I spent far less for.

This is my first but I am very impressed with it, very impressed.

 

[Mistwalker]

Ya know, sometimes in life there are things that come along which the more you play with them the more you like them. This BK7 is one of those things for me. I was just handling it out on the porch earlier, changing grips and just checking it out in hand a little, and realized just how much I really do like the shape of the handle. It’s just as comfortable in a reverse grip as it is in a standard one. And once I got the thong where I wanted it one position it was perfect for all the others.

Also I tend to do a lot of chopping with a rearward grip as to me it enhances chopping ability. The curve and shape of the handle make it very comfortable for me in this position but still allows for the protruding tang to use for breaking glass or…whatever.

and another thing I noticed starting with this picture is the really low reflectivity, it really only reflects light when the light hits it straight on. The flash on this camera could probably be used to signal spacecraft.

 

[texastonydobbs]

Great job as usual Bro ... Great pictures !