Becker BK72 - interesting exclusive collab

Let me say what I said recently in another place (more bushcraft oriented). A bit from European perspective too. It all depends on what one needs. If you’d be looking for a heavy duty survival knife, which still can cut stuff (it’s not always the case with many so-called „survival” knives) then classic BK2 in coated 1095 is awesome. But not everyone likes coating and sometimes you just want it stainless. For us, here in Europe, even standard BK2 costs a lot (about 165 EUR). However, that BT72 comes with custom-made kydex sheath, which is way better than injection molded standard one (at least doesn't dull the edge). Custom kydex for a knife of this size in EU costs at least 50 EUR. And what about micarta grips? Another 65 EUR here! So if you buy BK2 and make a true kydex sheath and add canvas micarta scales you end up with 280 EUR price tag. For 5 EUR more you get all that AND stonewashed S35VN blade. So that price makes some sense, at least in Europe. But I agree, it's not a budget knife... but it was never meant to be, otherwise why to add premium options like micarta grips, kydex sheath and expensive blade material with a nice finish? From US perspective it can be a bit different, but kydex and micarta (and exluded VAT) could make it more logical than you think when you see "BK2 for 285 EUR". YMMV

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I've been using knives in many price categories, starting with knives like Mora Basic (dirt cheap), Garberg (100 EUR or so) and like them a lot. Still, I also enjoy cutting branches with both my TRC Apocalypse (500 EUR) and even CRK Impofu (even more $) - both of which play the same role in my quiver of blades - thick survival knives with micarta handles, and nicely made sheaths. And all of them used mostly "for fun" and not for a real need - I'm not a jungle survival instructor. The finish on TRC is nicer, kydex is a bit finer too, but it’s almost double the BT72's price! So for EU enthusiast this package at 285 EUR makes sense... IF one needs that sort of knife, of course. Or wants one, then the price is usually a secondary parameter.

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And How I use it? Chopping and splitting with this knife is a lot of fun - of course it excels at this. And nothing ruins blade finish as quickly as old dirty logs of oak... except stupid games of course, like chopping bricks.

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I used it for feather sticking too, and with that knife it is surprisingly easy, especially with the 'knife stuck in the log' variant. BK72 comes super sharp out of KaBar factory. At least mine did.

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Now about kydex... it clicks well, can be attached to multiple carry options, doesn't dull the blade, but some say it is a bit tight... and that is true also in my case. As you can see in my first photo there are some kydex marks on the blade of my knife. That is not just kydex, but a result of dirty blade AND kydex. But for me with this knife, it is no problem. Check other photos and you can say why I don't care... I just use it. This knife will get many more marks from my use than it does from kydex.

But also I've been making kydex sheaths for about 15 years now (locally, mostly for friends, it's not my job) so I made myself one in OD-Green, for fun and knife personalization. Well, I don't like black sheaths too much... they are simply boring. And now my BK72 is just as I want it :)

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P.
 
Great pictures and thoughts Piter!
Good to hear you enjoy this beautiful beast.
 
plumberroy said:
They lose me with the S35VN steel . Don't care for super steels
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I'd agree, at least in this case - for one reason, mostly: in my opinion, any field knife should be field sharpenable - and S35VN is not on the list of steels that provide ease of field maintenance...
Not that it can't be done - but if I was going anything more than a day trip with that beautiful beast, I'd want my WorkSharp Field Sharpener (that has diamond plates) with me. Sure is a looker, though - and certainly doesn't seem out of line, price-wise...
Thanks for giving it a workout and for the pics, Piter!
 
granitestateofmind said:
I'd agree, at least in this case - for one reason, mostly: in my opinion, any field knife should be field sharpenable - and S35VN is not on the list of steels that provide ease of field maintenance...
Not that it can't be done - but if I was going anything more than a day trip with that beautiful beast, I'd want my WorkSharp Field Sharpener (that has diamond plates) with me. Sure is a looker, though - and certainly doesn't seem out of line, price-wise...
Thanks for giving it a workout and for the pics, Piter!
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I posted this just before I hit the bed. But this exactly why I don't want a knife like this in super steels. . A survival knife needs to have a balance between edge retention and ease of sharpening. 1095 is hard to beat for that
 
Eh, you can sharpen anything in the field. Just gimme a smooth rock. Bottom of a coffee mug. Pocket DMT diamond hone. Nail buffer. The only thing that won't do the job is something like an Arkansas stone, which will hone a fine edge on those high-carbide steels, but not remove a lot of material if you do something really dumb. But the CPM versions are actually easier to sharpen than the older production methods because the carbides are smaller.

You know what's shockingly easy to sharpen? Magnacut at 63Rc.

And certainly AEB-L as Fielder suggests would be very appealing.

Looks like a great piece of kit, Piter!
 
daizee said:
Eh, you can sharpen anything in the field. Just gimme a smooth rock. Bottom of a coffee mug. Pocket DMT diamond hone. Nail buffer. The only thing that won't do the job is something like an Arkansas stone, which will hone a fine edge on those high-carbide steels, but not remove a lot of material if you do something really dumb. But the CPM versions are actually easier to sharpen than the older production methods because the carbides are smaller.

You know what's shockingly easy to sharpen? Magnacut at 63Rc.

And certainly AEB-L as Fielder suggests would be very appealing.

Looks like a great piece of kit, Piter!
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No matter how easy something like Magnacut at 63 would be to sharpen for you, something with significantly less car ide would be much easier.

In normal sharpening sure this isn't a big deal, but the HUGE advantage is if you have a bad chip or roll and need to remove a good deal of steel.
 
Dr Rez said:
No matter how easy something like Magnacut at 63 would be to sharpen for you, something with significantly less car ide would be much easier.

In normal sharpening sure this isn't a big deal, but the HUGE advantage is if you have a bad chip or roll and need to remove a good deal of steel.
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I get your meaning.
My point is that there's an unappreciated relationship between carbide volume, carbide size, wear resistance, and sharpenability (for a given hardness).

Magnacut (specifically) has only a moderate carbide volume and small average carbide size by design (hence the high toughness for a stainless), and gets a lot of its edge retention from hardness. LARGE carbides (hence the caps ;) ) are one of the worst culprits vs. sharpening, IMO. Conventional D2 is just awful to sharpen. 154CM can be pretty rough too. But if the carbides are small and evenly distributed, your sharpening abrasive seems to (this is my qualitative description) be able to abrade away the steel matrix without gliding off of huge carbide surfaces. Edge retention in conventional cutting tasks is still good, but sharpening isn't appreciably worse.

And I say this having put entire 1st edge bevels on Magnacut blades by hand at ~62.5Rc (diamond plate on the bench). Would I want to do that "in the field"? No, but I wouldn't want to do that "in the field" on a piece of 1084 at 61Rc either.

Blade hardness also has a direct relationship to sharpenability. Certainly something several points softer will be easier to sharpen no matter what. The simpler steels usually have a predictable inverse relationship between hardness and toughness, but that's not always the case with the higher alloy steels, so just tempering a higher alloy blade to a lower hardness doesn't necessarily put you anywhere you want to be.

ETA:
BTW, if we are talking about dedicated choppers (maybe we are, this is a BK72 thread), then I'd go 1084, 52100, or AEB-L down at 59-60Rc to benefit from the added toughness. And all of those are low-carbide, as well as tougher than 1095(CV?) at the same hardness.
 
OK I admit I ALMOST got it... But thanks to people stating the field practicality of it for sharpening made me think...um many of many of many times to get it or not. Then I saw a 4th of july saIe for things I needed and my fun fund went away. But I can see where a knife like this would be very useful...still thinking of it, in a marine environment or if I was a still active canoe borne misadventures.

So thanks to those who pointed out the practical points of the great knife there, that helped me decide on deciding about it. I always go with practicality...some what with price points...sort of.

I was going to put my Clear with Glow Stone Handle scales on it...dang...making me think again...
 
whoom am I kidding...I ordered one...
The dogwood clear with green glow stone handles will look great on it! And help from losing it.

And order successful!
 
Odd...I found one site selling this stone scrapped version for only 94.86...I don't think they would dump this knife so fast at that price... heavenknivesdotcom... google fu can find it.
 
Small update... it's a middle of vacation, so I just use it for classic vacation stuff. Chopping wood, sharpening stick for bonfire cooking, fire starting, and bushcraft work (like crafting tent pegs, etc.) It's easily suitable for heavy wood chopping / batoning, but it is also easy to prepare small kindling and scrape birch bark with the edge to start a fire.

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And basic woodcraft projects are also no problem with this knife. Sharp and precise enough for this sort of work with wood:

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Heavy duty pommel can be easily used as an improvised hammer, mainly thanks to tang thickness and overall weight of that knife:

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So far - so good...

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