Becker BK9 or CS Trail Hawk?

mountainmist

mountainmist

Joined
Jun 12, 2013
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2,238
Hi!

I am new to the forums (My mom just let me register:)). What would be the best combo: Becker BK9 & Mora or CS Trail Hawk & mid size knife & Mora? I'm leaning towards the BK9 & Mora because of the weight. For mid size knives i was thinking the Bear Grylls fixed, Becker BK2, or the Esee 5. The reason posted this question is because I really like the Trail Hawk for a chopper but it does not seem very versatile and I would need a mid size knife. I have a Mora for small things. Would the BK9 kill 2 birds with one stone by being a sufficient chopper and a mid size knife? I will be processing firewood and cutting down 3" to 5" trees. Thank you in advance for your time and I would appreciate any suggestions.
 
Welcome to the forums.

Why do you think you need a knife in addition to a trail hawk and a mora? It's a very capable combo on it's own.

If weight is a concern I'd recommend something else entirely though. Have you thought about a good pruning saw? The set of tools I use is a SAK, a medium belt knife 1/8" thick with blade under 5" and a Silky pocket boy saw. The weight of all 3 tools will be the same as just the BK9 or the trail hawk by themselves.

To your question specifically. A mora and either of those tools will do what you need. Pick the one you like best.
 
Welcome to the forums and the crazy knife world.
This is pretty much how it goes from novice to pro-ish: (minus the mall ninja phase)
1. Buy knives thinking that they may fill a need better than others that you already own.
2. Start realizing that you can pretty much do the same stuff with all of them it's just a matter of learning how to use what you have.
3. Whittle it down to the basics of maybe carrying a SAK w/saw and a small hatchet / knife.
4. Work on honing your skills regardless of the tools you have.
5. Realize that it was really fun chopping things with a BIG knife regardless of whether an axe/saw would work better.
6. Buy 20+ of the same size knife because you like that size but just haven't found "the one"
7. End up with a huge collection of knives and come to grips with the fact that maybe you just love knives.
8. Continue looking for "the one"(at that time) in [fill in the blank] size.
9. Repeat steps 6,7, and 8.

That's pretty much the gist of it. Shotgun is right. You have a great combo already but what fun would it be if that was it for the rest of your life? Variety is the spice of life so just have fun with it. The 9 is fun to chop with and the 2 and ESEE 5 are almost indestructible so have fun with them as well. Think of it more as a fun hobby. It gets boring if you focus on what works the best.
 
Tankerwolf said:
Welcome to the forums and the crazy knife world.
This is pretty much how it goes from novice to pro-ish: (minus the mall ninja phase)
1. Buy knives thinking that they may fill a need better than others that you already own.
2. Start realizing that you can pretty much do the same stuff with all of them it's just a matter of learning how to use what you have.
3. Whittle it down to the basics of maybe carrying a SAK w/saw and a small hatchet / knife.
4. Work on honing your skills regardless of the tools you have.
5. Realize that it was really fun chopping things with a BIG knife regardless of whether an axe/saw would work better.
6. Buy 20+ of the same size knife because you like that size but just haven't found "the one"
7. End up with a huge collection of knives and come to grips with the fact that maybe you just love knives.
8. Continue looking for "the one"(at that time) in [fill in the blank] size.
9. Repeat steps 6,7, and 8.

That's pretty much the gist of it. Shotgun is right. You have a great combo already but what fun would it be if that was it for the rest of your life? Variety is the spice of life so just have fun with it. The 9 is fun to chop with and the 2 and ESEE 5 are almost indestructible so have fun with them as well. Think of it more as a fun hobby. It gets boring if you focus on what works the best.
Click to expand...

Nail...the head was hit. ;) I have hundreds of dollars in knives including some nice customs and I still use my SAK and my Mora the most.
 
Here is my advice, and remember it's free.
Buy the BK9. It is a great knife. I spend a lot of time out in the woods and I can do about 90% of everything I need to do with this knife. The only time I have really noticed I needed something smaller was when cleaning game. So I would suggest you buy a small knife along the lines of a Becker Remora ( BK13). You can get these for under $25. Or I just use a Ka-Bar Johnson Adventure Piggyback. It's only like $10 and I prefer it to the remora for cleaning game because of the shape.
The BK9 comes with a sheath sewn into the side pocket. The BK13 fits in it. The Piggyback doesn't fit into that sheath but there is plenty of room for the sheath that the piggyback comes with. In that small side pocket I keep a flint, a sharpening stone and the Piggyback.
 
I agree with Tanker and will that add that batoning a knife is safer than splitting with a hatchet or axe if you do not have the experience. But I know that most old woodsmen and myself (not an old woodsman, just grew up heating with wood) would rather have a good axe than almost any other tool, so it's worth learning the skills involved. I would get a real hatchet rather than the trail hawk, were you to go that route. Tomahawks are cool and have an awesome history but I personally think they don't cover as much ground as a hatchet or axe does up north, or a machete down south. which begs the question: what kinda woods ya got? That should color your choice of bits or blades heavily.

Were I to outfit my (theoretical) kid or someone new on their very first day in my New England woods it would probably be A Mora Clipper and some kind of decent boy's axe, probably with a 20-22" haft.

But as Tanker made clear, and I'm sure you will come to understand BIG knives are a goddamn blast.
 
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There are so many choices. Tankerwolf must have been writing about me. I started with SOG stuff over Cold Steel. I tend to avoid both now not that their blades aren't good. I think the BK9 will do what you want. A Kabar Cutlass machete might as well. It is kind of a cool item. When I want to chop I choose a short machete (Condor Pack Golok) or my Condor Golok. Eventually I will probably buy a BK9. It is a fun knife and certainly is popular here. The big chopper mated with a medium sized knife and perhaps a folder (SAK maybe) is a great trio and then you pick and choose which of the three or all three to carry with you out into the woods. My experience is unless I know I am going to be chopping, I tend to go with a duo of a medium sized knife (BK-16 is an example) and a SAK, other slip joint, or your favorite Spyderco folder.

I have a BK-2 and seldom carry it. It is too big and heavy for me for day to day stuff in the woods. Yeah, you can do some light chopping such as camp site needs with it. But under the right circumstances, it would be an invaluable knife because of its heft and the ability to cut small things (if you have to).

Price is always an issue, so I'm not going to even bring up $100+ knives. I just recently got a BK-16 that I find to be a very nice and handy knife for day to day woods stuff. That along with my Pack Golok can pretty much tackle knife chopping needs but not much fun chopping a 12" oak that has fallen accross a logging road that you are driving. That is chain saw territory.

I ordered a Condor Kephart which I am going to compare to the BK-16 for my woods needs also. Like Tankerwolf said, it really never stops unless you run out of money or your interests change a lot.

You can do an awful lot with the knives you mentioned and be quite comfortable with them. For me, there never seems to be a perfect choice.
 
Binalith said:
I would get a real hatchet rather than the trail hawk, were you to go that route. Tomahawks are cool and have an awesome history but I personally think they don't cover as much ground as a hatchet or axe does up north, or a machete down south.
Click to expand...

That is an excellent point. Tomahawks are not axes. Tomahawks were designed to be used as weapons. Not wood processing tools.
 
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