becker brute or ranger rd9

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wicked1

Joined
Sep 1, 2004
Messages
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Theres still a wait on the rangers but I can get the becker brute now. Is the ranger going to be worth the wait?Or the price difference?I know what the ranger feels like but have no clue on the becker. Feedback on the two would be much appreciated.
 
The Brute's heavy with the weight concentrated in the forward part of the blade. It's a better "chopper" than "slicer", but it will cut.
 
i would go with the becker because i have had nothing but good luck with them making excellent outdoors tools. I think the brute would be a better chopper as well due to the extra weight at the tip. Plus it is a lot cheaper so if you wanted you could get the big chopping brute and a smaller knife for smaller chores.:thumbup:
 
I don't have experience with the BK Brute but I think that the service that you'll get dealing with Justin from RG and the "customization" options worth both the wait and the money :)
 
Here's my no B.S. assessment about Ranger. Don't know about the Becker, and don't know Justin, but have used the RD-9 heavily in my field work for 2 months now (I bought it because of lots of very favorable assessments on this forum) and, as a very experienced knife user, I'm really impressed. Lots of chopping wood and bouncing off rocks (by mistake) with no blade damage. The blade coating doesn't last of course and my blade's a little stained from vegetation (I don't care - it just looks like it's been used and I could polish it out) but, the edge lasts all day and it sharpens very easily. I even use it without concern to pry rocks out of the ground. It's a great piece of sharp steel. Don't hesitate to sand the micarta handle a little to fit your grip.
 
wicked1 said:
Theres still a wait on the rangers but I can get the becker brute now. Is the ranger going to be worth the wait?Or the price difference?I know what the ranger feels like but have no clue on the beker. Feedback on the two would be much appreciated.
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I can't speak to the Rangers, but I hear they're great knives. As for the BK-1, my brother has one; I've got a BK-9.

Both are great heavy choppers. It's hard to go wrong with a Becker. Really, really hard.

Personally, I think that once you get into the realm of the good knives, and get a knife with good blade steel, reasonable profile, and decent grips, the differences are going to be largely aesthetic. In a pinch, it won't really matter which maker's marks are on the blade, so long as you know how to use the thing safely and effectively.
 
I agree with rdelliott. Both knives are good pieces. Edges can be reprofiled, handles can be modified, etc, to fine tune whatever you choose. I think you'll find strong opinions for both knives on this site.

I have several Becker tools. I was this close (index finger tip and thumb tip almost touching) to ordering a Ranger RD7 last week, but decided to pick up a couple other Beckers I didn't have instead. I'll get the Ranger someday...
 
I can't speak to the Ranger, I haven't used one. I own a Brute and I love it. Great blade. I use it a lot for chopping and batoning the blade and have stopped carrying my Gerber Pack Axe because it works as well and does more. I noticed that some of the black coating has come off on the peaks of the blade. I don't think what was from use though. I think a ride home in the sheath the vibration may have worn some of it off. I just bought a pair of Micarta handles for it. Can't wait. :D :thumbup:

KR
 
thats the deciding factor then. I will wait for a ranger still or maybe Ill get lucky and find a battle rat that I can afford.
 
wicked1 said:
does becker have good warranty in case of breakage?
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They are still open for business but all of the workers are on strike and, from what you hear on the forums, the bank is taking over.

Luckily, Ethan Becker, who designed these blades. Blackjack, then later Camillus, probably produced them under license. If Camillus goes down the tubes then hopefully Becker would take his great designs and have them produced elsewhere. :thumbup:
 
I really don't think you would be able to break a brute. Maybe you could if you tossed it off a building then shot it with a cannon, and then crush it under a car, then maybe you could break it. ;)
 
I've got some experience with both the RD9 and the BK9.

Pros & Cons:

Justin is a great guy who will go out of his way to be sure you're satisfied with his product. Camillus is all but out of business and many have had difficulty with warranty issues.

The Becker is full-on production and the fit and finish reflects that - nice and clean. The RD9, while not truly custom, are at least hand finished: Solid as a rock but not made to be pretty.

The RD9 would be, imho, more difficult to break than a Brute. However, realistically, you aren't going to break either one of them. Neither would leaving me feeling unprepared or lacking in a survival situation where a large chopper is required.

The bottom line for me would be which one I found more comfortable to use. While I think the Becker grips are ridiculously large on the small Crewman or Campanion, I think they are GREAT on the larger RD7,9 Brute and Patrol Machete. Many, many people don't like the BK grips at all - I'm NOT one of them.

The RD9 wasn't a comfortable grip for my hand. Nothing wrong with the grip - it just didn't fit my hand. It dug painfully into my little finger and felt a bit too narrow.... I think. Then again... maybe it wasn't too narrow but it never felt "right" to me. This isn't indicative of everything Justin makes; a 3V custom at Blade felt amazing. It was the same basic RD config (RD6) but the Markarta grips and polished blade just felt great.

So... my 2 cents and that's all it's worth: Get whatever feels best.
 
Good analysis, Paddling Man.

The RD9 wasn't a comfortable grip for my hand. Nothing wrong with the grip -it just didn't fit my hand. It dug painfully into my little finger and felt a bit too narrow.... I think.
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Me too. It took me a couple of minutes to sand down a couple of high points on the RD-9 micarta handles to get a custom fit for my own little finger. They fit well now.
 
Were you actually sanding down the micarta or the steel pommel horn? The pommel horns were part of the problem for me.

The RD series were based on Busse apprentice blanks that Justin purchased a couple of years or so ago. These blanks closely resembled some of the old Busse straight handles. The condition I describe was so common among old Busse users that it was referred to as "Busse Pinky." :D

I'm glad you got the grip to work out for you; customizing a micarta grip is often the perfect way to make a knife "yours." Unfortunately, it needed more than micarta shaping to fit my hand.

Justin does do great work though. I don't know how he can make those blades at the price point that he does.

If I had the spare cash at Blade, I definitely would have purchased this sweet thing! I think it was $350.

RD6, 3V, Markarta (Mark Nelson) grips!
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A 4 week wait must mean the Rangers are getting popular. Last year I was able to get this customized RD9 in 2 weeks. I modded the grips and had a Kydex made by David Brown.

If you can stand the wait, I would do that plus get some custom features done while you are in the queue. BTW, I'd recommend getting the blade thinned if you want to do much cutting. Don't worry about chopping as the blades can take a lot of heavy use.

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I just got a hold of a Brit SF Jungle Knife from Sheffield ( lots of sources from Google) Excellent weight and comparable to the Brute in many ways. Ran the edge over a diamond rod and the edge really picked up. Has it all over any of the other Brit military knives (MOD, golok, etc.) Great chopper and slicer.
 
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