Becker Competition Chopper

If you go the the BladeSports International website there is a section on rules. It is very good and very clear on dimensions of the blade and construction.
 
Nice read tbhride, but I agree with james the coating has to go. I would buy two if it had the bk24s clear coat.
 
Btw I hope yah don't mind me askin but what editing tool do you use ? Looks like it would be effective if your planning a mod
 
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I saw a video where a Kabar rep said that the Zomstro was blade sports legal. Is it? If they are already making a knife that can be used in bladesports then maybe they would consider another?
 
Awesome idea.
It's just what would prevent one from entering the production blade competition with one which looks like production but is made from a different steel?

Would the organizers of the event order the blades, the competitors pay for them and keep them at the end or the organizer could sell them, maybe even to the audience?

Using real production samples with factory grinds :-o sounds exciting but might not be what the competitors want.
 
You would need different classes super steels custom made blades would have to be in a class of their own and production blades in their own class to be fair I would think.
 
Silverthorn said:
D2 ? S30v ?
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Just about the LAST steels I would ever use for a big chopper. Waayyyyyy too brittle, especially in thin edge sections. Good ol' 1095CV is a much better
choice than either of those.

bearfacedkiller said:
I saw a video where a Kabar rep said that the Zomstro was blade sports legal. Is it?
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No, not even close. It's too long overall, the blade is too long, and the blade is far too wide at its widest point to fit within BladeSports parameters. It also has that weird hole near the end of the blade, which is a big no-no.

However, a Zomstro could easily be modified to meet the regulations... there's plenty of steel there and it's already ground very acutely. Even a person with nothing more than a file some sandpaper and a fair amount of elbow grease and spare time could cut one down to be "technically" comp-legal. With a belt grinder, that would take maybe half an hour, tops.

I don't have one next to me, but I'm fairly certain the BK-9 does fit into comp regs right out of the box. If not, again it would only take a small amount of work to make it "fit".

Either the Zomstro or the 9 could very easily accept a forward lanyard in the front bolt hole with no mods at all, other than simply removing the bolt. One would presumably go ahead and epoxy the scales down.

Neither is ever going to perform as well as a true comp-cutter designed from the ground up. They were never meant to. Likewise, no one with any sense takes a pure race knife camping... ;)
 
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More to tbhride's larger point, I do agree that it would be great if more people got involved with BladeSports! While I am not yet a certified cutter, I support what they do for the same reason I am a Beckerhead: because they actively promote knives as important tools, they teach skills and safety, and they are very much family-friendly.

But wishing for any major manufacturer to really embrace it by pouring thousands of dollars into a whole new model to serve such a tiny market is, frankly, little more than a naive pipe dream. I hope I'm wrong about that, but geez, look how long it took for the BK-20 to come out, and so far only 450 have been made with no more in sight. We keep getting told that the truly wonderful BK-5 is done once existing stock sells out, and as for the Rheinhardt Kukri... I'm not holding my breath. And every single one of those excellent designs speaks to a far wider market than any competition cutter ever will.

I realize this might sound terribly self-serving since I'm a knifemaker, but the plain fact is... if you want to cut competitively in BladeSports, you're either going to have to support a handmade/custom knifemaker, become a knifemaker yourself, or get sponsored.

Now, if you want to start your own, formal or informal unsanctioned "league" with similar rules and contests... that's entirely up to you... ;)
 
A stock car style league might be cool, doesnt have to be comp cutter style blades, just say fits in the length/weight requirements. There are LOTS of knives in the 9-10 inch blade length range
 
Silverthorn said:
A stock car style league might be cool, doesnt have to be comp cutter style blades, just say fits in the length/weight requirements. There are LOTS of knives in the 9-10 inch blade length range
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I agree with that... hobby-stock or "run what ya brung" like old school drag-racing. David has brought that up specifically on TTAK and FaceBook, and I know at least one of the directors of BladeSports is well aware of those articles and convos. :)
 
J W Bensinger said:
Something with some pointwork, maybe?
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I really do not see that happening in a BladeSports-sanctioned event.

Again, I am not yet a certified BladeSports cutter and I definitely do not represent them in any way!

But I have heard BladeSports board member former World Champion Donavon Phillips speak on that topic directly a few times in public, and a couple times we have spoken briefly in private... He has expressed absolutely zero interest in point-work or anything "stabby", specifically because they want to avoid the "knives are weapons" thing. Personally, I'm totally cool with that.

Both Donavan Phillips and current world champ Dan Keffeler are members here on BladeForums, as well as on FaceBook. They're both pretty easy to find, and they're both pretty dang cool about answering questions. :) So... ask them.
 
james terrio said:
I really do not see that happening in a BladeSports-sanctioned event.

Again, I am not yet a certified BladeSports cutter and I definitely do not represent them in any way!

But I have heard BladeSports board member former World Champion Donavon Phillips speak on that topic directly a few times in public, and a couple times we have spoken briefly in private... He has expressed absolutely zero interest in point-work or anything "stabby", specifically because they want to avoid the "knives are weapons" thing. Personally, I'm totally cool with that.

Both Donavan Phillips and current world champ Dan Keffeler are members here on BladeForums, as well as on FaceBook. They're both pretty easy to find, and they're both pretty dang cool about answering questions. :) So... ask them.
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I wasn't so much thinking of stabby as something that would require a more all-around blade profile-like the old "pick a ping pong ball out of a water trough" event
 
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