Becker/Ka-bar - Thank You

O

odinp

Joined
Oct 25, 2010
Messages
48
My wife got me a BK-2 and a BK-9 (with my slight suggestion:D) for an anniversary present this year. When I opened them up they were all that I hoped for - except for a couple of minor flaws.

The BK-2 had a slightly bent tip, and the BK-9 had a little divot on the back of the blade. Not a huge deal, but still, if something happens to the knife, I want to be the one who does it!

My wife got them from Amazon, but it was well past the 30 day window of opportunity to exchange them. After hearing how well Becker customers are taken care of, I shot off an email to Paul at Ka-bar and he told me to send them both in. He said that he would personally pick out new knives for me.

Well, they just arrived yesterday - less than 2 weeks since I shipped them back - and they are perfect.

Thank you Paul for taking care of me on this with no hassle at all. Thank you Ethan for the kick ass knives. I have already ordered a BK-7 - cant wait for this one either!
 
Awesome, brother. Glad it worked out for you.

Interesting that these were Amazon delivered blades again.
 
RABII said:
Amazon again?....hmmmm?
Click to expand...

that's a big mmmm.

i've seen a few posts (possible scam(s)) of people also saying they had weird grinds (and from amazon)...

are people just that picky to the millimeter on a knife at such a price?

heck, i've had a few $600 customs back in the day where the maker took care of me for OBVIOUS flaws but with some sub-textual grumbling. i'm sure if i pointed out something REALLY minor, i'd have been told to go [beep] myself. just goes to show how awesome Ethan, ToOoj, and KaBar are.
 
I just love these knives and the company. Taking care of us like this....... :'-) ..... excuse me. I got something in my eye.

Amazon; I'm not gonna order much from you anymore unless it a pillow. I don't think you can mess that up.
 
I got mine from somewhere else & they were also like that. I don't care. As long as I can get the to shave hair, I'm good. All 3 of mine were like that. I will get them evened out from sharpening---eventually. If not, my kid will after i'm gone. LOL
 
Bladite said:
are people just that picky to the millimeter on a knife at such a price?
Click to expand...

Yes. People are getting supper picky these days. While it sounds like the OP got a bum BK2 as a bent tip seriously sucks, a lot of the posts I have been seeing here regarding uneven grinds is something I chalk up to people expecting perfection in an imperfect universe. I just don't get it.

When I look at my Beckers, I always think back to this pic from Ethan's trip to Olean:

764010443_urWua-O.jpg


You see that? That is a human being right there. Those things on the end of her arms? Those are hands. Sending things back for "uneven" grinds seems a little insulting to these hard working folks... But then again, a lot of these threads have been pic-less lately, so what do I know about how bad things really are.

I think it is impossible that Amazon is getting the bum batches of knives. Amazon is simply the cheapest place to buy Beckers, and therefore you get a different type of customer. There. I said it.
 
I had one problem before with Amazon. I bought a Kershaw Leek from them - yes, because it was the cheapest price I could find with free shipping - and when it came it looked used. It was scuffed on the handle and the speedsafe wouldn't open the blade all the way. I called them up and they had me ship it back -sent me a new one that was great. They even refunded me a percentage of my purchase price.

I've ordered cameras, toys and other electronics from Amazon with no problems at all. In fact, the Beckers and the Leek have been the only things that I've had to return/exchange online ever. I guess I've been lucky.

The only thing I can think of with the knives is maybe someone returned them and Amazon put them back in regular stock without checking them.
 
I'm a nervous wreck now. I've got three coming from there. :eek: Kidding. Like someone posted above, I find it hard to imagine that Amazon got a bad batch of knives. Kabar would never let that happen. I think they sell so many that occaisionally a ding or imperfection goes to someone that expects custom quality. The deuce I got from them was perfect. The moral of the story is the way Paul and the folks at Kabar take care of it.

randy
 
I have 2 from Amazon - best price + free shipping + fastest delivery. Mine were fine. Frankly, within 5 minutes of getting my BK2 out of the box I was hacking divots out of a log.
 
sqoon said:
764010443_urWua-O.jpg
Click to expand...

Speaks volumes there. I was told a story once, by an old, beat to hell, Korean War Veteran Marine. He was my uncle. He was also the guy that gave me my first Kabar. Not sure if it was true, but its true its a story.

Goes like this:

During WWII, most of the men folk were off fighting, and the ladies of America hit the workforce, some, for the first time. Taking up jobs that women had never done before, welding, riveting, fixing cars, making cars, making bombs, making guns, stuff like that. Now, these ladies were of all ages, but the majority of them came from households where men done mens work, and women done womens work. Getting a chance to wear pants and run a cutting torch for Boeing, was WAY different that cooking, cleaning, and taking care of kids.

Some of the women, went to work for Kabar, making knives for their men, overseas, fighting and dying for their country. So, like all women who took care of their men, they made the best. Not just the best they could, they made the best ever. They worked until fingers bled, butts went numb, and the eyes got watery from constant focus. And then they went home, and cooked, cleaned, and took care of their kids.

I was told of one lady that worked for Kabar, that had ground knives from WWII, to the end of the Korean War. She started young, and finished old. And only quit, because, "I'm getting to old to put a hair splitting edge on tha knives". She quietly left one day, punching out on the clock, and never returned. She raised her kids, and buried her husband in the time she spent behind the grinder at Kabar, and never once had any regrets about it at all. In her eyes, she served the men that served her country, and she was proud of what she had done. At first, because it was her duty, then it was her job, finally, it was her passion.

My uncle told me this, shortly before handing me a Kabar knife. I was young and asked him about the lady, and did he know her.

I buried her two months ago, She, was my mom.

I never knew if the story was true, or if he had cooked it up. Still don't know. I don't know here name, and since my Uncle blew his knot off with a 12ga, asking him would take a Ouji board.

Either way, true or not, I like to think about that lady in the story, everytime I pick up one of my Kabar's, and its often, I think about that lady and what she done.

People sometimes get caught up in the pursuit of perfection, or the finding of flaws. Not to say you shouldn't want your money's worth out of something you bought. But, the moral of the story is,

Folks at Kabar, have a passion about what they do, and that is seen through the actions of the members of Kabar.

Thanks.

Moose
 
Bladite said:
that's a big mmmm.

i've seen a few posts (possible scam(s)) of people also saying they had weird grinds (and from amazon)...

are people just that picky to the millimeter on a knife at such a price?

heck, i've had a few $600 customs back in the day where the maker took care of me for OBVIOUS flaws but with some sub-textual grumbling. i'm sure if i pointed out something REALLY minor, i'd have been told to go [beep] myself. just goes to show how awesome Ethan, ToOoj, and KaBar are.
Click to expand...


I agree with you. Anything made by the hands of man or woman isn't perfect and you can't expect it to be. As long as there aren't any major issues, I don't sweat it. It's not going to look new for very long anyway. :D
 
nice story moose. that was back in the day when people had the right kinda "respect" for one another, and women in general.
 
Just my two cents, but with all the dealers out there who provide service and probably would be more than happy to give you a replacement, why would anyone buy from Amazon. I personally check each knife when I get it from the manufacturer or distributor. Sure, I'm a small shop, but all you have to do is ask and even the larger guys will hand pick one for you. Try that next time.
 
moosez45 said:
Speaks volumes there. I was told a story once, by an old, beat to hell, Korean War Veteran Marine. He was my uncle. He was also the guy that gave me my first Kabar. Not sure if it was true, but its true its a story.

Goes like this:

During WWII, most of the men folk were off fighting, and the ladies of America hit the workforce, some, for the first time. Taking up jobs that women had never done before, welding, riveting, fixing cars, making cars, making bombs, making guns, stuff like that. Now, these ladies were of all ages, but the majority of them came from households where men done mens work, and women done womens work. Getting a chance to wear pants and run a cutting torch for Boeing, was WAY different that cooking, cleaning, and taking care of kids.

Some of the women, went to work for Kabar, making knives for their men, overseas, fighting and dying for their country. So, like all women who took care of their men, they made the best. Not just the best they could, they made the best ever. They worked until fingers bled, butts went numb, and the eyes got watery from constant focus. And then they went home, and cooked, cleaned, and took care of their kids.

I was told of one lady that worked for Kabar, that had ground knives from WWII, to the end of the Korean War. She started young, and finished old. And only quit, because, "I'm getting to old to put a hair splitting edge on tha knives". She quietly left one day, punching out on the clock, and never returned. She raised her kids, and buried her husband in the time she spent behind the grinder at Kabar, and never once had any regrets about it at all. In her eyes, she served the men that served her country, and she was proud of what she had done. At first, because it was her duty, then it was her job, finally, it was her passion.

My uncle told me this, shortly before handing me a Kabar knife. I was young and asked him about the lady, and did he know her.

I buried her two months ago, She, was my mom.

I never knew if the story was true, or if he had cooked it up. Still don't know. I don't know here name, and since my Uncle blew his knot off with a 12ga, asking him would take a Ouji board.

Either way, true or not, I like to think about that lady in the story, everytime I pick up one of my Kabar's, and its often, I think about that lady and what she done.

People sometimes get caught up in the pursuit of perfection, or the finding of flaws. Not to say you shouldn't want your money's worth out of something you bought. But, the moral of the story is,

Folks at Kabar, have a passion about what they do, and that is seen through the actions of the members of Kabar.

Thanks.

Moose
Click to expand...

I'm speechless. Wow!
 
Hey Guys.......

I would like to say a little something about expectations........Some years back I got a little bird & trout knife by a really fine custom maker named Corbett Sigman....Maybe a 3 inch blade, small handle, many dollars....I paid very little attention to it because I intended to either sell it or trade it.......One day I really LOOKED at it and realized that it was virtually PERFECT.....I mean PERFECT........Please bear in mind that I put on my very best sunday go to meeting eyeballs, tuned at many, many shows where I have handled many thousands of knives and this was the first one I had ever handled that was without flaws that were detectible to my naked eye....Of course this was before I knew Jerry Fisk but, I digress......In some ways I am not sure why I am posting this little story, but I tend to be very proud of Ka-Bar's overall value to price ratio.......In the roughly thirty years BK&T has been around Ka-Bar has by far been the best maker ever....Average fit and finish are really good for factory produced blades...... Becker knives ARE users.......I conceived them as tools, not objet d'art........They are tools and I always judge tools first and foremost, on how well they work and then on esthetics and fit and finish......

That does NOT mean that you should give the guys in Olean a pass on obvious screw ups.......They WANT to know about mistakes because that helps them get better, which helps us all.......

Judge us fairly and please and remember that perfect little Sigman knife is worth a flat TON of Beckers, Esse's and maybe even a Chris Reeve or two.....

BTW, After I acquired that little knife I introduced myself to Mr. Sigman by telling him that, I had gotten one of his knives and it really made me quite angry...He got a shocked look on his face....I told him that I could not find one single damn flaw....He got a great big grin....Every time I saw him I always told him I was still looking and kept getting grins....I am STILL looking.......

All Best......

ethan
 
I want a good quality knife at a good price.
K-bar does that.
Ive purchased a few Beckers from amazon, were they all perfect, no.
These are hard work knives at a great value.
Cut the guys at k-bar some slack.

Great story Moose.
That was also from our best Generation.
 
You know, I had a lot more to say here, but I am going to bite my tongue cause I don't want to step on any toes.

However, we might be seeing a lot of complaints about uneven grinds from Amazon simply because a lot of the newer people are new to knives in general, and may not know about Chestnut Ridge, Knifecenter, Tomar's, etc... And I at least can't blame them for not knowing. A lot of the older members have a bad habit of abbreviating and such. When I first joined up I thought CRKS was some guy that sold knives on the side but never posted, simply because no one ever said Chestnut Ridge Knife Shop, they said CRKS. And who is this Tomar guy anyways? If you look at it like that, Amazon may be the only place they know, and a familiar place to a lot that have never even looked at a quality knife shop online. I know the missus didn't know any of these places when she got me my BK2 as a gift from Amazon.

And yeah, it had uneven grinds. That isn't an opinion, or me being picky, or anything of a personal nature at all. One side is noticeably different from the other. That isn't me having unrealistic expectations, that is just a fact. Whether or not I care about it, that is opinion, and thankfully I don't, but I can see how someone that just got a brand new knife and expected this awesome piece of metal we all know and love would be a little disappointed that theirs seemed a little off, especially since we build them up to be these little slabs of perfection. Does it affect performance? No, but when I slap it into the Lansky and sharpen at 20 degrees on each side and when I am done one side looks very different from the other, yeah, I might get a little worried that something was wrong. But for me it still cuts, and I am more a fan of hand sharpening than the Lansky kit, so I am not worried.

In any event, I think it is awesome that Kabar and Becker Knives will replace something if it comes to you with an uneven grind. That is fantastic customer service, and something not everyone would do.

Looks like I ended up with a wall of text anyways...
 
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