BK-2 or BK-7? Decisions decisions..

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ko9

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Mar 9, 2010
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I'm planning to get a good knife for when I go camping. Will probably be using it for some wood-related tasks (everything needed to build a fire), and some small tasks around camp. Also possibly some random chores around the house when I'm at home.
The two clear candidates for me (given my budget) are the Becker BK-2 and BK-7. I'm kind of wondering what the real benefit of either of them is over the other.
They're both the same brand, so should be roughly the same quality. The BK-7 is bigger, which I guess makes it more suited for larger wood work, and less for small cutting work?
Is that correct? And what other reasons are there for choosing one or the other (I'm really torn between the two)?

Thanks in advance,
Ko9
 
i think everyones first Becker should be a BK2 aka the Campanion. i cant think of many things they cant do. the blade length with the added thickness is the perfect design. mine is the go to knife in the kitchen, but i am the only one who gets to use it. LOL besides, you wont end up with just one Becker anyway. ive had my BK2 for years now, and when i found this forum i realized how much i NEEDED another...a GREAT BIG CHOPPER, so i now have a BK9 also:D
 
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The 1/4" thickness of the BK2 coupled with its 5-1/2" length really makes it a very solid & useful knife around the camp.

The BK7 in my book is more of a soldier's knife/fighting knife.
 
The BK2 has never appealed to me. I don't see the need for the added thickness in a short blade. In a longer blade that would make sense because you can exert more leverage with a longer blade. The 1/4" thickness is overkill in my opinion...and that's probably why many people like it.
I like my BK7 quite a bit. Its added length will allow you to baton wider pieces of wood, it will chop better and the trade-off will be slightly less control for delicate cutting.
My favorite Becker is the BK9.
 
Yeah, on thinking about it a bit more, I agree with woody_d and rifon2 that the BK-2 is probably the better allrounder for my needs.
Anybody happen to know what the cheapest shop/way to get one is, with me living in the Netherlands? I can't seem to find Dutch shops that sell these knives, so might have to order one from abroad (with the current exchange rate, it might be cheaper anyway to just buy in the US and ship it?)

Thanks for the feedback,
Ko9
 
Hey ko9.....

If it was just one........I vote BK-2 Campanion.......The seven is in that betwixt and between area....It will do the job and quite nicely but I gotta say when I think of going to the woods (I rarely carry anything not in current production or a proto) I think BK-11, BK-9 or BK-2.......The Two will do almost any old thing you can dream up for it and is quite compact and easy to carry in a comfy way......The Seven was purpose designed to fit the same size envelope as the issue Ka-Bar to make blade phobic commanders happy.....If you go for length go for the Nine..........Size matters.....

All Best....

ethan
 
Interesting, so if I understand you correctly your take is that most people shouldn't really go with the 7, but with either the 2 (small and comfy) or 9 (nice for larger chopping work), or both?
Would you say the BK2 or BK7 is nicer for regular slicing? (e.g. chopping some vegetables, cutting some meat, etc)
I heard different people say about both the 2 and 7 that they were better at it, maybe it's just a matter of preference?
I don't think the 9 is as general purpose as the other two by the way.. I guess a good combo might be the 9 and the 2. Keeping the 2 as a general purpose, and for larger work, skipping the 7 and going for the 9.
 
Hey ko9......

I have 25 years watching friends help me chop onions, garlic, beef, etc with a Campanion.....I know that it works damn well as an all around camp campanion.....I took a picture twenty years ago of a pile of kindling next to my favorite coffee pot by a campfire on the Rockcastle River in south central Ky on which the night before we had cooked up a lovely batch of Macleids great chili and the Campanion had done it all......It was the moment that I thought that I might have a future in this knife business....Food prep, fire prep, and if had been a hunting camp it would have skinned the meat as well......And if I had to pry one of my friends out of a wrecked car on the way home it would have cheerfully done that too........Add a BK-11 Necker to a Campanion and you are set......I am proud of the Seven, damned proud, and they ARE popular but we sell a BUNCH more of the Twos....Either will fill your needs, but the Two WORKS and I am in LOOOOOVE with the Nine, I enjoy putting it thru it's paces as much as anything........I think of it as a non nuke light saber........It git'ser done!!!!!!!!.....

Hope this helps .......

All Best...

ethan
 
Haha, that sounds awesome :-)
More confirmation for me to just go with the BK-2 then, and save up for the BK-11 (and maybe the Bk-9 later)
Thanks for the feedback, and may you long continue to make these knives :-)

PS. Do you happen to know anything about the rules regarding shipping a knife like the BK-2 to the Netherlands (or maybe it's the EU in general)? Since most shops don't seem to so, I may have to ask a US-based friend to order it and send it to me.. But not sure if it's legal to just send it over..
 
Hey k09.....

We had a little problem sending a blade or two to one of our Danish friends but I am totally at a loss about the Netherlands.....A phone call (from a pay phone) to your customs people is probably your best bet.....Sorry....

I spent a couple of weeks with a Dutch family in my teens in Rotterdamn and it still rates as one of the best experiences of my life......I hope to get back again, for damn sure....

All Best....

ethan

All Best....

ethan
 
Hey k09.....

We had a little problem sending a blade or two to one of our Danish friends but I am totally at a loss about the Netherlands.....A phone call (from a pay phone) to your customs people is probably your best bet.....Sorry....

I spent a couple of weeks with a Dutch family in my teens in Rotterdamn and it still rates as one of the best experiences of my life......I hope to get back again, for damn sure....

All Best....

ethan

All Best....

ethan
 
No worries, I guess I'll go by the post office tomorrow, they can probably give me some information about it as well. The Netherlands has some inverse freedoms compared to the US, so you never know what is legal and what isn't.. e.g. we are allowed to drink and smoke weed at age 16, but guns are pretty strictly controlled (and we're not allowed to drive a car until we're 18). No idea what the stance on knives is.

I have two more questions by the way :-P

1) How demanding is the BK-2 in terms of taking care of it? i.e. what will I need to keep it in good shape, and how often will I need to use it? Someone suggested elsewhere to wipe it with vegetable/olive oil when not using it in order to prevent rust, while at the same time keeping it ready for preparing food. That sounded like a solid idea to me, but I'm pretty new to all this. Also, is there anything else I need to get/use to keep the knife in good shape? I have a sharpening steel, but that's about all the related equipment I have for now.

2) Are there different models on the market? I see some places selling the "Camillus Becker BK2" while others sell the "Kabar Becker BK2", and yet others sell "Ka-Bar BK2 Becker Campanion Mfg# 0002". Are they all the same? Or are these three different versions, with the Camillus being an older model with the old company name, the second one being first model BK2 and the last being the BK2 model #2?. I got a bit confused browsing through the e-shops, one of the downsides of not being able to go into a real shop :-)

Thanks for all the advice and help,
ko9

PS. Love the 'n' after Rotterdam there.. Freudian slip? ;-D
 
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