Hey Bighoss....
We are all looking for the "One Knife" that will do all the things we want to do better than any other
Knife that ever is or ever was....... I have been on that quest for most of my life and can only say,"I'am a workin' on it!!!.......I think I am getting closer if the knife is in my hands..... CMRickand I were doing comparisons between the 9, 20 and 21 yesterday and it was interesting.....we were in my neighbors bamboo grove, cutting culms that were two to three and a half inches in diameter.... The thin wall one year growth culms yielded better to the 9 and 21 and the older thicker walled stuff was easier felled by the 20...... As we all get used to the new tool I think the consensus will be in favor of the twenty, as it has a bit more weight and reach and damned good balance..... Thanks for trying to be objective...LOL....
Ethan
The One Knife concept really boils down to what we call in aviation Mission Profile. The same logic can be applied to boats. Folks see a boat they like and then try to adapt their mission profile to the boat. They get real unhappy real quick and the boat goes up for sale.
I have a gaggle of Becker knives and, when around the house, have the luxury of picking up the knife I feel best suit for the task. The BK5 slices and dices like nobody's business while I can do things with the BK2 that other knives would crawl up in their sheaths and cry like babies about.
The BK9, to me, is seems a bit more versatile as it handles lighter in the hand ... think flipping burgers or, as you taught me the test of any knife is: making a tent peg. The BK20, OTOH, is hefty yet extremely well balanced for lopping and chopping; not that the 9 cannot lop and chop - just that the 20 seems more purpose designed for those tasks. Every design criteria involves compromise and reducing the delta of compromise to mission profile functionality is a very worthy if not elusive goal of any designer - be it of a knife, truck, airplane or anything else.
The BK9 is not unlike a 3/4 ton (now called 2500 series) pick-up truck: stout, capable, strong, functional and versatile. A 3/4 ton truck isn't terribly unwieldy around town yet it can tow, haul, plow and get stuff done without suffering undue wear, tear or failure. Like the BK9, it's darned near a do it all truck. The 20 is more of the 3500 dually. Yes it can be driven around town and sure it's bigger and heavier than needed for many tasks but when big jobs, big trailers and big roads are in the mix - a 3500 dually really comes into its own. This is evident in what Ethan shared regarding the one-year bamboo versus the heavier walled more mature bamboo. If I were to own just one truck, it would be a 3/4 ton but if the mission profile more frequently called for heavier work - a 3500 dually would be the ticket. The BK20 is the 3500 dually - though a well handling, powerful and nimble for its ability 3500 dually.
i'd probably add a larger knife like a khukri, esp the original Machax (mine also has the necker and small knife and a firesteel).
lol