- Joined
- Jan 1, 2009
- Messages
- 3,431
Well my new BK-5 arrived today. And it's a sweetie. I thought I'd take some time to document my first impressions. And post up some pictures.
First off it's a fierce looking blade. Captian Blood comes to mind..
Here it is as received,

And then dressed up a bit,

Since it's no fun to play alone, I brought along some friends. All three of these knives are called "Camp Knives" by their respective manufacturers. So I thought it would be fun to size them up a bit. Becker BK-5 Magnum Camp, Bark River Hudson Bay Camp Knife, D.H. Russell Canadian Camp Survival Knife. I was surprised how similar the Becker and the Barkie were in overall size. The BK-5 is a large knife.


I tried some baton work. The BK-5 did better than I expected. Even if it did chew up my baton a bit. It has a false edge on top that goes most of the way to the handle.


The Barkie also excels at Batoning.

The Russell is somewhat limited by its smaller size, but managed the task.

All three are Full Tang Blades,



In the chopping department the BK-5 did very well. I thought the Barkie would see a major advantage here because of the more blade forward weight of the knife. But the Becker did better than I expected. Again the Russell was sort of limited because of it's size.

All three side by side for size comparison.

A shot of the blade bellies,

Overall, I came away impressed with the Magnum Camp. Out of the box, it shaved hair off my arm. The jury is still out on the false edge on top. But if I wanted a fighter, sharpening this would make a fierce weapon. I have not tried it yet, but I have to believe it's a slicing machine. It is thinner than the Barkie. But it handled batoning and chopping better than expected. I made a few fuzz sticks which I burned before photographing. It handled that well also. I think it's a keeper. I'm sure it will do well in kitchen duty too. I think this knife will get it's coating stripped off. I think it will add to the pirate appeal. I like that in a knife. Nice job Eathan and Ka-Bar.
A quick shot of a Becker wearing Barkie Pants (Hint, Hint!!)

First off it's a fierce looking blade. Captian Blood comes to mind..
Here it is as received,

And then dressed up a bit,

Since it's no fun to play alone, I brought along some friends. All three of these knives are called "Camp Knives" by their respective manufacturers. So I thought it would be fun to size them up a bit. Becker BK-5 Magnum Camp, Bark River Hudson Bay Camp Knife, D.H. Russell Canadian Camp Survival Knife. I was surprised how similar the Becker and the Barkie were in overall size. The BK-5 is a large knife.


I tried some baton work. The BK-5 did better than I expected. Even if it did chew up my baton a bit. It has a false edge on top that goes most of the way to the handle.


The Barkie also excels at Batoning.

The Russell is somewhat limited by its smaller size, but managed the task.

All three are Full Tang Blades,



In the chopping department the BK-5 did very well. I thought the Barkie would see a major advantage here because of the more blade forward weight of the knife. But the Becker did better than I expected. Again the Russell was sort of limited because of it's size.

All three side by side for size comparison.

A shot of the blade bellies,

Overall, I came away impressed with the Magnum Camp. Out of the box, it shaved hair off my arm. The jury is still out on the false edge on top. But if I wanted a fighter, sharpening this would make a fierce weapon. I have not tried it yet, but I have to believe it's a slicing machine. It is thinner than the Barkie. But it handled batoning and chopping better than expected. I made a few fuzz sticks which I burned before photographing. It handled that well also. I think it's a keeper. I'm sure it will do well in kitchen duty too. I think this knife will get it's coating stripped off. I think it will add to the pirate appeal. I like that in a knife. Nice job Eathan and Ka-Bar.
A quick shot of a Becker wearing Barkie Pants (Hint, Hint!!)
