BK10 Question

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firefive

Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
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I am trying to find a good survival knife in the 5" range. Are there any crewman owners out there who can give me their first hand experience with the crewman. I want the knife to have a nice flat grind, take a good sharp edge. Be tough enough to baton with and chop, but not as heavy as some of the 1/4" thick blades that are out there. The knife needs to be light enough that I will carry with me. Currently I have a Busse NO and its to heavy to carry in my opinion. I have heard that in the future micarta scales will be available for retrofit on the crewman, is this true? So all you crewman owners out there is this the right knife for what I have described?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hello, firefive. Though I don't own a BK10, I thought I'd reply anyway. Hate to see a post go unanswered, and I do own a BK9, so maybe have some relevant experience.

For what you say you're looking for -- ~5" blade survival knife -- I think you'd be happy with the Becker. Camillus's 0170-6C is an excellent steel, easy to sharpen, takes a nice "crisp" edge and has very good retention.

I'm sure you know it won't be as tough as your Busse, but then, it doesn't cost anywhere near as much as a Busse either, and it's still going to be a very tough knife.

Overall I think the BK10 would fit the bill for everything you ask.

The biggest controversy with the Becker line seems to be the handles. I honestly didn't expect to like them, but as it turned out, I think they're great. But even if you don't like them, it would be a very simple matter to have new scales made out of micarta, wood, or whatever you like. Also some users thin down the factory grips, or have them sandblasted to change the grip/texture.

Beckers are an excellent bang for the buck, very good working knives.

Dave
 
Thanks for the response. You answered most of my questions. From what you say the companion should be plenty tough and much more comfortable tocarry. Now I am wondering if I should wait for the Becker extremes version, or buy both?
 
Though I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude with the Becker "extreme" line, S30V wouldn't be my choice for a large, hard use blade. In a ~5" class blade it may be OK, but I still don't think a BK10 in extreme "flavor" is really going to compete directly with the standard BK10. Plus the extremes are likely to cost considerably more, leading me to wonder just what niche they're supposed to fill.

Of course, I'm kind of a carbon steel hard-case, and that certainly colors my judgement.

Dave
 
Is it true that micarta scales will be available to retrofit on the standard line of BK10's. As for S30V I have a dominator in that flavor. The knife has been great with none of the problems posted. The S30V takes a nice edge and holds it very well, hence my interest. I like my knives very sharp even the big ones. I was hoping to get the same performance edge wise out of an extreme. I have not heard much concerning how S30V handles chopping without chipping. I know the late Rob Simmonich used it in his Raven which I believe was a 7" blade. Must have some good traits.
 
Admitting here that mine is but a layman's understanding ... though an excellent stainless steel, S30V's impact toughness and ductility are low when compared to a good carbon steel. While you would gain corrosion resistance and edge retention (in general, non-abusive cutting use) compared with, say, one of the modestly-priced SR101 Swamp Rat products, an S30V blade isn't going to be one you'll want to use for the same kind of tough chopping tasks as you would the Swamp Rat, nor could it be expected to stand up to heavy prying.

This is why I say, I'm not sure what niche the Becker extremes are supposed to fill.

Dave
 
Thanks for the information,that makes the decision easier. I think I will be getting a standard crewman due to intended use, and cost savings. The only concern I have left is the grips. hopefully they will be comfortable. If not their is always the hope that micarta will be available in the future. FYI I own a camptramp which I have yet to put through the paces.

Thanks for all you help.
 
I'm still not sure that the S30V would be a huge leap over the current Becker steel. Maybe a small one, but the current carbon steel is so good, I really don't feel a need to "upgrade". The toughness of the carbon steel is a real plus in my book. With the black coating, rust is pretty much a non-issue.

The crewman doesn't do much for me in the looks department, but that companion, well, I'm going to have to try one of those, that really looks like a good looking knife.
 
I must admit the Companion is a much better looking knife. there are several things that draw me to the Crewman though; high grind, and exposed pounding tang are the biggest. I have one question though, how thick is the blade on the companion? It appears to be a thicker blade or a different grind?
 
It sounds like you've made your decision, but I thought I might just throw this in. I own a companion. It's about a quarter inch thick. My only complaint is its weight, which doesn't seem like a fair complaint when one looks at how I use it. I’ve handled the BK-10 at a gun show and liked it a lot. I thought the thumb ramp was an especially nice feature. I felt like it would be easier to do fine work with the weight/point/thumb ramp combination of the BK-10, but I sure like the heft of the companion for splitting kindling out of rounds. I think in deciding which knife would be “better” for you would depend on what exactly you would be using it for 90% of the time.

It you are concerned about the handles on any of the Beckers, you can always go to a site like Texas Knife makers supply:

http://www.texasknife.com/TKS_Mainframe.htm

and buy some micarta and make your own grips. I just bought a slab of black linen for 17 bucks. That’s enough for me to screw up a couple times and still have enough left over to put a handle on my BK-11.

Biscuits
 
Weight is definitely a concern for the use I have in mind, I do a lot of hiking in steep terrain. currently I carry a Nimravus in M2 steel. the knife is the perfect weight, but i am a little concerned about the brittleness of M2 for survival use. I plan to replace the Nimravus with the Crewman. 3/16th of an inch blade thickness is about the max due to weight concerns. As far as chopping and splitting that will be the realm of my Camptramp. thanks for the information on the blade thickness of the companion. For some reason that spec is never mentioned.
 
and I like it very much. It's small enough for light work (really does a number on a bass) and is even a decent chopper for a smaller knife. It really came in handy this spring while chopping some wild rose bushes. They were in the middle of my black berry patch, so I didn't have enough room from side to side to swing my BK9 while trying to get at the base of the bushes. The Crewman worked great for this.

I also use my Crewman for light to moderate prying. I'm a beekeeper, and I've used it to pry apart my hives while inspecting them. It's not like prying a car door open, but those boxes can be stuck together fairly well at times and they can some weight to them.

It sounds like the Crewman fits what you need out of a knife. I would trust it in a life threatening situation.
 
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