Bk24 initial review

beachmaster

beachmaster

Joined
Oct 3, 2014
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679
Ok, so I got two bk24s in the mail today as I went off to go hunting! I figursd that I should share my initial thoughts. But first things first... I am sorry that this picture is so awful.



Ok, so that is all of my Beckers, and basically all of my knives that i own (not including those that i plan to sell or simply review)
There are a few things that stand out immediately. My dads Bk24 is very nice. It is pretty sharp, almost hair shaving sharp. All the grinds are even, and every piece of the knife is beautiful.
That is not the case with mine (of course I am giving my dad the nice one, I am getting him into Beckers!)
Mine has uneven grinds, so that you can see the grind line on one side from the spine, the laser skipped a beat while engraving the Esee logo, and it was dull as snot... seriously, dullest knife I have ever gotten new.

The reason I purchased this knife is that the Buck packlite Skinner shown in the picture, and the Tops Msk also shown in the picture, became dull rather quickly when skinning out half of a partially frozen deer. My buddy who was doing the other half was using a stainless Chinese shrade that lasted longer... That being said, I loved using both knives for skinning, especially the Buck. I thought it was perfect. (And made in USA at only $20, cool!)

Anyways, D2 is supposed to have a good bit more abrasion resistance than 1095, with the added reputation for being difficult to sharpen... holy crap... I LITERALLY just spent over 2 hours sharpening this Bk24. It sucked... hopefully now if I keep it moderately sharp, and now that I have my angles set, it will never take that long again. If feel like I just crawled out of a wrestling match.

Which brings me to the sheath... they say that this sheath dulls the knife. It looks to me like this is a newer model that fits the profile of the blade, and has more texture, and i heard this model sheath has less glass in the nylon... heres for hoping. But here is the problem... the fit is honestly pretty poor. The knife rattles around in the sheath. To me, that is annoying and unacceptable.

So, the Tops Msk was 60-70 bucks. I dont remember. The sheath is VERY plain, as you can see in the picture, but fits great. So for 60-70 bucks you get the good sheath, 1095 steel, and micarte handles. A little spendy, but its pretty cool.

The Bk24 is around 55, I hate the sheath, but it comes in cool guy, high speed D2 steel, with no handles.

The Buck Packlite is $20 at walmart, comes with what is honestly a decent steel, 420hc, and a surprisingly decent sheath. (420hc is a stainless, but very easy to sharpen, and cheap to manufacture, because it can be stamped out)

In conclusion, for now, I love the Bk24. (Now that I have it sharp, because I was thinking of putting it up for trade about an hour ago). I dont mind the... unique qualities of the knife, its a production piece. What I do wish, is that on such a light weight knife like this, that it would come with a sheath similar to the Buck, and pass along the couple of dollars saved to the buyer. Because regardless, I am going to need a new sheath, unless I can heat this one and squeeze it. AND, unless it doesn't dull the blade. I dont need anything but use dulling this blade...

Well, thats all for now. Ill let you know how it goes in the long term.
 
2 hrs to sharpen?! :eek: Diamond stones?

Looking forward to hearing how it performs.
 
I love the BK24! I reluctantly sold it to keep the bk14 and sometimes wish I still had it. Mine came extremely sharp, and minor touch-ups on the sharpmaker kept is perfect.
 
No, I'm too stupid for diamond stones... I use an idahone v sharpener. The process involves thinning the edge to 15 degrees, then putting a final edge of 22.5 degrees on with fine rods. It works great! But, it is alot easier with 1095 lol
I dont feel that i am any good sharpening free hand, and i like systems which more or less give me and angle that i can be sure of.
 
keep practicing. i'm not great myself, but my knives are always sharper than most people i work with.
 
I love my 24 so much I got another one. Of course, the knife is near perfect, however, I totally agree with the OP about the sheaths. Extremely poor execution by KA-BAR. I love my KA-BARs but their sheaths (or at least the fit) suck. I don't use any KA-AR sheaths.
 
The 11/14/24 sheath serves its purpose but it isn't great, fortunately there are several awesome aftermarket makers out there. Several of them are members on here.

If Kabar wanted to change it up I think a BK13 type sheath for the 11/14/24 would be great...
 
I don't care much for the stock sheath. I don't have a 24, but do have two 14's. I know some don't have this issue, but the stock sheath definately dulls my knives. It's likely used error - although I try to be careful when I put them in and take them out, it's possible I'm dragging the edges some.

I picked up a leather sheath from Skystorm, and it made the overall package much nicer for me.
 
i got a 14 but didn't like the stock sheath hence i did a kydex version instead.

I did it in taco style and try go keep the edge from getting in the way against the kydex and so far have been working fine.

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Mathias, that sheath is sweet :-)

Ill probably find a beckerhead here who makes them and get one from them.

Until then, does anyone know if the glass filled nylon can be heated and... tightened?
 
It can not. However if you grab a small bit of dryer lint and stuff it into the opening followed by the knife, this usually will alleviate the rattling.
 
I took a small piece of painter's tape and stuck it over the spine. Not ideal, but it ended the rattling and can be easily replaced as needed.
 
So, this morning I grabbed my Bk24, and it wouldn't shave one way, but it shaved INCREDIBLY well, the other. So I ran the one side over my sticks just a couple times, and boom, this edge was a perfect as I was going to get it.

I pulled it out again tonight (I may have put it in and out of the sheath more earlier, I dont remember) and its dull... wont shave either way. So i am sharpening again. Haven't used the knife yet.

I love your sheath Matthias, and I cant find one like it on fleabay. I cant afford to buy on right now anyways, but I would like to find the guy I am going to order it from when I do have the $. I am assuming yours is made in Singapore?
 
stop sharpening it and just use it. doesn't have to shave hair to cut a deer open.

one other trick to silence the sheet is to put half of an ear plug in there. works great. easy to get out if you want.

if you think the sheath is dulling it, examine how you remove it, and with how much force? if you drag a razor across a stick, you will dull it, try pull against the spine and not the edge, if you are doing that.

the sheath can be modified, or you can make or buy a new one. basically, you paid $1 for the sheath. considering it a safety device :D
 
I plan on getting a 24 for next years hunting season. Hell, chances are I will use it on trout as well.

I plan on replacing the sheath with a Northeastkydex1 (ebay) sheath similar to this.



Jeremy
 
I like a very small taco kydex sheath for a knife like this, because I use it as a pocket knife, so what I do is take a ball chain (like dog tags are worn on), and attach it to the knife tip side of the sheath, then I attach it to my belt loop. When i want to use the knife, I simply grab it by the handle, pull it out of my pocket, and yank it out of the sheath (which is attached to my belt). Then i leave the sheath dangling, so that no matter what, I cant forget the knife anywhere.
This has made carrying a fixed blade as convenient as a folder for me, and it fixes my biggest problem with folders... they are constantly getting lost or stolen. I probably had to buy a new folder every year :/ wasteful.
 
Here's what I've been carrying my 24 in for the last few months. A 710 sheath. He's here in this subforum and will make you whatever you want. This is a pocket sheath. It has no belt attachment system.





I put the stickers on there so people already knew who made it.
 
This one is for an 11 but I believe Dex makes them for the 14/24 as well. It is super comfy!

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Just got a 24 and made my own Kydex, though I never had a problem with the factory sheath dulling my other 14/11 BK's. Then again, I use them for a lot of everyday tasks and they dull from that stuff anyway eventually. Maybe do like Bladite says (!) and just use it. Shaving hair has always just been a way for me to test how well I did sharpening.....not to test everyday sharpness, tho. Kinda like polishing 1095....you get a good polish on it, use it once and a patina starts to form and your perfect polish job is ruined. But....it doesn't affect the overall performance of the knife. I mean, we all know that if you "Never Have to Sharpen!" a knife, it just means that you'll be OK with using a dull knife until someone else sharpens it.
Northeast Kydex makes some nice, affordable sheaths, as does azwelke and the 710. In the meanwhile maybe try your hand at making one. It ain't too hard (especially for a small sheath) and the materials you probably have at home or can find pretty cheap. Even leather, if you have an old belt or wallet, you could prolly cobble one together.

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I might try my hand at making a sheath, sounds like fun. :-) Plus, then I could make my dad one for Christmas, since I got him a bk24 as well.

But If I cant get this 24 shaving sharp eventually, I will probably try to trade it. I am not great at sharpening, but I hate a dull knife. In fact, I probably touch up the edge on that Tops Msk on a strop or with fine rods just to keep it like I like it.

It is kinda like my firearms. After I use them, they HAVE to be cleaned perfectly. Likewise, my knives have to be as sharp as I can get them, or I feel that they are unserviceable to me.

I will keep working on the 24 though, especially once I have made my own sheaths. I have gotten it sharp before, so once I get a different sheath, maybe I can keep it sharp, and fall into love with it lol
 
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