BK7 or BK9?

Words of wisdom Ethan! I always enjoy reading your thoughts about your knives.
especially when I was thinking along the same lines. My second knife of yours I bought was a BK7 I used it for every thing,from chopping & digging,to my own dinner plate
putting up a privacy fence,hunting & camping I used that BK7 hard for five years.
after getting and using the new BK9 I gave MY 7 to my brother. because the the bk9
dose all the same work easier.
thanks for making great knives!
 
Hey Spooky and Exidor.....

Great minds....A rucksak goes into my pocket everytime I leave the bedroom.....Thanks for your purchase and I hope your new Becker serves you well....

And, Thank You, Exidor for your kind words and I am glad you find your NINE useful and thanks for letting me know !!!...

All Best...

ethan
 
Craaaaaaaap. I've succeeded in resisting the call of the BK9...up till now.

Thanks a lot Spooky (and Ethan and everyone else in this thread) :grumpy: :D


Seeing as I've never had a knife in that range, it's too good to pass up. I've spent more on a folder....:)
 
SpookyPistolero said:
I'm having kind of a hard time choosing between these two. Even though a 'big blade' doesn't fit into my chosen woods repertoire, I just feel like playing with one lately! Whudaya gonna do... :D I've got a KaBar heavy bowie (9") that I've always loved. It's comfortable both to choke up one and to chop with.

But what say the masses on the BK7 vs the BK9? Does the -9 chop that much better than the -7 to make it worth the size/weight? Does the -7 'carve' well enough to make it worth hauling into the woods? (I'm not looking to carve a pipe out of one with it, but it needs to be able to make basic fuzz sticks and traps and such.)
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My Camillus BK9 will make fuzz sticks and such till the cows come home.
And it's an awesome chopper.
Right now, I'm having the same dilemma in trying to choose which one
to get (have a post of my own on that subject).

I've heard many good things about both knives.

What thoughts have you come up with?

Would the BK9 be a backup to your heavy bowie?
 
Packaged arrived today and was waiting for me when I got home! Very exciting. I'll elaborate at the bottom...

d_filgate said:
My Camillus BK9 will make fuzz sticks and such till the cows come home.
And it's an awesome chopper.
Right now, I'm having the same dilemma in trying to choose which one
to get (have a post of my own on that subject).

I've heard many good things about both knives.

What thoughts have you come up with?

Would the BK9 be a backup to your heavy bowie?
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I'll probably keep playing with both to see which 'wins', though they both are great knives. I'm also a self-described hatchet + 4" fixed blade kind of guy, so carrying a single big blade into the woods is more for fun than anything. More of a description below...

rksoon said:
Craaaaaaaap. I've succeeded in resisting the call of the BK9...up till now.

Thanks a lot Spooky (and Ethan and everyone else in this thread) :grumpy: :D


Seeing as I've never had a knife in that range, it's too good to pass up. I've spent more on a folder....:)
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Haha, life is rough when you're with a bunch of other equally obsessed people! Luckily the Beckers are budget priced. :thumbup:

Ethan Becker said:
Hey Spooky and Exidor.....

Great minds....A rucksak goes into my pocket everytime I leave the bedroom.....Thanks for your purchase and I hope your new Becker serves you well....

And, Thank You, Exidor for your kind words and I am glad you find your NINE useful and thanks for letting me know !!!...

All Best...

ethan
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Heck yeah, gotta love the Rucksack! Right up there with the Farmer.

I took it and my Kabar Heavy Bowie out back for a while too cut and snap some pics. Really abused the crud out of the Becker for a while! So first, the Becker basics.

First, I liked the sheath. It's light weight and simple, and ruggedly assembled. I've heard some decry it but I think it's great for the price and for a real 'user' type knife. I don't have to worry about it getting dirty or scratched or anything. The pouch is pretty generous, and comfortably holds my Vic Rucksack, Army model firesteel, and some fatwood wrapped in jute twine. The single retention strap at the handle has a button snap, which I greatly prefer versus velcro. I jostled it upside down and no retention issues.

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Pulled out the BK13 next, it's a nifty little bugger! Should be very handy around camp for food prep. I haven't messed with it too much. But it really complements this Big Boy pretty darn well. I'm sure I'll write more after I play around with it.

To the meat: I dig the BK9! It's got a bit of heft but handles like a much more lightweight knife. This aspect pleasantly surprised me. The handle dimensions seem to fit my hand a lot better than the BK2 did, and it actually feels more nimble overall than the BK2 oddly enough. I'm exceedingly grateful for intelligent contouring and circumference like this on a production knife. Good job.

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The edge came a bit toothy but sharp. Shaving sharp actually. I spent a little time with a stone and then a strop, and it's further improving. I had also been concerned that the edge would be to thick, considering the saber grind vs my full flat heavy bowie. But no worries, I found it plenty 'thin' at that area for tiny fuzz sticks. I also chopped and hacked at several types of wood with no detriment at all to my edge. [Depressingly, I did manage to let a piece of concrete come into the distal edge somehow and put some dings in it. They sharpened out easily though. Phew.]

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I took a large, thick piece of oak firewood and tried to baton through it after doing the basic chopping. The wood is veeery dense and tough to get through. There was a good bit of binding in the wood despite some intense wacks. Out of laziness, I 'reverse batoned' the knife back out of the wood. This was tough too. When I pulled it out, it had actually stripped off the coating in several areas at the beginning of the grind! The extent (depth) of the stripping was surprising vs other coated knives that have done this in the past. More alarming, the knife had also gotten very hot from the friction (almost uncomfortable to hold from the heat). I don't think it was hot enough to do harm. That's all, of course, my fault and not the blades.

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Overall I'm quite pleased with it. It's got a great thickness for the blade length, and it handles well in both chopping and basic carving. Plus (vs a hatchet) I can do more cleaving of small branches or vegetation. It made fine notches, and fine fuzz sticks. Obviously plenty of target for batoning. Like I said, I'm a 'hatchet and 4"-er" kind of guy, but I think next time I go out I'm gonna try bringing just the BK9 to see how warm and fuzzy it makes me feel vs my usual combo.

The 'feel' is just a bit different with my Heavy Bowie. Both are fantastic knives as 'big blades'. Both chop very well. I love the flat grind of my HB, but I was not at all disappointed with the BK9 in that regard. The handle on the HB is wider/thicker, but I actually prefer the BK9. They actually both handle really, really similarly: the 1/4" thickness on the HB is offset by the flat grind and long swedge, and the BK9 is just a little less thick which takes some weight away. The BK9 I think chops a bit better. The sheath wins on the Becker, by a lot.

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I'm happy that I picked it up vs the BK7 I think, Ethan gave some good advice! The 9 is a better balance/compromise I think. So if you're on the fence, just gopherit!
 
Good review, Spooky. Ya gotta love Beckers: I don't think anything touches them for the price. Now you need to do a review on your new BK-13.
 
An excellent review Spooky :thumbup: I was afraid the BK9 would feel cumbersome, but judging by your impressions, it handles well for a big knife. I ordered a BK9 of my own today (very few reasons not to at that price); now the waiting begins :)

Was there anything in particular you did not like about the knife?
 
So far, there's not really anything I don't like about it. If there were something, it'd just be a problem with a big knife in general or something like that. I noticed a bit when carving that my hands wanted to choke up further on the blade a bit, but I had to consciously reposition it. That's more of a user issue though, as it's not that much less controllable with a normal grip but a lot more comfortable.

I am, however, thinking of stripping the coating after the binding incident. I'm not a hater of coatings in general, though.
 
Great Review Spooky Pistolero ! I see your putting that Blade to the Test, Thank's for all the picture's and the BK9 Review !
 
awsome just awsome great review great pics.I especially like the fuzz stick pic showing the finer work a nimble BK9 can do.
 
Just got my BK9, and it is indeed surprisingly light in hand! :thumbup: I was prepared for a clunky chopper, but this knife really does handle well. I, too, am pleasantly surprised. I am glad I got this guy instead of the BK7...first at least. I plan to pick up the BK7 sometime down the line as well. :D The BK13 is great too, really nice to have it there to complement the BK9. I can't say how pleased I am with my first Becker :).

I don't have time to do a review yet, and won't really get to play with it until a few weeks for now, but I am definitely impressed and really happy with these knives so far :thumbup: :thumbup: The sheath is great too, can't decide if I want to put a multi-tool, firekit, or flashlight in the pocket :).

Will do a review later when I get out to use it :thumbup:.
 
rksoon, go for the BK-2 next. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much knife it is, and how versatile. Since you already have the BK-9, I think (personal opinion ... take it for what it's worth) the BK-7 is too close in size to the BK-9. The Bk-2 makes more sense to me, and may to you, too, once you have one.
 
I might duracoat mine...anyone think thats a bad idea? awsome pics spooky, authentic battle damage!
 
dawsonbob said:
rksoon, go for the BK-2 next. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much knife it is, and how versatile. Since you already have the BK-9, I think (personal opinion ... take it for what it's worth) the BK-7 is too close in size to the BK-9. The Bk-2 makes more sense to me, and may to you, too, once you have one.
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Will look into it dawsonbob :thumbup: They are indeed close in size...I just always wanted the 7... :)
 
rksoon said:
Will look into it dawsonbob :thumbup: They are indeed close in size...I just always wanted the 7... :)
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Well, if you've always wanted the 7, then that's the one to get. You can't go wrong with any of the Beckers, IMHO, ant the 7 is an excellent knife. If you haven't handled the BK-2 though, you owe it to yourself to give it a try -- it's one heck of a knife.
 
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