- Joined
- Aug 10, 2013
- Messages
- 104
I did some camping this past weekend in southern Ohio with my wife and our two trouble making dogs. I have an Ontario Ranger Bush Series 9 that I got a few weeks ago, and somehow or another I came into possession of a brand new BK9 a few days ago. I took both camping and decided that I would give the ranger an honest run and if it did well, I would return the BK9 unused and get my money back. After using the Ontario for some fire detail, I decided it worked just fine and I would indeed return the BK9. However, my wonderful wife talked me into using the BK9 just so I would know if it was worth all the hype. I decided that if I was going to use it, I might as well put it in a head to head showdown with the RBS9.
General info:
Both knives are 3/16" thick, 1095 carbon steel. The Ranger has a full flat grind, the BK9 has the sabre grind. The Ranger comes stock with Micarta scales, the BK9 has the classic Becker grivory. I paid $61 for the Ranger, and $75 for the BK9.
Sheath:
The retention on the BK9 sheath is far superior to that of the Ontario. Each sheath has a front pouch, the BK9 flap closes with Velcro and the Ranger's flap closes with a plastic snap....the plastic snap broke on the first day. I do however like the adjustable straps on the RBS9 better than those on the Becker.
Ergonomics
This is a highly personal decision. I absolutely hated the grip on the RBS9 (which is why I ordered the BK9). I spent an afternoon with an angle grinder and the RBS9 and dramatically thinned out the grips. They feel better now, but still nowhere near as comfortable as the BK9. Overall, the RBS9 feels much lighter in the hand than the BK9, and the blade is actually a good bit thinner top to bottom than the BK9. The RBS9 has some light jimping and a very useable choil on the blade that I really like. Overall, the RBS9 feels much better when choking up on the blade for small knife tasks.
Ok ok, onto the actual performance tests!
The Contestants:
Test 1: Feathersticks
Ok, I suck at making feathersticks. The choil on the RBS9 and the more narrow/lighter blade make it easier to perform fine cutting tasks. The BK9 is heavier, more weight forward, and has a larger blade with an uncomfortable finger ramp that makes it slightly less maneuverable than the Ontario. However, when making feather sticks with the knives hammered into a log, it was a draw. EDGE: RBS9
Test 2: Chopping
I'm not sure what type of wood I was using, but it was very hard. I noted how deep each knife sunk on the first hit, and then how many strikes it took to make it through.
RBS 1st Strike:
BK9 1st Strike:
Pretty close, but if anything the RBS bit deeper
RBS- 12 strikes to get through (that's right, 12....it was HARD)
BK9- 4 strikes to get through. The BK9 DESTROYS the RBS9 in chopping. I expected this though because you can feel how much more weight forward the BK9 is.
Test 3: Batoning
I had some pretty knotty wood from a tree that I processed with my Bahco Laplander. I was expecting the RBS9 to baton slighty better because the flat grind is more wedge-like.
The logs were a few inches in diameter, but pretty knotty
The RBS9 got pretty hung up on a decent sized knot and took a considerable amount of whacking before it made it through, my hand was throbbing
The BK9 on the other hand literally EXPLODED through the logs! It was so easy that my wife even batoned a few logs. This was really no contest, the BK9 batons better than any knife I have ever used including the BK2.
It was so easy with the BK9 that I quickly processed the entire weekends worth of wood!
This contest was hands down won by the BK9. Is was vastly superior in nearly every way. It was so evident that even my wife made a comment on how big a piece of crap the RBS9 was. Not that its really a POS, but the BK9 is....well, the KING!
The King in all his glory
General info:
Both knives are 3/16" thick, 1095 carbon steel. The Ranger has a full flat grind, the BK9 has the sabre grind. The Ranger comes stock with Micarta scales, the BK9 has the classic Becker grivory. I paid $61 for the Ranger, and $75 for the BK9.
Sheath:
The retention on the BK9 sheath is far superior to that of the Ontario. Each sheath has a front pouch, the BK9 flap closes with Velcro and the Ranger's flap closes with a plastic snap....the plastic snap broke on the first day. I do however like the adjustable straps on the RBS9 better than those on the Becker.
Ergonomics
This is a highly personal decision. I absolutely hated the grip on the RBS9 (which is why I ordered the BK9). I spent an afternoon with an angle grinder and the RBS9 and dramatically thinned out the grips. They feel better now, but still nowhere near as comfortable as the BK9. Overall, the RBS9 feels much lighter in the hand than the BK9, and the blade is actually a good bit thinner top to bottom than the BK9. The RBS9 has some light jimping and a very useable choil on the blade that I really like. Overall, the RBS9 feels much better when choking up on the blade for small knife tasks.
Ok ok, onto the actual performance tests!
The Contestants:
Test 1: Feathersticks
Ok, I suck at making feathersticks. The choil on the RBS9 and the more narrow/lighter blade make it easier to perform fine cutting tasks. The BK9 is heavier, more weight forward, and has a larger blade with an uncomfortable finger ramp that makes it slightly less maneuverable than the Ontario. However, when making feather sticks with the knives hammered into a log, it was a draw. EDGE: RBS9
Test 2: Chopping
I'm not sure what type of wood I was using, but it was very hard. I noted how deep each knife sunk on the first hit, and then how many strikes it took to make it through.
RBS 1st Strike:
BK9 1st Strike:
Pretty close, but if anything the RBS bit deeper
RBS- 12 strikes to get through (that's right, 12....it was HARD)
BK9- 4 strikes to get through. The BK9 DESTROYS the RBS9 in chopping. I expected this though because you can feel how much more weight forward the BK9 is.
Test 3: Batoning
I had some pretty knotty wood from a tree that I processed with my Bahco Laplander. I was expecting the RBS9 to baton slighty better because the flat grind is more wedge-like.
The logs were a few inches in diameter, but pretty knotty
The RBS9 got pretty hung up on a decent sized knot and took a considerable amount of whacking before it made it through, my hand was throbbing
The BK9 on the other hand literally EXPLODED through the logs! It was so easy that my wife even batoned a few logs. This was really no contest, the BK9 batons better than any knife I have ever used including the BK2.
It was so easy with the BK9 that I quickly processed the entire weekends worth of wood!
This contest was hands down won by the BK9. Is was vastly superior in nearly every way. It was so evident that even my wife made a comment on how big a piece of crap the RBS9 was. Not that its really a POS, but the BK9 is....well, the KING!
The King in all his glory
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