Bought a new Becker...

A mature 2 1/2 year old doe makes four deer now for the Necker. This time I prepped the knife with an old butcher steel, just a few passes was enough to bring it back to full sharp after the third deer. My son-in-law now prefers this one over the smaller handled Sharpfinger. I like and use them both. The droppoint of the BK11 is just too dull for me to do some finer piercing chores as well as I have become accustomed to the Sharpfinger doing. Oh, it still does fine with adjusted technique. And the "rubbing motion" I use when skinning works better with the BK11 than with the sharpfinger.

I still haven't had the chance to use the Necker for any basic woodcrafting chores, but as it becomes more familiar in the hand, I can see the possibilities. The squared spine does stroke off good sparks from my ferrocerium rod.

I guess I need to locate another BK11 for my son-in-law to keep him from taking mine. Maybe I can find another used one at a decent price like I did this one. Or just perhaps...the new ones will issue in the next month or so. I'd hate to have to wait until next fall/winter to compare the two.

Codger
 
Happy Thanksgiving Codger!

I don't think you will see any Kabar Beckers for a while, would recomend one more 0170-6C; just in case Kabar takes a different approach.
 
Phil, I have to say that I am impressed with the Becker's 0170-6C steel. And that is saying a lot for an old Codger who prefers 1095HC.

So it sounds like the new Ka'Beckers may be a mid to late '08 release and perhaps they aren't settled on the steel and temper yet. Hmmm... I might just do well to pick up another of the Cam'Becker Neckers soon then. I sure do hate to pay inflated prices for one though. Maybe I need to haunt the sell-n-trade forums here. Or maybe Santa Guyon will.... nah.:D

Happy Thanksgiving Phil!:)

Codger
 
You really think prices will fall to the floor after K-Bar starts production on the BK&T's? I am a collector and user and I hope that the Camillus branding holds and goes up in desire and price. What is everyone elses opinion on this?
 
Given that, IMHO all future Camillus/Western/Camco/CUDA will likely be of Chinese origin, I think the originals will at least hold value, if not apreciate a little.

With the Beckers...................... who knows??

I am a little biased toward the 0170-6C :o
 
So I guess now the question that Mr Becker can answer; Will the new Beckers be made in the US or will they go overseas?
 
jforbush said:
So I guess now the question that Mr Becker can answer; Will the new Beckers be made in the US or will they go overseas?
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I don't think they will go overseas...i tried to get as much info from customer service as i could, Steel has not been decided as well as design decisions and it will be well into 08 before they will be on the market. I don't want d2 at least not in the choppers and if they use their 440 stuff i likely wont add them to my collection.
 
I hope you are right and I hope they don't use 440 either. I want to add to my collection but I want the exact same as what camillus was doing. Why change something if it aint broke?
 
Kabar does not have access to 0170-6C; so they will not be able to do Beckers the "Camillus Way"!
 
But if I am not mis-remembering, Ethan did post here somewhere that his new line of knives were to be American made, not imported? I realize that the Camillus marks are a different colored horse, and the new owners may do with them as they wish, just as Mr. Taylor has done with the Imperial Schrade marks.

What are the steels currently in use by KaBar?

Codger
 
Codger_64 said:
But if I am not mis-remembering, Ethan did post here somewhere that his new line of knives were to be American made, not imported? I realize that the Camillus marks are a different colored horse, and the new owners may do with them as they wish, just as Mr. Taylor has done with the Imperial Schrade marks.

What are the steels currently in use by KaBar?

Codger
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Just a quick look and I see D2, 12C27, 1095, and 440A.

I would guess that our lovely Beckers would all be made in 1095 or some similar carbon steel.

But I wonder if D2 would be utilized in something like the BK77 Extreme
 
Just my own uneducated opinion of course, but I would be quite surprised if the new line of Becker knives were made with just any old generic steel. A part of the attraction and mystique of the Camillus Beckers was the improved material and processing of the propriatary steel used. I won't call it a gimmick, but it is a unique feature which I envision Ethan would be loath to ignore. I mean, without the steel made from that INFI meteor, Busse would have less of a claim to uniqueness in marketing. :)

Perhaps working with an engineer on steel and process is the reason for the delay in production more so than producing the actual designs and tooling. Let's dream that maybe there is secret involvement by the creator of 0170-6C. If Phil knows, he isn't saying!:p

Codger
 
Ka-bars 1095 cro-van is good steel...it's not 0170-6c but it's tough and holds a good edge, i will buy'em all if they use it and they should be very affordable with that steel. I guess even if they use D2 i will still buy them all...but if they are stainless my collection likely will not "grow". I just love the design of Ethan's blades and as long as carbon or carbon alloy steel (i guess i should say) is used in conjunction with his designs i will keep buying and using them.
 
Add two more deer and a dozen mallards to the Becker Necker's list. All without a major sharpening so far, and developing a nice patina to boot. I did mention that the knife had been stripped of it's coating, didn't I?

So what is the magic here with the 0170-6C? Is it the alloy itself, or super-secret-spy heat treat and quench? I can't get over the edge holding ability through quite a bit of use in skinning and butchering tasks. The only between-use care has been a light lapping on a Gerber diamond pocket hone after washing, and a light stropping on an untreated leather belt followed by a very thin coat of Schrade knife oil.

This knife will be very broken in by the time I make my two-week canoe trip in early January (Buffalo River, N.W. Arkansas). I'll be trying it out on a wider variety of woodcraft tasks then.

Codger
 
Codger, now your getting up near my stomping grounds. I have canoed the Buffalo many times, and I really like it. I haven't been there in a few years due to my job that makes me work a lot of weekends,
Are you going up around Harrision, or Jasper to be exact?
Have fun and happy paddling.
 
I'll be coming to the river from the South (Little Rock, Conway) so I'll come thru Marshall. Not really settled on the sections yet, but maybe 65 to Rush, or Gilbert to the White. A lot depends on the weather and the time I can take off. I've not done this trip since the mid nineties, but it used to be a semi-annual affair for me. I am a Native Arkie and miss my home state greatly.

IMHO, winter is the best time for the Buffalo. It is essentially deserted.
 
I did my third deer with my Necker on Sunday and camp shaved with it afterward after a quick belt strop.:)
 
felixXJ said:
I did my third deer with my Necker on Sunday and camp shaved with it afterward after a quick belt strop.:)
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After years of reading about hyped super steels in general, and the Becker-Camillus 0170-6C steel in particular, I was veeeery skeptical of the claims when I finally bought the Necker. But after six deer and assorted other game without a major sharpening session, I have to say that I am a believer in this steel's uniqueness. A bit late, but even so...

And I was equally skeptical of the utility of a skeletonized drop point small enough to be worn in a neck sheath. Again, my impression has changed. I still won't wear a knife around my neck, but the Loveless inspired blade works well for my uses. And I'll be danged but I am getting used to using a knife with no handles!

Codger
 
Codger_64 said:
I'll be coming to the river from the South (Little Rock, Conway) so I'll come thru Marshall. Not really settled on the sections yet, but maybe 65 to Rush, or Gilbert to the White. A lot depends on the weather and the time I can take off. I've not done this trip since the mid nineties, but it used to be a semi-annual affair for me. I am a Native Arkie and miss my home state greatly.

IMHO, winter is the best time for the Buffalo. It is essentially deserted.
Click to expand...

We do the Maumee to 14 bridge every year, and it is NICE. We do early spring usually a few weeks before mother's day, and the river is usually pretty deserted that time of year as well. A nice place to stay if you are going "civilized" is Silver Run Cabins, Ron & Belinda are super nice folks. Grab yourself a small game lic. & you can load up on squirrels as you float. Nothing like a nice hot pot of stewed squirrel, or dumplings to warm up a cold Jan. gravel bar stop.
 
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