Brand New BK9 Failure!

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Glock&Surefire said:
I was one of the guys with the patrol machete problem. Mine simply snapped when I very lightly chopped on a 2x4. I would have been able to break it in my hands seriously if I knew it was that messed up. I remember the same thing, send it in for testing. They never did tell me what was wrong with it, but I got a new one and to this days years later and tons of abuse later It is still running strong.
I was actually not surprised about seeing the break, now if it was your Fehrman Knife that would be interesting!
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Good to hear I'm not the only person on the planet Glock&Surefire. Ironically, the Fehrman suffered a very small chip on the tip of the blade while --once again-- batoning some hard wood. Likewise, Fehrman was none too happy to hear of the incident and promptly re-profiled the tip back to a nice pointy tip.

So, I guess it goes to show, occasional imperfections are part of life and even the best of knife makers (Becker, Fehrman, etc) can suffer one-off moments.
 
I was sure that with the reputation he fosters, Ethan would reply to you in the exact way that he did.
You will be taken care of, and we will find out what the deal with the fly away BK9 is:thumbup:
Quality knives backed by a Quality guy:thumbup:

Chuck
 
dawsonbob said:
I think that pretty well sums it up.
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Yep, sure does. Looks like Ka-Bar is going to make good on a 1 in a billion (evidently) fluke.

Looking forward to testing out the new BK9 and, time and circumstances allowing, I'll be sure to try to post something redemptive back to the forum.

End on a positive note :)
 
chuckinohio said:
I was sure that with the reputation he fosters, Ethan would reply to you in the exact way that he did.
You will be taken care of, and we will find out what the deal with the fly away BK9 is:thumbup:
Quality knives backed by a Quality guy:thumbup:

Chuck
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THAT SIR--CAN BE CARVED IN STONE:thumbup:
 
Ethan didn't forget about us! :) I'm very excited about the update on the micarta handles. Thanks Ethan!

Sweet.. We have the man Mr. Becker himself on here, as well as a KA BAR QC guy!
 
Sorry fo the late chime in..but i've actually seen a similar break on an old camillus bk9 which was broken in an almost identical fashion by an instructor of a survival class I was taking while batoning through some knotty locustwood.
 
RescueRiley said:
Sorry fo the late chime in..but i've actually seen a similar break on an old camillus bk9 which was broken in an almost identical fashion by an instructor of a survival class I was taking while batoning through some knotty locustwood.
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Out of curiosity, John, when was that? Was it when Camillus was still in business, or was it recently? The reason I ask is, what was the outcome: was the blade replaced? This would be only the third instance I've heard about of a BK-9 breaking like that, although I certainly don't know of all the breakage's that occur (only what I read here at Blade Forums, and a couple of other places).
 
woo, that's quite the break, glad that ethan took care of it. i'll rib him later when i see him tomorrow :)


Bladite
 
I'd say no problem with heat treat, at the hardness in the product specifications then if it is the same all over the blade then I personally would have liked it differentially hardened with the spine being softer.

A bowie of other knives have the task of slicing, cutting, dicing etc instead of hatchet or axe which is just chopping. Axes or hatchets are typically softer than a bowie or hunting knife cause edge retention and etc is not as important as toughness.

This is my take on it, forgive me for not going any further, 3 hrs sleep in 48 hrs you see (continuous pour concreting for a floor slab cannot and must not be stopped!).
 
For any still tracking this thread, Ka-Bar has the mortal remains of the shattered BK9. I'll be sure to relay any findings. Unless, of course, they don't chime in first. Just a quick FYI & FWIW ...
 
dcgisme said:
For any still tracking this thread, Ka-Bar has the mortal remains of the shattered BK9. I'll be sure to relay any findings. Unless, of course, they don't chime in first. Just a quick FYI & FWIW ...
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Thanks, dcgisme. Some of us are interested in Ka-Bar's findings, so do keep us posted.
 
vector001 said:
no one is commenting on the wood (structure).

take a look at it, brethren.

the blade was being hammered right into a double knotted area - the wood must be incredibly dense there, even if it were soft wood.

what do you think?

vec
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In the vice-like bind the blade would be in at that point,....if the force of the blow from the baton was even slightly diagonal to and not directily straight down onto the spine the physics would be such that either the blade or the wood had to give. Looking at the pics it's understandable (if that was the case) which would be the first to give. Sort of like a non-centered or off-angled blow from a hammer to a nail will cause the nail to bend and buckle. The stump had mass on it's side of the fight. If the blow was struck on the bias then the knife was put in a no-win situation. I can't say as I wasn't there to see it happen but the shape of the break and the density of the wood in the section being split certainly does fit the scenario.
 
Hey Everybody....

I talked to Paul on friday and had a nice talk with Darrell this afternoon and kicked it around a bit with Mistwalker and here is what I KNOW.....There were no visible inclusions in the metal as it came from the mill,....The grain structure of the blade looked perfect to Paul and the Rockwell was in spec, so no felp in understanding there,sooooo....Here is what I SURMISE....That the blade was wedged in tightly enough to bend the thinner portion near the edge and then the baton delivered enough force to either open up or propagate from a small v shaped chip, or the break occurred without the chip....Darrell put it best I think when he refferred to the impefect world that surrounds us....If we had X-rayed this particular blade I THINK we would have sent it out...,.This is one that we will never know why...I am NOT happy about that and as tempting as it sometimes is to BS something like this that IS what I know and what I do not....

A new BK-9 Will leave Ka-Bar on it's way to Darrell on Monday.......

Darrell, I would like to thank you for your patience, understanding and cheerful willingness to help figure it all out...And thanks guys for your certainty that Ka-Bar and I would make it right.....We will AWAYS do what we can....

Thanks again everybody!!!....

All Best...

ethan
 
And we all thank you, Mr. Becker, for pursuing this and making it right. A lot of people were wondering about this case, myself included. We wondered whether it was a flaw in the steel, bad technique, or just the knife gods playing a prank. I guess we'll never know: what we do know, is that the faith people have in you (and Ka-bar) is justified. Glad to hear that this has been resolved. I would imagine that Darrel will be even happier.

Makes me glad that I buy Becker's.
 
With out belaboring this thread too much longer, I'd be remiss to not chime in at this point and note that Ethan's personal diligence and follow up exemplified pure professionalism and why we can still put hope in American business. Thanks for the discussion and time today Ethan; it was both insightful and enjoyable.

It's no wonder Becker knives have the reputation and following that they do: strait up integrity boys.

Likewise, the courtesy and seasoned insight shared by many on this forum only goes to further reflect the caliber of Becker advocates and owners. My thanks to the gang as well for their weigh in and collective analysis.

As Ethan noted, the root cause may well remain a mystery. Of no mystery will be a growing collection of Becker tools in my household for generations to come - as one of my sons still get's the BK9 upon arrival. Hmm, guess I'll have to back fill with a BK-7 <grin>.
 
I think you've said it as well as it could be said, dcgisme. You've covered the reasons so many of us are fans of Becker knives. I love both Ethan's designs and his integrity. That's the way business should be done. Kudos as well to Ka-Bar for standing behind their products.
 
This has been an interesting thread to follow. I thought pounding any knife into that kind of grain on a round of hardwood that size was out on the edge of reasonable use. That is just an opinion -- no claim of expertise on knives and metal.

The way this was handled by Mr. Becker and Kabar has really made a positive impression.
I do use knives hard and do battoning of hardwoods (red oak, plum, mesquite, black hickory). Its great to see that BK&T take quality and customer service this seriously.
 
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