BRUTE: What am I missing????

P

Plainsman

Joined
Apr 5, 1999
Messages
1,170
I seem to be missing something about the Brute. So many guys "love" the thing and think it's the best thing since sliced bread. I have one, it was my first Becker, but I don't think it's the best in my stable of Beckers by any means...

Once I obtained a BK-9 Combat Bowie, I felt I had a MUCH BETTER blade than the Brute. I felt it cut and chopped way better than the Brute. I also thought the BK-9 was easier to sharpen and I felt I could sharpen it "sharper" than the Brute as well.

So what am I missing about the BRUTE??? Why do so many think it's better?

Thanks!! :)
 
My guess is people will start telling you "well send it to me then!".

I've never had one so let me be the first in line! :)
 
RMC,

I'm no fool! I know better than to let any of my Beckers get away! :) I did think my Brute was great when it was my only big chopper...The BK-9 seems much better to me tho!
 
I'm with you on the Brute. I owned one a while ago when I started to get back into the woods. It's a great chopper and heavy blade. But it was very hard to manipulate for smaller carving tasks. I feel that if it had a good finger choil to allow you to choke up on the blade would make it an all around better knife.
 
I've spoken to Paul Tsujimoto at KA-BAR who says that "The BK-9 is a much better performer than the Brute. The Brute looks great but doesn't make it where the edge meets the material." This was in response to my asking whether or not KA-BAR would bring back the BK10 or the Brute. The BK10, on the other hand, seems to have better chances of making a comeback.
 
I felt the same way you did. I bought a BK 9 and a BK 7 and my brother got me a Brute for a b-day present. Was never a huge fan of the Brute until.....I convexed it. WOW. Now I understand all the hype of the BRUTE!!
TC
 
JMO: Why have a Brute when you could have the Patrol Machete? Talk about a vicious cutter/chopper, yowza.
 
sqoon said:
I've spoken to Paul Tsujimoto at KA-BAR who says that "The BK-9 is a much better performer than the Brute. The Brute looks great but doesn't make it where the edge meets the material."
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KaBar sells BK-9s, not Brutes. What did you expect him to say?
 
MidwestDave said:
KaBar sells BK-9s, not Brutes. What did you expect him to say?
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If the Brute had been a good seller for Camillus, I think Kabar would be making it...

People always want what they can't have anymore.
 
AF said:
If the Brute had been a good seller for Camillus, I think Kabar would be making it...

People always want what they can't have anymore.
Click to expand...


Yep... from a business standpoint, Kabar has been very smart as to which Becker knives they've brought back into production... the Becker line during Camillus did have a lot of crossovers in applications which could cost kabar more $ than it would make them if they weren't smart in which they chose to release...

Right now, it seems like the Becker knives that are out all fill a specific niche without much crossover:
BK-13= Small utility to go with heavy choppers
BK-11 = EDC
BK-2 = All Purpose blade
BK Tac Tool = Combo Tool
BK-7 / BK-9 = Large choppers

The BK-7 and BK-9 have a crossover in function, hence why you see a lot of people asking about getting one or the other. Normally you wouldn't want to do this as they could take sales from the other - however, there is enough demand for Kabar to justify having both. The upcoming release of the Magnum camp is a similar situation. It will probably take sales away from the BK-2... but the demand for a lighter, thinner all purpose blade is pretty high.

The release of the brute wouldn't be a smart choice as it didn't exactly fit a certain functionality (and hence why it wasn't a great seller) - you could call it an all purpose blade or large chopper, but the BK-2 or BK-7 would be a better choice depending which you're leaning towards... I'm predicting that the machax is coming next, as there's currently nothing in the Becker line filling the heavy, heavy duty chopping niche. People looking for something "choppier" than a BK-9 (including myself) have been having to look elsewhere...
 
Kabar seems to have gone into the deal very carefully and I think they will prosper from it! The selection of the knives that they are offering does fill certain niches without much crossover. I think they reviewed the entire BK line before deciding on which models to actually produce, so I think Tooj's comments are from actual hands on experience. Perhaps Ethan could verify or deny what I'm thinking even! Kabar has a reputation and profit margin to keep up! ;)
 
killa_concept said:
Yep... from a business standpoint, Kabar has been very smart as to which Becker knives they've brought back into production... the Becker line during Camillus did have a lot of crossovers in applications which could cost kabar more $ than it would make them if they weren't smart in which they chose to release...

Right now, it seems like the Becker knives that are out all fill a specific niche without much crossover:
BK-13= Small utility to go with heavy choppers
BK-11 = EDC
BK-2 = All Purpose blade
BK Tac Tool = Combo Tool
BK-7 / BK-9 = Large choppers

The BK-7 and BK-9 have a crossover in function, hence why you see a lot of people asking about getting one or the other. Normally you wouldn't want to do this as they could take sales from the other - however, there is enough demand for Kabar to justify having both. The upcoming release of the Magnum camp is a similar situation. It will probably take sales away from the BK-2... but the demand for a lighter, thinner all purpose blade is pretty high.

The release of the brute wouldn't be a smart choice as it didn't exactly fit a certain functionality (and hence why it wasn't a great seller) - you could call it an all purpose blade or large chopper, but the BK-2 or BK-7 would be a better choice depending which you're leaning towards... I'm predicting that the machax is coming next, as there's currently nothing in the Becker line filling the heavy, heavy duty chopping niche. People looking for something "choppier" than a BK-9 (including myself) have been having to look elsewhere...
Click to expand...

well said :)

actually, i see the Magnum Camp displacing the Combat Utility (unless you prefer combat), and the Campanion being the perfect companion blade to that (for the heavy duty stuff you wouldn't subject a thin blade to)...

now i'm pondering what the perfect 3 or 4 tool setup would be, kind of like the Nessmuk trio... but mostly with Beckers... mmmMMMmmm

i think i seriously need to find a belt grinder, or someone skilled anyway, and convex the old skool Campanion i have. that would rock. same for the necker... well, all of them :> my old skool MachAx has a profile i can't put my finger on, but it's better than what Camillus put on their models.

though i definitely think i'd need a Mora/Puuko for certain kinds of find pointy fine work, most Beckers have pretty leafy/wide blades (which i prefer), but sometimes you need pointy. Also sometimes you need a Wharny too. imho ;>


Bladite
 
Bladite said:
well said :)

actually, i see the Magnum Camp displacing the Combat Utility (unless you prefer combat), and the Campanion being the perfect companion blade to that (for the heavy duty stuff you wouldn't subject a thin blade to)...
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Ah - I just looked up the old camillus magnum camp specs. I didn't realize it was so long... i thought it was just a hair longer than the BK-2 :o

Bladite said:
now i'm pondering what the perfect 3 or 4 tool setup would be, kind of like the Nessmuk trio... but mostly with Beckers... mmmMMMmmm
Click to expand...

For an extended period out in the woods, I think I would actually be quite satisfied with just my BK-2 and Vojpuri (The karda that came with the khuk is VERY well done and would serve for smaller tasks). As far as the becker line goes, I would be more than happy with a BK-11, BK-2 and a Machax :D

Bladite said:
i think i seriously need to find a belt grinder, or someone skilled anyway, and convex the old skool Campanion i have. that would rock. same for the necker... well, all of them :> my old skool MachAx has a profile i can't put my finger on, but it's better than what Camillus put on their models.
Click to expand...

IMO, you should just get out some old knives and practice the mousepad + sandpaper method... it can be a bit time consuming to learn, but once you get it down, you can convex even large blades in less than an hour. It's a very handy skill to have! Even if you end up getting a belt sander, you could simply use it for the hard work (reprofiling with ~220grit) and use sandpaper for the polishing. There are also times you might want to just touch up your edge while away from home.

Alternatively, you could just send me your knives to reprofile for you... no guarantees as to which (if any) you'll end up getting back though! :p

Bladite said:
though i definitely think i'd need a Mora/Puuko for certain kinds of find pointy fine work, most Beckers have pretty leafy/wide blades (which i prefer), but sometimes you need pointy. Also sometimes you need a Wharny too. imho ;>


Bladite
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I definitely agree - a pointy Mora can be pretty handy, but with some practice, you'd be surprised what you can do with even a very stout blade. Check out this spoon I carved with my BK-2. As I tend to "hack" the basic shape into place before whittling, I think I actually would have spent more time doing it with a Mora. I might try doing something similar with my 15" AK when it gets less rainy :)

Really though, I just like the idea of only taking the minimum number of blades when trekking... Were I actually in a position of having to live off the land, I'd probably be lucky to have even a single knife with me. IMO, maximizing your capabilities with a small set of tools is the way to go. I've currently got my carry list down to 2 blades for camping/backpacking, though I think I could probably get by with just my BK-2 :thumbup:
 
killa_concept said:
IMO, you should just get out some old knives and practice the mousepad + sandpaper method... it can be a bit time consuming to learn, but once you get it down, you can convex even large blades in less than an hour.
Click to expand...

i practically invented that technique ;) it's VERY time consuming, when you have a lot of blades... esp khukris, eventually they do need sharpening, and i'm the type to bring them to 1000 grit, or more for some... sheesh :)

yeah, i'd completely reprofile 1 or 3 by hand, but it's tedious, as in: very. don't have the patience now that i can put a shaving edge on a ball peen hammer :)

in an ideal world, i'd have 3-4 cheap grinders with various grits on them, and a nice Bader for the good works... someday...

in the meantime... it's almost easier to buy new knives when the old ones get dull ;)


Bladite
 
In short the Bruit is a slower seller than the BK9. Dollar for Dollar the BK9 is a better choice.

I put my Brute on a shelf because it is only lightly used and I wanted it as a collector piece.

I think there is allot of scuttlebutt about the Brute because it is not readily available. I don't want to offend anyone but the Magnum falls under the same category.

I think Ka Bar took the most popular knives and started with them. This is only my humble opinion; I don't think the Brute or Magnum will out sell the BK9. Don't get me wrong I would like to see Ka Bar start making them.
 
CRKS said:
I think Ka Bar took the most popular knives and started with them. This is only my humble opinion; I don't think the Brute or Magnum will out sell the BK9. Don't get me wrong I would like to see Ka Bar start making them.
Click to expand...

well, there's a number of Becker's that KaBar isn't making right now, and a number of them, probably never...

the Campanion was one of the first Becker's made ever, along with the MachAx... the TacTool is an early winner too, imho. good choices to keep in the lineup. there were variants...

some more came along from the Blackjack days... notably the Brute, and of course the Magnum Camp. the Reinhardt Khukri was pretty darn interesting too.

Camillus ramped things up with a number of new models, and managed to keep all the old ones (with little changes)...

considering how recently KaBar picked up the Becker line, and how busy they are with their own stuff, and other projects... i for one, am very happy they offer as many of the lineup as they do... Campanion, TacTool, Combat Utility, Combat Bowie, Necker and SanMai Necker, and a new Remora? kick ass. American USA 100% barring the Remora, which will be fixed ASAP. not too shabby indeed.

the only things missing from the lineup are: Reinhardt (which Camillus never picked up either, yes?), Brute, Machax, Magnum Camp, Patrol Machete, and the Crewman.

Oh, well, technically, the Combat Utility Extreme isn't being made either... KaBar is selling new/old stock on that until they run out, nice of them, huh? :) A little birdy told me something else, but well, daylight is coming ;)

so of the missing ones, we have confirmation that the Magnum Camp is coming for sure, and extremely strong nod to the Machax... it IS one of Ethan's favs after all :)

since there's a size limitation, the Machax is at the far end, and the weird angles made it tricky, so delays. the Brute probably isn't any easier to make, but that's a dead duck anyway. the Patrol Machete is "way too big", and so is the Reinhardt. just not going to happen anytime soon. fairly soon, i'm going to write up a FAQ and pass it by Ethan and Toooj and Bob'o'matic as the official word ;)

that pretty much covers all the models right? and there's a strong chance of NEW NEW NEW stuff coming out. hints about an uber chopper maybe? bushcrafting knives? STUFF!

that's pretty awesome right? Right? RIGHT?

2010 should be shiny; the Magnum Camp will probably sell like a screaming banshee for a while, there's a lot of people professing desire... a lot of people missed the boat, and a lot of people can't afford a Fisk original, so... what an opportunity!


Bladite
 
I often take my BK-10 in the woods, leaving my BK-2 at home.

IMO the BK-10 does everything the BK-2 does, but with less weight, and yes I have batonned plenty with the Crewman. I am happy the Magnum Camp is coming out soon, but it surprises me that it came out before the Crewman.
 
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