BUNDOK BOWIE, an Introduction.....

Ethan Becker said:
I am very pleased that the New BK20 BUNDOK BOWIE is ready to ship....

The US Marine Corps derived the term "boonies" or "boondocks",during their service in the Phillipines, from the native Tagalog language.... Bundok meant mountain but, it also implied wild and remote..... The Marines even nicknamed the field shoe used during WWII and Korea Boondockers.....

I always like to share the influences that "inform" my designs and this blade has many......

I started carrying big Solingen Bowies in the woods during my early teens and I had the biggest baddest Buck as well...... At age 14 I did not "get" the convex grinds on the Solingens and the Buck General never hefted well for me.... I pretty much gave up on them and fell in lust with Kukris.....

Along the way and, in no particular order, I read an article on modding the Western V44 pattern into an inexpensive "soldiers knife"........ He straightened the clip, removed the top guard and most of the bottom, reprofiled the handle a bit and slimmed it down and the result was pretty damned cool..... I handled and used V44s from Case, Camillus and a Collins or two and I liked the heft and balance.....then I got a British Paratrooper knife... It is an abomination before the altar of the cutlery gods..... The steel would bring shame on an early Iron Age smelter powered by a campfire and fit and finish are abysmal but, I found it conceptually interesting..... The Collins Cutlery had their Type 18 adopted for use by their aviators as the V44 in Panama and Hawaii and eventually system wide...In 1942 the 2nd Marine Raider Battallion bought a thousand Collins Type 2 knives and made them famous on Makin Island, Tulagi, Guadalcanal and Bougainville and other scenic stops on their way to Tokyo Bay..... The Raiders called them the Gung-Ho knife. Other threads that I wove into the blade were what I gleaned from Jerry Fisk, Jim Crwell and many others, and an observation by the head of the US Jungle Operations Training Center in the Canal Zone that a twelve inch machete was rhe perfect survival tool.....

So the blade turned out to be eleven inches long, of 1095CV, .25 inches thick, full height ground with a beveled spine..... The edge profile makes it slicy and the beveled spine gives a nice clean exit..... It has proven to chop well and it does machete with aplomb..... If you choke up on the grip it does the little stuff and with a lanyard up on the forearm it is possible to do point work and skinning in an emergency.....

It is a versatile, dependable blade when you traverse the boonies...

Ethan


There is a quote in M.H. Cole's most excellent book "U.S. Military Knives" from a 2nd Battalion Raider, Lwell Bulger:
"The(Gung-Ho)knife was absolutely the greatest single weapon and tool we possessed"
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Say Heah Mr. Becker, I had to buy my BK-20 with the BK-4 and the BK-5 as a package deal, I write to you because I think I should get atleast a bowl of your chili from you to booth. I guess if you want something bad enough you just have to get it even like in my case since I already have the BK-5 and BK-4, no can stuff Mr. Becker the real Mc Coy.
<|~_^|>

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Finally got mine out and about yesterday. I etched the logo/model first.

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One swipe through 1" branch.

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Took 7 chops to take out this 2" stock. 3 each side and then 1 to finish. You can see the bite for each of the 3 chops here.

P1070685_zpssltoi7ez.jpg


More to come as I get to know this blade.

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Say Heah Boys and Girls, I ordered mine, even though I already have the BK-4 and BK-5 I had to order the package deal to get a BK-20, That's Ok, This time of the year, I use a long knife to clear a path to where I go, It also serves decent to chop with. But the BK-9is a bit heavier and chops more with authority. But I teamed both the 4 and 5 as my Lite Carry, So now I have two extra, I don't think they will have a hard time finding a home. And if they discontinue them like I heard, They might be worth more. Like a artist.

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just picked up a second one off the "E" (not Ethan) forum for a pretty reasonable price -- now I won't feel guilty about reshaping the handle out of factory spec.
 
Say Heah, I got mine from TOMARS, I also see the introduction price for the Bundok and the other two knife package for $200.00 I was charged $250.00 plus shipping another $20.00 But I ordered it regardless. Does that qualify me for atleast a Bowl of Your Homemade Chili heh heh heh <|~_^|>

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1066vik said:
just picked up a second one off the "E" (not Ethan) forum for a pretty reasonable price -- now I won't feel guilty about reshaping the handle out of factory spec.
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You did get a good deal on that. :thumbup:
 
Hey Paul'ie....

Haven't made chili in a while but, drop in on a gathering and share a wee bit of pork loin..... E
 
Hawgsnawt said:
Sure would have liked it better without that swedge Uncle E.... still, its a good looking blade. Took all of 2 hours to break thru my willpower and find it's way into my wallet LOL....
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Say Heah Hotspot, Actually anything to balance a large knife I welcome, That Sledge scallops the spine to atleast a 3/16ths, It isn't sharp and with mine, I could baton with it without ruining my baton at all.

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...sorry, Im not from the USA.
(But I like your knifes, with or without my mistakes.:-) )

Best wishes.
F.
 
James w said:
This boarders on

N
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Not even close, 5 months is nowhere close to a dead thread and this is the BK20 thread so it makes sense for him to post his comment here out of all the other threads in this subforum. No need to shame new guys for no reason.

Dr. FM said:
...if somebody want to sell the BK 20, I would bye it.
:-)
Best wishes.
F.
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Hi,

glad to see you want to try out the BK20, we don't sell any Beckers in this subforum so you'd be better off posting a thread in the "Want to Buy: knives" subforum in the "Knife Exchange" part of the forum, that's where folks go to share what knives they're looking to buy. Also, the Exchange is a good place to browse for a BK20 as they do pop up every so often, it takes some dedication to check it every day though.
 
KingMC said:
Not even close, 5 months is nowhere close to a dead thread and this is the BK20 thread so it makes sense for him to post his comment here out of all the other threads in this subforum. No need to shame new guys for no reason.
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I agree.
 
Dr. FM said:
...sorry, Im not from the USA.
(But I like your knifes, with or without my mistakes.:-) )

Best wishes.
F.
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Welcome! And I wouldn't worry too much about the English thingy....I've seen plenty of spelling and grammar errors here from folks whose first (and only) language is English. Since I try only to be a grammar cop to myself, I won't mention James w's use of "boarder" when he should have clearly spelled it "border". People who live in glass houses and all that.....
 
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granitestateofmind said:
Welcome! And I wouldn't worry too much about the English thingy....I've seen plenty of spelling and grammar errors her from folks whose first (and only) language is English. Since I try only to be a grammar cop to myself, I won't mention James w's use of "boarder" when he should have clearly spelled it "border". People who live in glass houses and all that.....
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Hahaha!
 
It seems like lately this thread has been missing something....oh yeah here ya go ;). I know it's still a virgin. I'm waiting on etchant solution to be delivered....

LCunPJW.jpg
 
Dr. FM said:
...sorry, Im not from the USA.
(But I like your knifes, with or without my mistakes.:-) )

Best wishes.
F.
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Haha sorry bout that my dyslexia got me twice haha thought you had 4000 posts and thought this thread was 1.5 years old(which wouldn't even make since now I'm thinking bout it) and my CDO got me with the spelling (like OCD except the letters are in alphabetical order the way they should be ;) )

srry bout that.... and welcome to BF not everyone is as much of a jerk as I am ;)
 
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