Coming this Spring - KA-BAR Becker BK40 Folder

Shorttime said:
Thank you.

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Already a discussion going on here: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/coming-this-spring-ka-bar-becker-bk40-folder.1770104/
 
Kabar, and Becker Knives by extension, have always made good tools for reasonable prices. I doubt this will be a good tool even though it will be a good price. Like someone else said, there are very well made Chinese knives out there. I would never buy one but nevertheless they are well made. This will likely be a step above BudK quality.

I guarantee a $150 retail price Becker folder made in the USA of even S30V and a button lock would be hard for them to keep in stock. A solid entry into the market like that would have the potential to compete with base models of the Griptillian and Paramilitary 2
 
“Dear KaBar,
I wrote you, but you still ain't callin'
I left my cell, my pager and my home phone at the bottom
I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not've got 'em
There probably was a problem at the post office or somethin'
Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot 'em
But anyways, f*ck it, what's been up, guys...And what the hell is up with this Becker folder?”
 
GingivitisKahn said:
Yeah - slave labor (which it is, more or less under a commie regime) is cost effective.
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Glad someone pointed this out. There's a compelling case for a lot of Chinese manufacturing being resourced by political prisoners from prisons called laogai (basically matching the Soviet gulag model)... I bet not even Ka-Bar, who I'm sure visits their suppliers regularly, would be able to tell if their products are made by slave labor since the manufacturers would be sure to hide that. Zero chance any consumers would be able to tell, which means there's only one option: don't buy Chinese made products.

I regret having bought a Ka-Bar 3189 folding hunter for this reason. I wish I had thought it through first. I won't buy other Chinese sourced knives. It is however extremely solid, so for those inclined to buy the BK-40 you certainly could end up with a sturdy knife.

Having watched all the discussions about a Becker folder over the years, it certainly seemed like it was going to be an uphill battle. Can't say I'm surprised that it finally came to fruition with this particular, unfortunate "pricetag". It's none of my business how this product came to be between the man behind the brand and those who (maybe, idc) own the brand, I just decide whether to buy or not, but I'm guessing there's an interesting story there. Very curious who did the bulk of the designing.
 
Silvanus said:
Kabar, and Becker Knives by extension, have always made good tools for reasonable prices. I doubt this will be a good tool even though it will be a good price. Like someone else said, there are very well made Chinese knives out there. I would never buy one but nevertheless they are well made. This will likely be a step above BudK quality.

I guarantee a $150 retail price Becker folder made in the USA of even S30V and a button lock would be hard for them to keep in stock. A solid entry into the market like that would have the potential to compete with base models of the Griptillian and Paramilitary 2
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Heck, keep what they have now design wise, give us 420HC like buck, and double the current price to say $60, make it in the USA. I think they would sell all they could make. If you up the steel and price a bit to something like 14c28n or even s30v, I still think it would sell well.

I believe KaBar has misjudged who they are selling this knife to, exactly. This isn't going to end up in big box stores. The general knife buying public who don't already know about Becker knives aren't going out of their way to find and buy this knife. Rather, selling the Becker name means you are selling to folks who are already fans of Becker knives. We won't be falling for the bait and switch of "Olean, NY USA" but made in China. We know that when considering a budget Chinese made folder, this isn't even close to the best value and we also think this doesn't fit with the idea of being a Becker Head or the Becker line of branding in general.

So who exactly are these knives going to be sold to?
 
craytab said:
Heck, keep what they have now design wise, give us 420HC like buck, and double the current price to say $60, make it in the USA. I think they would sell all they could make. If you up the steel and price a bit to something like 14c28n or even s30v, I still think it would sell well.
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The steel is only a tiny percentage of the price in a USA-made knife. Mostly it's labor and production costs.
Fancy steel vs. a $40 Chinese knife IS a significant percentage.
 
daizee said:
The steel is only a tiny percentage of the price in a USA-made knife. Mostly it's labor and production costs.
Fancy steel vs. a $40 Chinese knife IS a significant percentage.
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Right! So give us a low end US steel like 420hc, double the price (from $30 to $60), and make it in the USA. That is my point. Charge us more but make it here. They aren't going to get the the numbers they think when competing in the Chinese made budget market. That segment is dominated on line by Chinese companies online, and in big box stores by Kershaw, CRKT, SOG, Gerber, etc. This knife isn't going to sell to your hardcore fan base.

I think going cheap US made (keep it under $100) would have been the way to go to play on the kabar becker brand. This offering misses the market they should have been after while tries for two markets they can't really compete in.
 
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My point is you can't make it in the USA for $60. And if you can, might as well ask $70 and get better steel.

I suppose if Kershaw can do it, SOMEONE can. But Kabar surely isn't set up to do it in-house, so they'd have to outsource domestically. I'd be happy for a private-labeled Kershaw-made domestically produced BK40 in the $80-$100 range.

I think we agree - I just don't want to pay a premium for labor and then get somebody else's budget steel.
Buck has managed the onshore/offshore split in their folder lines. It would be cool if Kabar was able to do it too.
 
With the quality Buck puts into their American made 110 at the very reasonable price they charge. I’m surprised anyone even try’s to compete with them.

So many great ideas Becker/KA-BAR could have made that would be great. This isn’t one of them.

I’m still hoping for a Becker cleaver or ULU. American made of course.
 
daizee said:
My point is you can't make it in the USA for $60. And if you can, might as well ask $70 and get better steel.

I suppose if Kershaw can do it, SOMEONE can. But Kabar surely isn't set up to do it in-house, so they'd have to outsource domestically. I'd be happy for a private-labeled Kershaw-made domestically produced BK40 in the $80-$100 range.

I think we agree - I just don't want to pay a premium for labor and then get somebody else's budget steel.
Buck has managed the onshore/offshore split in their folder lines. It would be cool if Kabar was able to do it too.
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I was going to say, it is certainly doable. Kershaw, buck, gerber do it. But you are right, kabar is likely not set up to do it at all. Frankly, I'd rather see nothing than this. Like I've said, the becker fans, the online shoppers looking for a cheap chinese produced knife, and the non-knife people buying big box store knives aren't likely to buy this knife. Becker fans and online import shoppers know better and the walk in big box shoppers won't ever see it.

So who is kabar selling this knife to exactly?

(not a question directed at you specifically, and yes I think we agree)
 
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