Decision time: Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri Plus or Becker BK21 Reinhardt Kukri

[Grey Falcon]

Hoping I can get some advice from users, looking into buying either a Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri Plus (in O1) or Becker Bk21 Reinhardt Kukri. What are your thoughts and opinions on them, and has anyone run into any problems? I've heard the cold steel handles can loosen up but I have read tons of people not having any problems and owning them for years. I like Becker knives as they are good working knives, but have never had a cold steel fixed blade though I love their folders. If anyone has both please comment.

I will say upfront the whole Made in USA thing, as nice as it is, doesn't affect this purchase at all. Cost is about equal here once you factor in potentially a new sheath and handles on the BK21 so that's not a point of contention either. Just looking for a good user.

Thanks!

 

[Hawgsnawt]

I own both and will take and use the BK21 all day long over the CS.... nothing against the CS, but the Becker is just a better blade IMHO.....then you get into the whole handle thing, CS molded rubber...have had a few loosen up or split out on me over the years... or the Becker handle, widely accepted as the pinnacle of ergonomics and comfort, easily replaceable with wood, micarta, G10....

BK21 all day every day....

 

[Grey Falcon]

I own both and will take and use the BK21 all day long over the CS.... nothing against the CS, but the Becker is just a better blade IMHO.....then you get into the whole handle thing, CS molded rubber...have had a few loosen up or split out on me over the years... or the Becker handle, widely accepted as the pinnacle of ergonomics and comfort, easily replaceable with wood, micarta, G10....

BK21 all day every day....

Appreciate the info brother. Question for you, which handle do you feel gives less shock in use during batoning, chopping, etc?

 

[Hawgsnawt]

due to the basic laws of physics the handle of the Becker will transfer more tactile sensation to the end user because its a ridged full tang style with no ability to absorb shock....the CS will win in this area as long as its factory handle lasts.....that's not to say the BK will hurt you or that it is uncomfortable to use, even for prolonged sessions of heavy chopping, quite the opposite in fact, the BK line has one of the best handles in the business.... but you will " feel " slightly more thru it than you would the softer shock absorbing rubberized grip of the CS

actually, its kind of a toss up.... while the BK will transfer more thru the handle, its very minimal to me at least while the CS starts off transferring very little but gets worse with age....as the rubber starts to wear and break in....it softens a bit and this serves to amplify the tiny vibrations you do get...like throwing a pebble in a pond, it creates waves of vibrations that to me at least, cause my hand to go all tingly and numbish after awhile.

I still prefer the Becker both new and aged.... but my mindset and preferences could be swayed by having several CS blades that have had previous handle split outs and failures...I've just come to not trust em like I do the Beckers and thus every swing there is that nagging conscious effort to feel the handle for micro splits to avoid catastrophic failure...makes using anything with a soft rubberized handle more of a chore than a joy....always tainted with the fear that the next swing might be the one to cause issues.....

The BKs I just don't think about and do what I need to get done with em......

Maybe I'm odd....I dunno but at nearly 50 years old with 300+ knives in the collection and a fair few thru the years that have gone to hell on me....I've come to respect the simple durability of a full tang knife with bolted on slabs....never had one of those go bad and I've done some crazy stuff with some of my knives. I've had somewhere between half dozen and 10 of the rubber type overmoulded handles fail on me thru the years... 3 CS, a SOG from back when they were made in Seki Japan and worth owning, a couple of Blackjacks from the very early 90s....I just don't trust em for hard use.

 

[Hawgsnawt]

Just as a side thought.....

Go to youtube

run 2 searches...

" Becker knife failure " and count the relevant videos....

" Cold Steel knife failure " and count the relevant videos....

Yes, I know its not conclusive, but it should give you a good sampling of what's going on in the world with both brands....

Now...

Go to the CS section of forums and type in Customer Service.... dig thru those threads and read how many have responses by Lynn Thompson...

Then head to the Becker section and do the same but search for posts by Ethan Becker.... Pay attention to the content of his posts and see how many he DIRECTLY gets involved in with getting the customer taken care of often outside of their usual return/replacement policies....

I'm not trying to tell you Cold Steel can't make a great knife and that if you buy the Kukri it won't preform admirably and do everything you ever need it to do.....I'm just trying to help justify WHY I personally prefer the BK line of knives....though admittedly I do own more Cold Steel products than I do Beckers....I however attribute that to the sheer size difference in the two companies available products and the size of my personal collection....

I own one of everything Kabar makes in the Becker line....two of a couple discontinued models just incase I ever loose one......but that's still not MANY knives...... I own 1/16th of everything Cold Steel makes...and even at that percentage its a MUCH higher number.

YMMV....

P.S. Please note... I'm NOT a Beckerhead.....I'm just a guy that owns a lot of knives and uses most of em from time to time... My opinions are my own and may not reflect anyone else's versions of reality...

 

[Grey Falcon]

Just as a side thought.....

Go to youtube

run 2 searches...

" Becker knife failure " and count the relevant videos....

" Cold Steel knife failure " and count the relevant videos....

Yes, I know its not conclusive, but it should give you a good sampling of what's going on in the world with both brands....

Now...

Go to the CS section of forums and type in Customer Service.... dig thru those threads and read how many have responses by Lynn Thompson...

Then head to the Becker section and do the same but search for posts by Ethan Becker.... Pay attention to the content of his posts and see how many he DIRECTLY gets involved in with getting the customer taken care of often outside of their usual return/replacement policies....

I'm not trying to tell you Cold Steel can't make a great knife and that if you buy the Kukri it won't preform admirably and do everything you ever need it to do.....I'm just trying to help justify WHY I personally prefer the BK line of knives....though admittedly I do own more Cold Steel products than I do Beckers....I however attribute that to the sheer size difference in the two companies available products and the size of my personal collection....

I own one of everything Kabar makes in the Becker line....two of a couple discontinued models just incase I ever loose one......but that's still not MANY knives...... I own 1/16th of everything Cold Steel makes...and even at that percentage its a MUCH higher number.

YMMV....

P.S. Please note... I'm NOT a Beckerhead.....I'm just a guy that owns a lot of knives and uses most of em from time to time... My opinions are my own and may not reflect anyone else's versions of reality...

I appreciate the info and the passion brother, it's what I love about this community.

The two things that draw me to the Kukri Plus is the general aesthetic (I just like the look a bit more) and the handle as I live in Canada and in the winter having no tang exposed has it's benefits when it gets into the colder months. I have a few Beckers myself and I very much enjoy them (BK5 is my favorite), I think I may be one of the few people who doesn't think the handle is as mind blowing as people say though it is still great (I prefer the tweener handles actually), but it feels different with each model through the balance. At least to me. But I know that Becker's work, so it's just the unknown factor of never having handled a cold steel fixed blade that has me asking these questions. It's a fair amount of money to spend so I'd rather do my homework. In a perfect world I'd own both and run them side by side. I've also seen a few videos of people being a bit disappointed with the BK21 but I'm also pretty sure that's just because you need to handle a kukri a bit differently than a regular chopper when using it to really let it shine.

 

[Hawgsnawt]

cut a length of bicycle inner tube, take the scales off the becker, slip the tube on, poke out the bolt holes and put the scales back on...it'll keep the cold metal off you.

seriously though.... you have to understand man, I LOVE Cold Steel stuff, I really do. The Cold Steel Kukri may be every bit the knife you want it to be... I have mine and it IS a fantastic chopper/woods knife. I just do not PERSONALLY like it as much as I do my 21....

BUT....

I live in Texas, not Canada .... I have very few hard woods to deal with, its mostly soft woods and scrub brush... I wore long pants 1 ( one ) day this last winter....I live in a whole different environment and in MY area... the 21 with its longer thinner more machete type blade works better on my local vegetation.

I'm gonna be the first one to tell ya, don't let me talk you OUT of the Cold Steel...opinions are like....well you know what they say..... the only one that has to be happy at the end of the day is you. If the CS does that for ya... then it's clearly the right knife.

the good news is, both turn very quickly on the exchange... if you get one or the other and it turns out to be the wrong one... odds are you can get 80% at least of your money back out of it in a matter of hours.

 

[Spyder59]

I'd just get this, RMJ Tactical:

You won't have to get a new sheath.

 

[Grey Falcon]

I'd just get this, RMJ Tactical:

Personally I'd rather get one their tomahawks, I've had my eye on a shrike and eagle talon for a very long time. Out of my price range however for the time being, way out, especially shipped to Canada. I shudder at the thought of those shipping costs. Looks like a helluva Kukri though.

 

[NJBillK]

cut a length of bicycle inner tube, take the scales off the becker, slip the tube on, poke out the bolt holes and put the scales back on...it'll keep the cold metal off you.

since you are already considering the cost of replacement scales and doing this would add a slight amount of thickness, keep in mind that the TKC G10 scales are a bit thinner than the stock ones and still may fit your hand size better.

 

[Grey Falcon]

since you are already considering the cost of replacement scales and doing this would add a slight amount of thickness, keep in mind that the TKC G10 scales are a bit thinner than the stock ones and still may fit your hand size better.

I actually have a set of LMF scales on my BK5 I can always swap out with these, Joe makes excellent micarta handles. It's not a thickness thing, for me in particular, I just messed up my hands last year so me and handles are picky. I do like the becker handles and think they are great, they're not perfect for my hands, but they certainly feel good and that elevates to excellent with micarta (tactile thing maybe).

I ended up buying the Cold Steel, as I found a deal on one on amazon and wanted to try something different. If I don't like it I can return it. I do like the I don't have to change anything on it aspect. Up here in Canada the BK21 fluctuates between not the worst price to ridiculous ($270CAD + 13%tax which is $207US before tax!), so if I don't enjoy this cold steel I'll just wait until the BK21 drops back down a bit and pick it up. Even if I do stay with the Cold Steel I love Kukris and I like becker knives so I'll probably end up with both.