ESEE 6 or BK7?

A

a Trexler Ranger

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Nov 17, 2016
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So my fixed blades consist of the Gerber Strongarm and a little neck knife, and I've been looking to get one fixed blade at the end of this summer. (and one folder but thats for later)

I've seen these things take huge amounts of abuse. I'm looking to see peoples opinion on them. At the moment I'm leaning more towards ESEE because of the warranty and I love micarta handles and I want to get a knife that has them. I ask about the BK7 because people seem to love the knife. I will probably end up with both at some point, but for right now, which one is better for just dickin around in the woods?

Also has anyone managed to break the ESEE 6? And if I'm going 7 inches should I shell out the extra few bucks for a BK9?
 
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I don't believe ESEE's warranty is any better than Ka-Bar's warranty based on the warranty cases I've seen from Ka-Bar and how comprehensive they've been, and if I remember correctly the ESEE warranty only covers the steel itself (not the coating/scales/sheath), so I wouldn't necessarily use that as a selling point. Not that either knife should ever break if used correctly...

I prefer the handles on the Becker knives, they are very comfortable for prolonged use compared to the giant slabs on the ESEEs. But, the grind and shape of the ESEE is nicer as far as utility and aesthetics go.
 
a Trexler Ranger said:
So my fixed blades consist of the Gerber Strongarm and a little neck knife, and I've been looking to get one fixed blade at the end of this summer. (and one folder but thats for later)

I've seen these things take huge amounts of abuse. I'm looking to see peoples opinion on them. At the moment I'm leaning more towards ESEE because of the warranty and I love micarta handles and I want to get a knife that has them. I ask about the BK7 because people seem to love the knife. I will probably end up with both at some point, but for right now, which one is better for just dickin around in the woods?

Also has anyone managed to break the ESEE 6? I like to be rough on my things so would a ESEE 5 maybe be more suitable?
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Either would serve you well. Just a matter of preference, since apart from the size, they're quite dissimilar in design. People will argue which one is better until their heads explode, but to tell you the truth, they'll both perform well in variety of tasks and there's not one thing that one could do but not the other. Although, due to design differences, in some tasks ESEE will perform better, and in some BK-7.

Warranty is not an issue, both ESEE and Ka-Bar are excellent in that regard.

As far as steel goes (1095 vs 0170-6), it's so minor that in everyday use you won't notice the difference.

Fit and finish, ESEE is better and definitely more consistent product in comparison to Ka-Bar, but you pay for that.

Out of the box (as a whole package), ESEE 6 is quite usable and BK-7 would benefit greatly from few upgrades (sheath, etc).
Both have great number of aftermarket accessories and replacement parts available.

If you actually want to use them for cutting and slicing as opposed to just banging on them, then they'll both need some elbow grease and $$, BK-7 more so than ESEE 6.

Personally, I use both a lot and still can't pick a favorite. They both have their good sides and they both have their warts.



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91bravo said:
I'd go with the Becker. You won't get called a dumb ass idiot if you file a warranty claim with Becker.
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Depends, if you go directly to Ka-Bar, it may be true, if you post in Becker forum here, you'll get to hear a lot of unpleasant stuff too.

Anyway, if both are as good as fanboys from both sides say, you'll never need a warranty for either.

Just my opinion, don't kill me for it.
 
bghorn said:
Depends, if you go directly to Ka-Bar, it may be true, if you post in Becker forum here, you'll get to hear a lot of unpleasant stuff too.

Anyway, if both are as good as fanboys from both sides say, you'll never need a warranty for either.

Just my opinion, don't kill me for it.
Click to expand...

There is no reason anybody in the Becker forum would treat someone unpleasantly without due prompting, the couple times a warranty-related issue was brought up in the subforum and didn't get resolved quickly and simply by Mr. Becker (and the nice folks who hang out there), it was because the OP had a hard time behaving respectfully and the backlash was warranted. When you post in a designer's subforum trashing their knives' quality because you happened to break one, it's not unheard of for many others to defend the quality of said blades and question the intelligence of the person who managed to break their knife.

The warranty issues I've seen on the Ka-Bar Beckers have mostly been gross negligence and abuse of the blades to the point of failure, yet they still got replaced. The couple that were not breakages but rather defect-related were also replaced. The only time the owner of the warrantied knife had anything but a pleasant experience with Mr. Becker and the folks who hang out in the BK&T subforum, it was brought on by their own actions in the subforum being less than friendly, not the actions of those who hang out there.
 
KingMC said:
There is no reason anybody in the Becker forum would treat someone unpleasantly without due prompting, the couple times a warranty-related issue was brought up in the subforum and didn't get resolved quickly and simply by Mr. Becker (and the nice folks who hang out there), it was because the OP had a hard time behaving respectfully and the backlash was warranted. When you post in a designer's subforum trashing their knives' quality because you happened to break one, it's not unheard of for many others to defend the quality of said blades and question the intelligence of the person who managed to break their knife.

The warranty issues I've seen on the Ka-Bar Beckers have mostly been gross negligence and abuse of the blades to the point of failure, yet they still got replaced. The couple that were not breakages but rather defect-related were also replaced. The only time the owner of the warrantied knife had anything but a pleasant experience with Mr. Becker and the folks who hang out in the BK&T subforum, it was brought on by their own actions in the subforum being less than friendly, not the actions of those who hang out there.
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http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/faulty-new-bk7-mr-becker-can-you-please-help-us-with-rma.1308477/
 
bghorn said:
http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/faulty-new-bk7-mr-becker-can-you-please-help-us-with-rma.1308477/
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Not sure what you're getting at with sharing that thread, other than you think that's somehow evidence of mistreatment of someone asking for help, there wasn't any abuse of the OP in that thread only questioning the backstory of the damage. The only real abuse was from a random outsider who started bashing Ka-Bar and was summarily quieted by the mods as being a troll. If you paid any attention to the outcome of the thread, you'd see that Mr. Becker himself stepped in while on vacation and contacted Ka-Bar so they could get him a replacement, even though his story was a little suspect.

The OP had nothing but praise for Ka-Bar and Mr. Becker after that, so I fail to see how you think that the BK&T subforum is unpleasant to those in need of warranty help. The only things that may be construed as unpleasant are the folks genuinely questioning the story of how the knife got damaged (valid questions considering the alleged story being told) and the random outsider who decided to attack Ka-Bar itself for poor quality.
 
KingMC said:
even though his story was a little suspect
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Why?
I read OPs post in the thread I linked several times. Judging by the photos, fairly obvious what was wrong with the blade. So, tell me, why was OP's post suspect?
How can you fail to see that it may be unpleasant experience for OP when bunch of paranoid know it alls piled up on him?

Anyway, apologies to OP for going off-topic.
 
bghorn said:
Why?
I read OPs post in the thread I linked several times. Judging by the photos, fairly obvious what was wrong with the blade. So, tell me, why was OP's post suspect?
How can you fail to see that it may be unpleasant experience for OP when bunch of paranoid know it alls piled up on him?

Anyway, apologies to OP for going off-topic.
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Thanks. I like to know that maker's care enough to actually replace their products. I'd say that it helped more than three it off track
 
bghorn said:
Why?
I read OPs post in the thread I linked several times. Judging by the photos, fairly obvious what was wrong with the blade. So, tell me, why was OP's post suspect?
How can you fail to see that it may be unpleasant experience for OP when bunch of paranoid know it alls piled up on him?

Anyway, apologies to OP for going off-topic.
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There was nothing obvious about the original post in that thread, as evidenced by the rest of the thread itself.

When the supposed task that caused the blade to bend and buckle was something that any reasonably hardened blade could handle with nary a scratch, it stands to reason that the more likely cause of the damage was something more abusive and more likely to damage the blade. An unhardened blade sneaking through QC at a major company is not the first assumption when you see a blade that appears to have been abused, so it makes sense that some folks were skeptical.

Your assumptions about that subforum are way off, one thread does not a pattern make. I will say you'll be hard pressed to find warranty threads in the BK&T subforum, simply because there are not many BK&T knives that ever need warranty help in the first place, so very few threads about it exist.
 
bghorn said:
Depends, if you go directly to Ka-Bar, it may be true, if you post in Becker forum here, you'll get to hear a lot of unpleasant stuff too.

Anyway, if both are as good as fanboys from both sides say, you'll never need a warranty for either.

Just my opinion, don't kill me for it.
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Would you mind explains what you mean by "you'll get to hear a lot of unpleasant stuff too?" The beckerheads at the bkt subforum are some of the nicest folks out there the thread in question turned into an argument after some people said it appeared to be from misuse and then a hater responded by saying and I quote "Too many fan boys bumming Beckers to accept they aren't as tough as they are said to be. Usually through their overly skeletonised handles snapping off or coin sized chipped breaking out the edge". And you call us the dealers of unpleasant stuff? And to go farther when the guy basically said seriously? He responded by saying Clearly you are a fan of the BK line. And ok, I get it, choice of words on this side of the planet often stings the soft and doughy skin of colonials but when people are saying the blade has been shot? abused and what not is just denial. ( no one claimed it was shot only said it almost appears like that). Ethan Becker himself came on and said Please tell your friend that between KaBar and I we will do the right thing...... how many times do you see the designer coming on and talking to you? I quote Ethan Becker a second time

As you have probably figured out, I talked to the plant this morning...... There should be no problems other than the logistics and that can be solved and soon...... I suspect that there will be quite a bit of head scratching at the plant as to how this happened ...... Please tell your friend that I apologies for the inconvenience and worry..... He put out a big chunk of change and relief is at a considerable distance.........


So I ask you why call us the dealers of unpleasant stuff?


And I quote mc who said it perfectly
I will say you'll be hard pressed to find warranty threads in the BK&T subforum, simply because there are not many BK&T knives that ever need warranty help in the first place, so very few threads about it exist.
 
James w said:
Would you mind explains what you mean by "you'll get to hear a lot of unpleasant stuff too?" The beckerheads at the bkt subforum are some of the nicest folks out there the thread in question turned into an argument after some people said it appeared to be from misuse and then a hater responded by saying and I quote "Too many fan boys bumming Beckers to accept they aren't as tough as they are said to be. Usually through their overly skeletonised handles snapping off or coin sized chipped breaking out the edge". And you call us the dealers of unpleasant stuff? And to go farther when the guy basically said seriously? He responded by saying Clearly you are a fan of the BK line. And ok, I get it, choice of words on this side of the planet often stings the soft and doughy skin of colonials but when people are saying the blade has been shot? abused and what not is just denial. ( no one claimed it was shot only said it almost appears like that). Ethan Becker himself came on and said Please tell your friend that between KaBar and I we will do the right thing...... how many times do you see the designer coming on and talking to you? I quote Ethan Becker a second time

As you have probably figured out, I talked to the plant this morning...... There should be no problems other than the logistics and that can be solved and soon...... I suspect that there will be quite a bit of head scratching at the plant as to how this happened ...... Please tell your friend that I apologies for the inconvenience and worry..... He put out a big chunk of change and relief is at a considerable distance.........


So I ask you why call us the dealers of unpleasant stuff?


And I quote mc who said it perfectly
I will say you'll be hard pressed to find warranty threads in the BK&T subforum, simply because there are not many BK&T knives that ever need warranty help in the first place, so very few threads about it exist.
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Facts:
1.) We established early in this thread that both ESEE andf Ka-Bar have good warranty and they stand behind their products.
2.) Some beckerhead have to start mud slinging
3.) I give back a little
4.) Beckerhead claims it never happens
5.) I post a link
6.) Beckerhead claims ok it happened once and it wasn't entirely what you may get out of that thread and that warranty claim is still suspect.
7.) Why suspect?
8.) Beckerhead claims now I'm way off
9.) Another beckerhead chimes in accusing me of having something against dealers.

Really guys?
ESEE bad, Becker good!
Feel better now?
 
bghorn said:
Facts:
1.) We established early in this thread that both ESEE andf Ka-Bar have good warranty and they stand behind their products.
2.) Some beckerhead have to start mud slinging
3.) I give back a little
4.) Beckerhead claims it never happens
5.) I post a link
6.) Beckerhead claims ok it happened once and it wasn't entirely what you may get out of that thread and that warranty claim is still suspect.
7.) Why suspect?
8.) Beckerhead claims now I'm way off
9.) Another beckerhead chimes in accusing me of having something against dealers.

Really guys?
ESEE bad, Becker good!
Feel better now?
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I'm not sure what James is on about, but you're claims and my claims are not mutually exclusive. You claimed that the BK&T subforum can be unpleasant for those seeking warranty help, I claimed that it was only unpleasant if those seeking help made it that way by acting less than friendly. The thread you posted showed both our claims are correct, but the main cause for unpleasantness wasn't the one with the warranty claim but just someone with a beef against Ka-Bar, the OP ending up with a satisfied resolution after Mr. Becker got involved.

No subforum is perfect and safe from unpleasantness, but overall the only way you'll find unpleasantness with the BK&T crowd is if you ask for it.

Considering the ESEE folks don't have a subforum here, and fan bases not having anything to do with warranties, this discussion seems like a relatively pointless endeavor overall.
 
ESEE 6. If you need something bigger (chopper) get a Junglas!
(Maybe even check out ESEE 6HM if you want more of a camp knife; it's got a comfy handle)

With ESEE you get a good sheath, decent scales, strong blade coating, a choil, Rowens heat-treat, you don't have to worry about upgrading anything and ...

"No Questions Asked Warranty. If you screw it up, break it, or cut it in two with a cutting torch, send it back and we'll replace it. Warranty is transferable. In other words, we warranty the knife no matter how many times it's been traded, sold or given away. We don't ask for a sales receipt, date of purchase or where you bought the knife - No fine print and no hassles"

Search "broken becker" in Google Images, endless pictures...
Search "broken esee" in Google Images, very few pictures...
 
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You are going to be happy with either, but without knowing you, I have no idea how happy your wallet will be. The becker is going to be cheaper, let you spend a bit more on sharpening stones, buy a movie ticket for your girlfriend, or whatever. Tastes change, and at this point, quantity has a quality all its own, so yeah, buy knives, you know you have a resource here to ask if something is going to be what you want it to be. But you are better off spending much less on a knife that lets you learn, than a knife that you might feel bad about hurting, modding, or otherwise toying with. Yeah a ESEE comes with some better fit and finish, but dude, you have time, so don't worry, an hour or two doesn't have to be scrounged like many of the guys here.
 
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