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Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Evolution of your survival/woods knife.
- Thread starter dresnor
- Start date
- Joined
- May 13, 2011
- Messages
- 929
Happy thanksgiving upnorth!
Myself: Started when I was young hunting with my father and his buddy. Lost the heart for it, and stopped coming. Bunch of years went by and was shocked by the lack of practical skills with myself and the rest of the world. So I dove back in.
Started with, at my old mans recommendation, a ka bar. Unbeknown to me there is more that one. Who'd of known? Figured out what he meant and was looking at carbon steel and stainless steel. Bought the stainless because, at the time, thought that stainless had a magical ability not to rust and thus you don't need to care for it. Before I go on I will admit I learned I was wrong long before I ruined the blade.
Wanted something to chop better while being introduced to that, "one knife" dilemma. And stumbled upon the BK7.
Loving the knife but hating the sheath I stumbled upon this place. Lost a lot of money but saw that the knife fairy kept leaving stuff at my door step, so fair trade. LEARNED A LOT. Which I don't thank you guys enough. Learned I have an affinity for 3-5 inch blades. And am now playing with axes and saws. Carrying the BK2 around a lot these days.
[will update with pics when I get time. I sear it happened!]
Myself: Started when I was young hunting with my father and his buddy. Lost the heart for it, and stopped coming. Bunch of years went by and was shocked by the lack of practical skills with myself and the rest of the world. So I dove back in.
Started with, at my old mans recommendation, a ka bar. Unbeknown to me there is more that one. Who'd of known? Figured out what he meant and was looking at carbon steel and stainless steel. Bought the stainless because, at the time, thought that stainless had a magical ability not to rust and thus you don't need to care for it. Before I go on I will admit I learned I was wrong long before I ruined the blade.
Wanted something to chop better while being introduced to that, "one knife" dilemma. And stumbled upon the BK7.
Loving the knife but hating the sheath I stumbled upon this place. Lost a lot of money but saw that the knife fairy kept leaving stuff at my door step, so fair trade. LEARNED A LOT. Which I don't thank you guys enough. Learned I have an affinity for 3-5 inch blades. And am now playing with axes and saws. Carrying the BK2 around a lot these days.
[will update with pics when I get time. I sear it happened!]
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2010
- Messages
- 6,118
Well, having eaten some crow, I can now admit that my love of the BK2, while in no way diminished, has been completely overshadowed by my love of my FPR BK16.
This knife has done most of my cutting for the last 6 months or so, and it keeps on coming back for more. Changes made to it included first a stripping, then a recoating of the handle area with bedliner, then a forced patina on the blade area (1 time deal and only to give it some mild protection until it developed it's own through use, it is ugly as sin but more for funtional reasons than anything), then a set of handle scale liners, a brief dabbling with some stippled handle scales, a second pair of handle liners (which was the magic number) and now some sandblasted grips for grippiness. There may be a knife that comes along and dethrones this one, but it will have to be something pretty special to manage that.
This knife has done most of my cutting for the last 6 months or so, and it keeps on coming back for more. Changes made to it included first a stripping, then a recoating of the handle area with bedliner, then a forced patina on the blade area (1 time deal and only to give it some mild protection until it developed it's own through use, it is ugly as sin but more for funtional reasons than anything), then a set of handle scale liners, a brief dabbling with some stippled handle scales, a second pair of handle liners (which was the magic number) and now some sandblasted grips for grippiness. There may be a knife that comes along and dethrones this one, but it will have to be something pretty special to manage that.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2012
- Messages
- 1,138
well lets see here...
My first real knife was my Kraton Ka-Bar (center) Then I got my Mora Bushcraft Force that I used almost exclusively for a bit (right) also along the way my grandfather gave me my uncle's Buckmaster (a real one no hokey knockoff)(left)
some other pics of my collection
After that came my first Becker (my BK-14)
Then the addiction set in I got my 16 and now I'm starving for a new BK blade hopefully I'll have the funds for the 9 I want soon
My first real knife was my Kraton Ka-Bar (center) Then I got my Mora Bushcraft Force that I used almost exclusively for a bit (right) also along the way my grandfather gave me my uncle's Buckmaster (a real one no hokey knockoff)(left)
some other pics of my collection
After that came my first Becker (my BK-14)
Then the addiction set in I got my 16 and now I'm starving for a new BK blade hopefully I'll have the funds for the 9 I want soon
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2010
- Messages
- 1,300
well lets see here...
My first real knife was my Kraton Ka-Bar (center) Then I got my Mora Bushcraft Force that I used almost exclusively for a bit (right) also along the way my grandfather gave me my uncle's Buckmaster (a real one no hokey knockoff)(left)
some other pics of my collection
After that came my first Becker (my BK-14)
Then the addiction set in I got my 16 and now I'm starving for a new BK blade hopefully I'll have the funds for the 9 I want soon
Nice Buckmaster.
That was "The Knife" that got me really hooked.
Just sold it, still wonder if it was the right decision, but truth be told, take my BK 7 over it all day long.
Never REALLY liked it (as far as usability) but damn it was cool (LOL)
Bought it new in 1984 (second batch, plain stamp 184)
Good stuff :thumbup:
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2012
- Messages
- 1,138
Yeah Its a well enough made knife but I don't really see much use for it personally. But It was my uncle's before he passed and it represents its era well, plus they're not getting any more common.
This is a great topic!
When I was 6 my Dad gave me a small slip joint. I forget the brand, but I still have it locked away.
This began an obsession I’ve been feeding since then. I started collecting every knife I could buy, which wasn’t very much.
When I was 12 I joined our local Royal Rangers program and learned how to actually use knives and other tools and took my first steps into bushcrafting.
From there I started carrying a large buck folder, then went through a time of trying everything from old bayonets to knives we actually crafted ourselves.
For quite a while I carried an old German bayonet I tore apart and crafted an antler handle onto. This and a hand forged tomahawk was my go-to setup for quite a while.
From their I found Gerber blades and carried several of those for years as family and career started getting in the way of my time in the field.
A few years ago I started feeling the need to get out again and needed to replace my longknife and stumbled upon this sub-forum and the wonder that is Becker. I picked up a BK2 and fell in love with that chunky lady! A little later I picked up a BK14 for an EDC and a little later a BK7.
Only recently have I started using the BK7 as I didn’t put as much faith in it as the BK2. It turned out to be a better chopper and can hold its own so am using it more and more often.
This last weekend, I did the unthinkable and gave my BK2, with attached fire kit, to a friend at church. He was admiring the blade as I was splitting some logs with it for a backyard fire and expressed an interest in learning some bushcraft. So I made him a gift of my chunky lady with a promise that we keep each other in prayer. I already miss my train wrecker, but have plans on picking up a 9 later this month (hopefully).
When I was 6 my Dad gave me a small slip joint. I forget the brand, but I still have it locked away.
This began an obsession I’ve been feeding since then. I started collecting every knife I could buy, which wasn’t very much.
When I was 12 I joined our local Royal Rangers program and learned how to actually use knives and other tools and took my first steps into bushcrafting.
From there I started carrying a large buck folder, then went through a time of trying everything from old bayonets to knives we actually crafted ourselves.
For quite a while I carried an old German bayonet I tore apart and crafted an antler handle onto. This and a hand forged tomahawk was my go-to setup for quite a while.
From their I found Gerber blades and carried several of those for years as family and career started getting in the way of my time in the field.
A few years ago I started feeling the need to get out again and needed to replace my longknife and stumbled upon this sub-forum and the wonder that is Becker. I picked up a BK2 and fell in love with that chunky lady! A little later I picked up a BK14 for an EDC and a little later a BK7.
Only recently have I started using the BK7 as I didn’t put as much faith in it as the BK2. It turned out to be a better chopper and can hold its own so am using it more and more often.
This last weekend, I did the unthinkable and gave my BK2, with attached fire kit, to a friend at church. He was admiring the blade as I was splitting some logs with it for a backyard fire and expressed an interest in learning some bushcraft. So I made him a gift of my chunky lady with a promise that we keep each other in prayer. I already miss my train wrecker, but have plans on picking up a 9 later this month (hopefully).
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2011
- Messages
- 710
i will edit later with pictures. my evolution was a shorter one
gerber lmf 2
becker bk 9
izula 1
mora
gerber lmf 2
becker bk 9
izula 1
mora
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2012
- Messages
- 28
This is a great thread idea! For me, it all started with a little folding pocket knife that I sent away for with the comics in Bazooka Joe bubble gum. It had a very strong tension bar thingy and snapped shut one day on the end of my finger, chopping the tip right off. Mom took that knife away right quick. Next was my father's Buck 102, when I was a very young lad. He was a target shooter and hunter, sadly he passed away when I was very young and most of his outdoorsy possessions had been given away to family or sold. Fortunately mom did hold on to a few items and I found the knife years later while rummaging around in some boxes. I fell in love with the elegance and beauty of it. That was short lived though, as my discovery was soon discovered and taken away "for safe keeping, till I was older". That was the seed though, and I became quite enamored with knives. Soon enough, she caved in and gave it back to me.
Flash forward a few years: while looking through the Consumers Distributing catalog I saw the exact knife that dresner posted (below) and I saved up for it. That knife was the very first thing I ever bought with my own money that wasn't a comic or candy
I had it for a few years, right up to the 9th grade when it somehow ended up in my pack on a field trip and some kid got hold of it and was waving it around. It was taken away by a cold hearted school admin, never to be seen again and I got sentenced to community service.
Right around that time, I started making very crude knives in the garage from any scraps of metal I could find. Well, step-dad (who was always a bit of a douch) tolerated that for a short while and then took them all away. (Does anyone see a pattern here?). That precipitated the gifting of the second knife, pictured below, to me from mom. The Randal belt knife was also my dad's. Somehow I came into possession of the Ruko bowie pictured below. It belonged to my dad, but was given to me by my grand father. The handle was loose and it never felt good in my hand so I never used it. I use the Buck for food prep in the field, i don't much care for the Russel but all three were my dad's and what little I have from him so they will be with me till the day I die.
When I started spending more time out in the woods in my early 20's, I decided a new and larger knife was in order. That's how the Zambezi came to be mine. The day I bought it, my mother-in-law (at the time) who happened to be Army, flight navigator, a keen outdoors person and top-notch-cool was with me. I've used that knife the most and its still a staple in the field. Lots of great memories attached to the ole' Zambezi.
I then acquired the Rambo reproduction below from a scetchy market vendor who told great stories. That and the fact that it was a massive blade equated to AWESOME so I bought it. Tried to carry it out once. Also tried to cut wood with it once. Totally impractical though, never used it again. Still can't understand why I still have it.
Years go by and I'm in a local army surplus store. They have the coolest looking knife in the cabinet and I just HAD to buy it. That's how the Buck 188 came to me. It's also the very first bayonet I ever bought and led to an obsession with bayonets and sharp pointy things in general, hence my user name. I found it to be less than ideal in the field and have not used it much.
Last year I decided the Zambezi wasn't fully cutting it anymore and I wanted something with more blade and heft for chopping and splitting wood. That research led me here and to my unmarked BK9.
Cheers!
Flash forward a few years: while looking through the Consumers Distributing catalog I saw the exact knife that dresner posted (below) and I saved up for it. That knife was the very first thing I ever bought with my own money that wasn't a comic or candy
I had it for a few years, right up to the 9th grade when it somehow ended up in my pack on a field trip and some kid got hold of it and was waving it around. It was taken away by a cold hearted school admin, never to be seen again and I got sentenced to community service.
Right around that time, I started making very crude knives in the garage from any scraps of metal I could find. Well, step-dad (who was always a bit of a douch) tolerated that for a short while and then took them all away. (Does anyone see a pattern here?). That precipitated the gifting of the second knife, pictured below, to me from mom. The Randal belt knife was also my dad's. Somehow I came into possession of the Ruko bowie pictured below. It belonged to my dad, but was given to me by my grand father. The handle was loose and it never felt good in my hand so I never used it. I use the Buck for food prep in the field, i don't much care for the Russel but all three were my dad's and what little I have from him so they will be with me till the day I die.
When I started spending more time out in the woods in my early 20's, I decided a new and larger knife was in order. That's how the Zambezi came to be mine. The day I bought it, my mother-in-law (at the time) who happened to be Army, flight navigator, a keen outdoors person and top-notch-cool was with me. I've used that knife the most and its still a staple in the field. Lots of great memories attached to the ole' Zambezi.
I then acquired the Rambo reproduction below from a scetchy market vendor who told great stories. That and the fact that it was a massive blade equated to AWESOME so I bought it. Tried to carry it out once. Also tried to cut wood with it once. Totally impractical though, never used it again. Still can't understand why I still have it.
Years go by and I'm in a local army surplus store. They have the coolest looking knife in the cabinet and I just HAD to buy it. That's how the Buck 188 came to me. It's also the very first bayonet I ever bought and led to an obsession with bayonets and sharp pointy things in general, hence my user name. I found it to be less than ideal in the field and have not used it much.
Last year I decided the Zambezi wasn't fully cutting it anymore and I wanted something with more blade and heft for chopping and splitting wood. That research led me here and to my unmarked BK9.
Cheers!
I don't have any picture of it, or the next ones after up till the bk2. But mine, was an old ontario old hickory that my grandma also gave me! Crazy how things are...I no longer have it, but I got it when I was about twelve, and used it for quite awhile. And I never had much money, so I basically went through my evolution researching knives on the internet. I would be set on one, then I learned about steels, handles, thickness, more about steels, then makers, and all kinds of things. I got a knife at a flea market about two years ago, (I was 15) for 10 bucks. It was well used, and it's leather handle, and sheath looked like they went through hell and back. Turns out they did. The owners grandfather carried it in vietnam! Guess what it was? Enter the Pilots survival knife Because of it's character, and just amazing looks
I loved that knife. After using it for awhile, i decided that because of it's history, I would keep it safe instead of using it. Unfortunately, while i lived with my sister, a friend of hers went through my stuff while I was gone and they were there, and took it. Luckily it was in a different place than the custom made by my grandfather, though it was just as special...I have wen through a series of knives, and research, and just got my bk2 the other day. I dont have pictures of the Pilots knife, or the old hickory, but I will find some that look close, to represent them. -Weston
this one looks real close
These aren't mine, just some that I found to represent them.
Annd, present
Crazy how things are...I no longer have it, but I got it when I was about twelve, and used it for quite awhile. And I never had much money, so I basically went through my evolution researching knives on the internet. I would be set on one, then I learned about steels, handles, thickness, more about steels, then makers, and all kinds of things. I got a knife at a flea market about two years ago, (I was 15) for 10 bucks. It was well used, and it's leather handle, and sheath looked like they went through hell and back. Turns out they did. The owners grandfather carried it in vietnam! Guess what it was? Enter the Pilots survival knife Because of it's character, and just amazing looks I loved that knife. After using it for awhile, i decided that because of it's history, I would keep it safe instead of using it. Unfortunately, while i lived with my sister, a friend of hers went through my stuff while I was gone and they were there, and took it. Luckily it was in a different place than the custom made by my grandfather, though it was just as special...I have wen through a series of knives, and research, and just got my bk2 the other day. I dont have pictures of the Pilots knife, or the old hickory, but I will find some that look close, to represent them. -Westonthis one looks real close
These aren't mine, just some that I found to represent them.
Annd, present
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2011
- Messages
- 2,189
wow this thread is just as great of a read as it was the first time!
Great new posts!
Great new posts!
13 years ago, when I was 8, my grandpa gave me an SAK Spartan. He said "Every boy needs to carry a knife." I've been following this rule for most of my life since then, even though I've been replacing "boy" with "man" recently.
When I was 12, I moved up into the "middle age" section in my scouts troop (age 11-16) and my parents gave me a sailor's knife, one just like this.
I carried this for a couple years. I also got a Vic Supertool when I was 14. At the time, the 80€ it cost really was a lot, I remember saving up for it for a couple months. I really got along fine with that combo for a few years. Keep in mind, I wasn't really doing any survival/wilderness stuff, and there was always a hatchet or a saw handy.
Then, fast forward a few years, in the early months of 2011, I got into quality knives, big time. I got a BK2 (from mywifethinksimcrazy) and used that for a good while. I tried out a lot of different knives, most of them Becker, but an ESEE3 and 4 and an EnZo Trapper somehow got in the mix too. The whole time, I thought of the BK-2 as my go-to survival knife, the one tool I'd grab if a hurricane/flash flood/nuke was headed for Berlin.
Now it looks like it's going to be dethroned by the BK-16 (and the Gränsfors Bruks Small Forest Axe) that I just got...
When I was 12, I moved up into the "middle age" section in my scouts troop (age 11-16) and my parents gave me a sailor's knife, one just like this.
I carried this for a couple years. I also got a Vic Supertool when I was 14. At the time, the 80€ it cost really was a lot, I remember saving up for it for a couple months. I really got along fine with that combo for a few years. Keep in mind, I wasn't really doing any survival/wilderness stuff, and there was always a hatchet or a saw handy.
Then, fast forward a few years, in the early months of 2011, I got into quality knives, big time. I got a BK2 (from mywifethinksimcrazy) and used that for a good while. I tried out a lot of different knives, most of them Becker, but an ESEE3 and 4 and an EnZo Trapper somehow got in the mix too. The whole time, I thought of the BK-2 as my go-to survival knife, the one tool I'd grab if a hurricane/flash flood/nuke was headed for Berlin.
Now it looks like it's going to be dethroned by the BK-16 (and the Gränsfors Bruks Small Forest Axe) that I just got...