- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 1,247
Yeah, like I'm some kind of expert...
The box arrived about an hour ago. Of course, I had to open all three and fondle.
First impression: I didn't get a signature box. Second impression: A gorilla (maybe the 800-lb one?) at SMKW jammed the KaBar/Becker box carrying the BK16S into the shipping box and tore a corner. Normally not a big deal, but these are billed as "collectors" items!
Scales. Have to say I'm disappointed. Ethan said in the TV video that they felt nice in his hand. Eh... The trademark of a Becker is a handle that fills your hand -- and then some. My hands aren't that big, and the knife felt lost in my grip. I definitely will be making some spacers out of scrap Kydex. I took the brown additional scales out of the official Ziplock bag and examined them. Small, but very obvious, mould flashing around the entire perimeter. Say what?
The surfaces that mount toward the knife grip look like the scales were poured into a mould and left to harden with that surface upright in the open; wavy, not flat like they would be against the wall of a mould. I put the two halves together in the position they would be on the knife and you can see lots of light peaking around the mounting surfaces. They aren't flat -- they rock (and not in the good way). The three screws will probably pull them up tight against the knife, but you would never see this kind of thing on a Grivory scale on a BK7 or 2 or 9. In general, scales aren't up to usual Becker standards.
Edge. Looks "rushed". Very large included angle, ground with a very coarse stone. Not centered. Especially near the point the edge is much wider on one side than the other, visible by eye. I tried cutting a piece of 8 x 11 copy paper with the BK-16 and it just glanced off. Bad. Correctable, of course, but for $75 you should be able to cut a piece of paper out of the box, even if it leaves a ragged edge.
On the MiniMag (15) along the spine forward from the roll stamping was obvious dirt and debris that was caught under the black coating. On a "collector" edition...:grumpy:
Different models:Really subjective stuff here. All just my opinion, of course. Grip in my dominant hand and look down, then figure which looks/feels the best. I gotta say for me the order of preference - best to worse - would be the MiniMag(15), the clip point (17), and a distant third would be the drop point (16).
There ya have it. Maybe the big failing is in trying to make a collector edition out of the "Knives That Work." Silk purse our of a sow's ear -- kind of thing. Nothing I complained about (well, other than the sharpness) would bother a "working" knife. It's just that I know Beckers, and the ones I got don't live up to the old standard.
The box arrived about an hour ago. Of course, I had to open all three and fondle.
First impression: I didn't get a signature box. Second impression: A gorilla (maybe the 800-lb one?) at SMKW jammed the KaBar/Becker box carrying the BK16S into the shipping box and tore a corner. Normally not a big deal, but these are billed as "collectors" items!
Scales. Have to say I'm disappointed. Ethan said in the TV video that they felt nice in his hand. Eh... The trademark of a Becker is a handle that fills your hand -- and then some. My hands aren't that big, and the knife felt lost in my grip. I definitely will be making some spacers out of scrap Kydex. I took the brown additional scales out of the official Ziplock bag and examined them. Small, but very obvious, mould flashing around the entire perimeter. Say what?
The surfaces that mount toward the knife grip look like the scales were poured into a mould and left to harden with that surface upright in the open; wavy, not flat like they would be against the wall of a mould. I put the two halves together in the position they would be on the knife and you can see lots of light peaking around the mounting surfaces. They aren't flat -- they rock (and not in the good way). The three screws will probably pull them up tight against the knife, but you would never see this kind of thing on a Grivory scale on a BK7 or 2 or 9. In general, scales aren't up to usual Becker standards.Edge. Looks "rushed". Very large included angle, ground with a very coarse stone. Not centered. Especially near the point the edge is much wider on one side than the other, visible by eye. I tried cutting a piece of 8 x 11 copy paper with the BK-16 and it just glanced off. Bad. Correctable, of course, but for $75 you should be able to cut a piece of paper out of the box, even if it leaves a ragged edge.
On the MiniMag (15) along the spine forward from the roll stamping was obvious dirt and debris that was caught under the black coating. On a "collector" edition...:grumpy:
Different models:Really subjective stuff here. All just my opinion, of course. Grip in my dominant hand and look down, then figure which looks/feels the best. I gotta say for me the order of preference - best to worse - would be the MiniMag(15), the clip point (17), and a distant third would be the drop point (16).
There ya have it. Maybe the big failing is in trying to make a collector edition out of the "Knives That Work." Silk purse our of a sow's ear -- kind of thing. Nothing I complained about (well, other than the sharpness) would bother a "working" knife. It's just that I know Beckers, and the ones I got don't live up to the old standard.
