Got my first BK4...on the 4th!

M

MacTech

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Jan 7, 2006
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I stopped into my local sporting goods shop today, and saw they had 3 used Beckers in the used knife cabinet, all three unused, with the original box, paper sleeve and sheath, there was the ubiquitous 2, a 5, and the 4

I checked out all three of them, the 2 was as beastly as I remember, the 5 felt fast and lithe, a great slicer, but the 4? As soon as I held it, it was like King Arthur drawing Excalbur from the stone... It just felt... Right, I could feel the potential as a great woods/camp knife, so... It came home with me...

First things first, it was brandy-new and shiny (well, the edge was, the black coating, not so much...) and unused, that was inexcusable, a blade like this cries out to be used, and used well, so, I knocked the newness off it by splitting a few logs I had cut down to campfire size with my chain saw earlier

The 4 did an amazing job of splitting the wood, this thing is a true beast, I love it, I then took Cooper
4D7560AC-7B87-4A5C-8130-0750BBEFE94D_zpsdberz5lg.jpg
on a walk through our fields, and used the 4 to topple some thick stands of weeds, the snap cut took down the weeds with no effort, felt like a hand-held weedwhacker...

When I got back, my 11 year old niece had taken the wood I split and built a nice campfire structure in the outdoor fireplace for tonight, she's got a real talent for building campfire structures, should burn real well tonight

After my playing in the field, I cleaned off the blade, touched it up on the Sharpmaker, then, on a whim, used it to create gossamer-thin slices of a large tomato that needed eating, the belly section of the blade passed through the tomato with ease, it actually works nicely as a food prep knife too...

The BK4 has earned its place in my collection, it's a truly amazing piece of blade craft, thank you Ethan, for this amazing knife
 
Hell yeah, BK4 FOREVER! great score! Now run back over there and snag that 2 and 5!
 
Here are a few glamour shots;




Some of those logs were green-ish Sugar Maple, or as we in Maine call it, Rock Maple, when it's green, it is amazingly tough to cut or split
 
Congrats. I'm finding with each new Becker I "collect" that there is a lot of thought into each design. So far I haven't found one that wasn't comfortable and good at it's intended use. Unfortunately the only thing my new 4 has cut is me. That will change tomorrow. The 11 gets its time today. Have a good Fourth.
 
Congrats MacTech!!
A fine choice in American made craftsmanship you've made.

CM_Rick said:
You can't not have a 4
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I love seeing these posts with new Machax owners!
Truer words have never been spoken Rick.
Man, I love me some Machax!
 
Hey MacTech.....

Thanks for the kind words.... It was the first knife I designed from scratch and I am amazed at how lucky I was..... I spent more time on that design than any other...... I certainly am happy that your Machax is working well for you....

Thanks, again....

Ethan
 
It's funny, I've hefted a bunch of Becker designed knives, heck, I've owned a 2 for a short time a few years back, but it never really clicked with me, I respect the design, the sheer beastly indestructible-ness of the blade, but it was too short and too heavy for my use, so it got traded.

I've owned the classic USMC fighting knife as well, I love the history and tradition, but I don't need a "fighting" knife, and I was always afraid of the rat tang breaking under hard use

When I picked up the 4, it was that "Excalibur Moment" for me, it just felt right, and I couldn't stand to see a brutally functional tool just languishing in the box, the previous owner neve used it, and the term "shelf queen" should not be in the vocabulary of any self-respecting Beckerhead, these are raw, primal tools, they are meant to be *USED* not babied...

That said, no matter how indestructible the knife is, no matter how tough and resistant to abuse, I can't bring myself to abuse them, it's just my mindset, a true man takes care of his tools, he may use them hard, push them to near their limits and possibly beyond, but once the job is finished, it deserves the respect of being cleaned, re sharpened, and put away in anticipation of the next adventure.

Thanks to Ethan again, for making tools that can take whatever we throw at them, laugh in the face of it, and come back asking for more.

This won't be the last Becker I pick up, I've got a really strong desire for a 9, and perhaps a 5, sadly, the 2 and I just don't get along, the good news is that means there's more for those that *DO* love them

Oh, and I found a great way to clean up my BK4 after a day of fun...

I've got an old used RIG rag sheepskin wiper that has all the RIG grease depleted, I spray it down with some Balistol, and use that to clean the blade, the oil softens the crud on the blade, and the sheets wool lifts it off, it brings the blade coating back to deep black, and no residual crud, plus, the oil helps protect the exposed steel of the edge...
 
I've had a 4 for several years, absolutely perfect blade for me. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine. :)
 
Enjoy the 4! Looks like you're well on your way to putting some miles on it. Keep us updated on how you (continue to) like it.
 
are you allowed to share the name of the sporting goods store that carries Beckers? As far as I know, there isn't a store near me that has anything to fondle. Now you've got a section that supplies used knives.
 
It's Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, Maine

Found another use for the 4, it's perfect for slicing off pieces of watermelon quarters, we have a quarter that is almost the length of the 4's blade, every other kitchen knife is too short, but the 4? It's the perfect length
 
MacTech said:
and unused, that was inexcusable, a blade like this cries out to be used, and used well, so, I knocked the newness off it by splitting a few logs I had cut down to campfire size with my chain saw earlier
Click to expand...

This. When I get a new one, I cannot wait to get out and get her dirty.

Congrats on the 4, it is just a hell of a design. I've enjoyed all the Beckers I own, but the 4 has definitely intrigued me the most.

BTW, I have been to Kittery a few times. I like going into Frisbee's Market. :thumbup:
 
MacTech said:
It's Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, Maine

Found another use for the 4, it's perfect for slicing off pieces of watermelon quarters, we have a quarter that is almost the length of the 4's blade, every other kitchen knife is too short, but the 4? It's the perfect length
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I haven't been in there in a while - looks like I have another reason to make the detour now!
 
Today was both a day of unpleasant duties, and a day of learning...

This morning, I saw my Silkie/Cochin mix bantam rooster attacking my new Easter Egger pullets, not mating, mind you, but attacking them, he's also a very abusive mater though, he's chicken-agressive, but utterly terrified of people

I've tried putting him in "chicken jail", I've tried tagging him with a flat-point Wadcutter pellet from my Benjamin 392 air rifle, one pump of air, just enough to startle him, I've even loaded up a low-power 20 gauge shotshell loaded with AirSoft pellets, to sting him, nothing works, the pellet or shotshell get him to "behave" for about four days, but after that, back to the old habits...

He had to go, he's stressing out my hens

So, here's where the learning comes in...

I've learned that;
1; carrying around a chicken upside down, using the feet as a "handle" puts them into a kind of trance/coma**

2; a Predator Polymag .22 hunting pellet on 8 pumps puts the bird down instantly with a shot to the skull

3; the BK-4 can seperate the now deceased bird's head from its body in one solid chop, clean through the tough structures of the neck, and the cut itself is surgically clean

The chopping power of the 4 never ceases to amaze, just wish I didn't need to use it on one of my chickens, but I have no use for mean roosters that only beat on the hens, don't defend the flock, and hide at anything they see as a "predator"***



**and for some reason tends to attract the family of white tailed deer on our property, they approached My dog Cooper and I to within 30 yards or so, dead serious!

***songbirds, leaves, loose feathers drifting in front of them, dust motes, individual air molecules....
 
I too am in Maine and for me, too, my 4 is my go-to woods knife. I love it.

....but it didn't start out that way. When I first got it, it was much smaller than I had expected. I was visualizing something more like the RBK, and I was disappointed at first.

Then I started using it. Hoooo yeah. This is a hell of a blade. Now I have a backup 4 because they are so awesome.

I think it's better to think of the 'chax as a really big small knife, rather than a small big knife. If that makes sense.
 
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