Handle comfort while chopping- Bk21, Bk9, Bk4, and Schrade Schf43

beachmaster

beachmaster

Joined
Oct 3, 2014
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Hey guys, its been awhile since the last video because my bush time came without camera a few times, and I just didn't get as much as I wanted.

But in my Jessica X VS series I have covered outright chopping power, chopping power per oz, and chopping power per $ to the best of my ability, and I wanted to handle chopping comfort separately, with someone else, because it is more subjective.

Lo and behold, my buddy started his journey into knifedom with the king, the Bk9, just like I did!

Anyways, if we wanted to choose something JUST for chopping, I wouldn't choose a 9 or a 4, because that is not what they were designed for! (So I think that they will both shine when the small work and skinning videos come around) So, unsurprisingly, when it comes to putting some hard long time in on chopping, they weren't as comfortable as the more chopping specific Bk21 and Schf43.

The Schf43 does much better than expected in this regard, especially when you take the time to figure out the blade. I don't like Schrade as a company, but I think that a lot of people are going to be very happy with this knife.

But the Bk21 is a full different story. While chopping, I literally feel like when Ethan designed his handles, he had the Bk21 in mind. (at least for chopping) The knifes features compliment is so well, you can tell that a lot of time, effort, and experience went into the blade.

So, here is the video! Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/PSg6cQ3bpsY
 
Hi beachmaster. Good job on your video. I like your shelter, beautiful location.

I have to say I'm pretty sick of hearing about this schrade crap. I am guessing other people are too and that's why this post is sliding down the page.

No offense man. I'm going to check out your channel:thumbup:
 
Interesting that three knives with the exact same handles can rank 1st, 3rd and 4th in a competition :p.

Personally I've not had an issue with pinky pain, but I chop with a moose style lanyard (and a 2 or 3 finger grip), so maybe thats why I don't notice? And as a side note, watching someone chop with a knife without a lanyard was a bit "edgy" feeling for me. I feel they add such a large amount of utility, comfort, and safety that they're personally a must for me. If you haven't already tried it, perhaps give that a try? If you have, then carry on, who am I to tell another man what works best for him :D.

As for Schrade stuff? I guess I'm not too interested in the ones designed by CTanner, but I do like mistwalker and his designs. I'd use one of his I believe.

And your editing/video production skills seem to be improving. I liked the picture in picture stuff :). Audio was ... audible, but somewhat faint (could tell the microphone was a good distance away). The upside is there wasn't lots of wind noise, or sirens/jets/etc. Personally, I'd like the videos to be a bit more... succinct. Perhaps a text overlay could help ("pros:" "Cons:")?
 
That schrade could perform like the best knife in the world, however due to how fugly and fubar it is, I'd never find out for myself. Honestly I wouldn't even take one if it was given to me, I'd pass it on to the next unfortunate soul.
 
Thanks guys!
As for the Becker handles being the same, that is true, and I guess it could be a bit odd, but the different blade on each handle really effected the comfort of the knife as a whole. Handle geometry can be greatly impacted by blade geometry and weight distribution.
As far as lanyards... they are a very good idea, and when I am teaching people how to do certain tasks, I always suggest a lanyard... But I can't get myself to enjoy one YET. I am sure that it will come.
And when doing the chopping with the Bk9, I used a 2 finger grip due to a bit of beating on the pinky and ring finger, and on the Bk4, I used a three finger grip. That is just what ended up being most comfortable for me.
And a lot of this discomfort comes from chopping through an 8" in diameter dried oak log. That is definitely axe territory, and I understand that. But what it did was mirror a days worth of work in a short period of time.

The smaller Beckers are really going to shine I believe when I begin doing smaller tasks. What has been great for me is seeing the Bk4 and Bk9 work back to back. I really think that I prefer the Bk4 which is a bit odd, but man, it just works so darn well, and it weighs next to nothing!

And ocnLogan, you are %100 on my audio quality. I apologize :/ my camera has been through a deployment in Afghanistan, multiple airborne jumps, and two tough mudders... it has seen much better days, and I WILL upgrade it with my first paycheck that I get from YouTube... which I will hopefully get within the next six months LOL

Again, thanks guys! I know that there is a lot of Schrade hate out there. I know that there is a lot of CT hate here. I personally don't like schrade. I also personally like ugly knives for some reason. I don't love the JX, but I will say that I am impressed by it, and the more I use it, for me, the better it gets.

Which takes nothing from Becker knives!
 
Just homing in on the BK9 and BK4 for a moment, they are two of my favorites in that size range and the BK9 is so good at so many big knife chores that you can't not have a 9 but ... as you mentioned, the BK4 is so surprisingly good at small tasks that it large knife abilities almost come for free along with it's lopping/chopping capabilities.
 
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For me personally, here is the biggest plus of the bk4 and 9.

For practically the same weight as a 7" bladed knife, the bk4 and 9 can chop. I never understand why people talk about the chopping ability of 5-7" blades... It seems silly to me.

But when I use most 5-7" blades, I think... I don't see any benefit to not having a 9" blade...

And the bk4 at 16Oz ish is so light that it might as well be small!

I love my 4 and 9. The 9 started it all for me, and what Ethan Becker and the Beckerheads have to offer the knife community is incredible.

To vear a little off topic, I feel like Cold Steel really shaped the knife market in the late 90's early 2000's. I can see their influence in many places. (I don't like cold Steel btw) But the world over past cold Steel (for fixed blades) I think, for the most part.

Today's market is so heavily influenced by Becker... I think that the Becker handles made people realize that a good handle is more than something to grab on to, and that taking a straight handle and making it sticky is not the answer. (looking at you cold steel!)

So the chopping performance of the bk4 and Bk9 doesn't deter me from the knives, just like their performance in comparison to an axe wouldn't deter me. Because they are not "choppers". They are an incredible all around work package, and I hope to show that in this review series.

Honestly, the bk4 and Bk9 wouldn't even be in this series if it weren't for all the people when I was getting ready to do it who were like "the Bk9 will WAY outchop the jx!!! Roar Bk9!"

This should be a jx vs bk21 series. But hey, people want to see jx vs Bk9. The weight and length alone should be enough to tell people how that will go for chopping.
 
Beachmaster, I hope you didn't take my comments the wrong way (although I see how perhaps you could have given the way I wrote it :/).

The handles can be the same, but since your comment was narrowed in scope (specifically, handle comfort when chopping), so things can be very different in how they feel. I'd hazzard to guess that the biggest difference in comfort will come from the angle of the blade relative to the handle (ie, your hands angle when the blade contacts the wood), and then probably edge angle/thickness (how abrupt the blade stops when it hits). I'm no expert, but thats what I'd guess are some of the contributing factors. I just thought it was funny is all.

And I agree completely on the statements about large midsized blades and the BK9 and BK4. I know that the BK2 chops ok for a 5.25in knife... but its not even close to as good as the BK9, which weighs an oz or two more. For me to consider anything for "chopping", it needs a blade length of >= 8in. To me the biggest reason for an ESEE 6/BK12 sized blade, is to have it as the ONE knife that CAN chop (more accurately, crossgrain baton), but still CAN be used as a smaller knife if needed. Once you say you're going to bring two, then immediately I want something ~4in, and > 8in.

The audio was fine, I just know the last time we posted about your videos audio was mentioned, as were some other editing techniques (albeit, briefly). I think the video quality has improved, as has the dialog. Maybe another thing you could do to improve the audio quality would be to reverse how you did the picture in picture stuff? The main video would be the action of chopping/whatever, while the picture in picture could be you talking about them, but from a much closer distance (so the audio is better). Because honestly, people want to see the knives in action. Anyway, I'm just trying to come up with ideas that aren't just "buy remote mics or shotgun mics" :p.

Personally I've got no beef with schrade. I wasn't here much when ctanner was around, nor when he did whatever shenanigans that went down. I've checked out a few of his videos, and just haven't found that I agree with most of his info, or his style, and for sure not any of his knives. Like I said, any of the mistwalker designs are ok in my book. The 42 and 42 D look great :). They're basically beefed up BK16's.

Good luck with your channel :thumbup:.
 
ocnLogan, I didn't take anything negatively at all! Your comments are helpful and constructive, and I appreciate them!

Yeah, my two knife option ideal would be one that is 9-11", and one that is about 6" (unless I need to be light, then it would just be a Buck Paklite Skinner/ Mora)

Again, I really appreciate it! I am really excited for the next video in the series, the batoning performance! I try to make every video better than the last :-)
 
FWIW, lanyards....I use them, most of the time - but it's worth noting that they can actually be a safety hazard. Personally, I'd rather have a knife fly out of my grip and bury itself in my fence or slice through my pool cover than have even something as small as a BK2 turn into a whirling shuriken of laceration. Sometimes physics can work for you, and sometimes it can work against you. I still like lanyards for chopping....but it's good to be aware of the possible downsides.
 
granitestateofmind said:
FWIW, lanyards....I use them, most of the time - but it's worth noting that they can actually be a safety hazard. Personally, I'd rather have a knife fly out of my grip and bury itself in my fence or slice through my pool cover than have even something as small as a BK2 turn into a whirling shuriken of laceration. Sometimes physics can work for you, and sometimes it can work against you. I still like lanyards for chopping....but it's good to be aware of the possible downsides.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, what lanyard style/method do you use? Some have more of a chance of "shuriken of laceration" in my mind. ( I use mine Moose style).
 
I have mine set up to wrap around my hand and the handle so there's no chance of losing the knife. I'll post pics later. Basically it wraps around the back of my hand, over the front and Knife handle, and the knot loops around my middle finger. I can open my hand even and the Knife stays. Don't have to put the Knife down to use my fingers for grabbing stuff.
 
^ Agree with Slice. I wrap around my thumb and around the back of my hand, but same idea. Wrapping a lanyard around your wrist with a chopper will probably get you hurt. It's a lanyard, not a wrist strap. YMMV
 
the BK9 was designed as a chopper as far as i know. funny to hear someone say "not"

the handles were not designed with the BK21 in mind. they are far older than that.

lots of speculation

i like me some big choppers

all the other brothers ...

screw it.

go chop shit :D

axes rule.
 
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