just got a becker magnum camp knife bk5 (Whats the idea behind it?)

U

ukknifer

Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
424
I like its is it a machete?
Is it a chopper?
is it a camp kitchen knife?

I like it but when I think about it rationally, I don't see the point.
Too big for food prep. Too light for chopping, too thin for batoning.
The best use for this knife is a fighter in my opinion. So why is it marketed as a camp knife and people seem to like it for that role.?

Any thoughts?
 
It's a chopping camp knife :)
It's for when you want one knife to do most of your tasks, except for say a machete.

It chops really well if you use snap cuts and the bottom third of the blade, and I've used it in my kitchen with no problems at all. It handles woodsy type tasks as well as other big blades (and better than a lot the .25" thick prybars.)
Sure you could get a big chopper, a medium fixed blade and a smaller food prep knife, but it would likely weigh more and you're getting into specialised tools for each task.

One knife can do it all - not as well as the specialised tools - but pretty well. The BK5 is one of my favourites!
 
Yep, the BK5 is sort of a 'middle of the road' do it all blade. Price point is ok and they function well within the normal range of chores. There are quite a few people here who like them! I would not mark it as a true chopper though, unless you've been hitting the gym with great alacrity.
 
The idea behind the "magnum camp" comes from the old days when the folks traveled and camped and had one knife only, to build shelter, traps, fire, skin, slice, you name it. This is the kind of knife the west was won with, and a very useful timeless design.
 
Come on over to the Becker Knife & Tool subforum. We'll teach you all about it!
 
Interview with the creators of the BK-5.

[video=youtube_share;p0RHtnkagz0]http://youtu.be/p0RHtnkagz0[/video]

The BK-5 was used by every participant at the last Becker Gathering's knife rodeo.

[video=youtube_share;4RM-awGQvgU]http://youtu.be/4RM-awGQvgU[/video]

Best American Made Knife at last year's Spirit of Steel show.

P1030086.jpg
 
seems like a long-bladed companion knife to me. I bet it'd be a great fighter, especially paired with one of those tacticool new tomahawks. I'd like it better if the spine didn't contour, but meh... she's a cutter.
 
PayetteRucker said:
I bet it'd be a great fighter
Click to expand...

see, thats the only use I see.

Maybe my camps are different, but I had a horrible time with that knife, just couldn't find a mid point to find it useful.

Dont get me wrong, I enjoy becker, have had a bk7 for many years (pre ka-bar) but the bk5 is an odd man out for me.
 
Guyon said:
Interview with the creators of the BK-5.

[video=youtube_share;p0RHtnkagz0]http://youtu.be/p0RHtnkagz0[/video]

The BK-5 was used by every participant at the last Becker Gathering's knife rodeo.

[video=youtube_share;4RM-awGQvgU]http://youtu.be/4RM-awGQvgU[/video]

Best American Made Knife at last year's Spirit of Steel show.

P1030086.jpg
Click to expand...
I think you just sold another.:thumbup:
 
I have owned an original BlackJack and the Camillus versions..when I bought my BlackJack, I didn't know anything about Becker, Fisk or much about all the knives that were "out there"....I owned BUCK, Cold Steel and Jarvenpaa...and that was it.
I was at a gun show, and the guy walked by with the BlackJack version (maybe someone has a pic of one) and I asked to play with it...it looked like a wicked fighter to me, and thats what I wanted at the time...so I bought it ($100) and I kept in the gun safe for a year or so.
I can see its use as a camp knife..but its just not for me. I totally agree with the thoughts of it being to light...if it was 1/4" on the spine it would appeal to me a lot more.
 
I like the way you think, man.

1. Buy knife.
2. Figure out what it's good for.

:D
 
I have a Camillus that Mr Fisk convexed and I just bought a current offering.
Not sure what it is but (to me) they are not the same knife.
I guess I'll need to get the micrometer and rule out but the new one not as robust as the original.

Maybe a BK9 and BK16 are what I needed.
 
clich said:
The idea behind the "magnum camp" comes from the old days when the folks traveled and camped and had one knife only, to build shelter, traps, fire, skin, slice, you name it. This is the kind of knife the west was won with, and a very useful timeless design.
Click to expand...

Back this up with some facts. In all of my reading the axe was THE woods tool for pioneers paired with a THIN butcher knife for game. This knife would be less useful at either task.
 
The idea behind the Magnum Camp was the same as the idea behind the BK11. And every other knife made. That is to make money for the designers and the makers and the merchants. What you/we do with them is up to you/us. Did you buy one? The design was a success then even if it sits in a drawer.

:)
 
Shotgun said:
Back this up with some facts. In all of my reading the axe was THE woods tool for pioneers paired with a THIN butcher knife for game. This knife would be less useful at either task.
Click to expand...

same here.

I mean the Hudson Bay knives were big and thick but they were for butchering large carcasses. Weren't most of the early knives like Green Rivers and stuff fairly thin?
 
Codger_64 said:
The idea behind the Magnum Camp was the same as the idea behind the BK11. And every other knife made. That is to make money for the designers and the makers and the merchants. What you/we do with them is up to you/us. Did you buy one? The design was a success then even if it sits in a drawer.

:)
Click to expand...

;) True
 
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