Alright I am considering a purchase of a BK9. I want it for a hard-use woods blade and will see lots of batoning and some hacking. I am curious, how good is the warranty on these blades? If I snap it while I am batting it, am I SOL? Or do they stand behind their blades enough to have it replaced?
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KA-BAR/Becker Warranty?
- Thread starter oguruma
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Ive never needed their warranty, but from what ive heard on the forums they're a stand-up company who back their products up. And the BK9 is a tough knife!
But is it like ESEE/RAT where if I snap the blade trying to baton it, I can expect a replacement? I am not trying to start a brand v brand war, but I am curious just what kind of protection I can expect. Warranties generally cover only defects, and a person breaking their blade while using it like that generally isn't considered to be the fault of a defect. Right now it's between an ESEE Junglas and a BK9. The Junglas is twice as much, but I know that I only have to pay the price once...
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Ethan Becker considers batoning normal use. If the blade breaks while using a piece of wood as a baton, then in every instance I've ever seen they'll replace it. Notice that I said "using a piece of wood as a baton." Using steel hammers or hard rocks to baton is an entirely different and very stupid thing.
Toooj at KA-BAR will want the blade back, of course, to try to determine why it failed.
I wouldn't worry at all about the KA-BAR warranty: they'll take good care of you. Yes, the ESEE warranty is more explicitly stated, but in practice, the KA-BAR warranty on Beckers has been as good.
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if one were to dig into the threads, looking for the word "break" perhaps... one will find some examples of broken blades, and afaik, they were ALL replaced. none were found to be abused. sometimes "stuff" happens.
iirc, Becker/KaBar considers *proper* batoning to be normal use. note *proper* as mentioned earlier... if you try to baton through rocks or cement, or use a pipe, or rebar, or a hammer, or clamp the blade in a vise, or other "testing", that's abuse...
personally, i wouldn't want to baton through certain kinds of evergreens or other woods with nasty knots. clean wood, clean times.
i think "in the history" of Beckers and breaking...
BK - Reinhardt - - a couple as victims to frozen Xmas trees
BK1 - Brute - a couple older models, not Camillus ones
BK2 - Campanion - none broken
BK3 - TacTul / TacTool - one one, 650 pounds of gorillas :>
BK4 - MacAx - maybe one
BK5 - Magnum Camp - none
BK6 - Patrol Machete - maybe one or two, also Xmas trees
BK7 - Combat Utility 7 - one or two?
BK77 - Combat 7 Extreme - none
BK9 - Combat Bowie - maybe three or four
BK10 - Crewman Utility - none
BK11 - Necker - none
BK11 - Necker SanMai - none
BK13 - Mini Necker - none
whee?
Bladite
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i've beaten the heck out of my bk9. yes, even deliberately through iron wood knots knowing how hard they are and the bk9 kept asking for more! as long as the only thing involved aside from the bk9 is wood i have no doubt ka-bar will stand behind any failures.
i have quite a number of knives from both ka-bar (ka-bar short tanto & becker bk2, bk9, bk11, 2xbk13) and esee (3, 4, 5, junglas, lite machete) so i'm not a fanboy (well, i'm a fanboy of both companies! aside from victorinox they're the only companies i buy from) but if you can swing the price, i'd highly recommend going with the junglas.
if you're mainly doing small knife tasks (tasks that are usually suited to a 6" blade or so) and occasionally do chopping then by all means go for the bk9. but if you're chopping and hacking most of the time with the occasional feather sticks here and there then the junglas is better in my humble opinion. factor in the micarta handles and awesome kydex sheath (best sheath i've seen in any knife by far, period) and the price difference isn't that big.
i posted a pictorial comparison between the two recently but in summary: the bk9 feels like a scaled up knife whereas the junglas feels like a scaled down machete in my humble opinion.
i hope my becker brothers (and sisters?) won't shun me for this but the junglas is better for my uses imho.
i have quite a number of knives from both ka-bar (ka-bar short tanto & becker bk2, bk9, bk11, 2xbk13) and esee (3, 4, 5, junglas, lite machete) so i'm not a fanboy (well, i'm a fanboy of both companies! aside from victorinox they're the only companies i buy from) but if you can swing the price, i'd highly recommend going with the junglas.
if you're mainly doing small knife tasks (tasks that are usually suited to a 6" blade or so) and occasionally do chopping then by all means go for the bk9. but if you're chopping and hacking most of the time with the occasional feather sticks here and there then the junglas is better in my humble opinion. factor in the micarta handles and awesome kydex sheath (best sheath i've seen in any knife by far, period) and the price difference isn't that big.
i posted a pictorial comparison between the two recently but in summary: the bk9 feels like a scaled up knife whereas the junglas feels like a scaled down machete in my humble opinion.
i hope my becker brothers (and sisters?) won't shun me for this but the junglas is better for my uses imho.
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what? no pictures?
Bladite
this is text book trick question. no worries. i won't tell ethan that you showed me pics of the tweeners. it'll just be between you and me...i promise! ...going back to my fetal position in a bit.
Tilley Knife
I'm Daniel, I make stuff
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How about keeping us posted on a new thread. This one's almost two years old.
Oh yeah, pics or it didn't happen.
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What he said.
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Welcome to the forum. Hate to see your first post is about such bad luck. After you get that straightened out be sure to stick around and enjoy the place.
I think I saw a broken BK9 on the auction site for five bucks here recently. Don't know how it happened or where it wound up....
I think I saw a broken BK9 on the auction site for five bucks here recently. Don't know how it happened or where it wound up....
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Musta had some hard ass floors and tall as sh*t tables, granite? marble? While I'm not saying it DIDN'T happen, just saying that I've watched guys TRY to break these knives, I mean chop through cinder blocks, cut through nails, pry open bank vaults...stuff most knives simply could not even attempt. To say that a BK9, fell from your kitchen counter, and broke in half on the floor is kind of like saying "I drove a brand new BMW off the lot, and the bumpers fell off when I went over the curb".
Pics or it did not happen. We know how to deal with trolls around here too, ever heard of the Barlow Pretzel?
Pics or it did not happen. We know how to deal with trolls around here too, ever heard of the Barlow Pretzel?
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I want to get in with the first Bravo Sierra. Straight drop from 30" to an indoor floor and a BK9 broke in half. And that's your first post....
Tilley Knife
I'm Daniel, I make stuff
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You did indeed, I saw it too. We'll see.................or will we?
PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS, PICS!
otherwise, I'm calling it.
