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Ka-Bar BK-16 Quality Control : UPDATE
- Thread starter Dexwithers
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- Sep 23, 2013
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- 16
Holy crap.
Please fix this ka-bar.
My future purchases depend on the outcome as well.
Please fix this ka-bar.
My future purchases depend on the outcome as well.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 157
Interesting thread Dex with a very clear explanation. Sorry to hear about your issues. My experience with Kabar (about 20 knives) has so far been excellent.
My question is what would have caused the different shapes. Aren't blade blanks cut by computerized machinery these days? Was the blade shape slightly changed by Kabar? It seems like poor grinding alone would not cause those differences in shape.
To be honest, I probably wouldn't notice the difference in shapes, but would notice poor grinds. I have 2 BK16s.
Hope things get resolved for you.
My question is what would have caused the different shapes. Aren't blade blanks cut by computerized machinery these days? Was the blade shape slightly changed by Kabar? It seems like poor grinding alone would not cause those differences in shape.
To be honest, I probably wouldn't notice the difference in shapes, but would notice poor grinds. I have 2 BK16s.
Hope things get resolved for you.
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I have five BK-16's. Frankly, I've never put all their respective profiles under the microscope. I just sharpen them up and use them. YMMV.
Not trying to diminish Dex's dissatisfaction or Ethan's concern, but I haven't been struck or bothered by such variations.
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2012
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My very first Becker, Ka-Bar BK2, had an awful uneven grind near the tip. So awful it damn near looked flat. I made some stink about it but it was lost in the voids of BF I guess. I'm not really upset about it now, and I wasn't really upset about it then. I bought 10 more BK's after that so........
Additionally, I bought a 14 and noticed the belly was really shallow like one of your 16. I made some stink then too, even posted pics on here and was told to suck it up and shut the hell up because it was within specs/tolerance. I had no choice but to not be upset about it, BH peer pressure I guess.
Additionally, I bought a 14 and noticed the belly was really shallow like one of your 16. I made some stink then too, even posted pics on here and was told to suck it up and shut the hell up because it was within specs/tolerance. I had no choice but to not be upset about it, BH peer pressure I guess.
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why do you feel you had no choice but too not be upset by the uneven grind? that makes no since you say it it was beckerhead peer pressure come'on man really lol
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Perhaps I should have said, "I chose to be more "diplomatic" about it. And shut the hell up."
I'm looking forward to the final outcome of this issue. I presume that most BK&T customers only buy one knife, and therefore never notice differences...I have a three BK16's purchased when they first came out...and they are built with reasonable consistency.
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- Jul 14, 2010
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I've had hundreds of BKT and Kabar knive move through my hands.
Every issue described in this thread and most others, I've seen.
Hate you didn't get the outcome you wanted Dex, but it seems they did try to make it right with the Potbelly and sheath.
Some of my 16's were out like yours. I never noticed until you brought it up.
It doesn't bother me, but that is just me. Continue your endeavor with Kabar, just a reminder, though, you'll get further if everyone stays calm and collected.
Keep your cool, brother. One way or another, we'll work it out.
Moose
Every issue described in this thread and most others, I've seen.
Hate you didn't get the outcome you wanted Dex, but it seems they did try to make it right with the Potbelly and sheath.
Some of my 16's were out like yours. I never noticed until you brought it up.
It doesn't bother me, but that is just me. Continue your endeavor with Kabar, just a reminder, though, you'll get further if everyone stays calm and collected.
Keep your cool, brother. One way or another, we'll work it out.
Moose
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2012
- Messages
- 1,719
What's up guys. Thank you all for your input.
Yes I was a little upset yesterday.......Said some stuff that was kinda..... well... what ever. I was heated about what happened to my 16's. I still stand by my feelings tho.
So I had a couple of glasses of Crown and got some sleep.
I feel a lot better today about the situation but am still very disappointed about the quality of knives Ka-bar considers ok to let leave the factory. I understand keeping costs down and what not but man, two of those knifes are not up to my standards. Maybe I have very high standards and am a little to passionate towards my knife collection, especially my beloved Beckers. I believe that those two blades are a horrible example of the awesome knife Ethan Becker designed.
Maybe I'm expecting to much. If that's how Ka'bar wants to be about it and considers those acceptable, But at the same time allows some blades to leave the factory that are absolutely perfect, then why not have way for people like me who like the good stuff, to get our hands on the perfect blades? I would be willing to pay more for my Beckers that are guaranteed to be in higher standards and have perfect grinds. Make a pro line of knives or a AAA grade available thru Tomars or something? I'm not cool with this C and D grade stuff.
I know they sell thousands of knives just because of these forums, so why not let us get our hands on the good stuff and let the rest of the would get the .......... you know. haha
My first Becker was a BK2 that I purchased only after reading about it on the BK&T sub forum way before I ever signed up here. Then I joined and well, now I can barely count all my Ka-bar Beckers.
Now I don't want any one to think that I'm being picky or snobby or anything about this. I have had plenty of knives from Ka-Bar that have mild differences. I'm cool with that and expect that to a certain degree. I know that's how they make it affordable to all of us. A few examples are my two BK5's have totally different blade widths. My second one I received was at least an 1/8 inch wider down most of the edge. No big deal. I didn't complain cause the blade shape was still nice and uniform and wasn't noticeable unless you had two to compare. I ordered two BK24's the day they were available and one had a grind that was perfect and the other had a grind that was way way over to one side. NO big deal. I gave my father the better of the two and I kept the other. I love that knife and like many have said, it really doesn't affect the performance. I can go on and on about the differences and inconsistencies between all my Duplicate Beckers but I think you all get the point. Thing's like that don't bother me.
It's when you can notice them by them self. All of my BK-16 are different in some small way or another but the two here are drastic. In my opinion.
They are missing a lot of metal and maybe it's just because they are not what I'm used to on my 16's that it bothers me so much.
Here are a few more pics.
Like I said before, this BK-16 doesn't bother me much at all. The grind needs to be fixed but that's it. The shape is actually great. There is plenty of meat left on the knife so I can fix it and no one will ever know. I actually have had this knife for 6 months or so and the only reason I sent it or even brought it up is is because I received two horrible ones back to back.
This one speaks for it self.
Now this little guy has had it's nose rounded off. NO good.
Here is a comparison to two good blades.
I just don't know why they can't produce one like this every time?
OK......... I don't want this to be all bad and negative. I am so thrilled that they actually replaced the Pot belly and better yet they changed the grind to make it a great knife.
I believe they also changed the grind on the Bacon Maker to flat as well, so now that one is back on the want list. (only If I can see Pics of the exact blade I would be receiving)
And the parangatang would be awesome to complete the set.
Look at that grind!!! FLATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! The way it should have been years ago.
Here is the Hollow grind one I sent back.
And here is my Replacement. Thanks Ka-bar. Did good on this one.
I am actually looking forward to using and stripping this bad boy.
I'm not gonna worry about this anymore. I will just make those project blades and totally reshape them or something.
But I am serious about not buying blades that I can't check out before hand. I want no more dumb surprises like these last two Joker 16's I received.
Thank you all for letting me vent my problem and situation here. It helps a lot.
Yes I was a little upset yesterday.......Said some stuff that was kinda..... well... what ever. I was heated about what happened to my 16's. I still stand by my feelings tho.
So I had a couple of glasses of Crown and got some sleep.
I feel a lot better today about the situation but am still very disappointed about the quality of knives Ka-bar considers ok to let leave the factory. I understand keeping costs down and what not but man, two of those knifes are not up to my standards. Maybe I have very high standards and am a little to passionate towards my knife collection, especially my beloved Beckers. I believe that those two blades are a horrible example of the awesome knife Ethan Becker designed.
Maybe I'm expecting to much. If that's how Ka'bar wants to be about it and considers those acceptable, But at the same time allows some blades to leave the factory that are absolutely perfect, then why not have way for people like me who like the good stuff, to get our hands on the perfect blades? I would be willing to pay more for my Beckers that are guaranteed to be in higher standards and have perfect grinds. Make a pro line of knives or a AAA grade available thru Tomars or something? I'm not cool with this C and D grade stuff.
I know they sell thousands of knives just because of these forums, so why not let us get our hands on the good stuff and let the rest of the would get the .......... you know. haha
My first Becker was a BK2 that I purchased only after reading about it on the BK&T sub forum way before I ever signed up here. Then I joined and well, now I can barely count all my Ka-bar Beckers.
Now I don't want any one to think that I'm being picky or snobby or anything about this. I have had plenty of knives from Ka-Bar that have mild differences. I'm cool with that and expect that to a certain degree. I know that's how they make it affordable to all of us. A few examples are my two BK5's have totally different blade widths. My second one I received was at least an 1/8 inch wider down most of the edge. No big deal. I didn't complain cause the blade shape was still nice and uniform and wasn't noticeable unless you had two to compare. I ordered two BK24's the day they were available and one had a grind that was perfect and the other had a grind that was way way over to one side. NO big deal. I gave my father the better of the two and I kept the other. I love that knife and like many have said, it really doesn't affect the performance. I can go on and on about the differences and inconsistencies between all my Duplicate Beckers but I think you all get the point. Thing's like that don't bother me.
It's when you can notice them by them self. All of my BK-16 are different in some small way or another but the two here are drastic. In my opinion.
They are missing a lot of metal and maybe it's just because they are not what I'm used to on my 16's that it bothers me so much.
Here are a few more pics.
Like I said before, this BK-16 doesn't bother me much at all. The grind needs to be fixed but that's it. The shape is actually great. There is plenty of meat left on the knife so I can fix it and no one will ever know. I actually have had this knife for 6 months or so and the only reason I sent it or even brought it up is is because I received two horrible ones back to back.
This one speaks for it self.
Now this little guy has had it's nose rounded off. NO good.
Here is a comparison to two good blades.
I just don't know why they can't produce one like this every time?
OK......... I don't want this to be all bad and negative. I am so thrilled that they actually replaced the Pot belly and better yet they changed the grind to make it a great knife.
I believe they also changed the grind on the Bacon Maker to flat as well, so now that one is back on the want list. (only If I can see Pics of the exact blade I would be receiving)
And the parangatang would be awesome to complete the set.
Look at that grind!!! FLATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! The way it should have been years ago.
Here is the Hollow grind one I sent back.
And here is my Replacement. Thanks Ka-bar. Did good on this one.
I am actually looking forward to using and stripping this bad boy.
I'm not gonna worry about this anymore. I will just make those project blades and totally reshape them or something.
But I am serious about not buying blades that I can't check out before hand. I want no more dumb surprises like these last two Joker 16's I received.
Thank you all for letting me vent my problem and situation here. It helps a lot.
Last edited:
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- Jan 24, 2012
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Honestly it shouldn't matter if someone owns 50 of there knives or 1, I cant see how those two knives can possibly meet QC specs. If those knives are within QC spec then Ka-Bar really should reconsider what those specs are.
I didnt mean that just because he has bought a bunch of their knives that he deserves special treatment(but I can see how it came off that way). A buyer needs to be taken care of period.
pantherguy
BANNED
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- Nov 28, 2013
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- 55
i will most likely never buy a kabar again
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- Feb 28, 2003
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see ya!
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Dex. awesome on the Potbelly upgrade. i don't like the new coating, and loved the old one they did on that knife, but flat. okay then! wonder why they did that? more beef? easier/cheaper?
as for the 2 out of 10 you don't like, you tried; Ethan may still help ya out, maybe an even swop; the other alternative is use them hard, and resharpen nicely later, or gift them, or sell them.
life is too short to worry about 3/32 (said that she did), so one way or another, this will get resolved, and life goes on
"natural variation" is a good excuse i mean reasoning for manufacturers making thousands of product. they tend to grind at a high grit, by hand, and a little slip == badness fast. esp at the tip.
imho a flat on a blade where it should be curved is wrong and automatic fail. unless you want a tanto
(hey, make a tando!)
a rounded over tip sucks, but is hard to fix without losing metal. some people like that though. that's not in the design spec though.
in this world of mass produced CNC perfection, we have such a low tolerance for variety. that's why collecting is interesting for me sometimes you get oddballs.
some oddballs though are just mistakes.
so it goes.
as for the 2 out of 10 you don't like, you tried; Ethan may still help ya out, maybe an even swop; the other alternative is use them hard, and resharpen nicely later, or gift them, or sell them.
life is too short to worry about 3/32 (said that she did), so one way or another, this will get resolved, and life goes on
"natural variation" is a good excuse i mean reasoning for manufacturers making thousands of product. they tend to grind at a high grit, by hand, and a little slip == badness fast. esp at the tip.
imho a flat on a blade where it should be curved is wrong and automatic fail. unless you want a tanto
(hey, make a tando!)a rounded over tip sucks, but is hard to fix without losing metal. some people like that though. that's not in the design spec though.
in this world of mass produced CNC perfection, we have such a low tolerance for variety. that's why collecting is interesting for me sometimes you get oddballs.
some oddballs though are just mistakes.
so it goes.
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- Feb 27, 2011
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- 1,558
Out of all the quality of the content of this thread, the willingness of participants to provide valuable input and information and this is all you got out of it? KA-BAR produces millions of blades at an extremely reasonable price point, it is statistically impossible for every blade to come out exactly the same when human hands enter the picture. They replaced a faulty sheath and a large blade and explained that the 16s fell within their QC tolerance. Was it the ideal situation which everyone hoped to see? No. Was it a an honest answer that had a justification behind it? Yes.
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2010
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- 1,875
Sorry about your 16's Dex. I have been watching this thread since the beginning, and well sometimes things happen. I have some KA-BAR's that are absolutely flawless, then I have ones that have little variances or differences. Heck I really cant think of a company I have bought from that did not have some sort of flaw in the workmanship in one of their blades. Seriously the more I think about it, there really is not a company I have bought from where they got it right 100% of the time... Not trying to devalue what your going through or anything of the sort, just broadly stating that this seems to happen across the board. It just kinda sucks when its a company that you are personally invested in. However, nothing I have seen here should deter anyone from buying a KA-BAR Becker, and if it does... well hey... their loss.
On a side note I really like that flat ground potbelly MUCH better than the hollow ground variety. I always wondered why the hollow grind? Well this flat grind might make its performance a little more on par.... Now if they only could fix those handles to my liking... LOL
On a side note I really like that flat ground potbelly MUCH better than the hollow ground variety. I always wondered why the hollow grind? Well this flat grind might make its performance a little more on par.... Now if they only could fix those handles to my liking... LOL
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