kabar bk7 or coldsteel reacon scout?

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khameleonx1

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Sep 28, 2010
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Hello all, I hope this is the right thread for this question. I dont know any enthusiasts personally, so i thought what better place than a forum.

I have no Knife shops in my area, so i cannot actually feel in my hand, I must really on some kind advice from those who know :)

After doing a bit of research and watching youtube reviews (thank you nutnfancy!) I have decided upon either the Becker BK7 or the Coldsteel Recon Scout.

This knife will be carried on my many backpack and general outdoor trips and should receive a fair amount of related use.

The price point of the coldsteel is quite higher than the Becker, but I want something that will be with me for several years. If anyone has advice as to the advantages of one over the other, it would be most appreciated.

I believe both use the same 1095 steel (coldsteel uses sk-5....the same basically?), the handle of the bk7 concerns me a bit, but replacements are around the $30 range, so if i did that i might as well just go Coldsteel.

Any suggestions for an alternative to either is welcome as well. Trying to stay below $100.

Thank you :)
 
khameleonx1 said:
Hello all, I hope this is the right thread for this question. I dont know any enthusiasts personally, so i thought what better place than a forum.

I have no Knife shops in my area, so i cannot actually feel in my hand, I must really on some kind advice from those who know :)

After doing a bit of research and watching youtube reviews (thank you nutnfancy!) I have decided upon either the Becker BK7 or the Coldsteel Recon Scout.

This knife will be carried on my many backpack and general outdoor trips and should receive a fair amount of related use.

The price point of the coldsteel is quite higher than the Becker, but I want something that will be with me for several years. If anyone has advice as to the advantages of one over the other, it would be most appreciated.

I believe both use the same 1095 steel (coldsteel uses sk-5....the same basically?), the handle of the bk7 concerns me a bit, but replacements are around the $30 range, so if i did that i might as well just go Coldsteel.

Any suggestions for an alternative to either is welcome as well. Trying to stay below $100.

Thank you :)
Click to expand...


Welcome to the board. I'm newer too. Lots of good folks here.

I have the Recon Scout. It's a beast of a knife. Big and heavy, but balanced.
Lots of folks here like the Beckers, so they must be pretty good too. I don't have any experience with them,
so a comparison is out, but the Recon is great. If you are going to be carrying/
backpacking you might just want to consider the weight though. It's not terrible,
but it ain't a lightweight.

I was looking for a Bowie type, I'm partial to the neopreme/rubber handles (just pure preferences that's all) some of the reasons I went with the Recon.


Good Luck.
 
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Thnk you.

I was leaning toward the scout just that reason....appears to be a bit beafier..just trying to determine whether it warrants the higher price tag :)
 
I have both and the Recon Scout would be my choice...but you should take a look at the new Gen II by Dan Maragni from Ontario knives. I just got the SP-49 and it's and awesome knife for $60.00...welcome btw!!!!
 
BK 7. I have one of the originals. I love it. My issue with the Recon Scout is the guard. When doing precision work I like to have my thumb on the back of the blade. Not easy with the Scout.
 
It's pretty easy to remove the top of the guard on the Recon scout. I don't have any experience with the BK7, but I did used to have a campanion. The handles are really really hit or miss. You either love them or hate them, I hated it. With the recon scout you can always wrap the handle if you don't like it.
You may also want to check out ESEE cutlery, Ontario and USED cold steel knives.

Cold Steel's SK-5 is Japanese 1080, which in my opinion is just about as good as 1095.
 
I've got no experience w/ the CS knife but the BK-7 is great. I like the handle as well but whatever - that knife ought to last you ages.
 
Welcome to the forums... !!

those are both great picks, I've never owned a scout but i know its a good knife cuz I had its little brother the SRK in Carbon V (older one)... I sold my SRK and bought the BK7 as it was a little longer and didn't have the kryton handles.. which I soon hated with hard use on my SRK..

The handles on the Becker's are great !! As posted above I guess its love/hate.. well the kryton's a hate for me..

as posted, you can't choke up on the scout without modding the guard, also have you considered the BK9??

I love CS just don't like the handles, as they wear much to easy..
 
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Bk 7 all the way.No question about it.

Kabar's 1095 crovan is some good tough stuff.


I'd trust any Becker with my life.



Becker knives work for a living.
 
Head to the Becker sub-forum and bask in the glowing glowiness :)

The 7 is a nice balance of power and precision. I also have my self-customized Crewman :)

SANY0032-1.jpg
 
frontline29 said:
Bk 7 all the way.No question about it.

Kabar's 1095 crovan is some good tough stuff.


I'd trust any Becker with my life.



Becker knives work for a living.
Click to expand...

^^^^ What he said!

BK7 has the good steel with good treat and mine came REALLY sharp (but my finger healed up just fine, thanks for asking). I like the handle, but there are micarta scales out there for those that don't.

The BK7 isn't expensive and it isn't fragile, go ahead and smack it on the spine with a lump of wood:
IMG_8431.JPG


You can prepare plenty of firewood in a short time with a BK7:
IMG_8446.JPG



The only thing I've done to improve mine is to put some thread lock on those nuts you can see here:
IMG_8433.JPG

It's a great knife, I liked it so much that I bought a BK9 not long after getting & playing with my BK7. They are nice pieces of steel!
 
I have the recon scout and other more expensive knives but keep going back to the recon. The full flat grind combined with 5/16" thick makes this beast the toughest splitter of wood I've seen. Superb for batoning. Good for chopping and the sheath is excellent with quick removal and solid blade retention.
 
I like my Recon Scout. I'm sure the Becker is a good knife but the Scout just looks badder [ as in better]
 
Thank you for the suggestions, much appreciated.

the Becker looks like the best value at this point...on ac1d0v3r1d3's suggestion, i checked out Ontario and was also considering the Ontario rat 7, but that gets up in price close to the recon.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums...

I know you are debating between the two knives you mentioned, but this is bladeforums, and you've got a ton of opinionated knife geeks on here who really like to put in their 2 cents...

I would suggest looking into ESEE Knives. Here is a pic of their RC-6, which I believe is along the same dimensions as the ones you are deciding between. ESEE has a no questions lifetime gaurantee, and they are able to get away with that and still stay in business by offering an absolutely tough as nails knife that will not fail you. The guys at ESEE teach survival skills in South America, and it shows in their knife designs. They are simple, and they just work.

esee-6.jpg
 
khameleonx1 said:
the Becker looks like the best value at this point
Click to expand...

For the price the BK-7 can't be beat. If you don't like the grivory scales and want to pay more for something with Micarta scales then the ESEE-6 that jgon posted is probably the best knife to buy. If it were me those 2 would be what I'd choose between. Cheaper knife vs Micarta scales - you choose.
 
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