New BK14/Eskabar is bent, as is the replacement

J

JWL

Joined
Jul 20, 2010
Messages
800
Greetings all, haven't posted much here yet. Big Becker fan, I have the BK2, BK9, BK13, BK11, and now BK14. I just ordered the BK14 from amazon.com.

When I got the Eskabar, I looked down the length of the shaft and noticed the blade was slightly bent, with a "hinge point" right where the Becker blade meets the ESEE handle. The bend is subtle:
BK14_bent.jpg

As you can see, the right side of the blade looks more or less straight (and it will lay flat on a desk), but the left side of the blade is clearly angled, and will not lay flat on a desk.

So, I contacted amazon, and they shipped me a replacement. The replacement is exactly the same.

Is this normal for BK14s? Am I being unreasonably picky? Or is it possible amazon got a bad run of BK14s?

Should I contact KaBar directly about this? I know Tooj and Ethan frequent these forums, perhaps they can offer advice?

UPDATE: Kabar ended up replacing the knife for me. For all future readers of this thread, you should be very confident in Kabar's customer service. They take great care of us!
 
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I just ordered a 14 from amazon, fingers crossed. I ordered an 11 a while ago and it came with no box,sheath or paracord and was clearly used. There customer service is great but quality control not so much
 
^^ because if your a member of amazon you can get free 2 day shipping or 5 dollar next day...
I've had no problem with amazon..
 
I personally have always had good luck with them, knife or otherwise.
 
Never had a problem with Amazon and knives - but I only order if sold and shipped by Amazon. Never a third party.
 
Flexxx said:
I still don't understand why guys order knives from Amazon.....
Click to expand...

jacksterp said:
Never had a problem with Amazon and knives - but I only order if sold and shipped by Amazon. Never a third party.
Click to expand...

Don't particularly want to turn this thread into an amazon debate.... really just curious about the knife itself. Should I expect it to be curved a bit? Do other BK14 owners notice this curvature? Am I being too picky about a $30 knife? I love my Beckers, I'm just not sure about this one.....
 
Well I haven't gotten one yet but it'll be here by Tuesday from amazon so I will take pics to compare. Judging by the lack of response im thinking that this is rare.
 
My BK2 is the same way it has a very slight right hand bend. You really have to look to see it. It looks to me like it happened during stamping. It is really not bad enough to bother me. I think of it as a birth mark :). I got mine from Tomar and will continue to use them. excellent service! (please let me know nicley if I just broke a forum rule)
 
I don't think mine has that bend, and I'm looking very close at it. I'm not 100% though. I bought mine from Tomars, and had absolutely no troubles or any missing parts. I don't really like buying from Amazon, 'cause you're never really sure where it's really going to come from.
 
I have shopped Amazon many times and have always been 100% satisfied. I do always look to see where Amazon is getting/shipping things from. If the place sounds shady or the name of the business has nothing to do with the the type of product I'm ordering I will use another supplier even if it costs a little more. Ya gotta use common sense.
 
The Izula link above is from a 3rd party selling through Amazon, not Amazon itself. There IS a difference. If you didn't know that, I'd suggest you figure out how Amazon works. If it doesn't say it comes from Amazon, I dont buy it. Only exception is if I know the company anyway, like Tomars. I just got my 14 through Amazon. Didn't notice a bend, but then I didn't look that close. Not sure I could spot it now that the handle is cord wrapped. The only "defect" if you could call it that is those snowflake spots in the steel after I stripped it.

I've got every Becker I own that I bought new from Amazon. Just renewed my Prime membership thursday. $33 for a BK14 with free two day shipping. Who can argue with THAT? I've probably saved over $500 in shipping costs alone in the last year.

I've heard stuff before (I think it was the BK11s) that there were "defects" going to Amazon and not to buy from there. Not sure what to make of that...probably BS. If it were true, would our Kabar buddies tell us? I don't think that would serve anyones interests to let defects go to a major outlet. The manufactuer is still the one thats going to be judged my the end user, not the seller.
 
Thanks for the feedback, all. I'm thinking I'll just live with the blade as is, once I got the handle paracord-wrapped (modified Strider) I don't notice it.... too much. ;-)

Would still love to hear from Tooj or Ethan on this....
 
i know its not a 14 but i ordered two bk11s from amazon that appear to be straight. although the grind lines on the bevel were off a bit near the tip on both. it got progessively wider angles towards the tip which would normally make sense but it just didnt look like it was on purpose since it got wider but more so on one side than the other. oh well who knows. great knife n sheath for 30 dollars shipped even to hawaii(big deal here)
 
No, that's not normal. Contact Kabar, and prepare to send it in.

There is a reason why some of the blades are bent. I know why, and I also know that steps are being taken right now, as we speak to eliminate, and I do mean eliminate issues like this.

No, I'm not at liberty to say what is being done, or why things like this happen, at the moment. Once the new changes take effect, I expect to see alot of "I think my BKT is a counterfeit" posts, so, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

You can bend it back straight, use 2 2x4's and a 3lb hammer. Place once 2x4 down, place the other 2x4 on top, smack with the hammer, directly over where the bend is. Check between each hammer lick.

Or send it back. Write, ATTN: Paul Tsujimoto, or Toooj, and include a brief note or letter describing what you are seeing and why it was sent back. That easy.

Amazon is a dealer just like any other, the only issue is they tend to buy about 10 times what other dealers do, so you tend to see more flawed knives coming from Amazon. The number of irregular knives is steady, and based on the number of knives produced, compared to the defective knives, its a very small percentage.

Amazon does not sell seconds, and as far as I know, all seconds are kept at Kabar.

Not to worry, JWL, you will be taken care of by Kabar, I assure you.

Moose
 
I'm curious as to what on earth would make people think their Becker is counterfeit??
 
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