New BK16

RemyKaze

RemyKaze

Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
2,177
Just got a Becker BK16 in today. I love the ergos and the blade shape, steel etc. However, the fit of handle to knife isn't flush, and it came barely able to tear paper. The sheath is well made but a ridiculously bad fit. I do like to have the option to carry upended vertical and well, the knife falls out of the sheath without the retaining strap, which is basically impossible to button one handed.

That being said, I've heard Becker does have a large mod community, and when I spend a bit more money I will have better sheath and handle options. I suppose I was hoping that I could score ESEE quality in EVERY area for a much cheaper price, but it seems like in the end Becker just offers you the option of excellent knives with only decent everything else. So in the end I'd say that ESEE and Becker with the same materials would end up costing just about the same, since for me a flush fit is a must.

This is not a bash, just throwing some pros and cons out there. I am a little disappointed, but on the whole, I'm pretty happy. I couldn't get this blade style in this steel and size from anyone else for this price, and I have to admit that the ergonomics are very, very nice. You get what you pay for, I guess. I was hoping I'd get one over on the pricing system and find myself with an awesome handle and sheath as well, lol.:p

By the way, this is my first Becker, ever. Preach to me.
 
The strap will stretch a bit and you can dip the liner in hot water to mold it to the blade. The sheaths are the same for the 16 and 17 maybe the 15 also but Im not sure on that. Check out the Becker sub forum lots of info there.
 
Psyop said:
The strap will stretch a bit and you can dip the liner in hot water to mold it to the blade. The sheaths are the same for the 16 and 17 maybe the 15 also but Im not sure on that. Check out the Becker sub forum lots of info there.
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Ahhhh, information is always good! =] I can't wait to strip it though. Re-profiling with any kind of coating is always annoying, lol.

Edit: Nope, still a god awful sheath. Why do knife companies ship good blades with such horrible sheaths, knowing that we'll have to spend the money elsewhere when we could be spending it on THEIR quality sheaths? If I order what I want from Godspeed, the total cost without micarta scales will exceed the price of an ESEE 4, albeit with firesteel loop and pouches included. However I do trust in the judgement of certain people on here and I definitely feel like Becker's steel is at least as tough as ESEE.
 
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As to handle fit - it should be flush but since it isn't, just loosen the screws and adjust it. I'd think that would take less than two minutes.

As to the sheath - of course you can't expect the knife to stay in it without the retaining straps when it's upside down - that's not how that sheath is designed. You might be able to tighten up the plastic sleeve in there but you seem to be describing a kydex sheath. I'm guessing some forum members already sell those but if not, they will soon.

As to blade sharpness - that stinks. It should come sharp, IMO but you were going to sharpen it at some point anyway. I guess now's the time.

Having said all that - if you aren't satisfied with your knife, you could always consider returning it to the seller and exchanging it for one in better shape. If that fails, Kabar has a good reputation for taking care of issues like this one.

Regardless, I hope you get tons of good use out of your Becker and that you enjoy yours as much as I've enjoyed mine!

edit: as to the sheath mini-rant. There's no way for a knife maker to win this fight. You want Kydex, they sell the knife with kydex and the price goes up. Now I'm unhappy because I hate kydex (not really but for argument's sake). I whine loudly that the sheaths should be leather so they stop shipping with kydex and go with leather and the price goes up. Now the kydex people are unhappy. Knife manufacturer develops a life-changing super sheath material stitched from unicorn hide and rainbow dust and start selling the knives with those and the price goes up. Guess what happens - someone complains bitterly that they just want a reasonably priced knife with nylon sheaths.

I think Becker's approach is to sell the knife with a functional rather than ultra-costly sheath in the full realization that no matter what, at least some portion of the population will be changing the sheath to some other option.

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Beckerhead #42
 
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Beckers are rock solid and perfectly usable knives out of the box. You are given design options and materials personalization options, at a considerably lower base price. Myself, I think that this new sheath is pretty darn good and well designed, considering many factory sheaths. Want an ESEE instead ?, buy one, they are great. I would, and have bought both. Toss some Ka-Bar micarta on the 16 and you are about as close as it gets to ''the one'' as a very well designed general outdoor knife, and a personalized lifetime keeper. Even then the cash outlay likely wouldn't exceed a comparable (good) ESEE knife. Remember that these are tools that can be modified and need maintenance (sharpening) to perform to your personal parameters.
 
GingivitisKahn said:
As to handle fit - it should be flush but since it isn't, just loosen the screws and adjust it. I'd think that would take less than two minutes.

As to the sheath - of course you can't expect the knife to stay in it without the retaining straps when it's upside down - that's not how that sheath is designed. You might be able to tighten up the plastic sleeve in there but you seem to be describing a kydex sheath. I'm guessing some forum members already sell those but if not, they will soon.

As to blade sharpness - that stinks. It should come sharp, IMO but you were going to sharpen it at some point anyway. I guess now's the time.

Having said all that - if you aren't satisfied with your knife, you could always consider returning it to the seller and exchanging it for one in better shape. If that fails, Kabar has a good reputation for taking care of issues like this one.

Regardless, I hope you get tons of good use out of your Becker and that you enjoy yours as much as I've enjoyed mine!

edit: as to the sheath mini-rant. There's no way for a knife maker to win this fight. You want Kydex, they sell the knife with kydex and the price goes up. Now I'm unhappy because I hate kydex (not really but for argument's sake). I whine loudly that the sheaths should be leather so they stop shipping with kydex and go with leather and the price goes up. Now the kydex people are unhappy. Knife manufacturer develops a life-changing super sheath material stitched from unicorn hide and rainbow dust and start selling the knives with those and the price goes up. Guess what happens - someone complains bitterly that they just want a reasonably priced knife with nylon sheaths.

I think Becker's approach is to sell the knife with a functional rather than ultra-costly sheath in the full realization that no matter what, at least some portion of the population will be changing the sheath to some other option.

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Beckerhead #42
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Well, I think leather always worked in the past for any knife. My USMC couldn't be hung upside down in that sheath, but it was a nice look and it didn't rattle of course. Then again Ka-Bar also offered a kydex-LIKE sheath in hard plastic that could be carried in any position, for about ten bucks. Godspeed has them for about 35. I'm assuming they will eventually come with that option too, but the sheath it came with looked awfully nice to have such a poor fit. Kinda like a bar skank, lol. Since it was somewhat touted as a bushcraft-y sort of blade, leather would have been a really nice option, but I would have been happy with a fitted plastic insert.

As for sharpness, that was fixed easily enough but the angle was crazy steep. However I have stripped the knife and I do love the shape and the thinness of the blade. So, no gripes about the actual hardware whatsoever. Seems like exactly what I was looking for in a 4-inch and no one, even ESEE(which I'm obviously a fan of) offered anything that fit the bill better.
 
Ethan Becker said it correctly when he stated that no matter what sheath you ship a knife with, not everyone is going to be happy with it. Some want kydex, some want leather, some want a nylon drop sheath like the kind it came with. Ultimately you are buying a knife, not a sheath. The sheath that comes with it is serviceable, in fact one of the best quality sheaths to ever ship with a Kabar knife as far as design goes, being quite comparable to the old Eagle Industries sheaths, or the modern Spec Ops Combat Masters. The problem isn't the sheath itself so much as your perception that they can give you exactly what you want at that price, which is unreasonable given how many different preferences exist out there today and how many aftermarket options are available. There are other knife companies that don't even include a sheath with their knives, so the sheath you have now is quite a step up from that. Yes, the retention straps are a little tight. Snap it and leave it sitting overnight and it will get better because any nylon webbing is going to stretch. I would rather it be too tight at first and then break in as a perfect fit than fit great out of the box and then after a couple of days stretch out and lose my knife.

Sharpness is decent on the Becker Shorts, but there are none that are perfectly polished razor sharp cutting machines from the factory. Toooj, kabar designer and engineer, sends all his knives out with a 180 grit edge. Toothy, aggressive, and very functional. If you want sharper, it takes a few minutes to get it that way with a minimum of effort. If you you did not know how to sharpen a knife though, and just bought one and used it, that edge would hold up much better over time, and that is why it sent out like that.

Scale fit and finish might require you to fiddle with them a bit. Mine were slightly off when I got mine, took a couple of minutes to fiddle with it to get them lined up just right, and then crank 'em down on there good. After that, no problems, no issues, no hassles.

Very few things these days work perfectly straight out of the box. Five minutes of time isn't much to ask of the consumer when it comes to dialing in some of the aspects of a knife.

That said, if there are any glaring problems with your knife, let Kabar know, and they will make it right. If after all that you don't like the knife, you can put it up on the exchange and easily make your money back. We are one of the few subforums where it is all but guaranteed that you can make your money back off a knife you get. We love Becker knives, and there is a reason for it. Give it a chance, give it some use, and you will probably not have a negative thing to say about it.

Now drag your rear over to our forum and post up some pics of this knife. ;)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/827-Becker-Knife-amp-Tool
 
DerekH said:
Ethan Becker said it correctly when he stated that no matter what sheath you ship a knife with, not everyone is going to be happy with it. Some want kydex, some want leather, some want a nylon drop sheath like the kind it came with. Ultimately you are buying a knife, not a sheath. The sheath that comes with it is serviceable, in fact one of the best quality sheaths to ever ship with a Kabar knife as far as design goes, being quite comparable to the old Eagle Industries sheaths, or the modern Spec Ops Combat Masters. The problem isn't the sheath itself so much as your perception that they can give you exactly what you want at that price, which is unreasonable given how many different preferences exist out there today and how many aftermarket options are available. There are other knife companies that don't even include a sheath with their knives, so the sheath you have now is quite a step up from that. Yes, the retention straps are a little tight. Snap it and leave it sitting overnight and it will get better because any nylon webbing is going to stretch. I would rather it be too tight at first and then break in as a perfect fit than fit great out of the box and then after a couple of days stretch out and lose my knife.

Sharpness is decent on the Becker Shorts, but there are none that are perfectly polished razor sharp cutting machines from the factory. Toooj, kabar designer and engineer, sends all his knives out with a 180 grit edge. Toothy, aggressive, and very functional. If you want sharper, it takes a few minutes to get it that way with a minimum of effort. If you you did not know how to sharpen a knife though, and just bought one and used it, that edge would hold up much better over time, and that is why it sent out like that.

Scale fit and finish might require you to fiddle with them a bit. Mine were slightly off when I got mine, took a couple of minutes to fiddle with it to get them lined up just right, and then crank 'em down on there good. After that, no problems, no issues, no hassles.

Very few things these days work perfectly straight out of the box. Five minutes of time isn't much to ask of the consumer when it comes to dialing in some of the aspects of a knife.

That said, if there are any glaring problems with your knife, let Kabar know, and they will make it right. If after all that you don't like the knife, you can put it up on the exchange and easily make your money back. We are one of the few subforums where it is all but guaranteed that you can make your money back off a knife you get. We love Becker knives, and there is a reason for it. Give it a chance, give it some use, and you will probably not have a negative thing to say about it.

Now drag your rear over to our forum and post up some pics of this knife. ;)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/827-Becker-Knife-amp-Tool
Click to expand...

Haha, shouldn't I wait til I have my grips and such?
 
RemyKaze said:
Haha, shouldn't I wait til I have my grips and such?
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No, its best to RUN over to our BKT forum, now. Haste!!! Waste not minutes dallying, we must forumicate. :D

See you over there, Remy.

Moose
 
I'm loving my Becker BK15. I have a kydex sheath on the way that was pretty inexpensive. Even the edge angle of my 15 is rather steep it is still very usable. Can't touch it up at 20 degrees on my sharpmaker but it's easy to do freehand. If you want to talk about a crazy steep edge try buying a Swamp Rat! My RMD was so bad that it took >6hrs to put a usable edge on the thing. It has annoyed me so much that I'm going to use it as a beater pry knife in the garage.
 
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