- Joined
- Sep 11, 2010
- Messages
- 176
Hello everyone,
My name is Ed. I now have an addiction and I have been lurking for a few weeks. I have read almost all of the Becker threads and just recently acquired a BK2…. What a beast of a knife, however I love the feel of it and how it balances in my hand. I scrapped the stock handles, ordered the Micarta scales and retired the originals to the box that the knife came in. My first mod was to strip off the coating and patina the blade with white vinegar. I think it came out pretty nice. I do like the look of aged steel though. I learned how to do this from you guys and this great forum… Next came a Spyderco Sharpmaker to get this fine blade scary sharp. Well this had a learning curve for me, but I figured it out by using the search function again here on this forum and a little bit of patience on my part. The BK 2 slices paper like it is not there and will take whatever hair I have left off of my forearm without effort. Now comes the ‘hmmm”, can I gut a deer with this beast, yes, probably could hack one in half….lol, but not practical. So what to do????
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Enter my new BK-11. “Ok, this guy is a nut”…. I’ve been called worst… Seriously though, I again employed the “search button” and after reading about various knife types and blade designs, I decided on the BK-11. I again stripped off the original coating and patinaed the blade. Did I mention I like aged looking steel? Well, since the Necker does not come with scales, I of course decided to order a set of Micarta scales for her. They arrived yesterday in the mail with a few other goodies I ordered also. After applying a tad bit of “blue grease” reel lube to my hands I worked it into the scales. It darkened them nicely.
So now it is time to put the scales on and sharpen this little bad a$$ up. Maybe it was something I did, but I could not get the 11 sharp, not even mildly sharp. So I re-read the Sharpmakers directions, cleaned my stones and try and try again!!! What the heck is going on here? The BK2 took an edge fairly easy, but the 11 is being difficult. Time to open package #2, which contains a block of Green Chrome Oxide Compound. Never having used this kind of “stuff’ for sharpening a knife, I was a little skeptical and I do not have a leather strop. What to do? Hmm, I have an old leather belt that has “SHRUNK” somehow. I take the belt and tape it to a piece of a 2x4 I had in the garage, watch a how-to video on the net and WOW….. The Bk-11 is so sharp… The hair on my legs just falls off from fright…lol…. Since I did ok with the 11, I tuned up the BK2 with the Green and strop. It too is beyond sharp…. Once I got both of them tuned up, I noticed that the BK-11 rattles mildly in its sheath. Not a big deal by itself, but I am a bow hunter and anything that rattles needs to be silenced. I attached a short length of shock cord to the sheath and looped it onto the back end of my 11 and it holds it really snug without making it overly tight… I have also read here and in other forums that the BK2 sheath dulls the blade a bit, but have not had this happen to me. I added a Tek Lok to my BK2 as my choice of carry in a horizontal fashion while scouting or hiking, but will just attach it to my pack while on stand. The Bk-11 will be carried either on my hip or in the small of my back. Why two knives while hunting? Why not? They both will serve well. The BK2 will go above and beyond probably in anything I could ask it to do. The Bk-11 will handle those finesse tasks like gutting and skinning and it is small in comparison.
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My daughter helped me make the lanyards for both of them. Now we are making paracord bracelets too. Just put an order in for some “Pink” cord.
This has become a longwinded first post and I apologize. I would like to say Thank You to everyone here on the forums. Whether or not “you” know it, every one of “you” have helped or influenced my choices and I choose a Ka-Bar Becker knife. The unfortunate side of this is that I can tell this is going to become an obsession. …:friendly_wink:
In closing I would like to say that I look forward to sharing my experiences with and reading about everyone’s experiences and learning from “You”…..
Best regards,
Ed
ps: I'm expecting flack for the skull beads, but thought they were cool looking.
My name is Ed. I now have an addiction and I have been lurking for a few weeks. I have read almost all of the Becker threads and just recently acquired a BK2…. What a beast of a knife, however I love the feel of it and how it balances in my hand. I scrapped the stock handles, ordered the Micarta scales and retired the originals to the box that the knife came in. My first mod was to strip off the coating and patina the blade with white vinegar. I think it came out pretty nice. I do like the look of aged steel though. I learned how to do this from you guys and this great forum… Next came a Spyderco Sharpmaker to get this fine blade scary sharp. Well this had a learning curve for me, but I figured it out by using the search function again here on this forum and a little bit of patience on my part. The BK 2 slices paper like it is not there and will take whatever hair I have left off of my forearm without effort. Now comes the ‘hmmm”, can I gut a deer with this beast, yes, probably could hack one in half….lol, but not practical. So what to do????
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Enter my new BK-11. “Ok, this guy is a nut”…. I’ve been called worst… Seriously though, I again employed the “search button” and after reading about various knife types and blade designs, I decided on the BK-11. I again stripped off the original coating and patinaed the blade. Did I mention I like aged looking steel? Well, since the Necker does not come with scales, I of course decided to order a set of Micarta scales for her. They arrived yesterday in the mail with a few other goodies I ordered also. After applying a tad bit of “blue grease” reel lube to my hands I worked it into the scales. It darkened them nicely.
So now it is time to put the scales on and sharpen this little bad a$$ up. Maybe it was something I did, but I could not get the 11 sharp, not even mildly sharp. So I re-read the Sharpmakers directions, cleaned my stones and try and try again!!! What the heck is going on here? The BK2 took an edge fairly easy, but the 11 is being difficult. Time to open package #2, which contains a block of Green Chrome Oxide Compound. Never having used this kind of “stuff’ for sharpening a knife, I was a little skeptical and I do not have a leather strop. What to do? Hmm, I have an old leather belt that has “SHRUNK” somehow. I take the belt and tape it to a piece of a 2x4 I had in the garage, watch a how-to video on the net and WOW….. The Bk-11 is so sharp… The hair on my legs just falls off from fright…lol…. Since I did ok with the 11, I tuned up the BK2 with the Green and strop. It too is beyond sharp…. Once I got both of them tuned up, I noticed that the BK-11 rattles mildly in its sheath. Not a big deal by itself, but I am a bow hunter and anything that rattles needs to be silenced. I attached a short length of shock cord to the sheath and looped it onto the back end of my 11 and it holds it really snug without making it overly tight… I have also read here and in other forums that the BK2 sheath dulls the blade a bit, but have not had this happen to me. I added a Tek Lok to my BK2 as my choice of carry in a horizontal fashion while scouting or hiking, but will just attach it to my pack while on stand. The Bk-11 will be carried either on my hip or in the small of my back. Why two knives while hunting? Why not? They both will serve well. The BK2 will go above and beyond probably in anything I could ask it to do. The Bk-11 will handle those finesse tasks like gutting and skinning and it is small in comparison.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
My daughter helped me make the lanyards for both of them. Now we are making paracord bracelets too. Just put an order in for some “Pink” cord.
This has become a longwinded first post and I apologize. I would like to say Thank You to everyone here on the forums. Whether or not “you” know it, every one of “you” have helped or influenced my choices and I choose a Ka-Bar Becker knife. The unfortunate side of this is that I can tell this is going to become an obsession. …:friendly_wink:
In closing I would like to say that I look forward to sharing my experiences with and reading about everyone’s experiences and learning from “You”…..
Best regards,
Ed
ps: I'm expecting flack for the skull beads, but thought they were cool looking.
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