The old coating (flat, non-textured) was not very durable, hence the switch to the newer coatings. Since there are so many still in stock with the older coatings, the newer coating has not been applied to the main knives of the Becker lineup yet. As far as the handles, while it does suck that you had issues with loosening so early on, had you lost anything Kabar would have gladly shipped you replacement bits. I am unsure if this happens with other knives with such easily removable handles, but solutions have been mentioned here by others, although my personal method that works for me is nylon lock nuts. You want to replace the screws and nuts anyway as they will rust eventually. Stainless is the way to go.
The tip dulling I don't have a suggestion for. Maybe there was something in the bark, maybe there was a knot or something, or maybe the knife itself has a bad heat treat. It has happened, and it will happen again. I did learn recently that tree bark will carry dirt and sediment upwards along the bark somewhat, so there is a tiny chance that the bark had something pretty rough in it, but that is just a guess. Either way, Beckers are great knives, but that doesn't mean there aren't lemons, and that doesn't mean that everyone has to like them.
You may not get it, may not see the allure, but there are a ton of us that do. Different strokes for different folks I suppose. However, unless you came in here to just try and start something (which is silly), I am betting you wanted to find out more, and maybe give that knife another chance. This is a great community (even though some of us can come across as a tad abrasive, really, most of us aren't, we are just very defensive of our choices) and if you stick around you are almost guaranteed to learn something and maybe even see that knife in a different light. We live for pics, so pics of this knife would be awesome, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Just sayin.
