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Oldest Becker Showdown thread

thrillbilly

thrillbilly

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I've been looking thru a Lot of archived BK&T threads, haven't seen this topic really covered.

After googling and looking into the subject I found BK&T started making knifes in early-mid '80s. Since I was a toddler back then I obviously don't have any "antique" Beckers.

The purpose of this thread is to ask the forum members to pull out their oldest Beckers. Pics, backstory, and date of purchase etc etc


Thought it would be interesting to hear some personal history of this great brand. And I hope to see more well-used blades then safe queens.
 
Flexxx said:
Bladite-Guyon-Moose will win this one.
Click to expand...


The unHoly Trio may be likely to have THE oldest...but I'm sure others have some vintage blades too. Will be interesting to see some Beckers that have been used/abused/carried/loved for 15-20+ years IMO
 
I'm pretty sure Bladite has Beckers stashed away from when dinosaurs still ran around.
 
moo hah hah.

just read some of the FAQs of Life and Becker DB threads... you'll see some old crap :)

point of fact, i don't own some of the oldest in terms of protos, but certainly near the beginning of the productions models. one offs, ones of 20s, that kinda thing.

there' a few jokers who own older, but the BEST? nah. that's the CinCinn era stuff with the black phosphate coating. teh awesome. was pretty good for a few years, then those epoxy things, and then Cammy went and got busy with wrong idears :)

well, KaBar is on the right path. i'll give them a few more weeks to get it right :D i know, i know, i'm quite generous :)
 
I only own two old BKT's.

An RBK and a Cinci Era BK2.

Oh, and a Blackjack era BK2.

All of them have never been used.

My favorite is the RBK. Mostly, because of the man behind it. Hank Reinhardt was a fencer by nature, and a knife fighter. Rumors are that he once gutted a man trying rob him at a gas station. With a watermelon knife. Which was what Hank tended to carry, from what I have been told. I never met the man, but I bought alot of stuff from his company, or at least the company he helped found, Museum Replicas Limited. Him and E were buds, and Hank has now passed on. He was awarded the Beckerhead #000 posthumously, for his works with BKT in the beginning.

In my opinion, one of the most awesome, and devasting blades to ever be born. Light, fast, brutal. Kinda like Hank.

100_2028.jpg


There are some other stories of challenges being thrown and offered at different shows, as Hank was never one to shy away from a challenge, especially when he thought he was slighted in some manner. Like I said, I've been told stories, and know what I've read. I wouldn't have wanted to face off with Hank Reinhardt for all the whiskey in Ireland.

You wanna see the oldest known BKT in existance? Of course you do, I'm just being silly, here it is,

Second from the left. Very first Machax, handmade by Ethan. Its the first incarnation of the Machax. This pic also shows the evolution of the design.

100_1389.jpg


Here is some of the early Tweener protos.

100_1388.jpg


Moose
 
Bladite wound up with my oldest Machax.
Moose wound up with my oldest Campanion.
All I want is an old looking Tweener or three.
 
Guyon said:
:confused:

The evolution appears to go right to left.
Click to expand...

It is, but none of the first 3 from the right to the left, wouldn't be called Machaxes. Second from the left, would technically be "The First Machax", or so I been told. :D

Moose
 
very interesting, I like that machax pic depicting the evolution of the design. TY





recurve-belly tweener/short/thingamajig!?!? I likes that!
 
Moosez45 said:
It is, but none of the first 3 from the right to the left, wouldn't be called Machaxes. Second from the left, would technically be "The First Machax", or so I been told. :D
Click to expand...

there's a few of those floating around too :>
 
I feel dumb now. I knew the name Reinhardt sounded too familiar, I've only bought about ten zillion things from MR over the years for fencing school. Didn't even click til now.
 
Skystorm said:
I feel dumb now. I knew the name Reinhardt sounded too familiar, I've only bought about ten zillion things from MR over the years for fencing school. Didn't even click til now.
Click to expand...

MRL sells the real deal stuff too. I've bought quite a bit over the year. Mostly chain mail. For some reason, I have a real passion for chain mail. Wore some on my honeymoon, I was the only guy in Cancun with a speedo and a chainmail shirt.

Liked to have killed me trying to scuba dive with chainmail, though.

Moose
 
Moosez45 said:
MRL sells the real deal stuff too. I've bought quite a bit over the year. Mostly chain mail. For some reason, I have a real passion for chain mail. Wore some on my honeymoon, I was the only guy in Cancun with a speedo and a chainmail shirt.

Liked to have killed me trying to scuba dive with chainmail, though.

Moose
Click to expand...
Pics or it didnt happen
 
The real odd looking blade on the right was still being called the Becker Woods Whacker.........Cooler heads prevailed......

ethan
 
BTW Moose's description of the Reinhart is very right on....the original Reinhart was made for Blackjack in Japan and has a full height convex ground quarter inch thick blade and is so effective it scares the sh-t outta me......One little mistake with it and you WILL be missing body parts.....A really wonderful blade ......It translated extremely well into the more machete like incarnation that was our collaboration...... Hank was an incredible designer.......He loved the blade and was a serious student of it.....And a gentleman to boot.....

ethan
 
Ethan Becker said:
BTW Moose's description of the Reinhart is very right on....the original Reinhart was made for Blackjack in Japan and has a full height convex ground quarter inch thick blade and is so effective it scares the sh-t outta me......One little mistake with it and you WILL be missing body parts.....A really wonderful blade ......It translated extremely well into the more machete like incarnation that was our collaboration...... Hank was an incredible designer.......He loved the blade and was a serious student of it.....And a gentleman to boot.....

ethan
Click to expand...

Am I smellin' a re-release? Would love to have one.
 
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