Out of Production

Tanker 1/66 said:
I grew up using machetes exclusively they are second nature to me. Its all about angle of attack to the object your cutting. When it comes to the 6 You dont have to hit the sweet spot but let the branch/vine drag down the blade/edge untill it gets bunched up against the curve and the magic happens. If I cant hold the branch/vine with my support hand then I swing at an angle that forces the branch/vine to pull against its own resistance, meaning not towards its main trunk but away from its main trunk. Its hard to describe in words. Banana trees, sugar cane, and saplings are a breeze. Vines with waitaminute thorns not so much lol
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Prolly because I live in the Northeast - and thus have little (read: none) experience with "real" machete territory - my experience has been better with other machetes. I was lucky enough to have one of the Northeast Beckerheads let me swing the 6, but we're talking hardwood saplings and forest brush...hardly what it was made for. Also, we have lots of puckerbrush (things with thorns, spines and whatnot) that I'd rather go at with a thinner blade without the recurve. Hitting actual wood with the Patrol Machete is....uncomfortable. Given my north European ancestry and my complete lack of heat tolerance (it's 50°f & I'm in shorts) I doubt I will inhabit those sorts of environs, so....the 6 is not for me. The RBK, OTOH - that's more in line with my needs.
 
granitestateofmind said:
Prolly because I live in the Northeast - and thus have little (read: none) experience with "real" machete territory - my experience has been better with other machetes. I was lucky enough to have one of the Northeast Beckerheads let me swing the 6, but we're talking hardwood saplings and forest brush...hardly what it was made for. Also, we have lots of puckerbrush (things with thorns, spines and whatnot) that I'd rather go at with a thinner blade without the recurve. Hitting actual wood with the Patrol Machete is....uncomfortable. Given my north European ancestry and my complete lack of heat tolerance (it's 50°f & I'm in shorts) I doubt I will inhabit those sorts of environs, so....the 6 is not for me. The RBK, OTOH - that's more in line with my needs.
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I got an RBK from 91bravo. And I must admit that I am struggling a bit with it. It's big and powerful and definitely wants to carry thru what ever it encounters. It's a big learning curve for me. I have already chipped the blade several times from swinging down on saplings and its passed right thru and into the rocks and dirt. If the SHTF and I had to take one blade the RBK would be in my pack and the 6 left behind.
 
granitestateofmind said:
I got some regular size scales roughed out - patterned, but not shaped or drilled - if you want 'em. Also have some wickedly figured walnut crotch that looks like it should be stabilized before use - a task which I am unlikely to get to in the next decade - if you want a piece of that for scale making. I think walnut would look nice, and it's not nearly as heavy or hard to shape as the katalox. Do eet.



As well you should - that's gawgeous. Are those copper liners? The only way that'd look better is if it had some patina from use, IMO.
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Thanks! Yes, the wood seemed a little too thin after sanding, so I added the copper.
 
granitestateofmind said:
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ah, that Dashi reminds me that i've been missing mine for a while now. not sure where exactly it jumped ship, but i hope someone is enjoying it
 
OFFICIAL_KA-BAR said:
Every knife we put in to production we expect to be part of the product lineup for a long time. The only reason we discontinue items is due to poor sales. The cause and effect is generally once an item goes away, people wish they bought it. There are knives I have absolutely loved that we have had to discontinue due to poor sales. When you are working in mass production and there are only so many seats at the table so to speak, the difficult decision to discontinue a product has to be made. The moral of the story is if you want a knife, buy it. There is nothing worse than missing out and having to buy it later on an auction site at a much higher price.
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sometimes too many are made and then they don't sell and ...

sometimes the reboot doesn't work, sometimes it does

the BK4 "machax" for me seems like one of those. Nothing much wrong with the Camillus model, except the grind was a little off compared to the Blackjacks which i thought were flawless... it might seem like heresy for me to note that i've always felt the KaBar version was much too thin, and the spine being relieved annoyed even more. i understand that like the BK5, it was intended to be "faster and more flickable" for vines and things and be more useful and compact that a larger machete, and i believe i was told that would be ideal for our fighting troops should be deploy to some jungle "soon", but i guess that didn't happen (yet), so while the concept and target was on, the buying market perhaps didn't note that.

buttttttttt, to me, the Machax is more a chopper than a machete (depite the name) - more axe i guess. i adore khukris. a lot. as a bush tool, camping buddy, and general "survival" item, the old ones had the mass and square spine to really excel (esp on batoning ;>) but chopping, so good a feel.

i kinda wish a sprint run of maybe 100-200 were made, like the old ones. do it up good in 4140 or 5160 or even D2? instead of 1095, because it would look glorious naked (like the old chrome ones) or POSSIBLY parkerized (like the old ones :>). just a nice dream.

fortunately, there's a few known boxes of 4140 blanks "around" that could satisfy an anniversary run. that would be super sweet.

also make E some fresh monies :D
 
Yes the BK4 was a great one. It was even more multi-functional than the BK9. Mostly to its blade shape and parts of the blade and its form you could do more things with it than a straight blade.
 
My first Post......
(Thank You for having Me!)
I've been lurking for a couple months, trying to learn about the various models, and what I like, and want.
I feel I'm getting to the party Late!

Most of what I'm interested in is now gone. :(

I won't go into it (because I don't want to bad mouth anyone/or break some rules here) but my first Becker was "supposed" to be a BK-4 but knifesupply made sure That didn't happen..... Haha/ugh!

Luckily I found a nice fellow on that famous auction site who sold me a partially used BK-5 with mircata and stainless screws for what I feel was a fair price.
Love the knife!!!


So hears my question.
It looks like Mr. Becker has had a few manufacturing plants make his brand of knives.....If KaBar doesn't wish to make certain models, could he go elsewhere such as Rowan to make smaller batches (500 pieces)?
......or is that bad business stepping on their toes? Who knows he might have a contract saying he can't.....idk?

I'd really like a BK-15, 4, and a 20. :(

I'm sorry if this was rude, or too personal.......I know many of you know him on a more personal level. He (and You) seem like a great group of people......

I hope I can contribute more, and maybe even someday become a BeckerHead......haha .:)

Thank you.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
My first Post......
(Thank You for having Me!)
I've been lurking for a couple months, trying to learn about the various models, and what I like, and want.
I feel I'm getting to the party Late!

Most of what I'm interested in is now gone. :(

I won't go into it (because I don't want to bad mouth anyone/or break some rules here) but my first Becker was "supposed" to be a BK-4 but knifesupply made sure That didn't happen..... Haha/ugh!

Luckily I found a nice fellow on that famous auction site who sold me a partially used BK-5 with mircata and stainless screws for what I feel was a fair price.
Love the knife!!!


So hears my question.
It looks like Mr. Becker has had a few manufacturing plants make his brand of knives.....If KaBar doesn't wish to make certain models, could he go elsewhere such as Rowan to make smaller batches (500 pieces)?
......or is that bad business stepping on their toes? Who knows he might have a contract saying he can't.....idk?

I'd really like a BK-15, 4, and a 20. :(

I'm sorry if this was rude, or too personal.......I know many of you know him on a more personal level. He (and You) seem like a great group of people......

I hope I can contribute more, and maybe even someday become a BeckerHead......haha .:)

Thank you.
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Welcome to the boards, Crag! :D

Others will know better than me, but, I would imagine contracts would prohibit your inquiry.
 
Rowen makes the BK12. I would assume that farming out any of Ethan's other designs would have to be cleared with Kabar like that one was. Seems like a long shot but anything is possible.

I think we will hopefully see Kabar's State and Union do some spiffed up Beckers at some point. I hope to see a BK15 but also think that it would be successful for them to do a run of BK16s with an upgraded steel and fancy handles. It seems to be a popular enough knife. Folks would go nuts for a 3V BK9 in my opinion.
 
Yes Rowen.... I accidently miss-typed.
It Would be amazing, Bearfacedkiller if State and Union could make some souped up batches....Hopefully enough to satisfy our needs. I DON"T want collectibles..... I don't want them to go up in value, I want the value to be in splitting logs (or something) haha. So I hope IF they did make them, not to make them out of Too fancy of material!

another question..... When the AMAZING deal of the Bk-20/4/5's came out did you guys know that the 4's and 5's were going to be discontinued?
seems like such a good buy, I wish I could of pounced on that..... About how long did they last before being sold out, I heard there was only a few hundred or so..... I'd really like to get a BK-20.... and That was the reason I signed up to BF.... I saw a few good recent sales in the one forum....I still don't know how to do any of that (buying) I think I need to open a paypal account or something/idk?
 
GeofS.......Thanks for the Welcome.
This is a Great place.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
My first Post......
(Thank You for having Me!)
I've been lurking for a couple months, trying to learn about the various models, and what I like, and want.
I feel I'm getting to the party Late!

Most of what I'm interested in is now gone. :(

I won't go into it (because I don't want to bad mouth anyone/or break some rules here) but my first Becker was "supposed" to be a BK-4 but knifesupply made sure That didn't happen..... Haha/ugh!

Luckily I found a nice fellow on that famous auction site who sold me a partially used BK-5 with mircata and stainless screws for what I feel was a fair price.
Love the knife!!!


So hears my question.
It looks like Mr. Becker has had a few manufacturing plants make his brand of knives.....If KaBar doesn't wish to make certain models, could he go elsewhere such as Rowan to make smaller batches (500 pieces)?
......or is that bad business stepping on their toes? Who knows he might have a contract saying he can't.....idk?

I'd really like a BK-15, 4, and a 20. :(

I'm sorry if this was rude, or too personal.......I know many of you know him on a more personal level. He (and You) seem like a great group of people......

I hope I can contribute more, and maybe even someday become a BeckerHead......haha .:)

Thank you.
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KA-BAR discontinues models that don't sell as well as needed. It wouldn't do any good to have another manufacturer make them, if you already know they don't sell well. The BK4 was discontinued before, then brought back, but apparently didn't do as well as hoped. Too bad too, it's a hell of a good blade. Have never had an original Machax, but some say the new BK4 is too thin. The BK5 didn't sell well either. Ethan had said before, that it was a mystery as to why it didn't. Blade was designed by Jerry Fisk, with Ethan's handles. While it is a hell of a blade, I always gravitated towards the BK9 myself. I've had a few BK5's, but sold them. That said, I'll probably end up with another one, haha.

By the way, welcome to the forum, glad to have you here.
 
bearfacedkiller said:
Rowen makes the BK12. I would assume that farming out any of Ethan's other designs would have to be cleared with Kabar like that one was. Seems like a long shot but anything is possible.

I think we will hopefully see Kabar's State and Union do some spiffed up Beckers at some point. I hope to see a BK15 but also think that it would be successful for them to do a run of BK16s with an upgraded steel and fancy handles. It seems to be a popular enough knife. Folks would go nuts for a 3V BK9 in my opinion.
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the BK12 is an odd duck. conceptually its Doug Ritter's baby, with Ethan's Blessings and cleared by KaBar and stuffs. iirc, it had the Camillus handles (thicker), and isn't REALLLLLLLLY a Becker #'d product (but it is). homage :D

Ethan would have to chime in, but i do believe he has an option, such that if he runs it up the flagpole with KaBar, and they are not interested he can make arrangements with proper notice and so on. i'm not really thinking of examples but it could happen.

one of the two Bowies have some cross pollination too.

the Eskabar is another good example. Forumite inspired, approved by all parties involved, pretty cool :D
 
Bladite said:
the BK12 is an odd duck. conceptually its Doug Ritter's baby, with Ethan's Blessings and cleared by KaBar and stuffs. iirc, it had the Camillus handles (thicker), and isn't REALLLLLLLLY a Becker #'d product (but it is). homage :D

Ethan would have to chime in, but i do believe he has an option, such that if he runs it up the flagpole with KaBar, and they are not interested he can make arrangements with proper notice and so on. i'm not really thinking of examples but it could happen.

one of the two Bowies have some cross pollination too.

the Eskabar is another good example. Forumite inspired, approved by all parties involved, pretty cool :D
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Good info!
Idk it wasn't, and with different handles?
That might make me more curious about it?
....seems everyone says it's worth it.
I was just hoping that it was a foot in the door for odd models like the patrol machete....etc....etc.....etc.
 
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