Ritter/Becker thoughts

H

Herger

Joined
Feb 2, 2011
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Here's a question for the Becker community. The new Ritter/Becker collaboration, since it does not technically have the BK&T stamp on it, will it be viewed as a redheaded stepchild or will it be welcomed into the BK&T fold. I've read the tech data and it seems like a well made US knife. I would like to hear the thoughts from the Becker forum ...
 
I don't see it as any different from my older Reinhardt khuk (collaboration between Hank Reinhardt and Ethan Becker and made by Blackjack), or my EsKabar (collaborative hybrid between Ethan's Becker Necker and Jeff Randall & Mike Perrin's Izula). Ethan had a hand in this design going back a decade or more, so to me, it's a "Becker," plain and simple.

It's important to remember that this knife, or at least something very close to it, was to be the BK-12 at Camillus, and some prototypes of that knife do exist--though no one will send me one :grumpy:. In my mind, I'm finally getting a BK-12 with a newfangled balancing gizmo to boot. :thumbup:
 
Shouldn't be hard to spot the BK&T influence in this picture.

rskmkii-bk12_proto_comp1.jpg
 
I agree with you Guyon, it's a sweet looking knife with everything that I've been looking for. I was thinking of choil but Moose educated me on why Ethan did like them...
 
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Aye, it may not say it, but it is a BK12.
 
it's part of the family for sure :)
 
Critter said:
Note that the BK-12 always had that newfangled balancing gizmo.
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I did not know this. Bladite, is this factoid in the Database concerning the proto?

Gotta love it when the Source himself speaks up.
Doug, when you get time, I'd love it if you can share some more of the history on this design.
Anything you could add to the already excellent information at your site?

Source: http://www.dougritter.com/dr_rsk_mk2.htm
Ethan founded Becker Knife & Tool and popularized the "sharpened pry bar" concept of hard use survival and utility knives starting back in 1980 with his Machax, now a collector's item. He followed that with the Campanion, still in production 23 years later. As I recall, I first broached the subject at the 2002 SHOT Show. As we discussed various options, it quickly became obvious to me that the quickest way to get where I wanted to go was to take all the attributes I appreciated about Ethan's knives and add to it my own design philosophy. I screwed up my courage and somewhat meekly enquired if he'd be willing to collaborate on such a knife. Much to my relief, Ethan said "yes." "Quickest way" turned out to be wishful thinking. Eight years later that collaboration has finally given birth to the aptly named Doug Ritter RSK® Mk2 Perseverance™. As a name for a survival knife, it also rings true. In many cases, the difference between living and dying is exactly that, perseverance.

As with the original Doug Ritter RSK® Mk1, one of the guiding principles in developing the Doug Ritter RSK® Mk2 Perseverance™ was to provide an exceptional value. Becker knives already had a well-deserved reputation for providing an incredible price to performance ratio, which has been one of the keys to their success. The challenge was to not mess that up. I am very pleased to be able to say that we succeeded, producing an extraordinary hard use fixed blade knife, a knife you can bet your life on®
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Guyon said:
I did not know this. Bladite, is this factoid in the Database concerning the proto?

Gotta love it when the Source himself speaks up.
Doug, when you get time, I'd love it if you can share some more of the history on this design.
Anything you could add to the already excellent information at your site?

Source: http://www.dougritter.com/dr_rsk_mk2.htm
Click to expand...

not sure it's in the database :) but i seem to recall the balance feature was a key detail
 
Guyon said:
I did not know this. Bladite, is this factoid in the Database concerning the proto?

Gotta love it when the Source himself speaks up.
Doug, when you get time, I'd love it if you can share some more of the history on this design.
Anything you could add to the already excellent information at your site?

Source: http://www.dougritter.com/dr_rsk_mk2.htm
Click to expand...

I think the info provided is quite comprehensive enough. Don't think there's much more to be added, quite frankly, well, at least not that wouldn't be embarrassing to Ethan. ;)
 
Critter said:
I think the info provided is quite comprehensive enough. Don't think there's much more to be added, quite frankly, well, at least not that wouldn't be embarrassing to Ethan. ;)
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oh, we do like that :)
 
Critter said:
I think the info provided is quite comprehensive enough. Don't think there's much more to be added, quite frankly, well, at least not that wouldn't be embarrassing to Ethan. ;)
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Yes, please. I was fishing for dirty details.
You might want to wait until after Ethan's hernia surgery so he can defend himself. :p
 
Guyon said:
Yes, please. I was fishing for dirty details.
You might want to wait until after Ethan's hernia surgery so he can defend himself. :p
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See, here's the thing. Paybacks are hell. I have enough problems on my plate without going there. :D

Ethan's surgery won't be so bad, he'll do fine, a few day's of pain is character building I am told. OTOH, poor Susan having to deal with Ethan in recovery, well, that's someone I have a lot of sympathy for... ;)
 
Maybe someone should call her and explain that the screaming is just pain's way of leaving the body. Makes you stronger. :D
 
Guyon said:
Maybe someone should call her and explain that the screaming is just pain's way of leaving the body. Makes you stronger. :D
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Hmmm.

By now, I should be ... The Hulk.:)

Yet just this morning, I could not bend my BK9 in my bare hands.:(
 
OldPhysics said:
Hmmm.
By now, I should be ... The Hulk.:)
Yet just this morning, I could not bend my BK9 in my bare hands.:(
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and that's why the BK9 doesn't need to be .25 thick ;)

isn't a hernia operation these days relatively benign, usually laproscopic, and fairly pain free?

i'm sure ethan can whine is up though like a pro :)
 
Herger said:
Here's a question for the Becker community. The new Ritter/Becker collaboration, since it does not technically have the BK&T stamp on it, will it be viewed as a redheaded stepchild or will it be welcomed into the BK&T fold. I've read the tech data and it seems like a well made US knife. I would like to hear the thoughts from the Becker forum ...
Click to expand...

I love the look of this knife and was really excited about it when it was announced. However, I'm probably going to stay away from it and my BK&T collection will still be complete even if I never get this BK12. To me, it is redheaded. No BK&T stamp. Too high of a price. Weird balancing gizmo. Blade shape that is not unique to BK&T. I would have been much cooler about this knife if it was done under KA-BAR. I mean Ethan, Ritter and Rowen no disrespect, but I love BK&T knives for reasons other than what the BK12 turned out to be.

I dont expect anyone to agree with me, but to me, this BK12 is some kind of Becker variant that I personally do not think will ever factor into my Becker vocabulary.

When the BK10 comes back under KA-BAR, I will regret not getting this even less, if that is possible. Just my 1¢ (not even worth 2).

Uncle Ethan is certainly welcome to send me a free BK12 in an attempt to change my mind. :D
 
sqoon said:
I love the look of this knife and was really excited about it when it was announced. However, I'm probably going to stay away from it and my BK&T collection will still be complete even if I never get this BK12. To me, it is redheaded. No BK&T stamp. Too high of a price. Weird balancing gizmo. Blade shape that is not unique to BK&T. I would have been much cooler about this knife if it was done under KA-BAR. I mean Ethan, Ritter and Rowen no disrespect, but I love BK&T knives for reasons other than what the BK12 turned out to be.

I dont expect anyone to agree with me, but to me, this BK12 is some kind of Becker variant that I personally do not think will ever factor into my Becker vocabulary.

When the BK10 comes back under KA-BAR, I will regret not getting this even less, if that is possible. Just my 1¢ (not even worth 2).

Uncle Ethan is certainly welcome to send me a free BK12 in an attempt to change my mind. :D
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snerk. well, Uncle Ethan is involved, but not as deeply as Doug Ritter, so it's him you have to convince.

historically, this "non BK&T shape" would have been made by Camillus under the lineup, and would have been acceptable to the likes of me ;) as it is, Ethan has blessed it, Doug has poured his soul into it, and well, there we are. just consider it the American dream come to fruition.

it's not for everyone. you don't have to justify why you're not buying one. that's okay. we won't even shun you much :) hardly :> well, except you won't be able to buy a BK10. we'll make sure of it ;) :D

what is a complete BK collection? i sure as heck don't know :)
 
Bladite said:
snerk. well, Uncle Ethan is involved, but not as deeply as Doug Ritter, so it's him you have to convince.

historically, this "non BK&T shape" would have been made by Camillus under the lineup, and would have been acceptable to the likes of me ;) as it is, Ethan has blessed it, Doug has poured his soul into it, and well, there we are. just consider it the American dream come to fruition.

it's not for everyone. you don't have to justify why you're not buying one. that's okay. we won't even shun you much :) hardly :> well, except you won't be able to buy a BK10. we'll make sure of it ;) :D

what is a complete BK collection? i sure as heck don't know :)
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Speaking of Camillus producing this knife, does anyone know why KA-BAR isn't?

As far as a complete collection goes, this is obviously subjective and I think I would be sounding like a fool if I really tried to answer completely and for everyone. Right now, I would be happy and call it a day with my collection if I had the complete KA-BAR lineup.
 
I have no idea why Ka-Bar isn't making it, but I suspect it might have something to do with the time frame.
Doug has been trying to get this project off the ground since '02.
As Tooj has posted here more than once, Ethan would like to see more of his designs put onto the front burner of the production cycle, but Ka-Bar has lots of irons in the fire.
Probably, and this is me guessing, Doug wanted to see the knife come to fruition some time before 2020, and so another maker was chosen.
Again, all speculation, but I suspect there's some truth to it.

As for not seeing it as Becker, I've had some Becker knives that had no BK&T designation on them. Heck, no blade stamping whatsoever. Some of them were collaboration knives. That doesn't make them Beckers any less though. I also paid a premium for them because there just weren't that many to be found. Right now, the same is true of the Perseverance. If this project does only hit 100 and folks don't get theirs, I suspect there are going to be some disappointed people on down the road once they hear about what a great knife it is.
 
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