I have a BJ and just took the Camillus out of the box (left the box in the trunk of car, hit the release button on way out of car and it rained like hell all night....) I have to say the carbon in Kydex in plastic bag resisted water very well and did not at all show a speck of rust.
For that matter neither did the Entrek Brute lying in the now-soggy gym bag, but I admit to WD 40 all over them when my neighbor woke me up to ask if I knew the car was open (windows and trunk). As a further sidebar, a ten year old car with occassional coffee spills can get realy funky when soggy inside...blech.
So I now had a chance to break out the Becker Mag old and new and compare them side to side.
The old feels wonderful in hand, point hits the target perfectly, the edge slices with the best and it can easily remove the corner fro an empty Coke case sitting about in the basement. in case you do not know it, this is hard to do. The new one is more flexible, not something I am pleased with, and I would be shy about sticking with it. The new one is lighter and while alive, does not feel quite as confidence inspiring as the older model, but more like a big kitchen blade with a kydex sheath.
The grips on the new are more comfy, nothing I can lay a word to, but just feel better. I suspect it to be that the grips are less polished.
The scabbard? When BJ was making all 901 of the original run, they made the coolest shath ever to hit a production knife, a cross draw belt sheath with a retention pin that went thru the ricasso of the knife. Not something you see every day, especially on a production piece. The Camillus sheath is kydex with a retention strap and while nicely clicking and form fitting, the retention needs the strap (I tend to test the kydex sheaths by turning them over so the pointy part faces the sky and shake vigorously. I should not drink while evaluating maybe?) The Camillus popped right out. No fault here, as the snap-strap is there, but I find it disturbing to see it pop out so easily.
My nod goes to the older model, but the new one may find its way to the kitchen, though she prefers "kitchen knives" with names like Sabatier and F Dick to Becker and Fleshdigger. Maybe we need to have a little kitchen comparison, but in the end for a smaller handed person this is not a good kitchen knife, as the requisite control for Haute cuisine is not gonna be there (presentation!) On the other hand, the Cammi or the BJ both make an excellent slicing knife to take into the boonies for a longer stay where maybe you will get tired of hacked squirrel every day and want to add a bit of interesting food to the daily grind.
Take your choice, I bet Ron Hood is right about the silicone spooge in the handle, and you can use it as a cool kitchen knife all year long. I will get one for friends that like knives and cook.
