Smaller BK2 Alterative For Backpacking

O

oracle5

Joined
Oct 6, 2008
Messages
18
I need some help picking out a lighter weight alterative to the BK2. I've camped all my life and the BK2 has been serving me well since I picked one up but I recently got into backpacking and its becoming harder to justiy that whole pound for a knife. i'm not comfortable going out with only a Izula sized knife for backpacking due to getting attacked by a deer one deer season where i litterally had to use my Buck 119 to kill it.

I need something I can do light chopping and batoning with. I don't need anything for food prep because i have a Victorinox with me also i use for all food prep. I've been considering the ESEE 4 but don't know how well it might chop. I do like the option of an orange handle for the ESEE also.
 
I don't think any knife of this size is going to chop well.
ESEE4 would be a good choice BK16 might be a better choice IMO
 
oracle5 said:
I need some help picking out a lighter weight alterative to the BK2. I've camped all my life and the BK2 has been serving me well since I picked one up but I recently got into backpacking and its becoming harder to justiy that whole pound for a knife. i'm not comfortable going out with only a Izula sized knife for backpacking due to getting attacked by a deer one deer season where i litterally had to use my Buck 119 to kill it.

I need something I can do light chopping and batoning with. I don't need anything for food prep because i have a Victorinox with me also i use for all food prep. I've been considering the ESEE 4 but don't know how well it might chop. I do like the option of an orange handle for the ESEE also.
Click to expand...

You want a Mora #333 machete. 13" blade and weighs only 7oz. I just used mine to baton a crap ton of kindling for my mother in law. No sheaths available just yet but I've got some custom JRE ones on the way. I'll post pics tonight.

For something similar in appearance to the BK2 but lighter and a better slicer, check out the Condor Rodan. It's my most-used woods knife in that size range.
 
If your not dead set against a non becker...a 12" ontario machete is lighter and will out chop and split almost anything short of an axe and a logsplitter :D pair the machete with a SAK and you'll be unstoppable! If it has to be a becker,,, id look for a BK10...same size as a 2, but thinner steel=lighter weight.
 
Fiddleback 12" machetes have a great power to weight ratio. They can chop, do large knife chores, be a draw knife, and baton. The Fiddleback's have pointed tips and excellent handles. I could get by with a 12" blade and a folder or multi-tool on any backpacking trip I've been on. Add a small saw, for certain AO's, and you're still staying light, just depends on how much wood you think you'll be processing.
 
Bk16. Just released. Available exclusively through smoky mountain knife works for now. O yeh. Its awesome. And way more ergonomic than the esee 4 with its too small and too blocky handles.

2012-03-17_12-13-57_560.jpg
 
Another lighter alternative is the BK7. I like the BK2 better, but BK7 is lighter in spite of being almost 2" longer. It'll take a crap load of abuse and will slice a bit better than the BK2 (though BK2 batons and chops a bit better).

I still like BK2 better but my son swears by his BK7.

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Beckerhead #42
 
Mora #333 with JRE sheath:

CIMG0488.jpg


Worn in two-point suspension:

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Batoning:

CIMG0496.jpg


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I know it's a much larger blade than you had been thinking about, but it's a right handy chopper that can be used for knife-like tasks and it weighs virtually nothing. And in spite of its thin blade, it batoned all of the kindling you see in the pics from wrist- and forearm-sized pieces. And shaved the handle for the baton. :)
 
42, I'm likin' the looks of that Mora 333. Likin' it alot.

To the OP, BK10 or BK16.

Moose
 
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