Yojimbo,
Here's a few answers to your questions as best I can give you. I'll preface this with the statement that it's strictly my opinion.
On the question of durability, there are two major players, the blade and the handles. I think the blade of either is probably going to outlast me and a couple more family generations. The SRCT is a nice thick chunk of quality steel and the BK-9 is a nice thick chunk of quality steel. Yes they are different steels but either is plenty tough for me. As for the handles, here I am torn. I find the handle of the CT more comfortable than the BK-9. It is a bit slimmer and works well with my strange hand.(Long skinny finger and an almost square palm.) Narrow handles tend to give me a better grip plus, I like the grippiness of the handle material. The BK-9 handle is a bit smooth but for the money can be remedied pretty easy. (As a side note:For around $50 Bill Siegle makes some really great G-10 slabs for the BK&T series of knives.) I think that the BK-9 holds the upper edge in handle durability and longevity due to the materials choice. Another thing is using the back of the handle as a hammer. I haven't tried it with the CT for fear of tearing the resoprene (Especiall with a borrowed knife.) The BK-9 has an exposed portion of the tang to beat things up with.
In the edge performance, I would have to give it to the Camp Tramp. Now that is from the limited time I've had it but I just like the way it cuts and handles a bit better. Remember, the CT is 2" shorter in the blade than the BK-9. With the big choil on the CT, it just handles better for me and can feel like a 5-6" knife for fine work if you choke up and use the choil. Perhaps that has something to do with my opinion, I've been more prone to use the CT for fine work that I didn't try with my BK-9. Don't get me wrong here, the BK-9 is plenty of knife in the cutting department. The CT is a hands down winner in the resharpening department. I've now done a bit more enthusiastic sharpening that I discussed in my latest post on RC but for the most part, stropping seems to touch it up nice and quick. The BK-9 usually called for my fine sticks on the Sharpmaker.
I hope this helps. I didn't cover prying or stabing because I haven't found occasion to stab anything yet and have only used the BK-9 for prying open some ammo crates.
I have retired the BK-9 and am planning on trying the CT for a field knife in my military role. This decision has nothing to do with the quality of the BK-9. It is the size. I find that blades longer than about 7.5-8" tend to drag the cround from a kneeling position and whack the side of my knee when I'm patroling. I just can't get comfortable with that so I'm going to a shorter blade. The BK-7 felt a bit light to me so I'm giving the Cam Tramp a go.
I can say unequivocally that I like the grind of the CT better than most knives I've had the pleasure of trying out. It retains a feeling of beefiness while allowing for really solid cutting performance.
Hope that helps.
Doc
