Ethan Becker
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 1, 1999
- Messages
- 3,564
I am very proud to announce that the Horace Kephart designed BK&T/Ka-Bar Model BK62 is about to ship.
This iconic blade was designed by America’s foremost writer and proponent of traveling and living “out.” I spent a lot of time reading a lot of books on the outdoors before finding Kephart and discovering that all those works were derivative of Kep.
In my opinion this blade comes as close to the universal outdoor tool of any knife designed in the twentieth century. It is of deceptively simple design and shape but, once in hand it speaks with clarity and it screams utility. Kephart spent many years working this blade and the one that he used shows the telltale signs of a well used and well loved possession. he used it to filet fish, skin and dress game birds and both small and large game. He cut his onions and carrots, sliced his bread and salami with it and then buttered the bread with it. He used it to do the work required to make cranes, pot lifters, tent stakes and a myriad of other camp accessories and necessaries.
It is a woodsman’s tool par excellence with a wonderfully flat profile that is unlikely to snag in rough going and in the area he lived, hunted, fished and rambled the going can be exceeding rough. Laurel and Rhododendron “Hell’s” will teach you a great big bunch about getting snagged enroute. He chased Bear and deer through some of the most challenging country I know.
The design also gives a lovely orientation in the hand..You are never in doubt as to the angle of the blade vis a vis the target and the what appears to be little bumps at the blade end of the handle are incredibly ergonomic. The blade shape is kinda pre drop point and quite utilitarian. I spent some time trying to find an antecedent and the closest I came was a blade made by a very obscure German cutler in the 1800’s and it is improbable that even with Kephart‘s almost demonic scholarship that he would be aware of it.
We tried very hard to remain as true to the original Colclesser manufactured original as possible. The handle scales are American Black Walnut and the steel in the blade is 1095CV which is not dissimilar to the carbon steel that the Colclesser Brothers used. The only cosmetic difference is in the fasteners. After using cutler’s rivets early on I refuse to subject any of my customers to them. They will almost always loosen under hard and continuous use. A very nice pouch type leather sheath rounds out what I think is a really interesting and useful blade. A friend at BladeShow said of it; “Everything you need is there and there is nothing you need that is missing”......
Ethan
P.S.....
On a personal note, Horace Kephart was the Director of the Merchantile Library in Saint Louis and both my Becker and Rombauer grandparents were members.Under Horace Kephart that library was a civic gem and in my youth my Mother talked of it’s wonders often. Later when I started to read Kephart I made no connection. Many decades later I found myself living a score of miles from Kep’s first camp on Hazel Creek and tramping much similar ground and I have taken much vicarious pleasure in being pretty certain that I can spot the ridge on which the bear hunt that was written about in “Our Southern Highlanders” took place from the Beckerhead Camp on my place in Monroe County, TN.
Later when this project was in it’s early stages I had the great good luck to join Joe Flowers on a field trip to the Western North Carolina University Library to see their most wonderful collection of Kephart’s gear and writings. This was a brilliant and meticulous man with both intellect and a huge dose of practical knowledge and common sense. I felt a sense of wonder that comes upon me rarely these days. I have also had the privilege of making the acquaintance of Kep’s great grand daughter. Libby Kephart Hargrave. she is a most delightful lady.....
The chance to both own this piece of both outing and cutlery history and the chance to do this project has been a most satisfying and wonderful experience.....E
This iconic blade was designed by America’s foremost writer and proponent of traveling and living “out.” I spent a lot of time reading a lot of books on the outdoors before finding Kephart and discovering that all those works were derivative of Kep.
In my opinion this blade comes as close to the universal outdoor tool of any knife designed in the twentieth century. It is of deceptively simple design and shape but, once in hand it speaks with clarity and it screams utility. Kephart spent many years working this blade and the one that he used shows the telltale signs of a well used and well loved possession. he used it to filet fish, skin and dress game birds and both small and large game. He cut his onions and carrots, sliced his bread and salami with it and then buttered the bread with it. He used it to do the work required to make cranes, pot lifters, tent stakes and a myriad of other camp accessories and necessaries.
It is a woodsman’s tool par excellence with a wonderfully flat profile that is unlikely to snag in rough going and in the area he lived, hunted, fished and rambled the going can be exceeding rough. Laurel and Rhododendron “Hell’s” will teach you a great big bunch about getting snagged enroute. He chased Bear and deer through some of the most challenging country I know.
The design also gives a lovely orientation in the hand..You are never in doubt as to the angle of the blade vis a vis the target and the what appears to be little bumps at the blade end of the handle are incredibly ergonomic. The blade shape is kinda pre drop point and quite utilitarian. I spent some time trying to find an antecedent and the closest I came was a blade made by a very obscure German cutler in the 1800’s and it is improbable that even with Kephart‘s almost demonic scholarship that he would be aware of it.
We tried very hard to remain as true to the original Colclesser manufactured original as possible. The handle scales are American Black Walnut and the steel in the blade is 1095CV which is not dissimilar to the carbon steel that the Colclesser Brothers used. The only cosmetic difference is in the fasteners. After using cutler’s rivets early on I refuse to subject any of my customers to them. They will almost always loosen under hard and continuous use. A very nice pouch type leather sheath rounds out what I think is a really interesting and useful blade. A friend at BladeShow said of it; “Everything you need is there and there is nothing you need that is missing”......
Ethan
P.S.....
On a personal note, Horace Kephart was the Director of the Merchantile Library in Saint Louis and both my Becker and Rombauer grandparents were members.Under Horace Kephart that library was a civic gem and in my youth my Mother talked of it’s wonders often. Later when I started to read Kephart I made no connection. Many decades later I found myself living a score of miles from Kep’s first camp on Hazel Creek and tramping much similar ground and I have taken much vicarious pleasure in being pretty certain that I can spot the ridge on which the bear hunt that was written about in “Our Southern Highlanders” took place from the Beckerhead Camp on my place in Monroe County, TN.
Later when this project was in it’s early stages I had the great good luck to join Joe Flowers on a field trip to the Western North Carolina University Library to see their most wonderful collection of Kephart’s gear and writings. This was a brilliant and meticulous man with both intellect and a huge dose of practical knowledge and common sense. I felt a sense of wonder that comes upon me rarely these days. I have also had the privilege of making the acquaintance of Kep’s great grand daughter. Libby Kephart Hargrave. she is a most delightful lady.....
The chance to both own this piece of both outing and cutlery history and the chance to do this project has been a most satisfying and wonderful experience.....E
. Thank you Ethan for making this happen!!!
