The new new tweener coating

A

ahmukilu

Joined
Sep 7, 2011
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I apologize if there is already a thread on this or if my information is false. I have heard that due to complaints about the rough tweener coating, Kabar has made the coating less coarse on the newly produced tweeners. Does anyone happen to have comparison pictures between the new and old coating?
 
It's possible but I doubt it. But then again I have no idea. Where did you hear that they were doing that? I would just assume that if people thought it was too aggressive they would just take some sand paper to it. One of the mods might know. Or you could ask Tooj over in the Ka-bar subforum if you really need a definite answer.
 
If that is the case it would probably be a new world record between minor user complaints directly translating to complete mass production overhaul in what is basically a brand new line of product.
 
I think you have it backwards actually. The old coating was the smoother one, the new one is rougher. If you don't like it, you can knock it smoother with some sandpaper.
 
Looks like he was handling a proto. Even the sheath is different, 1 snap VS. 2. There is currently only 1 mass production version of each tweener all with the same type of coating, so if you are wondering if there is suddenly a new coating that is different than the one that people have been posting pictures and reviews of on the forum then at the moment it is all still the same mass production version with the same coating. Hope that helped.
 
For the sheath, he may have just cut off the bottom retention snap which is what I've seen several people do. If he is handling a proto though, it would be cool to get conformation if these will actually roll out on the assembly lines anytime soon or if they already have.
 
Yes, apparently the new coating has been thinned out a bit, Adam from E2E made a comment on one of the newer beckers and how the coating felt less goopy/course (Cant think of the right word) compared to a BK-16 he'd recieved when they were first released in April. The coating on my 16 which I first got was quite rough and the etching was smudged any not very crisp.
 
ahmukilu said:
For the sheath, he may have just cut off the bottom retention snap which is what I've seen several people do. If he is handling a proto though, it would be cool to get conformation if these will actually roll out on the assembly lines anytime soon or if they already have.
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All production Kabar and Becker blades used the same smooth black coating until just recently. The original Tweener prototypes were done in the smooth coating that was done at that time (as well as stamping in the name and model number). After production started in full, kabar started producing some of the "premium' Becker and JAB blades with this new coating (the rougher one) which is similar to what competitor ESEE uses on their knives. During this same time they changed to using laser engraving.

So what you saw was the old prototypes. These were manufactured almost a year ago, and have a totally different coating and marking than what we have now.

Here is a preproduction model that I got a chance to play around with. Notice the smooth coating (the same that is found on the Kabar USMC and MK1).

1003948f.jpg


Now notice the current production model. Rough coating, and laser markings.

BK17[large].jpg


As far as I know, thats how they currently come.

Hope that helps clear things up a bit :).
 
c10darren said:
So, if i were to buy a new BK7... would it have the new ESEEish coating?
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Not likely, most places are getting rid of their old stock. I haven't seen any of the non tweeners (bk shorts) have the new coating or etching yet.
 
It should if its new stock. You might want to call whoever your distributor is and check before you buy though. Some places are likely still getting rid of old stock.
 
Hmmm. Mixed blessing, I suppose. I am not a big fan of the old coating. (Right now I'm researching/pricing having my BK2 done in Cerakote.) On the other hand, I do not like the laser etching. To me, the stamping looks much better.
 
I believe they got rid of the roll stamping to reduce stress on the blades thus have less defects. I like the look of the roll stamping also but the laser etch is slowly growing on me. I saw base more of your decision on the roll stamp or etch because no matter the coating on a BK-2 its gong to get battoned off eventually if you use your knife a lot.
 
Thumper99 said:
Does stripping the coating affect the lazer etch at all?
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It will still be there after the coating comes off. Over time with use and abuse and if you have to sand rust off and stuff it will start to wear as it is only so deep in the metal. If you want it to stick around longer though you could apply an etchant over the engraving before you strip, let it do it's work, THEN strip the blade and the etched logos will be much deeper. I saw someone do this with an ESEE and the ESEE skull logo looked frickin awesome after the blade was stripped.
 
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