So I have been waiting in agony for the BK10 to come out. I had some extra spending money so I thought I'd order a F/U and a MK1 to ease the pain. Then I check BFC just before hitting the sack and see that the BK10 is finally available, so of course I ordered that too. I also finally got a tripod for my camera so maybe in a few weeks I'll try to get out and see what they can do.
And here's a group pic of every Ka-Bar I own.
They are all beefy knives. The BK10 is awesome and would laugh at most wilderness/bushcraft/survival tasks. The MK1 feels like it would also be a great outdoors blade, perfectly sized with a fullsize handle but light and nimble. I have two complaints about the MK1 thought. First and foremost is the balance. The pommel is the same used on the F/U but doesn't have as much blade to offset the weight. As such, the balance point is back around my middle finger. I'm thinking of ways I can shave some weight off the pommel and shift the balance forward. I think taking it to a belt sander and flattening out the sides would be a good start. My second complaint is with the hard plastic sheath. The lower retention strap that is supposed to go across the guard is not in a position to actually catch the guard and retain the knife. Now the sheath is designed to be ambidextrous so repositioning it isn't much of an option but if my strap was just a tiny bit shorter it would probably work and hold the knife. I was thinking about making a kydex sheath for it anyway and the two other retention methods work as intended so that's not a big deal.
Another thing I noticed is that the MK1 and the BK16 are not that far apart in size and someone could easily get by with one or the other. If the MK1 was balanced more to my liking I would take it over the BK16 in a heart beat. As they come from the factory it's a tie. I'm going to try and get some comparison vids on several of the knives here soon hopefully.
And here's a group pic of every Ka-Bar I own.
They are all beefy knives. The BK10 is awesome and would laugh at most wilderness/bushcraft/survival tasks. The MK1 feels like it would also be a great outdoors blade, perfectly sized with a fullsize handle but light and nimble. I have two complaints about the MK1 thought. First and foremost is the balance. The pommel is the same used on the F/U but doesn't have as much blade to offset the weight. As such, the balance point is back around my middle finger. I'm thinking of ways I can shave some weight off the pommel and shift the balance forward. I think taking it to a belt sander and flattening out the sides would be a good start. My second complaint is with the hard plastic sheath. The lower retention strap that is supposed to go across the guard is not in a position to actually catch the guard and retain the knife. Now the sheath is designed to be ambidextrous so repositioning it isn't much of an option but if my strap was just a tiny bit shorter it would probably work and hold the knife. I was thinking about making a kydex sheath for it anyway and the two other retention methods work as intended so that's not a big deal.
Another thing I noticed is that the MK1 and the BK16 are not that far apart in size and someone could easily get by with one or the other. If the MK1 was balanced more to my liking I would take it over the BK16 in a heart beat. As they come from the factory it's a tie. I'm going to try and get some comparison vids on several of the knives here soon hopefully.
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