If anyone has looked at the thread recently you've noticed I removed the pics of my drawings. This was due to the way someone stole Granitestateofmind's moded BK7 drawing, made it, and is currently trying to sell it here on the forum, and on thEbay. I plan on taking my designs as far as possible, and didn't want this to happen to me. Pics of the finished knife will be up as soon as possible.
Ok, I've waited about as long as I can stand to post this. I mentioned that I have designed a tracker inspired, and Becker influenced WSK blade in another thread about that very thing. I also mentioned that one, extremely skilled Mr. Todd Hunt will be making this thing a reality in just a few weeks. So, without further hesitation I thought I'd post up the drawing, and tell the story of this design that has been about a five year process. I'll also post the finished pics and review the knife here as well. I've named it the BainBlaid BBX-00 WSK (Wilderness Survival Khuk).
First things first... here's the drawing.
Before anyone even asks, yes that is a Becker handle, and yes I did get permission to use it. Now on to the story behind this design. I procured a TOPS T1 Tracker some six years ago. Immediately I noticed that the knife was lacking real knife like qualities. The TOPS version of the tracker is almost nothing like the original as far as blade geometry goes. The edge on the working blade was DULL out of packaging, and the grind height was ineffective. So I reprofiled it a bit, and stubbornly carried on with it for the next few years. I gained a lot of respect for the design while attending Tracker School. For those who don't know Tracker School is the tracking, and survival school owned, and opporated by the designer of the Tracker knife, Tom Brown Jr. I learned how to properly use all of the knife's features by coal burning out bowls, scrapping deer hides, making arrows, hand drill kits, bow drill kits, various traps, and shelters. All of this gave me a massive amount of respect for a "all in one" type knife, and taught me what to look for in a blade. Still I felt the tracker could be all that it is, and better. It does everything that it was truly designed for really well except one thing. Chop. Although, chopping was not a primary purpose for the Tracker. It's actually a second hand feature that came out of the primary function of the "chopping belly", which was carving out coal burned bowls, and plates. It will also do a fine job at processing game when held at various positions. Having been so experienced with the Tracker, and a true lover of the WSK design philosophy, I started to draft my own versions of the knife. There were a lot, and I'll spare all of you from them. One for time saving, and two to save myself the embarrassment. They were terrible. So, the changes I made, and why. Number one I canted the blade with a khukri influence. I've been trying for years to make a better chopper out of the Tracker, and didn't figure out what it needed until I handled the BK21. Then it all came together. Two, no more dual grind. Over the years I've found this feature to be useless. Technique solves all of the issues a dual grind could solve. Three, with no dual grind there is no quarter round. Another feature I've found to be useless with good arrow making technique. It also made a really bad gut hook, and makes sharpening a needles pain. Four, I've moved the hide scrape from the spine to the blade. Sharper the edge the better the scrape, and it's SAFER. Five, I've added a little length, but not much. And last, as of now I have a sharpened swedge on the clip point. Oh, and I just love Becker handles. The blade is going to be .188" thick, and has a 3cm grind height. So it should have a really good bite for its length with the power increasing ability of the forward cant. Todd is also making a .25" thick model (shown below) with my own handle design. We want to see if the .25" thickness will lend anymore chopping ability to the design.
There they are. I've also got a CSK (Combat Survival Khuk) design in my head. So, more to come. Eventually.
Ok, I've waited about as long as I can stand to post this. I mentioned that I have designed a tracker inspired, and Becker influenced WSK blade in another thread about that very thing. I also mentioned that one, extremely skilled Mr. Todd Hunt will be making this thing a reality in just a few weeks. So, without further hesitation I thought I'd post up the drawing, and tell the story of this design that has been about a five year process. I'll also post the finished pics and review the knife here as well. I've named it the BainBlaid BBX-00 WSK (Wilderness Survival Khuk).
First things first... here's the drawing.
Before anyone even asks, yes that is a Becker handle, and yes I did get permission to use it. Now on to the story behind this design. I procured a TOPS T1 Tracker some six years ago. Immediately I noticed that the knife was lacking real knife like qualities. The TOPS version of the tracker is almost nothing like the original as far as blade geometry goes. The edge on the working blade was DULL out of packaging, and the grind height was ineffective. So I reprofiled it a bit, and stubbornly carried on with it for the next few years. I gained a lot of respect for the design while attending Tracker School. For those who don't know Tracker School is the tracking, and survival school owned, and opporated by the designer of the Tracker knife, Tom Brown Jr. I learned how to properly use all of the knife's features by coal burning out bowls, scrapping deer hides, making arrows, hand drill kits, bow drill kits, various traps, and shelters. All of this gave me a massive amount of respect for a "all in one" type knife, and taught me what to look for in a blade. Still I felt the tracker could be all that it is, and better. It does everything that it was truly designed for really well except one thing. Chop. Although, chopping was not a primary purpose for the Tracker. It's actually a second hand feature that came out of the primary function of the "chopping belly", which was carving out coal burned bowls, and plates. It will also do a fine job at processing game when held at various positions. Having been so experienced with the Tracker, and a true lover of the WSK design philosophy, I started to draft my own versions of the knife. There were a lot, and I'll spare all of you from them. One for time saving, and two to save myself the embarrassment. They were terrible. So, the changes I made, and why. Number one I canted the blade with a khukri influence. I've been trying for years to make a better chopper out of the Tracker, and didn't figure out what it needed until I handled the BK21. Then it all came together. Two, no more dual grind. Over the years I've found this feature to be useless. Technique solves all of the issues a dual grind could solve. Three, with no dual grind there is no quarter round. Another feature I've found to be useless with good arrow making technique. It also made a really bad gut hook, and makes sharpening a needles pain. Four, I've moved the hide scrape from the spine to the blade. Sharper the edge the better the scrape, and it's SAFER. Five, I've added a little length, but not much. And last, as of now I have a sharpened swedge on the clip point. Oh, and I just love Becker handles. The blade is going to be .188" thick, and has a 3cm grind height. So it should have a really good bite for its length with the power increasing ability of the forward cant. Todd is also making a .25" thick model (shown below) with my own handle design. We want to see if the .25" thickness will lend anymore chopping ability to the design.
There they are. I've also got a CSK (Combat Survival Khuk) design in my head. So, more to come. Eventually.
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