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Get both !
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
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Tops bob or bk16?
- Thread starter kalan850
- Start date
I agree with Quiet in all points... He said all what I wanted to say.....
kalan850
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Yes yes this would be ideal. Maybe I will sell a few spyderco folders to fund purchasing both lol at the moment I am leaning towards the bk16 because of price, ergos, and the lighter weight.
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Here are some pics and a schematic of the BK16 vs the BOB, and YES the BOB is MUCH thicker than the 16 in the grind, in sacrifices a LOT of cutting performance as a result and is much less nimble in hand, but the BOB is built for beating on and comes with a decent kydex sheath and micarta scales. If your primary use will be batoning wood, prying, or breaking up ice and concrete, pick the BOB - it will suffice for other tasks as well but present enhanced strength under such abuse. If your primary use is "utility" cutting, hunting/skinning, etc. then choose the BK16 - it is reasonably strong and will handle some abuse but will excel at slicing tasks many MANY times over the BOB.
- Snipped pics for politeness
Video of BK16 durability-testing, starting at 2:21
[video]https://youtu.be/TbHKydzeHJo?t=2m1s[/video]
I can see your point of view, and appreciate all of the pictures. I don't recall my BK16 being that fine, but this has been a couple of years for me, so I'll obviously accept the reality shown in pictures. For me, I felt the BOB sliced just fine, and handled both wood, and food prep with ease. I think the handle also feels better in my hand, it just felt more sturdy to me. The BK16 would be a great knife, if I hadn't ever held the BOB...(or my Ratmandu for that matter, although the 16 would destroy the Rat in a slicing contest). I think the OP would be fine with either knife. I have multiple Beckers and I like them just fine. Sadly, I have shelved most of them as more expensive, but better for my purposes knives came into my collection. My BK9 got shelved by a Rodent 9 that I have beaten through some of the worst wood, that I'm just not sure the BK9 would have handled.
But hey, that's the beauty of knives. There's something for everyone.
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My experience with TOPS is that they are always overbuilt and their quality is unmatched. You can go the cheaper route, but really how much is 30-40$ when your buying a knife that will last you a lifetime. I have several tops knives, which don't include a BOB, but I am always impressed by their ability to take a beating and remain almost unaffected. Pay the extra and get the TOPS, buy something that you will have no doubt about if you ever truly need to rely on it.
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Tops BOB is a do all lifetime knife. I've never played with the 16 but I'm sore the handles are too short for me. I'd leave the house for a weekend in the woods with a tops Bob and not be worried at all.
NJBillK
Custom Leather and Fixed Blade modifications.
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There is a lot of truth to this, but not in the way that is obvious...
What you do is this; Pick one knife for heads, one for tails and flip a coin. While that coin is in the air, or just before it hits the ground, you will notice that you want one side to "win".
That is the knife you Truly want.
Go buy your new knife.
The good thing is that if you really don't have an idea, you can always go with the coin.
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In my opinion, it is a bit on the blocky side for me.
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You're familiar with the Becker line. You know what you're getting. I think you can't go wrong with either knife. The B.O.B. seems to have captured your attention, I would choose that one and pick up a BK-16 later as resources permit.
I don't own a Tops knife. I like the look of the BOB. One of my go to woods knives is the BK-15 (as it came from the factory) and it does just fine for me as I prefer this type of blade shape for all around use. I have a BK-16; it doesn't get used. But not because it's a bad knife or design, I just choose others over it. Maybe one day, I'll start using it as I generally prefer this size of knife for the woods.
I don't do a much digging with a knife, but if I did, it would be either the drop point shape or the spear point that has become popular for bushcraft carry. Been using my Condor Bushlore in the yard lately for digging certain weeds that I have a problem with and it does a fine job getting the weed roots out without a lot of yanking or whatever.
It has been an interesting discussion, but I feel that it comes down to what you want today and that would appear to be the BOB.
kalan850
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Ah I see. makes sense. Nice point of view. I always thought that the 15s spine would destroy a baton. How well does the 15 baton wood?
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The BK-15 does just fine splitting or batonning wood that isn't too large. I have little need to split/process anything thick as I use a folding saw for that.
kalan850
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Good to know. Mine gets used mostly in the kitchen. Yeah I use my folding saw for most of my wood processing too. My silky saw has so many working parts that can break though. I want something I can depend on if it were to break.
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They can break. But how often would it really matter? Life threatening? Probably not. You can always use the blade by itself in a pinch should the Silky fall apart. This is one of the reasons I have moved away from larger knives. They seem to keep getting smaller. But I still love a large fixed blade because I think they are cool.
The 15 (and 5) have a swedge that wasn't designed to be another edge, it was designed to help the knife pass through media in the direction of the cutting edge. What that means, is the "edge" on top of the swedge, is much thicker than others. I just pulled out my 15, and compared it to my kabar usmc. The flat part on its swedge was maybe 2-3x the thickness of the USMC. I'd guess between 2/32 and 3/32.
What that means is its "less bad" on a baton than some other knives with a swdge (if your striking on the swedge of course).
I've liked my bk16. I am totally ok with the stock handle scales, and the sheath. I find the ergos quite good. The only thing that it "needs" in my opinion to be comfortable for use is thicker handles. That is easy enough to add by throwing on some liners made from an old DVD case.
The lower price point is good imo, because it lets those of us that are ok with the stock configuration keep the savings, while those that want to add back in the "extras" that other knives may come with, but allowing you to get exactly what you want (custom sheath, etc). Doing that does make a bk16 (or most other beckers) cost as much, it sometimes more than an esee or tops. Just depends on what you want.
The upside is neither knife is so expensive that it will change how you have to live to buy. I think you should really just go with what you feel you're "wanting". Even if one of them might fit your needs better, you can still regret not getting what you wanted.
Either way, its unlikely either knife will be your last. You might learn more what you do and don't want from a knife with either.
Good luck making a decision
.
What that means is its "less bad" on a baton than some other knives with a swdge (if your striking on the swedge of course).
I've liked my bk16. I am totally ok with the stock handle scales, and the sheath. I find the ergos quite good. The only thing that it "needs" in my opinion to be comfortable for use is thicker handles. That is easy enough to add by throwing on some liners made from an old DVD case.
The lower price point is good imo, because it lets those of us that are ok with the stock configuration keep the savings, while those that want to add back in the "extras" that other knives may come with, but allowing you to get exactly what you want (custom sheath, etc). Doing that does make a bk16 (or most other beckers) cost as much, it sometimes more than an esee or tops. Just depends on what you want.
The upside is neither knife is so expensive that it will change how you have to live to buy. I think you should really just go with what you feel you're "wanting". Even if one of them might fit your needs better, you can still regret not getting what you wanted.
Either way, its unlikely either knife will be your last. You might learn more what you do and don't want from a knife with either.
Good luck making a decision
.
kalan850
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Good points.The 15 (and 5) have a swedge that wasn't designed to be another edge, it was designed to help the knife pass through media in the direction of the cutting edge. What that means, is the "edge" on top of the swedge, is much thicker than others. I just pulled out my 15, and compared it to my kabar usmc. The flat part on its swedge was maybe 2-3x the thickness of the USMC. I'd guess between 2/32 and 3/32.
What that means is its "less bad" on a baton than some other knives with a swdge (if your striking on the swedge of course).
I've liked my bk16. I am totally ok with the stock handle scales, and the sheath. I find the ergos quite good. The only thing that it "needs" in my opinion to be comfortable for use is thicker handles. That is easy enough to add by throwing on some liners made from an old DVD case.
The lower price point is good imo, because it lets those of us that are ok with the stock configuration keep the savings, while those that want to add back in the "extras" that other knives may come with, but allowing you to get exactly what you want (custom sheath, etc). Doing that does make a bk16 (or most other beckers) cost as much, it sometimes more than an esee or tops. Just depends on what you want.
The upside is neither knife is so expensive that it will change how you have to live to buy. I think you should really just go with what you feel you're "wanting". Even if one of them might fit your needs better, you can still regret not getting what you wanted.
Either way, its unlikely either knife will be your last. You might learn more what you do and don't want from a knife with either.
Good luck making a decision
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kalan850
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Well thats a good point of view. Realistically I'm not tough on my tools. for the most part I use them as they supposed to be used and don't push then beyond what they are capable of. The last camp trip I took I only used my saw and my mora the entire time. Even though I was in a very damp humid environment I had no problem starting fires(no need for batoning or chopping). And the small light weight mora companion conquered everything else
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It won't be long before you are looking at neck knives for woods use because you seldom need anything more. The BK-14 with handles is a good one. I just bought a Condor Mini Bushlore (3" blade).... it is smaller than many of my folders including my SAK. But there is something about this knife that I really like and for $40 or there abouts, it's fun. (No, I really didn't shop for price. Just bought it.) Frankly, I could easily get by with this and my SAK in most any woods situation requiring me to cut stuff or even baton some wood to get to the dry inner stuff.