Which Becker PAIR for Hunting/Camping Duties? Help Deciding Please...

N

Nalapombu

Joined
Oct 26, 2001
Messages
303
Hey all,

I wasn't too familiar with the Becker knives until I started nosing around for knives to use hog hunting here in Texas and Florida. I started seeing a lot of people talking about how much they loved their Beckers so I came here and spent some time checking out things and looking through the PIC thread and here I am..... These look like they would be awesome hunting and outdoor knives no matter which ones you pick.

Here is what I am wanting to do with them. When I go Hog hunting I'd like to have 2 knives, one for the basic field dressing chores and the other for other stuff that comes up that you never know about. I would take the sheaths and fasten them together and carry them that way. After a brief look through the lineup, I thought the best combo would be something like a BK15 and a Necker. Then I seen the BK5, I like that brute too. I also like the BK17. Basically every time I see another model of Becker I start thinking about how it would work in my setup that I am wanting to put together. I don't know about the BK5 though, that's a really BIG knife. Now if I were going on extended hunting or camping trips where I would be gone for days at a time, yeah, I'd have the 5 in the lineup. But just an overnight hunt/camping trip, I don't know about that.

So I thought I would post this and see what the REAL EXPERTS advise. Does anyone else have a system like I am talking about or have thought about it? What do you use and carry when you go hunting, camping or woods bumming?

Now that you know what I would be using them for and what kind of tasks I am likely to run into, what pair of Becker's would you recommend I put together? I'd like to hear what you think too.

Lastly, I am not kidding myself here, I have no doubt that I'll end up with more than 2 Becker blades. These are just going to be the first two for me.

Thanks for the help and your time.

Nalajr
 
Nalapombu said:
Here is what I am wanting to do with them. When I go Hog hunting I'd like to have 2 knives, one for the basic field dressing chores and the other for other stuff that comes up that you never know about. I would take the sheaths and fasten them together and carry them that way.
Click to expand...

Then I seen the BK5, I like that brute too.
Click to expand...

I don't know about the BK5 though, that's a really BIG knife. Now if I were going on extended hunting or camping trips where I would be gone for days at a time, yeah, I'd have the 5 in the lineup. But just an overnight hunt/camping trip, I don't know about that.
Click to expand...

So I thought I would post this and see what the REAL EXPERTS advise. Does anyone else have a system like I am talking about or have thought about it? What do you use and carry when you go hunting, camping or woods bumming?

Now that you know what I would be using them for and what kind of tasks I am likely to run into, what pair of Becker's would you recommend I put together? I'd like to hear what you think too.
Click to expand...

Why, it just so happens I have a pair put together just like that...

5-11 Combo (BK-11 piggybacked onto a BK-5)
006.jpg


BK-5 is my oldest Becker, used it for a little bit of everything for over a decade. Yeah it's big but it will surprise you how relatively lightweight, agile, quick... yet rugged... it is. There's a reason it's called the "Magnum Camp".
 
Yeah that's a sweet pic. I have it on my hard drive already....:)

I'd like to find a place that has all of the Becker knives in stock where I could handle them. That would make things so much easier.

Don't get me wrong, I love BIG knives and would carry that 5 in a second, I just worry that it may be too big and the better choice would be the 15.

How about a pic of that 5 in your hand?

What do you think about the 7 inch blade Becker? I'm not sure of the model.

Thanks again for the help.

Nalajr
 
Nalapombu said:
Yeah that's a sweet pic. I have it on my hard drive already....:)

I'd like to find a place that has all of the Becker knives in stock where I could handle them. That would make things so much easier.

Don't get me wrong, I love BIG knives and would carry that 5 in a second, I just worry that it may be too big and the better choice would be the 15.

How about a pic of that 5 in your hand?

What do you think about the 7 inch blade Becker? I'm not sure of the model.

Thanks again for the help.

Nalajr
Click to expand...


Since your in Spring, you might try the High Caliber Gun show. It's at the George R Brown this weekend. Last time I was there a couple of vendors had some BK&T's. I was going to go but I have to work all weekend. I don't know that I would buy them , they seemed a little high but you would be able to feel them up;)
 
The 7" blade one is the BK-7, I'm fond of it too. It fills the same niche as the old USMC KaBar but is much more rugged and chops much better.

That's only one inch shorter than the BK-5. The advantage is the BK-5 is a slicing demon. I consider it to be the greatest butcher knife ever made. But it also can be used as a short machete and cleaver. But it is a bit big for small detailed work.
 
Here's a pic of the 5 in hand, Nala, just for scale.

DSCN0328.jpg


As far as I'm concerned, for regular camping use, a 5, a Necker/Eskabar, and one of the Tweeners is the way to go. Yes, I carry all three when I go camping. The little knife horizontal on my belt, the 5 in its sheath on my side, and the Tweener either on my belt or on the pack. I'm going to get a pocket sheath for the 16/17 so I can carry it in my pocket. I think that would work great in camp.

I mainly use the 5 for all my typical camping chores. A Tweener is nice to have for finer chores, but the 5 can still do pretty much anything a Tweener could do and more. It's not that heavy either, despite how big it looks. The flat grind makes it lighter. You can't go wrong with the 5.

The 7 is also a good choice, if you want a thicker knife that can baton better than the 5. The 7 is a really great knife. Like Wolf said, it fills the same niche as the classic Ka-bar, but Ethan's reinterpretation of the old design is a big, big improvement.
 
The 14 and 7 are a common (I think?) combo. Suppose if you want a sharper point for hog hunting you can always sharpen the swedge on the 7.
 
I'm not an expert, but I once stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

9 with sharpened swedge (essentially making it an HH version)

Second knife? 17 if you can manage it, 14 with scales if you have to go smaller
 
Thanks all.

When I look at the sheaths for the 5,7 and 9, the big boys, it looks like it would be pretty hard to attach another sheath to the front of it like Wolf posted above. If I wanted to do that I would probably have to have a kydex sheath made for it by someone or get a new leather sheath with that capability. Wouldn't I? Am I missing a way that a 5 and say a 17 could be piggybacked with the sheath that comes with the 5 now?
What would a new sheath for the BIG GUYS cost if I were to find someone to make one for it?

Thanks

Nalajr
 
Try Skystorm Leather or Sagewood Gear for leather sheaths, and AZWelke or Godspeed Tactical for kydex. They all do Beckers, and all make great, quality gear.
 
Since the knives will be used for chores and not the actual hunting, I would personally go with a 7 and 17, or if you don't need a larger blade, a 17 and a 14.


Mainly a matter of personal taste. I can go to my knife box and create about as many combos as I want from all my Beckers...and they will all work well. It comes down to style and what you like.
 
Nalapombu said:
Thanks all.

When I look at the sheaths for the 5,7 and 9, the big boys, it looks like it would be pretty hard to attach another sheath to the front of it like Wolf posted above. If I wanted to do that I would probably have to have a kydex sheath made for it by someone or get a new leather sheath with that capability. Wouldn't I? Am I missing a way that a 5 and say a 17 could be piggybacked with the sheath that comes with the 5 now?
What would a new sheath for the BIG GUYS cost if I were to find someone to make one for it?

Thanks

Nalajr
Click to expand...

There's always a way. I don't have any of the new large Beckers from the new KaBar production yet. IIRC they have two lanyard holes at the bottom tip of the sheath. I'd thread both knife sheaths together through those bottom holes then not-too-tightly wrap them together with the same piece of paracord around the sides near the top and knot it. That oughtta do it.
 
The 7 is my favorite Becker, it's large enough to do some big work ( or kill a hog) but still small enough to not be cumbersome.
That said, when hunting myself I have a 7 on my belt and either a 14 or 11 in my pocket.
 
My present 2-knives-in-the-woods preference is a BK4 and a BK2. Soon I will add a BK15 and make it a 3-way combination.
 
My advise:
Buy the entite line up. Stuff them in a bag.
Reach in and grab two every time you go out.
You should be good.
 
Never dressed any animal especially not a hog, but don't you need something on the big side to cut off feet/through bone, etc? If so, then I'd guess a BK-9 would be the way to go because then you have pretty much the ultimate wood processing/trenching tool too. And for skinning, don't you really want a decently substantial handle but with a blade that's still kind of small and agile? In this case I would think you would want to pick a Tweener (BK-15, 16, 17) over one of the three neck knife designs. The Tweeners have full handles while the neckers obviously have smaller ones. If you agreed with that logic then it would be up to personal preference more than anything as to the blade profile (swept, drop, clip) since they're all perfectly functional. And with a Tweener in hand you have really be best all-around-use knife for general camp chores.

So, BK-9 for the heavy lifting and a Tweener for everything else. That's my vote.

And I'd guess a custom piggyback kydex rig would run you under a hundred bucks.
 
BRL-
You were pretty close to have not done it.

If you are just field-dressing (gutting) the animal in the field then any good sharp knife will work. I have used 2''-3'' folders quite a few times. If you are going to be processing the whole animal down into freezer packages, or quartering it up to be packed out..then a larger, heavier knife is needed. I personally use a saw to cut the large bones.
 
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