- Joined
- Jun 11, 2008
- Messages
- 1,409
Hey guys. I recently found an old Bk7 that I have had for 12 years and had to post about it.
I usually stay over in the W&SS sub-forum but this seems to fit better here.
I was in the Army for 6 years, four active and two reserve. My MOS was 25V, hence the forum name. I really liked my job. It gave me the chance to be deployed to many different units, mainly to make training documentaries, and spend time with guys that taught me a lot about survival training and whats realistic from the FM's and whats Bu11sh!t. One guy that I became good friends with was a ranger from the 101st that was part of a team that I followed for three days (documentary film) and at the end of each week he liked to play "games" with bushcraft type things like racing to see who could make a fire the fastest in wet weather, etc... When I was going back to my unit he came up and tossed me a knife, his personal Bk7 (old Camillus). It was dinged up and had been "loved" like many hard use military knives. The coating was missing from a third of the primary grind. It had tons of character. I used this knife for the rest of my time served and then as a camp knife for the next few years but in time it was forgotten. My collection became more custom heavy and my gear more specialized. I grew to prefer convex grinds and uncoated blades and before I knew it, I had not seen my Bk7 in several years.
Well I found it. I was going through some of my old issued equipment to find things I could give to a friend's son who is an eagle scout and needs some gear for camping, real camping by the way, not that tent next to the car crap. Right on the side of my old ALLICE pack was my Bk7 with two strands of worn paracord hanging down from the bottom to tie it off to my weak side drop kit. It brought back some memories. I actually found myself getting a little emotional thinking about the things I had been through with this knife.
On to the bad stuff....
Some of the nicks were so deep that sharpening them out would remove a full 1/8th in of steel and make the edge bevel extremely thich at the shoulder. I don't own safe queens and as much as I wanted this knife to stay as it was given to me I felt that I wouldn't use it due to the thick edge.
I decided that this knife wanted to take a beating and it was wrong to let my nostalgia get in the way. I gave it a full height convex saber grind. I removed the platen from my 2x72 and reshaped the whole thing. This was only possible because the knife's flats were actually mildly convexed with a high point above the grinds mid point. Now I have a knife that I can use as it deserves. It is Razor sharp, with an edge finished to the 9 micron belt and then stropped. Here are some pics of the knife now. I also have pics of wood processing (A LOT) on my camera and will download them shortly.
Bk7 with convex saber grind
Bk7 in hand
I found a naked spot on my current pack. I wear this at work daily.
Naked no more, new home for my Bk7
Did I mention its sharp
I usually stay over in the W&SS sub-forum but this seems to fit better here.
I was in the Army for 6 years, four active and two reserve. My MOS was 25V, hence the forum name. I really liked my job. It gave me the chance to be deployed to many different units, mainly to make training documentaries, and spend time with guys that taught me a lot about survival training and whats realistic from the FM's and whats Bu11sh!t. One guy that I became good friends with was a ranger from the 101st that was part of a team that I followed for three days (documentary film) and at the end of each week he liked to play "games" with bushcraft type things like racing to see who could make a fire the fastest in wet weather, etc... When I was going back to my unit he came up and tossed me a knife, his personal Bk7 (old Camillus). It was dinged up and had been "loved" like many hard use military knives. The coating was missing from a third of the primary grind. It had tons of character. I used this knife for the rest of my time served and then as a camp knife for the next few years but in time it was forgotten. My collection became more custom heavy and my gear more specialized. I grew to prefer convex grinds and uncoated blades and before I knew it, I had not seen my Bk7 in several years.
Well I found it. I was going through some of my old issued equipment to find things I could give to a friend's son who is an eagle scout and needs some gear for camping, real camping by the way, not that tent next to the car crap. Right on the side of my old ALLICE pack was my Bk7 with two strands of worn paracord hanging down from the bottom to tie it off to my weak side drop kit. It brought back some memories. I actually found myself getting a little emotional thinking about the things I had been through with this knife.
On to the bad stuff....
Some of the nicks were so deep that sharpening them out would remove a full 1/8th in of steel and make the edge bevel extremely thich at the shoulder. I don't own safe queens and as much as I wanted this knife to stay as it was given to me I felt that I wouldn't use it due to the thick edge.
I decided that this knife wanted to take a beating and it was wrong to let my nostalgia get in the way. I gave it a full height convex saber grind. I removed the platen from my 2x72 and reshaped the whole thing. This was only possible because the knife's flats were actually mildly convexed with a high point above the grinds mid point. Now I have a knife that I can use as it deserves. It is Razor sharp, with an edge finished to the 9 micron belt and then stropped. Here are some pics of the knife now. I also have pics of wood processing (A LOT) on my camera and will download them shortly.
Bk7 with convex saber grind
Bk7 in hand
I found a naked spot on my current pack. I wear this at work daily.
Naked no more, new home for my Bk7
Did I mention its sharp
