Many thumbs up! I knew you were going to cut through metal but it still makes me cringe. Pretty pleased with how that coating has been holding up for you! A big thank you for all your time and effort on this!
C.G - what an excellent review and writeup! I found myself saying "Holy Crap - he's really going to cut sheet metal now!!"
I appreciate how you are able to rank the steel against some of the others. I realize even with the use-testing, there is a bit of subjectivity, but that's a very helpful ranking at the end of your second video. If you put a dollar figure up, would you say the 4.7 is the "best value"?
Honestly, the sheet-metal is thin (<0.02") and soft, it's not a 16D nail. In my normal use of these tools, there are occasions where I need to cut through a piece of wire or sheet metal (the knife works better than tin-snips in much of my use) or I accidentally make contact with something thicker/harder. If you edge is too thin and brittle, the sheet metal could steer it aside resulting in chipping; if it is thin and soft, it will fold or squash and THEN may chip (often worse than the harder/more brittle edge). The solution for too brittle or too soft is to use a thicker geometry to support the apex... but a soft edge will still squash and a brittle edge will still chip at the very apex, the damage will just be smaller. However, thickening the geometry reduces cutting efficiency. My tin-snips are just too thick for efficient use most of the time. The RMD is also rather thick and the sheet-metal tears into the thick coating. The ceracote on the S!K is thinner and slicker so is less damaged by the metal, and the thinner primary grind allows it to penetrate much more easily, which reduces the force applied at the very edge as I cut, which reduces the impact of steering on the apex which = reduced edge damage
The damage done by the metal to this test-knife wasn't huge, could still draw-cut the phonebook-paper with a few snags, and easily repaired with a few swipes on a hone. The damage done to the
3V GSO-5.1 in a previous video was
utterly invisible.
Regarding "best value" assessments, that is really subjective...
The BK-16 comes with a cheap nylon sheath, I prefer kydex (+$30 for a cheap one). It comes with cheap plastic scales affixed with cheap hardware, all of which can be replaced for additional cost ($50 ?) although I am fine with the plastic but more careful about it than I am with micarta. It comes with a coating that isn't up to the level of the S!K's cerakote, but some folks prefer an uncoated or a patina'd blade and it is easy to strip. The steel isn't as good but it can do the job and is easy to restore (the fine-grooved butcher's steel was enough to fix the damage caused by the sheet-metal). The geometry is
excellent relative to many production knives. It costs only ~$82 new and is easily attainable, new sheath and scales basically double that to ~$160.
The Busse Hog Muk is only attainable on the secondary market and costs
>$300 new, you need to find/make a sheath for it if the previous owner doesn't have one. It has a nice satin finish and resists corrosion quite well, the geometry is again
excellent and it held its edge better than the Becker, Rat, or S!K... but it's not like one could comfortably shave with it after such use, it
does dull and requires resharpening, though again the butcher's steel was sufficient to the task.
The S!K costs $189 right now... evidently great steel, excellent geometry, handle, sheath, etc.
If you can get by with the basic factory BK-16 (skip the micarta and kydex), then the Becker is the best 'value' of the three assuming "normal" use. But if you upgrade the Becker, well then you might as well be purchasing the S!K for the complete package with better steel from the start. That's my opinion, anyway.
