Death of a BK9: Resurected

Revolverrodger

Revolverrodger

Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
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I was very surprised when my BK-9 failed me on a bushcraft expedition. I went on a two night winter camp with my friend and worked on building a survival shelter.
While I was chopping branches of a pine tree (dead white pine) the blade chipped drastically. I never had a blade chip so badly in my life.
It wasn't even that cold (zero degrees celcius) and I have done more intense work in colder temperatures many times with other knives.
Could it be a defective heat treat ? Will Kabar replace it ?

Here are the pics of the knife







Here is a video of the outing for those interested

[video=youtube;5KWk_NKmeNU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KWk_NKmeNU[/video]

UPDATE: Got a replacement BK8 from Kabar
Great guys to deal with.
I'm looking forward to use it hard
 
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you hit a knot - especially on a dead pine/hemlock tree, the resin gets as hard as glass as far as knives are concerned - between that and the twisty grain, they are kryptonite for choppers.

email the pics to Kabar to let them know it's coming, then mail it in with a copy of your post so they can decide if it was a flaw in the steel (hidden inclusions are no fun and nobody's fault) or what happened and they will let you know if they will replace it once their QC folks have had a look-see.
 
Thanks vik !
My friend had another knife and had no problem going thru the same wood.
Makes me think it might be the heat treat
 
He used an Ontario SP8
The thing chopped thru ice and wood with no problem
No edge rolling and no chipping
 
the SP8 has a much thicker primary grind and like I said - if you hit a knot wrong, it can shear steel.
 
This is just adding to my distrust to kabar's HT.

Kabar will replace it since you haven't stripped the coating.
 
send an email to Kabar. (or call them)
so they know it's on the way.
Include a copy of your original post with the pictures in the box with the knife and your phone number & email address so they can contact you after they have a chance to look at it.
 
doesn't the FAQ by now say this? every winter someone chops a dead xmas trees, and this happens. ;)

don't chop those things. even with an axe. i broke an axe head that way once. throws sparks. silicated ligin is bad enough, but then you freeze it? oiy.

classic chonchoidal stress fracture in a hard material.

course, there's 10000000s of people doing this, and we only get a few chip outs.

so. not a lot to distrust there. it's like hitting a pot hole. most of the time it's okay. sometimes it's not.

that's why a warranty.
 
That'll buff out.

:D

I wouldn't worry about the heat treat on Ka-Bars either.

Shit just happens......though it does seem to happen in winter more....

Moose
 
Do you plan to post updates on how the warranty is handled? I may not be a regular here but own a few Beckers including a BK9. I hope everything is resolved to your satisfaction.
 
Thats not death but merely scars of a tough day on the job. It will come out with a bit of a modification. Grind it back and it will be fine.
 
Revolverrodger said:
Should I contact Kabar or is there a specific Becker contact ?
Click to expand...


Just contact KaBar. They handle the Becker Warranty. I would tell them you posted pictures here. They will want you to send it in for them to inspect before they make a decision if you will get a new one.
 
It can. Not always.

We have had people here send in broken knives and KaBar told them the warranty is void because they striped the knife. I dont strip my Beckers anymore because of this.

Pretty unfair policy in my opinion. I just cant see how that can affect anything.

Luckily they are such great knives most people will never need the warranty.
 
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