Ka-Bar Becker Sheath Options? BK22?

[Svashtar]

Hi Guys,

Long time BF member but have slown down in recent years (went broke on knives ), and usually hung out a another forum in any case.

I have a a bunch of original Camillus Beckers collected back in 2004 or so. Offhand collected a BK1, BK2, Machax (BK4?), BK5 camp with extra micarta scales (that was a bear to track down at the time as it was being phased out as I recall), Patrol Machete (BK6?), BK7 in black, BK7 in sand with extra micarta scales, BK9 and BK10 Crewman, and BK11, as well as a Becker Kukri from 1994 that I bought from Mike Stewart at Blackjack Knives at the time. Based on my bud Bladites' recommendation I also recently picked up a BK15 and BK16, which are great mid-sized knives. (Was going to go for the BK17 as well, but have an excellent Ka-Bar Extreme knife in D2 with almost the same blade profile, so figure I'm set there...)

I heard the new steel is a bit stronger?, but honestly the older Camillus knives are sharp as hell and seem to hold an edge quite a while, and so far have shrugged off any abuse I've thrown at them.

My question is what kind of sheaths come with the knives now? I'm confused because one YouTube vid showed a guy with a BK2 with a pretty cool Kydex sheath, and all mine are ballistic nylon with an insert IIRC. Is it just the BK2 that comes with a Kydex sheath, or is that just an option as I'm also seeing references to "glass filled nylon?"

I'm thinking I might try to contact Ka-Bar directly and score a newer kydex sheath for the BK2 and BK10 anyway which is why I'm asking. I'd like something with more blade retention with strap slots to make it easier to lash to a pack, etc. I'd also like to upgrade the older flat neck knife sheath for the BK11 if that's an option, although I could probably fix that by adding a teklok and some micarta scales for belt carry. (Need a companion to my Izula! )

FINALLY, can someone tell me the difference between a BK2 and BK22?

I know there's a lot of detail here, so thanks for plowing through it and for any info.

Norm

P.S. Next up, I saw a cool BK2 and BK9 on one online store with a green handle and "clear coat" blade which are nice knives, so guess I'm not done yet...

P.S.S. Almost forgot to mention the Brute, which is a nice hybrid blade.

 

[TravisH]

Camillus 017-06 and Kabar 1095CV are essentially the same steel.

BK2 comes with hard plastic sheath, BK22 is BK2 with soft nylon sheath.

BK2 sheath is not Kydex, it's hard plastic/glass-filled nylon.

'Cool' green-handled BK2 is BK32, BK9 is BK39

 

[Svashtar]

Thanks for the info! So guess I have a kind of an "old" BK22 then WRT the sheath. Thanks for the model numbers on the green-handled ones; very striking. The older knife finishes were pretty smooth so I never thought about stripping them, but looking at these clear-coated blades I can see the attraction.

Follow-up Q1: Are all the new sheaths this hard plastic/glass-filed nylon, or just the BK2?

Q2: In your opinion is it worth tracking down the newer model sheaths as far as overall functionality is concerned? I've read both good and not so good comments about them.

Thanks again.

Norm

 

[TravisH]

A1: I believe the Kabar 2, 11, 14, 24 come with a hard plastic sheaths. The rest are soft polyester, mostly black, a couple in brown.

Camillus had more models with hard plastic sheaths and thinner green nylon sheaths.

Blackjack sheaths are hard plastic or leather.


A2: No. Kabar sheaths aren't much different from Camillus sheaths. Switching to hard, soft, kydex, color is purely a personal choice.

 

[KingMC]

The 3 also comes with a hard sheath.

 

[Chameleonbear]

Follow up to your questions: Ka-Bar has contracted sheaths from Julio at 710customsheaths for their Kydex work. However they are not "factory", rather they are "Dealer Installed Upgrades"...
Think of it like buying a new car and the dealer installs a new radio for you.

That being said, Julio does some fantastic work with kydex and if you want to get some kydex he would be one of my first choices to go to.

 

[Svashtar]

Thanks for the great information on the sheaths and Julio, good to know. I think all of the Camillus sheaths I have have a hard kydex insert in a nylon sheath as Travis says, and hold the knife pretty well with no rattling. I've been thinking about a kydex rig for the BK2 and BK10 so will get one made if it comes to that.

The only thing I'll look for now is a new-style sheath and clip for the BK11, so that I can leave the current one setup for a neck knife, and have one for a belt. Hopefully Ka-Bar will sell the sheath as a separate item...

Thanks again.

Norm