Please, please, PLEASE!!!

K

KELORGO

Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
46
Now that I see Mr. Becker is back on the forum, I need to throw myself on the mercy of the master...

I have been a "knife guy" for years and currently have a BK14, BK16, two BK62s and a BK7. I also have several Bark River knives (Bravo 1.25 LT, JX6, Mini-Kephart, etc.), an Ontario SK5 (fantastic "new skool Kephart"), and many other knives.

People marvel about the Bark River Bravo series for their general design and their especially ergonomic handles. I agree that they are great knives.

Now that I have hopefully established some (minimal) cred as a knife guy, on to the point of this post... I believe the Becker BK14 and BK16 are "THE" perfect knife designs both functionally and ergonomically in their respective sizes. I LOVE mine! However, I find them severely lacking in the fact that they are not stainless steel. I've placed a heavy patina on mine and they still rust if you look at them wrong (and, I only look at my Beckers lovingly). My son carried his BK14 for less than an hour while fishing the Salmon River in NY (fresh water) and only used his knife once to cut his line. The poor BK14 was rusted by the end of the day.

Please, please, PLEASE Mr. Becker... You've designed my perfect knives in the BK14 and BK16. Please pressure Kabar into bringing them out in a decent stainless steel. I really, really want them to be my go to knives, but they need to be stainless. I'd gladly pay another 50 bucks for each knife if they were offered in a good (doesn't have to be a super stainless) stainless steel, and I would buy several of each. They are that good, and I commend you for their design. As you repeated about the BK62, there is nothing on BK14/16s that doesn't serve a purpose and doesn't need to be there. I know the place of the Beckers in their current steel, but I also know that a ton of people in the market (non-knife nuts) won't even consider a knife if it is not rendered in stainless.

That's it, I'm done. I leave it in the hands of the master and I return to my corner of the world to humbly await his decision...
 
KELORGO said:
Now that I see Mr. Becker is back on the forum, I need to throw myself on the mercy of the master...

I have been a "knife guy" for years and currently have a BK14, BK16, two BK62s and a BK7. I also have several Bark River knives (Bravo 1.25 LT, JX6, Mini-Kephart, etc.), an Ontario SK5 (fantastic "new skool Kephart"), and many other knives.

People marvel about the Bark River Bravo series for their general design and their especially ergonomic handles. I agree that they are great knives.

Now that I have hopefully established some (minimal) cred as a knife guy, on to the point of this post... I believe the Becker BK14 and BK16 are "THE" perfect knife designs both functionally and ergonomically in their respective sizes. I LOVE mine! However, I find them severely lacking in the fact that they are not stainless steel. I've placed a heavy patina on mine and they still rust if you look at them wrong (and, I only look at my Beckers lovingly). My son carried his BK14 for less than an hour while fishing the Salmon River in NY (fresh water) and only used his knife once to cut his line. The poor BK14 was rusted by the end of the day.

Please, please, PLEASE Mr. Becker... You've designed my perfect knives in the BK14 and BK16. Please pressure Kabar into bringing them out in a decent stainless steel. I really, really want them to be my go to knives, but they need to be stainless. I'd gladly pay another 50 bucks for each knife if they were offered in a good (doesn't have to be a super stainless) stainless steel, and I would buy several of each. They are that good, and I commend you for their design. As you repeated about the BK62, there is nothing on BK14/16s that doesn't serve a purpose and doesn't need to be there. I know the place of the Beckers in their current steel, but I also know that a ton of people in the market (non-knife nuts) won't even consider a knife if it is not rendered in stainless.

That's it, I'm done. I leave it in the hands of the master and I return to my corner of the world to humbly await his decision...
Click to expand...
While you're waiting wipe a thin coat of mineral oil on them when your not using em. It should do the trick of keeping rust from happening.
 
I've used mineral oil in the past. But, this is 2019. We shouldn't have to baby a user knife like they did in years past. Especially one so versatile as the BK16, that we want to use around camp and home to prepare food and such.

BTW, I put Osage Orange handles from Tommy The Who on mine and sanded them
down to match the contour of the handle. They literally melt into your hand now. Anytime I show somebody all of my knives and let them handle them, every single person picks the BK 16 as the one that fits their hand the best. We recently mourned the passing of Mr. Gerber, but I think we should all take time to realize that we have a giant of the knife world living amongst us on this forum. I've been a member here for years and years, but that is what finally got me to post and to ask for better steel on the BK 16. It is a total classic and it only needs stainless steel to make it perfect and to bring it to many, many more consumers.
 
GeofS said:
I’m all for a 14 and 16 in s35vn, Elmax, or aeb-l. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I would love any of those steels especially Elmax!

Sorry, don't want D2. I want a real, honest to goodness stainless steel. That's what would appeal to me most, and also bring the BK 16 to the masses. Don't add anything to the knife, don't take anything away for the knife, Just bring it out in a decent to good to great stainless steel. And, I would pay more than 50 bucks extra per knife for Elmax, or dare I ask LC200N. LC200N would make it the perfect "woods bumming, just gutted my deer, going fishing now" general carry knife.

Now look what you have all done… I started out simply begging and pleading for stainless steel, and now I am asking for the moon! We've been to the moon once, so maybe we can catch lightning in a bottle again
 
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Hey Kelorgo....

I really like the 1095 CroVan. It is not that I do not like the stainless blades but, the combination of ease of sharpening, decent edge holding with the all around mechanical toughness and economy are hard to beat......Fifty bucks should get you a Ceracote job or similar...

I know that sounds a bit dismissive but, it is not intended that way......

I will bring it up at SHOT when I will have my next sit down with the new product crew....

Past SS limited runs have moved very slowly which is why there have been so few....

I hope this will, at least, give you an idea of why SS has not been common in the BK&T line up!

All Best...

ethan
 
Hi, Ethan. I didn't take your reply as dismissive at all, but rather as an explanation of why 1095 has been your go to steel. I just don't see Ceracote or another coating as anything except a Bandaid to help a knife keep from rusting, and I am leery about using it on a knife I use for food prep.
Maybe 154CM would work. It seems to be toothy like 1095CV and easy to sharpen, too. I really like it on the Ontario SK5, and that knife goes for about $35 more than the BK16. I know it depends on the scale that the different companies are making knives to, and many other financial matters have to be taken into account.
I truly hope to see a BK16 in stainless some day. It deserves it. Hopefully the gang at Kabar can make it work. In the meantime, I'm glad you are recovering from the accident. Make sure to keep talking about it and connecting with others, as the psychological affects of an accident have a way of popping back up long after the physical hurts have gone away. Thank you SO much for responding to my thread!
-Keith
 
Hey Keith....

have no fears about the Ceracote and food prep...I agree that of all my blades the 16 has the most chance of commercial success’s in a stainless...Thanks for listening. Also please accept my thanks for your kind words of advice...My client IS listening.... LOL... I am lucky to be spending time on a ranch whose community is loaded with people who have had “real” and serious long term adrenaline overloads and they are both sympathetic and generous with time... Our very own Tradewaters’ father was on Iwo in War2 and told Trade that he went without sleep and scared out of his tree for five weeks and was sometimes close enough to his enemies that he could smell their farts....THAT is a recipe for PTSD if ever there was one.... My own recent experience pales into total insignificance.. Life IS good and getting better all the time....

Thanks again for your understanding....

All Best... e
 
I've always loved 1095, mineral oil or cerakote will work great to keep rust at bay.. SS probably does move slowly off the shelves compared to 1095. Which is number 1 to any manufacturer.
1095 has been around for quite awhile and is a tough trusted product.
 
KELORGO said:
Now that I see Mr. Becker is back on the forum, I need to throw myself on the mercy of the master...

I have been a "knife guy" for years and currently have a BK14, BK16, two BK62s and a BK7. I also have several Bark River knives (Bravo 1.25 LT, JX6, Mini-Kephart, etc.), an Ontario SK5 (fantastic "new skool Kephart"), and many other knives.

People marvel about the Bark River Bravo series for their general design and their especially ergonomic handles. I agree that they are great knives.

Now that I have hopefully established some (minimal) cred as a knife guy, on to the point of this post... I believe the Becker BK14 and BK16 are "THE" perfect knife designs both functionally and ergonomically in their respective sizes. I LOVE mine! However, I find them severely lacking in the fact that they are not stainless steel. I've placed a heavy patina on mine and they still rust if you look at them wrong (and, I only look at my Beckers lovingly). My son carried his BK14 for less than an hour while fishing the Salmon River in NY (fresh water) and only used his knife once to cut his line. The poor BK14 was rusted by the end of the day.

Please, please, PLEASE Mr. Becker... You've designed my perfect knives in the BK14 and BK16. Please pressure Kabar into bringing them out in a decent stainless steel. I really, really want them to be my go to knives, but they need to be stainless. I'd gladly pay another 50 bucks for each knife if they were offered in a good (doesn't have to be a super stainless) stainless steel, and I would buy several of each. They are that good, and I commend you for their design. As you repeated about the BK62, there is nothing on BK14/16s that doesn't serve a purpose and doesn't need to be there. I know the place of the Beckers in their current steel, but I also know that a ton of people in the market (non-knife nuts) won't even consider a knife if it is not rendered in stainless.

That's it, I'm done. I leave it in the hands of the master and I return to my corner of the world to humbly await his decision...
Click to expand...
Did you strip the finish off?
 
Hi, Makael. Yes I stripped the finish and put on a heavy forced patina using natural products to keep it food safe. The original finish was much too granular and created way too much drag while cutting, especially soft items. In my opinion, it worked against the design of the knife (BK16). I think the black finish is fine on my BK7 and the other large Beckers.
I understand the draw to 1095CV, even cost-wise, but I think Kabar is being short sighted by not producing a stainless BK16 and supporting it with the proper marketing.
 
We would be able to baton with a BK16 in aeb-l. :thumbsup:
 
I really like my D2 Bk24. Since I live on the coast and most of my camping is on the beach its a very handy knife to have. Maybe a small 2nd run would be possible some day. I would definitely pickup a 2nd backup blade. That being said part of the fun for me of 1095 is maintaining the knife and working on the patina. A little rust just adds character when you bring it back later!
 
Stainless does have its place :thumbsup:
IMG_4987.JPG
And that is on folders :p :p I have snapped my share. I'll admit it was from being a little rough but nothing compared to the the abuse 1095 cv takes ;) plus Stainless will never take on a Beautiful Patina like 1095 :thumbsup: but if a Stainless Becker becomes available :D I would have to buy one o_O D-2 ALL IN ;) love the 24!
 
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