Sad sad day for my bk7

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I love how people can preach about how tough Beckers are, how they can pry, dig, chop, bash, hammer etc... But as soon as one legit breaks people say "Cutting roots? That's abuse!!". If I was usingy Hard Use knife that works for a living and it failed without me TRYING to make it fail, I would want a replacement. If they said "Sorry, not covered by warranty, you were abusing it.". Well let's just say my Beckers would disappear and a bunch of Esee's would take their place. No questions asked, lifetime of the knife transferable warranty vs "Send it to Kabar and cross your fingers.". Which would you bet on? I hope Kabar replaces that for you, if not, I'd be a little heartbroken.


What he said.......:thumbup:

Doc
 
I wonder, if the knife was replaced, and you had the exact same chore in front of you, would you try it again with the Becker?

I had to take some roots out just a few weeks ago. I used a pickaxe, shovel and saw.

this.^

I can't think of survival situation that necessitates heavy prying, digging, or boomeranging with my knife. That said, idk why you would expect the 7 to be the knife for the job if that is the intended purpose.

I love how people can preach about how tough Beckers are, how they can pry, dig, chop, bash, hammer etc... But as soon as one legit breaks people say "Cutting roots? That's abuse!!". If I was usingy Hard Use knife that works for a living and it failed without me TRYING to make it fail, I would want a replacement. If they said "Sorry, not covered by warranty, you were abusing it."

I completely agree that a hard use knife should be able to take some serious use and not break when you don't expect. This comes down to reasonable expectations of the knife though. The OP hasn't been really upfront about the exact circumstance of the break, but i'd be willing to bet it was along the lines of prying a root up and not just cutting. I could be wrong but I don't really see that as a reasonable expectation of a knife.
 
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Dammit! Why did I just buy a BK-7! :(
Oh wait, I use a shovel for digging, but still probably the knife should not have broken.

Plus if this knife does not get replaced there will be a precedent set for how much Kabar/Becker really back their product.
 
i broke around a half inch off the tip on my camillus bk7 years ago . i reground a new tip on it that is way beefier and gave the knife more belly .i knew i was asking for breakage with what i was doing when it broke . big log with soft wet rotted outer with a hard core . it tweaks the tip kinda weird when your trying to pry off big mushy chunks of outer wood when the tip is firmly lodged in the inner core . it was lowsy fatwood too
 
Where the pics?

Every once in a while a company will have a flaw that makes it through inspection. For instance, I just got a damascus billet, ground out my knife, and then discovered it had some welding flaws in it, although they're supposed to have cut out flaws from 99.9%. I musta been in the .1%. Fortunately for you, Ka-bar is generally great about having really stand-up customer service. Let us know what the resolution is. I wouldn't classify cutting roots as abuse, and it's likely just a flawed blade. Take some pics of the end as well so we can see the grain structure.
 
this.^

I can't think of survival situation that necessitates heavy prying, digging, or boomeranging with my knife. That said, idk why you would expect the 7 to be the knife for the job if that is the intended purpose.

You're in the desert, you have no water. The closest thing you can find is a depression in the land, with a few shrubs and grasses at the center. That's where the water is son. But it's underground, you gotta DIG!

You're going for a day-hike in the slot canyons of Utah, you step on a loose rock wedged in one of the canyons, and it becomes dislodged. A boulder the size of a mini-fridge falls, wedging your left arm into a crevice in the rock. If only you had something to PRY it up the two inches needed to pull your arm out.

You're lost in the Australian Outback, you haven't eaten in 4 days when suddenly a kangaroo comes bounding across your field of vision. You gotta BOOMERANG the hell outta that mofo to survive.

Ok maybe the last one is a stretch...did you mean Batoning instead of boomeranging?

The main quality I look for in a survival knife is that I can depend on it to do things most knives wont. That's why it's a survival knife, something to handle situations where you don't have an axe, a saw, a shovel, a pry bar, or a hammer. I still trust my own BK7 with my life, I wouldn't take it out with me if I didn't, but yes there are some knives that just don't come out the same as others, no matter how good your QC is, and there is such a thing as knife-abuse, I just don't think this qualifies as it.

I hope it all gets taken care of quickly. Kabar is on thin ice with me after my Machax fiasco, and while I give them the benefit of the doubt that they will make things right, be prepared to have to give them some gentle, and not-so-gentle reminders as to why the customer matters first.
 
You're in the desert, you have no water. The closest thing you can find is a depression in the land, with a few shrubs and grasses at the center. That's where the water is son. But it's underground, you gotta DIG!

You're going for a day-hike in the slot canyons of Utah, you step on a loose rock wedged in one of the canyons, and it becomes dislodged. A boulder the size of a mini-fridge falls, wedging your left arm into a crevice in the rock. If only you had something to PRY it up the two inches needed to pull your arm out.

You're lost in the Australian Outback, you haven't eaten in 4 days when suddenly a kangaroo comes bounding across your field of vision. You gotta BOOMERANG the hell outta that mofo to survive.

Ok maybe the last one is a stretch...did you mean Batoning instead of boomeranging?

The main quality I look for in a survival knife is that I can depend on it to do things most knives wont. That's why it's a survival knife, something to handle situations where you don't have an axe, a saw, a shovel, a pry bar, or a hammer. I still trust my own BK7 with my life, I wouldn't take it out with me if I didn't, but yes there are some knives that just don't come out the same as others, no matter how good your QC is, and there is such a thing as knife-abuse, I just don't think this qualifies as it.

I hope it all gets taken care of quickly. Kabar is on thin ice with me after my Machax fiasco, and while I give them the benefit of the doubt that they will make things right, be prepared to have to give them some gentle, and not-so-gentle reminders as to why the customer matters first.

Sure. In those situations, if that knife is all you have, go for it. It doesn't mean the knife won't break. Want to use an ESEE instead? Go for it. When it breaks while you are crying that it couldn't pry up a boulder (the boulder you are referencing was over 800lbs, by the way) or find water for you, I'm sure that better warranty will be just as comforting.

I guess I've lost track of the point of this post. Is it about whether or not KA-BAR will cover the breakage due to abuse defined in the terms of the limited lifetime warranty that was provided upon taking receipt of the knife, or is it about whether or not the knife should have broken at all? Are we trying to determine if another knife would have failed under the same circumstance? If so, go buy some more knives at double the price and have at the root again. Now I'm curious.
 
I love how people can preach about how tough Beckers are, how they can pry, dig, chop, bash, hammer etc... But as soon as one legit breaks people say "Cutting roots? That's abuse!!". If I was usingy Hard Use knife that works for a living and it failed without me TRYING to make it fail, I would want a replacement. If they said "Sorry, not covered by warranty, you were abusing it.". Well let's just say my Beckers would disappear and a bunch of Esee's would take their place. No questions asked, lifetime of the knife transferable warranty vs "Send it to Kabar and cross your fingers.". Which would you bet on? I hope Kabar replaces that for you, if not, I'd be a little heartbroken.

My thoughts exactly ... I do love my Beckers but it's nice to know that my Esee's are fully covered under warranty. I've never stopped and asked myself "would this be considered abuse?"

Again, I want to say that I still love my Beckers. Amazing knives that are tough as hell and I think that the op must have received a blade with a bad HT. Now, don't get me wrong, I do believe in the right tool for the right job. But, I also believe that a survival knife should be able to handle multiple tasks that some may deem "abusive".

Also, back up what you preach. If you say these are one of the toughest knives around, (I think that they are) don't make excuses and say that it was being used too hard and/or abused. (I don't think Mr. Becker would)
 
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haha no i meant boomeranging in reference to the guy who snapped the 2. yeah i just dont know what knife will pry more using one arm than I can deadlift and get me out of an Aron Ralston situation. Many people would say the Mora is the perfect survival knife and its not nearly as hardy as any Becker imo. If the guy wanted a prybar Becker makes those. My point is, everyone i've ever heard come on here and say they broke one of these knives has admitted they were doing something beyond the call of duty and frequently offer self deprecating adjectives. This fellow hasn't even specified what kind of stress the knife was under. I'm skeptical it was something innocuous like cutting or basic batoning.
 
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I guess it all comes down to quality vs needs. We all pay the respective prices for the knives we get. Beckers are hard use knives no doubt about it, but being its carbon steel its got some brittleness to it, which poses a limitation. That's just the nature of the steel and yeah if you dig while using enough lateral force you will break it. But I think we all expected that to happen. If you wanted to use a knife to dig, we all have the options of Busses or Fehrman knives which are known for their lateral strength. I mean it all comes down to what you pay for and what your uses are.

Personally I have ONLY beckers and Busses for hard use with maybe a Fallkniven and Condor here and there. They're both good though cant deny that...
 
Well, for those who think that it's user error, just based on where it snapped, I'd be inclined to think it was just one of the very few lemons that get produced. Every company has a few. Think about it, under most prying circumstances that would put lateral force on the blade, it would be more likely to snap closer to the tip. That's where the metal is thinnest, and therefore weakest. Instead, it broke at the stamped portion, which is at the thickest portion of the blade (and also gets roll hardened). That would be pretty close to the LAST place a blade should break. Nor do I think that it has anything to do with it being carbon steel. Seriously, check out Brab's thread on the BK2. 1095 is a VERY good steel. Even under abuse, it's surprising to me that it broke where it did.
 
Well, for those who think that it's user error, just based on where it snapped, I'd be inclined to think it was just one of the very few lemons that get produced. Every company has a few. Think about it, under most prying circumstances that would put lateral force on the blade, it would be more likely to snap closer to the tip. That's where the metal is thinnest, and therefore weakest. Instead, it broke at the stamped portion, which is at the thickest portion of the blade (and also gets roll hardened). That would be pretty close to the LAST place a blade should break. Nor do I think that it has anything to do with it being carbon steel. Seriously, check out Brab's thread on the BK2. 1095 is a VERY good steel. Even under abuse, it's surprising to me that it broke where it did.

I could see that if the tip is stuck/wedged in something. I don't think this would be the case if he was prying on roots, the torque would be mostly applied further up with he tip receiving some force as the fulcrum.
 
All, I just got home and am amazed at all the replies, so thank you for that. As i am new to blades in general, more of a gun guy. i do thorough research before I buy things. I wanted a knife that was made in the us, tough as nails, and could handle everthing i asked of it and begged for more. I do not buy things to sit on a shelf and look b.a., i buy them for utility and function. This was the first time i had ever even had it out of the house. Be skeptical if you want, no way to prove what i did or didnt do to any of you. If i had it to do over again, i probably wouldnt have taken it out for this kind of test, but that doesnt mean that i dont have the absolute right to be disappointed in a tool that failed. This happened saturday, and i have not had the opportunity to send it in and get the results from the company. As stated before, and i know that this will be met with criticism, but this should not have failed with what i was trying to do. I realize i could have used a shovel, a pickax, a machete, or any of the like. However, given the tight space i was in the only thing i could think of that would have done the task was my knife, plus i wanted to show my fiance just how b.a. her future husband was! I failed to do so, as is obvious. Bottom line is this: While i could have used any of the tools i mentioned earlier, i didnt. I put my faith in a product that i had a very reasonable expectation to get the job done. It did not, it failed. And if Kabar doesnt warranty the knife, that is their business, but they will have lost mine in the process.
 
All, I just got home and am amazed at all the replies, so thank you for that. As i am new to blades in general, more of a gun guy. i do thorough research before I buy things. I wanted a knife that was made in the us, tough as nails, and could handle everthing i asked of it and begged for more. I do not buy things to sit on a shelf and look b.a., i buy them for utility and function. This was the first time i had ever even had it out of the house. Be skeptical if you want, no way to prove what i did or didnt do to any of you. If i had it to do over again, i probably wouldnt have taken it out for this kind of test, but that doesnt mean that i dont have the absolute right to be disappointed in a tool that failed. This happened saturday, and i have not had the opportunity to send it in and get the results from the company. As stated before, and i know that this will be met with criticism, but this should not have failed with what i was trying to do. I realize i could have used a shovel, a pickax, a machete, or any of the like. However, given the tight space i was in the only thing i could think of that would have done the task was my knife, plus i wanted to show my fiance just how b.a. her future husband was! I failed to do so, as is obvious. Bottom line is this: While i could have used any of the tools i mentioned earlier, i didnt. I put my faith in a product that i had a very reasonable expectation to get the job done. It did not, it failed. And if Kabar doesnt warranty the knife, that is their business, but they will have lost mine in the process.

That is EXACTLY how I would feel in your situation. Please understand that this is not normal, Beckers don't break, it's not what they're meant to do. Whatever Kabar says, Uncle E will tell you that his designs were meant to take what you could throw at it, and ask for more. It's too bad that was your first outing with the knife, and further makes me think that it was just a bad apple that slipped through, I'm sure Kabar will cover it, and you'll get another one quickly. Hopefully that will be the one that shows you what Beckers are made of. Not this namby-pamby "don't abuse your 1/8" thick knife by digging a hole" BS.
 
plus i wanted to show my fiance just how b.a. her future husband was! I failed to do so, as is obvious.

You broke an almost quarter of an inch slab of steel with your bare hands. If that doesn't impress her, I wonder what would.

Send it in. Hope for the best. Buy a small shovel and a little saw for the tight spaces.
 
If it is found to be defective (and it likely will be), then Ka-Bar will replace it. If not, well...I suppose it's up to them, isn't it?

I certainly don't condem anyone for using their knives the way they want to, but some of these "hard use" scenarios make me chuckle. Is it good to test your knife to see what it's capable of? Sure. But c'mon...just use them for what they're meant to do, and save the "hard use" for when you actually need it. People get flamed for their knives looking "too new" or being "safe queens". I for one, certainly don't beat on my blades just for the sake of doing it, and yet I still find tasks for them to do. ymmv...
 
Haze240, love the scenarios, good stuff! Got a chuckle out of the kangaroo! I will take pics tomorrow of the root of all evil that started all this when I can, and then you all can determine if what I set out to do was unreasonable or not.
 
I can break anything. And I have seen all kinds of ''unbreakable'' stuff get broken. Sometimes it's a defect, sometimes it's just too much horsepower, sometimes sh*t just happens.


I think of a knife, especially a ''hard-use'' survival type knife, as a TOOL. If the job at hand dictates I push a blade to complete it, I will push the blade. I have broken quite a few things because it was worth the risk to me at the time.
If I'm on a remote jobsite, such as logging in the backwoods.....and something breaks down or gets stuck, I will do what I have to do with what I have on hand to fix the situation. I'm not driving to town and losing all that time. Down-time is losing money-time.

Yes, I have Broken knives using them as chisels, screwdrivers, wirecutters and prybars. Thats why I usually carry a -5$ folder when I'm working. Have I ever regretted breaking a knife? Maybe a few times.....but never enough to lose sleep over. I throw it away and buy a new one.

The way I see it, anything I need to do to get a job done is Normal Use not ''abuse''. Putting a knife in a vise and putting a breaker bar on it, now thats abuse. Chopping up cinder blocks with a knife, that's abuse. Cutting/Prying/Digging at roots? That is NORMAL USE.

As for warranty/replacement....if I'm doing something that is against the stated ''rules'' of the warranty, then I take my chances...even if I consider it Normal Use, that doesn't mean the company has to agree with me, and that's fine. I can always buy another knife...and as long as I knew I was outside the normal parameters of the knife, I wouldn't blame the knife or the company for it's breakage. Ya gotta pay to play LOL

The above is all just my own opinion, created from my own experiences. Y'all are free to take it or leave it as you see fit.
 
I agree with Thrill on this one. I likely don't have more days and nights logged in the bush, desert, mountains, etc. as some folks around here but I'll wager that I have more than most. I carry a fixed blade knife everyday and I have yet to need to use it for prying anything. A knife is a tool and it's your tool so use it how you want. Just don't be surprised if it fails at a task outside the perimeters of its intended design. The most important tool that you can have in any survival situation is the one between your ears.
 
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