Sad sad day for my bk7

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While working as a computer technician for a number of years, I have seen many machines fail (and the most inconvenient time!) for reasons that are hard to discern. Sometimes, something new out of the box would crap out for no good reason. Even perfectly maintained machines meet their end unexpectedly. Shit just happens. Regardless of price. The veracity of the account notwithstanding, I firmly believe that warranties are designed for this specific situation, otherwise, we would see guarantees instead. And for a lot of fields, the notion of a backup exists.

I hope never to have a need for the warranty although I am a new user, I feel Ka-Bar will sort it out. Just my opinion.

In profoundness and profanity,
namida
 
God it would suck to break my BK7. I literally would tear up. I feel for you, man... I broke a KA-BAR Heavy Bowie fifteen minutes after I took it out of the box and even though I put on a brave face, I was sad-pandaing like a mfer and that wasn't even a Becker.

I wasn't going to send it back in because I was prying with it, and has been pointed out KA-BAR is pretty clear in their package insert about what constitutes abuse. They took care of me anyway because I guess I'm so shockingly good looking. The new Heavy Bowie they sent felt nothing like the one I broke. The weight and balance was completely different... I remember at the time being immediately disappointed in the first one because it just felt all wrong. The replacement one feels awesome.

Moral of this story is that mass-produced factory products are made to certain tolerances. They are also subject to all kinds of factors that can conspire to make some units or batches go bad. I would think that prying at some roots with a Becker BK7 would not result in the blade breaking at it's thickest point, so it really seems to me like you got a bad apple.

Can't predict what KA-BAR will do, though... one of their engineers has made it very clear that he feels that their knives are for cutting, and things like batoning and etc are not what they're making these tools for. Seems like a reasonable position to take, especially considering the package insert. But still... stuff can happen, you could have gotten a knife from a bad batch. It's a tough guessing game they have to play.

Personally I would think that if they have been having the recent uptick in success that people are claiming they're having, then there should be room to decrease tolerances in order to increase quality as well as be a little more free-handed with their replacement policy. Of course, I'm not trying to feed my family with KA-BAR revenue so it's real easy for me to say :D

Good luck man, like I said... a broken BK7 would make me curl up into the fetal position and bawl my eyes out. I feel for you.
 
They are breaking at the temper differential.

That's why we are seeing a few broken at the same spot. The blade is hardened, the handle is softer.

I'm feeling, based on brward's assessment of what he was doing, I think it will be replaced.

He's not a one and done troll, according to his posting nature.

Here's what I will say, it will be taken care of, one way or another.

Moose
 
Moosez45 said:
They are breaking at the temper differential.

That's why we are seeing a few broken at the same spot. The blade is hardened, the handle is softer.

I'm feeling, based on brward's assessment of what he was doing, I think it will be replaced.

He's not a one and done troll, according to his posting nature.

Here's what I will say, it will be taken care of, one way or another.

Moose
Click to expand...

The temper differential is at the screw hole closest to the blade, I enlarged the holes to 1/4 on my BK-2 and I could drill through the first 2 holes but not the one closest to the blade. Well thats my experience.
 
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CamH_16 said:
The temper differential is at the screw hole clocest to the blade, I enlarged the holes 10 1/4 on my BK-3 and I could drill through the first 2 holes but not the one clocest to the blade. Well thats my experience.
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That may be where it ends, but with just about every BKT I've seen broken, and that ain't many, its always in the same spot. Could be that the last jimp of the ramp delves below the spine line, causing a stress riser there, but I'm pretty sure the HT differential isn't a "line" so to speak, but more of an area, at least 3/4"-1" wide staring at the ricasso, and heading back.

Moose
 
Does this mean we're gonna start seeing 1/4" BK7s to remedy this problem?! :D
 
Moosez45 said:
They are breaking at the temper differential.

That's why we are seeing a few broken at the same spot. The blade is hardened, the handle is softer.

I'm feeling, based on brward's assessment of what he was doing, I think it will be replaced.

He's not a one and done troll, according to his posting nature.

Here's what I will say, it will be taken care of, one way or another.

Moose
Click to expand...

I remember toooj saying this. There were three different hardnesses as you go back. The hardest being the blade ending at the ricasso, the next one being the main part of the handle and the softest being at the pommel
 
I will say this. That's not going to steel out.
Given what Moose just posted, the OP will be good to go soon.
 
Having been put in a true life or death situation where my knife(not a becker) had to be used to pry with I have a little different expectations of a knife unofficially dubbed as the sharpened pry bar. This has lead to 2 years of field testing and unconventional or some what abusive testing practices on my part to see where my bk 2 would fail or break, so I would know its limitations. some of these tests have been much more intense than anything you have described, not a single failure not a chip or broken tip, nothin and mine is the thinner cammillus model, so when these guys say they normally don't break in my opinion they are correct and these are super durable knives. Where are yours broke and how it broke I think it was just one that had a flaw and slipped through.
 
MikeyJ said:
I

f 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...
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You say "test your knife to see what it's capable of",

...but you also say "save the "hard use" for when you actually need it".



The problem with that type of thinking is just what happened here.


The tool failed doing what the user believed was within it's limits.


His around the house "testing" showed the tool was not up to his expectations.


He's lucky it did not happen when the tool was really needed somewhere in the field.




I find it's important to test every tool you plan on trusting.





Big Mike
 
I would also like to see some better pics of the fracture, just for curiosity's sake.
Sounds like this will be resolved, one way or another.

thrillbilly said:
.....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.....
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Quoted for truth.
 
Big Mike said:
You say "test your knife to see what it's capable of",

...but you also say "save the "hard use" for when you actually need it".



The problem with that type of thinking is just what happened here.


The tool failed doing what the user believed was within it's limits.


His around the house "testing" showed the tool was not up to his expectations.


He's lucky it did not happen when the tool was really needed somewhere in the field.




I find it's important to test every tool you plan on trusting.





Big Mike
Click to expand...

That's the thing about tests, they will fail eventually. What you think or expect a knife to handle and what it can handle are two very different things.

I think my knife should be able to pry open a car. It doesn't mean that it can really do this.

Roots are tough things. Very tough. They support trees. Trees are big. To think that an eighth inch, flat piece of steel could work to pry one up is pretty damn extreme.
 
I am sure they will wind up replacing it because Kabar is that just kind of company, However, the warranty that they were nice enough to include in the box does clearly state that using it as a prybar, chisel, screwdriver or digging tool is not covered. Nor should it be, It is not a prybar a chisel a screwdriver or a shovel.
If you buy something and it tells you in no uncertain terms that you should not dig holes or use it to pry with but you do anyway and it breaks I don't see how it can be their fault or why they should be expected to replace it, even if they will.

Just because you find yourself in a survival situation doesn't mean your knife is now suddenly capable of performing any task you can daydream up. It's a tool, they get used up eventually. When they do you buy another, You don't blame it on the manufacturer. I do not form emotional attachments to tools, If I break something I just go buy another.
 
Big Mike said:
You say "test your knife to see what it's capable of",

...but you also say "save the "hard use" for when you actually need it".



The problem with that type of thinking is just what happened here.


The tool failed doing what the user believed was within it's limits.


His around the house "testing" showed the tool was not up to his expectations.


He's lucky it did not happen when the tool was really needed somewhere in the field.




I find it's important to test every tool you plan on trusting.





Big Mike
Click to expand...

I agree with this statement. I always test by cutting, stabbing, slicing, and occasionally batonning smaller pieces of wood or doing some light chopping with my knives. Typically things I will encounter in everyday use. Even in the backcountry, I have never had the need for prying or digging with my knives. If I had to, and that was the only tool I had, it would either work, or fail trying. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I have an assortment of tools around the house to tackle the chores that the OP needed done.

And where I always respect others opinions, I don't think there is any problem with my way of thinking. I started my post stating that it will likely be found to be defective, and I included the phrase "I certainly don't condem anyone for using their knives the way they want to", and I finished it by simply stating "ymmv" (your milage may vary).

I think that pretty well sums it up.
 
sqoon said:
That's the thing about tests, they will fail eventually. What you think or expect a knife to handle and what it can handle are two very different things.

I think my knife should be able to pry open a car. It doesn't mean that it can really do this.

Roots are tough things. Very tough. They support trees. Trees are big. To think that an eighth inch, flat piece of steel could work to pry one up is pretty damn extreme.
Click to expand...




In proper testing one must push a tool beyond what the user would expect it to do when needed.

Only then can the user be assured it's up to the task.


And I don't mean someone testing some tool that might be like yours,

...I mean you testing the actual tool you plan to rely on.




If you need a tool to pry open a car,

..you need to start testing tools with that purpose in mind.



The things I do when testing are way beyond what I really use knives for.

Buying tools from companies that stand behind them gives me the confidence to test tools that way.



Just one knife users opinion.






Big Mike
 
Skystorm said:

Just because you find yourself in a survival situation doesn't mean your knife is now suddenly capable of performing any task you can daydream up. .
Click to expand...




This is a very important point.


If, when in a survival situation, you start using your knife for things would not even consider doing in testing,

...you are razing the odds on getting into even more trouble.






Big Mike
 
Guess who's back! I realize that most of you are thinking that this was a little extreme evaluation of what this knife was able to handle. I have some pics, although blurry and taken last night of the job that created all this mess. If someone would be kind enough to let me send them to you and load them up you will see that this should have been an easy task for this knife to handle. BTW, fiance is sending it in to kabar today, so i will let everyone know the outcome.
 
When and if mine failed during a test is what determines if I can depend on it in a survival situation and situational abusive use only then when I consider it to be my survival knife and depend on it to save my life if need be. knowing its limitations is a huge part of being able to depend on it, after failure I was comfortable with its performance and and personally think it's worth the title my survival knife would replace it with out the use of warranty. 65 dollars is a small price to pay for peace of mind, although I like to dress mine up to make it pretty that's not its primary function. this is only a test if this were a real emergency could your knife meet your expectations? how do you know? mine will.
 
I can do it. Email me via my profile.

By the way, all of this talk about using a knife to dig with in a "survival situation" has me wondering why you wouldn't just use the knife to sharpen a stick and dig with it. Maybe, I'm over thinking this.
 
hey wooly, i tried this yesterday and coundnt attach pics by sending email thru the forum, as it requires a url which i cant get to as i am at work.
 
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