Review: Kabar Becker BK9 has become my primary camping, fishing and survival knife. If you don’t know whether or not you should purchase a BK9 from Kabar, I recommend you should give yourself a chance.
Kabar Becker BK9 survival knife is made in the USA, which is why I bought this particular model. That is very important to me. There were two knives I was considering. This one, and the Cold Steel Trail Master San Mai II. These are both excellent knives apperantly from the reviews I have seen and read. At the end I bought this one, because I easily identified that it was made in the USA, and it was cheaper.
Mr. Becker's combat ready design is the culmination of over 30 years of survival and para-military training and outfitting experience. The Becker Combat Bowie is a synthesis of Becker's uniquely ergonomic trademark Esta-Loc handle design with a traditionally profiled, highly effective American Bowie style blade. This trademark Becker handle is well known for allowing extended periods of heavy use with less user fatigue than most other knives in its class.
The Kabar Becker BK9 is a large fixed knife. The blade is 9.25 inch long and 3/16 inch thick and is made of high carbon 1095 Cro Van steel. The blade also has a thick black powder coat and comes with a simple nylon sheath with a plastic insert and two different belt loops. I bought this knife for my outdoor trips on a weekend when I was in Cambodia several years ago. I used BK9 to baton firewood when I camp, and find it very good for that purpose. The form of the BK9 is effective and practical. It’s ideal for chopping. The blade shape is excellent, pushing the balance point of the blade towards the belly at the tip. Its shape is great with the hook at the end, allowing you to really swing the blade. The palm swell is nice as well, but it is the full convex shape that really makes the BK9 a superior fixed blade.
Let’s I said this: I’m a guy who 172cm height and 140lbs weight. The Kabar Becker BK9"Combat Bowie" is a pretty big knife for me. Indeed, and it can stand up pretty heavy duty jobs. This knife is tough enough to chop a big log into small pieces if you need to, and at the end you found it maintains its edge for finer cutting. Becker BK9 handy for camping chores as well as home landscaping when an axe or machete is too much and a pocket knife is too small. I bought the Becker knives several years ago when the prices were substantially lower than what they are today, thus the multiple units I own. These days look like everything price rise, as well as Kabar Becker knives, but their value is always higher above their price, while other knives seem not to do that.
As I said before: The blade shape is a traditional American style Bowie with a flat grind at a 20 degree angle. It is 9 inches length and 3/16 of an inch thick. Good news: the blade is extremely well balanced. Most of my survival knives are some form of drop point, but the clip point is a nice feature for drilling. This is a proven design. You could get a blade that might do one task better, but Kabar Becker BK9 survival knife does them all. From batoning and splitting hardwood, to chopping, to fine carving and cutting, edge retention and ergonomics, I find I have a hard time putting this down. It made hard jobs become easy in the wilderness.
Of course Kabar Becker BK9 is not an elegant knife. It’s a Rambo survival knife. It is brutal and utilitarian. Pull it free from its sheath, and you will have to fight the urge to say - Now THAT'S a knife!
Ethan Becker has fans, and rightly so. His knives, as seen in the BK9, are simple, effective, and true working knives. This isn’t something that you keep on a shelf. You go outside and use it. Even if it means chopping wood called Cu Tram. What the heck of it?You can check it out here.
The Combat Bowie sheath is black Nylon with an internal Kydex stiffener for user safety during hard use. This sheath has been extensively field tested overseas and has received many accolades from military and civilian users alike. An elasticized auxiliary pouch appropriately sized for a survival kit or spare handgun magazine is permanently attached to the front of the sheath.
My opinion? I prefer a Kydex sheath for my survival knife. Especially when I live and work in South East Asia. This area has got moist weather with rain around 1500 – 2000mm per year. This kind of terrain also has got a lot of rivers, lakes and waterfall. Survival here means you usually get wet when you across the river to find food sources. In this case a Kydex Sheath is better than Nylon because it didn’t hold water and moist which can damage my Becker BK9.
The front of the sheath features a handle snap to secure the knife in the scabbard and an additional sheath to hold a BK13. The BK13 previously came with the kit as a promotion, however they moved the manufacturing of the BK13 from china to the US and stopped providing it as a set. None-the-less the BK9 sheath still has a scabbard for the BK13. In front of the sheath for the BK13 there is also an additional pouch that you can use for fire steel , mini survival kits or any other small items that you want to carry. The sheath on this knife is better than I expected, but still nothing to write home about. I found a do it yourself leather sheath for this knife. It is not bad right?
I have owned a number of "Outdoor Bowies" but I find Kabar Becker BK9 to be the best of them so far. I have a Cold Steel Trailmaster. It's a fine knife which you can read my review here. But it's more expensive and heavy. The BK9 is cheaper, plus you get an extra, smaller BK13 knife included with it to do those "small knife" tasks. The Kabar Becker BK9 is the complete package for me, the thinner blade makes chopping and batoning a lot easier to do. And the knife is also plenty strong enough to accomplish these things without breaking. The top of the blade has a nice finger rest area with good jimping for a non-slip grip and control for the tasks that require a bit more of that:
I spent some time Batoning firewood to see how it worked, and it performed like a chainsaw! After testing, it still had a sharp edge the entire length of the blade. I will say this is a very large knife with a nice solid, heavier feel to it. The whole package looks like quality to me, especially for the price. While the price of the Becker has increased over the years, it's still a bargain in comparison to the competition. There's no reason to spend the extra money for a heavy-duty utility knife as long as the Becker BK knives are around.
All I'm going to say is all the 5 star reviews are what I'm going to reiterate. Except this. Can it be used as a reliable survival knife? Yes! And, this thing is helpful in hand and can be used for defense/fighting if one day you wake up and realize it comes to World War Z. This thing will serve and serve well, no doubt about it. From camp to self-defense this knife is capable. If you like this knife just like me, you can get Kabar Becker BK9 Survival Knife here on Amazon. Its value exceed far more its reasonable price! I'm sure you'll love it!
