An Interesting Provenance

I recently picked up a Becker BK-10 Crewman Utility knife.  Ethan Becker of Becker Knife and Tool (BKT) designed this knife years ago as a potential replacement for the Air Force Survival Knife.  Ethan essentially cut down his successful BK-9 Combat Bowie to create a shorter, lighter, tough and well balanced utility knife for use by military aircrews.

Becker BK-10

This knife was recently manufactured by Ka-Bar and is still offered for sale by them, but you won't see it listed in any Ka-Bar catalog or on their website.  In fact, Ka-Bar has never officially manufactured the BK-10.  Huh?

BK-10 marked Ka-Bar

So how can a knife not be made by a company that manufactures it and sells it?  That's the story that makes this knife interesting.

Let's go back to 2007.  At the time Becker Knife and Tool had a licensing arrangement with the Camillus knife company to manufacture the complete line of Becker knives.  This agreement included the BK-10.  However, in 2007 Camillus went bankrupt and all knife production ceased.  Ethan Becker then turned to Ka-Bar to take over production of the BKT line.  Ka-Bar jumped at the opportunity and cranked up production.  Ka-Bar is now the sole manufacturer of Becker knives and makes most of the same knives that had been produced by Camillus.  As part of the new licensing agreement Ka-Bar got ownership of all unfinished BKT knives and components that had been left in the Camillus factory.  Part of that haul was around 200 heat treated blade blanks for the BK-10.  

These blanks sat around the Ka-Bar factory for a few years while Ethan and Ka-Bar management tried to figure out what to do with them.  There were too few to open a new product line with, and besides they were Camillus blades.  Ka-Bar had not (and still has not) agreed to bring the BK-10 back into production, so these were effectively orphaned knife blades. 

Word of these orphaned blades leaked out to the Becker knife collector community (affectionately known as 'Beckerheads').  Discussions started up between the president of Ka-Bar, Ethan Becker and leading members of the Beckerhead community.  In a short time a brilliant idea was hatched.  Ka-Bar would finish out the 200 or so BK-10 blades as completed knives and sell them directly to the Beckerhead community as a special offering.  Ka-Bar was even able to secure enough original Camillus sheaths to include in the package.  

The BK-10 would effectively be a Camillus knife finished by Ka-Bar.  Sort of a Frankenstein move - raising the dead.

"It's alive!"

The knives were first offered to official members of the Beckerhead community.  You needed to have a Beckerhead membership number to be able to order a knife.  Once that demand was satisfied Ka-Bar opened sales up to the general public, but you had to call the factory to order one.  That's how I got mine.

An interesting knife with an interesting provenance.

So how good a knife is it?  Very good.  We'll get more into depth on that topic a little later.  But for today it's just about the provenance.

Stay sharp!

Brian

Skeletor!

"I command you to bring me skeleton knives!"

It's almost Halloween, so let's have some seasonably appropriate fun!

Knives without handle scales - what are commonly called skeleton knives - are an interesting niche in the knife world.

Seems every knife maker feels compelled to have at least one, and often several, skeleton knives in their lineup.  The outdoorsy survivalist hunter-gatherer crowd has 'discovered' skeleton knives and has taken to them in a big way.  To hear them talk you'd swear nobody ever thought to make a thin, lightweight knife out of a single piece of steel until they came up with the idea.  Well, I've been around long enough to know that everything old is new again.

Over 30 years ago my Dad has a nice little Browning skeleton knife, a drop point skinner, that he carried now and again while fishing.  (Hey Dad, what ever happened to that knife?)

About 20 years ago I was carrying a nice little skeleton knife made by Gerber.  It had a wicked serrated edge and was designed specifically for white water rafters and kayakers.  It was intended to be used to cut free of any entangling rope or webbing and was carried in a neat little plastic sheath designed to be snapped onto a flotation vest.  I carried it while serving as a jumpmaster in the Army, strapped either to my load bearing rig or to my rucksack.  Its only purpose was to cut parachute static lines in case I had a towed jumper.  I thank God I never had to use it, but I have no doubt it would have done the job.

And that's just it; a successful skeleton knife tends to be a small, purpose built object.  The format, an all steel knife with no handle materials, introduces some interesting design challenges and restrictions.  The very minimalist nature of the skeleton knife means it's hard to get right and easy to get wrong.

Thankfully we've got a number of knife manufacturers putting out some really nice skeleton knives these days and for the most part they are getting it right.  Let's have a quick look at some.

Buck Knives leads off today first because I like 'em and second because they've got a really good lineup of skeleton handled knives, perhaps the largest in the industry right now.

Buck 140 Packlite Skinner and 136 Caper

The Buck 140 small Packlite Skinner and the 136 Caper are the two best models in Buck's lineup of skeleton handled knives.  They shine because of great handle shapes that make them comfortable to use and overall excellent balance.  The 136 Caper, in particular, is a delight in the hand and makes a great general purpose small knife.  I think a half dozen of these would make a really unique steak knife set.

Next up is the big brother to the 140, the 141 Packlite Skinner.

Buck 141 Packlite Skinner

The 141 is simply an upsized 140.  It too feels good in the hand, but the handle is getting a little large-ish to be considered truly comfortable.  Still, it is a very good mid-sized blade.

Next up is the Buck 143.  As far as I can tell this knife is only sold in Wal-Mart stores since that's the only place I've ever seen it for sale.  The 143 is the classic example of how small changes can have huge impacts on how a knife can feel in the hand.

Buck 143 Pakliite Skinner

The 143 sports a larger blade that is roughly the same size as the 141.

Buck 141 (top) and 143 (below)

But the handle is the same size as that found on the 140.

Buck 140 superimposed on the 143

Now, the combination sounds good, and to the marketing guys at Buck and Wal-Mart it must have seemed a winner.  In reality, however, it feels terrible in the hand.  The elegance of the comfortable handle from the 140 is ruined by the awkward transition to the larger blade.  The thumb ramp gets in the way and the whole knife feels awkward.  To make matters worse Buck has done no corner rounding of the metal handle and it is just uncomfortable to hold.  This is a Frankenstein's Monster that just doesn't work.

The sheaths that come with the Buck line of skeleton knives are nothing fancy, but they hold the blades safely and securely.

Buck 140 with sheath

The street price for any of these knives does not exceed $20.  In fact the Buck 141 goes for about $19.20 on Amazon.com right now, and it is the most expensive of the bunch.  The Models 136, 140 and 141 are great knives and well worth a look.  Take a pass on the 143.

Let's move on to my other favorite brand of knives, Becker Knife and Tool (BKT) made by Ka-Bar.  Becker Knife and Tool is really a one-man show, Mr. Ethan Becker.  Ethan is one of those guys who does it all.  He's a professional chef, writer, outdoorsman, and has been designing knives for over 30 years.  Currently Ka-Bar manufactures his designs and they do a great job.  BKT has three skeleton knife designs in its lineup, the BK-11, 13 & 14.

From top to bottom, the BK-14, BK-11 and BK-13

The BK-11 and 14 both share the same blade design - they are identical and they use the same sheath.  The BK-11 (in the center in the above photo) is wholly Ethan's design.  Ethan likes to eat and drink, and he wanted a small, handy knife that incorporates a bottle opener.  The BK-14 came about just a few years ago when a member on the BKT group on BladeForums.com decided he was going to marry the blade of a BK-11 with the handle of another extremely popular skeleton knife, the ESEE Izula.

ESEE Izula

The guy was a professional welder and did a great job, and the knife generated a lot of interest.  So much so that Ethan and Ka-Bar approached ESEE about copying their handle design.  The result was the BK-14, which is stamped with both Becker Knife & Tool/Ka-Bar and the ESEE logos.

(This BKT - ESEE mashup reflects the common relationships that exist in the American knife industry these days.  Knife manufacturing is a tight knit industry and there is a lot of cross-fertilization of concepts and designs between knife designers like Ethan Becker, custom knife makers and large volume manufacturers. The end result of all of this is that the American knife buyer has access to great knife designs for very little money.  This is truly the Golden Age of knife manufacturing in the US.)

Regardless of the handle design, the BK-11 and 14 are both great knives.

BK-14 with sheath

And what about that teeny little guy in the bottom of the photo, the BK-13?  Seems the BK-13 was designed as a knife that could be easily carried in an accessory pouch on the sheath of a larger fixed blade knife.  In fact, the sheaths for Becker's BK-7 and BK-9 knives include an accessory sheath designed specifically to take the BK-13.  By itself it's a good little blade.

BK-13 with sheath

That's about it for now.  Have I reviewed every skeleton knife available?  No, not by a long shot.  I've only reviewed those knives that have caught my fancy.  As more cross my path and catch my interest (and wallet) we'll take a look at them down the line.  

Stay sharp!

Brian