KaBar Becker Combat Bowie

Reviewed 06/19/2014 by Jason Mitchell

-Price Paid: $86.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

The Becker BK9 is my new emergency survival knife packed in my "get outta town" bag and will be used at my campsite. My BK9 is primarily used for cutting thick branches needed to make firewood. The 1095 steel is very durable and has batoned quite well. The blade has stayed sharp even after cutting out several hard and thick branches. The blade thickness allows it to easily split wood, too. The Zytel handle absorbs shock very well which was a good surprise. Others have complained about the Zytel handle slipping from their hand. But, with my large hands, I never saw that problem. Even so, I could add some hockey tape to the handle to overcome any problem. So far, the black coating on the blade has only slightly worn away. Since the blade is made of 1095 Cro-Van, I apply Mineral Oil to prevent any rusting if the blade does get wet before storing it away. The tip is very sharp and it is great for drilling holes in wood. The 9 inch long blade gives it a machete-like feel. After using it several days, I still did not see a need to resharpen the tough blade. Overall, Ethan Becker designed a great outdoors tool for heavy duty use. It is my new go to knife at my campsite, too.

Reviewed 04/11/2014 by Fish

-Price Paid: $80.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Got this knife before last weekend and took it on a camping trip. This thing is strong, simple, sharp, utilitarian and all at the same time really nice. i used it for food prep, processing a lot of fire wood (via chopping and batonning) and general camp chores, slicing line, prying open containers, etc. One weekend outing does not make for a thorough review, but so far I am very impressed. The feel is very nice in my hand and the balance and weight just right. I have several large knives (Rtak 2, trail master, Ranger bowie and kuckuri) and i think i like this one the best of the lot (especially when you adjust for price). This is now going to be my go to blade. Oh yeah it is still really sharp, so really good edge retention. The sheath is OK, simple nylon with a plastic insert. My next project is going to be to make a kydex sheath for it.

Reviewed 02/24/2014 by Aaron

-Price Paid: $75.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

The Ka-bar Becker BK9 is one of the greatest large blades I have ever got my hands on. The knife has amazing ergos for chopping and can process wood like a champion. The price is right at around $80 and the overall design and quality puts it at the head of the pack when we are talking about large blades.

Reviewed 10/11/2010 by Del

-Price Paid: $68.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

Overall, I think The KaBar Becker BK-9 is an excellent knife. I was very happy to find that KaBar is producing the Becker designs again. I think this is an excellent field/utility knife that would also certainly serve well in a survival situation, but it is quite large (9" blade)and heavy.

My comments on this knife are very similar to my comments on the BK-2.

It's almost a scaled-up version of the BK-2, the blade is a little thinner at a little under 1/4 inch thick, it has a full tang, weighs maybe a pound and a half, holds an edge well, and it's not too hard to sharpen. It's made of 1095 steel, coated with a smooth black protective coating. The tang extends slightly beyond the handle into a pommel useful for pounding. This is a very solid knife which holds up well to: cutting, slicing, field-dressing game, chopping, batoning, and even digging, prying, and hammering.

The handle scales are black "Grivory," which is fiberglass impregnated nylon plastic. It's very light and strong and should be impervious to weather, but the handle scales are where I have my main criticisms. First, they are a comfortable shape and fit my hands well, but they are quite smooth. This can be easily fixed with some skateboard tape or other wrapping, or by scoring or checking the handle scales with a file or Dremel tool. Second, the handle scales can come loose a little too easily. The scales are fixed to the knife with three hex-head bolts and nuts. Apparently these are not well-torqued at the factory. This can also be easily fixed in several different ways. Simply using a hex key wrench to tighten the bolts, or wrapping with tape or cord as I mentioned above will fix this. My solution was to remove the bolts and coat their threads with LockTite, then properly torque them down again. They haven't loosened at all since I did this.

I also recommend the micarta handle scales sold separately by Ka-bar.

The knife came with a small, stainless steel, skeleton handled, utility knife which has its own pocket in the sheath, but it's just simple knife without much to say about it. This is NOT the Becker Necker.

My only complaint is the sheath, which is just nylon with a plastic insert. It has an accessory pocket which can hold a sharpening stone, multi-tool, or flashlight, and also contains the small, included utility knife. I would have expected a much better sheath for a knife of this quality and I don't expect this sheath to hold up well over time, but there are certainly better sheath options out there.

Reviewed 07/11/2010 by PsychoHillbilly

-Price Paid: $75.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

What's not to love about the Combat Bowie? OK besides the cheezy sheath it comes in anyway.

Huge blade, great steel, holds an edge, easy to sharpen.

This baby chops like a machete but still can do lighter work also.

I was afraid I would not like the large smooth handle as I have small hands and have liked soft grippy stuff like kraton in the past. Turns out the folks who say they like this type of handle better for lots of chopping and other heavy work were right in my opinion. No worry of blisters from hard use, and the shape of the handle makes up for the lack of "sticky", it's not going anywhere.

Another advantage this one has is that if you don't like the slabs that come on it they are held to the knife with threaded fasteners not permanently pinned on as is the case with many similar knives. Easily changed and micarta is now available from KaBar, make your own, whatever. Experiment and switch back if you wish.

If you really want a blade this size you can't go wrong with the Becker. The sheath is not the greatest but for the price nobody can touch BK&T.