KA-BAR Becker BK2 Campanion Fixed Blade Knife Carbon Steel

EDIT: (July-2015) Regarding this "the hard sheath dulls the blade!" business. I DOESN'T. The earliest versions (ones made prior to my review, years ago) of this hard fiberglass reinforced sheath had material at the mouth of the sheath that made contact with the blade edge on inserting & withdrawing. This issue has long since been taken care of YEARS ago and the sheath has had a redesigned rectangular cutout in that are ever since. So, the hard sheath I have is fantastic. If you like the nylon, get the BK22, if you like the sleeker hard sheath, go with the std BK2 here wituout fear of any concerns about it dulling your blade. That issue is ancient history. So ends the July 2015 edit. By now you've probably heard the obvious details so I'll try to comment on a few things that gave me concerns before I bought it. Some major things people have claimed are that it's too hard to remove from the sheath and worst of all, that the blade edge contacts the inside of the sheath dulling the knife. I won't say their claims weren't valid, but I'm happy to say there's no sign of either issue here. Grab the handle, push off with your thumb and out it comes. Perfect resistance, no more, no less. Perhaps Kabar addressed the issue, perhaps complainants forgot to eat their Wheaties. My knife was purchased through Amazon, new June 2012. The other claim of edge/sheath contact hasn't been the case here. While the sheath allows minimal play, they managed to keep it just right to avoid friction. Perhaps Kabar addressed that too. I even shined a light into the drain hole and looked for "saw" marks. None, whew, what a relief. That issue would have been a near deal breaker. The nylon webbing belt loop has too much excess allowing a lot of "slop" once on. Stitch it up the SIDES to the proper point to fit your belt and you've got yourself a nice small accessory pocket turning a potential lemon into lemonade. Regarding the knife itself, I'll echo every positive thing said of it. A slightly wrinkled finish or some stippling on the grip would have been an improvement but I still like the semi-smooth finish. The shape of the grip literally guarantees it won't go flying out of your hand. In a worse case scenario, say gutting an animal and up to your elbows in a greasy mess, could potentially see your hand slip forward onto the blade when contacting bone while doing a forward thrust. Possible, but unlikely. When it comes to indestructible fixed blades, I own a few Ontario blades since they're the guys who supply the US military. I like that endorsement. They also don't charge stupid prices. This is my first Kabar and I like what I see. I challenged myself to find even a minor blemish or imperfection. I can't, and that is unusual. This BK2 is flawless right down to its sabre grind. If I had to face the unknown and I could take one tool with me- it would be this or an Ontario RD6, or their SP8. For what it is, $64 is worth it. You can spend a little more and perhaps find its equal (Ontario RD6), but for no amount of money are you going to do better. No, I don't own every blade in the world, but I just can't see doing much better if at all. Oh, and if you want to find its match for less, forget it. Money matters, I know, but it's a matter of "buy once, cry once". Don't worry, you'll feel better once you feel this thing in your hand. It made me want to chop down a tree for no reason at all! But I didn't ;-). UPDATE: I hope you found the info useful in making your decision, except ofcourse for the dimwit who I've noticed has clicked "not helpful" on every single review. Maybe it's not malicious, after all, no review can be found helpful to an illiterate. Read more

There is SO much to say about the Ka-Bar BK2, but I'll try to keep this short, sweet and to the point... no promises First off, I need to say that the pictures that they show of the knife on Amazon.com aren't 100% accurate for this knife. The picture that they show is of the BK2 first edition. The knife that you will receive if you order one is slightly different, but in a good way in my opinion. The bottom of the handle in the picture shows that the handle material and the bottom of the knife are flush together, when in reality the knife you will receive has an extended tang that sticks out of the bottom of the handle by about 1/3 to 1/2 of an inch; This allows for the knife to be used as a chisel. The BK2 is an absolute BEAST! You can put this knife through just about any torture test and it'll come out ready to kick Chuck Norris' butt. The blade is 1/4 of an inch thick which makes the entire knife feel sturdy and VERY hefty in your hand. The knife isn't a light one, but for camping or any other place you may need to chop wood, this knife will blow the competition out of the water. The BK2 is definitely more for brute jobs like chopping wood, cutting thick plastic or anything you would need a hatchet for. You can also use this knife as a chisel because of the extended handle that I mentioned earlier. The handle of the BK2 feels just as solid as the blade of the knife. The handle is made of grivory. Grivory is a very hard material which feels a lot like the love child if glass-filled nylon and aluminum had a baby. If you take the two halves of the handle apart, you have a fairly good sized space inside of the handle in which you could store some small survival items like some fishing line and a few hooks. The handle has a very solid feel to the shape of it; while the handle isn't made of a very "grippy" material, the shape of this knife handle will make it pretty hard to slip out of your grip, wet or dry. What better way to finish up a fantastic knife review than to tell you about the fantastic sheath that comes with the knife. The BK2 comes with an extremely well molded kydex sheath. (for those of you who don't like kydex, just ignore me while I gush over this sheath) It comes with many different customization options and places to wrap molle straps, paracord or other kinds of rope or material. Another plus to getting the newer generation model of this knife is that they improved not only the looks of the sheath, but also the functionality of it as well; The sheath now holds the knife in place extremely firmly, which is an area that they had problems with before with the earlier edition. The only downside to the sheath is the nylon strap that they used in order to attach it to your belt; The nylon strap loop is WAY to big. (this can be easily solved by stitching it together in the middle) There is even a section of the sheath that indents, making it possible to put something like a magnesium fire starter on it without interfering with the way the sheath fits snugly against your leg. The last thing that I love about the sheath is that it has a drain hole on the very bottom of the sheath, where the tip of the blade is, in order for water that may get inside of the sheath to drain out through. All together, this is one of the finest, most durable and BEST knives that I've ever owned. You will be VERY hard pressed to find a better knife that can do what this knife does, take the abuse that this knife can and still be as affordable as it is. This knife is absolutely the best value if you're looking for a knife that can take a TON of abuse and still work just as well as the day you bought it! Read more