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Reviews (1)
Oct 21, 2015
BK16
6 of 7 found this helpful It's a bk16. Note it is not saber grind like the image, but full flat. Great quality, but your edge bevel may not be the most even. Should be sharp though, and the 50-100b steel is great to sharpen and holds a decent edge. ("1095 Cro-Van" is actually 50-100b, a low alloy carbon steel, the same formula as the old "carbon V").
I prefer the BK17, as I have plenty of ffg slicing knives, (bk15, bk24, bk5, etc.), but I love a good saber grind, and the 17 has it. Even carved wood happily with it, and I rarely stray from a Mora for that. It feels a bit more solid than the 16 in hand. But the 16 is still very good, though I haven't used it like the 17 (just got it to have all three 'tweener's), it's all but the same knife so I'm sure it'll do what you need.
The sheath could be great, or crap. Good material quality, laughable qc. One of mine was perfect. Another, the lower strap was too low, so could not be snapped (I removed it, kinda wanted one with one snap anyway), and the last had hilarious crooked and poor stitching (a ball of thread of like six passes in a quarter inch, like what?), and the retention straps were reversed (long on bottom short on top) so the top is very tight, the bottom is very loose. So, hopefully yours is like my good one.
The coating is really excellent, feels very "premium" though I hate the term. Some say it has noticeable cutting friction, but I say if you use it enough you'll be fine. However, the texture is deep enough to hold matter. I batoned my bk17 and there is still wood smeared into some of the texture. Could likely be cleaned with a brush.
You could always strip the coating and throw a patina on it (I did with my bk15), keeping in mind for those unfamiliar with knives it is carbon steel, not stainless, and thus will rust if left wet for *any* amount of time. Wipe after use.
Handle is second to none too, but is that ever a question with beckers? My very large hands find it quite comfortable.