Ka-Bar Becker Campanion Knife

Great knife. Overkill for most applications. But it's nice to know you've got something that can likely handle just about anything you throw at it. Of all the video reviews I've seen, I've only seen one break and that was at the end of chopping down a small 6-8 inch diameter tree.

Really like the molded sheath too, as it's easy to convert it to horizontal hip or behind the back scout carry with a Teklok. And it fits very secure without the need of any kind of safety loop. Just don't follow the youtube video instructions that tell you to cut off the strap and/or pop out the rivets. There's no need to destroy any aspect of the sheath when the Teklok can be attached directly to either side, which is also preferable, as the knife will fit closer, more securely. My only qualm with this knife is the thick black coating. It won't allow you to strike a ferro rod off the spine. And make cutting a little less efficient. They really need to do something when it seems so many recommend striping the finish and either polishing the blade or forcing a patina. I haven't done that yet - planning to put it through more paces first before making alterations that would likely invalidate any warranty. But I've already bought some Jasco, so it's just a matter of time... My BK2 came arm-hair shaving sharp right out the box - which is about as good as one can reasonably expect for a mass produced product these days.

Bottom Line: If you mostly need to split wood, buy an axe. If you mostly need to skin game, carve wooden tools, build traps, slice veggies for camp dinner etc, buy a smaller, more maneuverable knife. If you need to egress a falling building after an earthquake or other unexpected disaster, carry around a wrecking/pry bar. If you mostly need to fight bad guys and zombies during the apocalypse get yourself a gun...

if you can't carry all of those tools around all the time, but hypothetically need to be able to perform those tasks in a pinch, the Ka-Bar BK2 is a good choice... except for fighting- the weight of the knife would be a huge disadvantage in live combat, unless you are fighting slow moving zombies or a sedated peter griffin from family guy...

That being said, this knife is solid; the feel inspires confidence and feels reliable. The blade angle facilitates a variety of uses, and the blade steel is of working class.

For survival bush craft, this knife is great for shelter-building. Some reviewers in survivalist forums complained that the length of the blade limited one to batoning smaller logs during shelter building...I don't know what kind of shelters they are building that would require one to process logs thicker than 5in. in diameter...if you have the time and energy to build yourself a LOG CABIN in a SURVIVAL situation then you probably also have a chainsaw... and a pet unicorn to cuddle with for moral support once your log cabin is built... for the rest of us who would need to budget our time and energy during such a situation, this knife is a good option.

Conclusion:

The BK2 is great because it is good for many things, but it is not great at any ONE thing. ( read that again if you have to )

Its a fantastic buy for those who, for whatever reason, are confined to carrying one relatively small knife, in a get home bag, but are not too concerned about the added weight .