KA-BAR #BK21 Becker/Reinhardt Kukri Knives,black

I rceived this blade early and well packaged. My review is off of initial "swing for the fences" hard use testing. The BK21 did not disappoint so far.This is a tool that was engineered as opposed to designed.I will admit that aesthetically it isn't as pretty or classicly appointed as most khukris you see from overseas. But if you want things like say, gravity!? on your side when doing real work like clearing brush, building shelters, or beheading zombies-look no further.This blade pulls your hand along for the ride. It is truly and quite literally a force multiplier. I have only tested it on bamboo so far but what else would challenge this blade if not bamboo that is 3" in circumference?As I was hacking away, painlessly - due to the time tested Becker handle design, I decided to slow down and test some skills I had seen in a video of a native in the Phillippines making a bamboo bow. Choking up, I did some simple scraping and splitting to test this big blade in the fine skills arena. I'm sure my technique was not perfected and would definitely leave something to be desired but I also believe I found a chink in the armor of this otherwise perfect blade. It does not have as "fine" an edge for fine work as I would have expected. I have a work Sharp and I probably should have, and will, tighten up the edge a bit as this blade does not come "hair shaving Sharp".Then again, why would it? That's just me being picky and this is a minor ding at worst. I will steepen the edge close to the handle to give it a little more flexibility use wise.As I stated I will continue to work with this blade and update this review. I am really interested to test further its ability to wear many hats. I really have no need to report back about the steel and edge of this machine as I have owned a Bk9 and still own a Bk4. KBar's1095 needs no introduction or review it is tough and keeps an edge through all kinds of abuse.So in summation:The BK21 is a relatively lightweight chopping beast, engineered by experts in khukri design and hard use, made from some of the toughest and affordable steel on earth, and guaranteed for life. What else do you need?

The BK21 is an excellent kukri. I own many different Himalayan Imports kuks and I would put this one against any as a general usage kuk. it's like a cross between a chitlangi and a sirupati but made with modern materials and with a Becker handle. Handling is superb. On the lighter side, for a Kuk, but swings with authority and bites very deep into wood as it presents an enormous sweet spot with the general ergonomics of any properly made kuk, coupled with the excellent handle design by Mr. Becker helping. I was also astounded how fast it swung and recovered when fight training with it. The big one for martial artists here: it thrusts and stabs like a dream. I was shocked how deep it sunk into the wood with a heavy thrust. Went deeper than my BK9 that has the top swedge sharpened. Angling of this kuk coupled with a thin but well supported tip made for a surprising training experience. I haven't done smaller carving chores with it yet but even fiddling with it, I suspect it will be able to handle far more than a blade of this size normally can. Last point: I like this puppy so much it might be my last word on the one blade argument (which ONE blade would you pick to do "everything"). I like it so much I will be snapping up another and then modding it.

The Apocalypse Knife. Thick and beefy yet elegantly threatening. Well Crafted as you would expect from Ka Bar. I added the micarta handles afterward because I was afraid if my hand got sweaty the stock grips would let the knife fly from my hand. Cant imagine why Ka Bar cant make some textured grips for their Becker line of knives. Blade holds an edge you can shave with. Alot of steel in the blade makes this a blade thats hard to "flick" around but the mere sight of one weilding it will probably make assailants flee in terror.

The grind on the blade is inconsistent. One side has a much different angle than the other. From the tip down the first 4 inches wasn't even sharpened. I thought for how much this cost it wouldn't be this bad. It will still work, but I'm going to have to put a lot of work into it to make it right. Work that Ka-Bar should have done. But you really can't expect much from them nowadays. I wish the 3rd party seller that i used inspected the products they sell, but I guess not. Maybe I expected too much for a $200 blade.

This comes on all my outings to the woods. It holds a great edge and chops incredible. I would say it performs most of my cutting and chopping tasks well. I always wait to review till I have used products for a while. (I never feel review are very accurate when they are written when you open up the box or within the first couple of weeks). So after using it bush camping in Louisiana, here is my thoughts.I think this is a five star knife. (Or could be). FOR THE PRICE IT IS NOT. They need to make some small improvements. The handle is not very well designed for this price point. They attached the handle with 3 bolts and 3 nuts. The handle will keep coming apart or loosening up. I was chopping small pieces of wood for my 5” firebox and the handles fell off. ( this was after a very simple task. I lost the nuts so it was much harder to finish up that trip with grips as you can image. I always carry my EDC and a fixed blade (5.5”. So finished up with those. I put Loctite on my new nuts and seems to be holding up after some hard use. I feel for this price they should have already thought this out. Also the finish looked amazing and I loved it. However after some time now it is flaking off.Overall I love this knife and like I said it goes with me on all my bush craft camping trips. I just feel for the money they could have improved the handles and the finish has not held up well. They handles falling off would have put my in a bad way if I have not had a backup knife.I would recommend this knife, just fix the nuts on the handle as soon as you get this knife or bring extra parts and an Allen wrench with you if you don’t.