Hello, I mentioned previously that I carry a large knife on my bug-out bag. That knife happens to be a Kabar/Becker BK9. I bought this knife a long time ago and loved the blade profile and heft of it. But, I have never used it because the handle scales are terrible! Perhaps one of the most important aspects of a knife design is the interface between the human hand and the handle/grip. Here the BK9 fails miserably.
When you have the wherewithal to design and produce a knife from scratch the grip ought to be done right. When it is a simple phenolic casting of some sort, then it could as easily be curvaceous and hand fitting instead of slabby. The term handle slabs, or scales, describes this to a tee. Sure, the edges are a little rounded off, but the bulk of the hand feels the "squareness" of it and the palm is left floating above the grip. Inset checkering does nothing to improve the grip because it is smooth and below the surface. To me the grip is a complete failure of the understanding of ergonomics.
While cruising on YouTube I discovered there were numerous people who had modified or customized their BK9 knives. One of the easiest and most common changes was handle scales. So I found a set on Ebay that I liked and ordered them. They cost $45, which is 30% of what the knife cost me when new. A knife designed and produced by such notable names as Ethan Becker and KaBar should have come standard with some grips similar to this.
While cruising on YouTube I discovered there were numerous people who had modified or customized their BK9 knives. One of the easiest and most common changes was handle scales. So I found a set on Ebay that I liked and ordered them. They cost $45, which is 30% of what the knife cost me when new. A knife designed and produced by such notable names as Ethan Becker and KaBar should have come standard with some grips similar to this.
I decided I ought to give you the address of the person whom I got the scales from. On ebay, do a search for: Carroll’s custom knife scales
It took me only 10 minutes to change the scales. You can clearly see the contouring and the texturing on them. I'm not sure what material was used. They are attractive, but they are not real wood, which might shrink and split with time and use. The fit was perfect and the alignment of the screw holes was spot on. This simple change made a good knife into a great knife.
The sheath is another issue, being a floppy nylon mess with a plastic liner. But right now I don't feel like spending another $75-100 to replace it with a kydex sheath. If nothing else, the manufacturers ought to make these options available at the time of purchase at a reasonable cost. That way they could make some extra money and deliver a knife to the customer that was ready to please from day one.
Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time may remember when I approached KaBar about producing a fighting knife which I designed. I met with the design dept. and they loved the knife! But they said their grinding equipment, at the time, could not produce the blade without some major changes to the blade. The subtlety of the blade required hand grinding by someone with great skill. That man was Mike Sturman a friend who made several exceptional fighting knives for me. Mike understood the ergonomics of a handle and the proper overall balance of a fighting knife. Here is that knife, the D-S #4, with a seven inch blade. The blade is double edged. The handle is mesquite wood with the grain raised by whiskering, and then it is sealed. It has a proper palm swell and a steel butt cap to improve the balance.
The sheath is another issue, being a floppy nylon mess with a plastic liner. But right now I don't feel like spending another $75-100 to replace it with a kydex sheath. If nothing else, the manufacturers ought to make these options available at the time of purchase at a reasonable cost. That way they could make some extra money and deliver a knife to the customer that was ready to please from day one.
Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time may remember when I approached KaBar about producing a fighting knife which I designed. I met with the design dept. and they loved the knife! But they said their grinding equipment, at the time, could not produce the blade without some major changes to the blade. The subtlety of the blade required hand grinding by someone with great skill. That man was Mike Sturman a friend who made several exceptional fighting knives for me. Mike understood the ergonomics of a handle and the proper overall balance of a fighting knife. Here is that knife, the D-S #4, with a seven inch blade. The blade is double edged. The handle is mesquite wood with the grain raised by whiskering, and then it is sealed. It has a proper palm swell and a steel butt cap to improve the balance.
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