KA-BARBecker BK2 Campanion Fixed Blade Knife, Carbon Steel

I can't add much that hasn't already been said. I did a lot of reading before I bought this knife because I was researching for my first survival/camp knife.Let me make a few comments based on my limited experience.1) This is my first fixed blade knife although as a kid I had lots of pocketknives for whittling. I think this is a great first knife. It has good heft to it. I immediately put it on my belt and carried it around. Sure you notice it and it is a bit weighty but not much different than carrying a hammer or a camp axe on your belt. In other words, the weight complaint isn't what people sometimes make it.2) Came razor sharp out of the box. I could slice paper holding the paper up with one hand. I could shave my leg hair. Great blade.3) I had no trouble immediately feathering a pencil (it was dark out so I didn't go get a tree limb). One complaint I had read in some reviews is that it is too big or heavy for detail work. I had no trouble holding a slim pencil and making very fine feathers from it. I did choke up on the knife a little and rested my thumb on the back of the spin for stability.4) The standard grip is fine. I could see a slight concern if it got wet. It would still be a decent grip. I do however plan on adding some grip table or parachord. I also will add a lanyard. The "hooks" at either end of the grip will keep your hand from sliding up and down. In my opinion this makes the knife fit firmly into the shape of the hand. (for reference I consider my hands to be average male size hands).My review is not a full review and I look forward to putting this knife to work and really running it through it's paces. I would recommend reading fuller reviews or YouTube Reviews and field tests.My purpose in writing this review was to comment a few things I had read or seen in other reviews on the internet that almost kept me from buying this knife. I do not for a second regret my purchase. I would say that the "complaints" or criticisms about this knife are find something to critique. No knife is perfect but this is a great purchase. A quality tool at a very great price point.I will update this review if after heavier use my opinion changes.

Overall, I think The KaBar Becker BK-2 "Campanion" is an excellent knife. I was very happy to find that KaBar is producing the Becker designs again. I like this knife so much I recently bought a second one for a back up. I bought my first for about $57 from Amazon.com. I think this is an excellent field/utility knife that would also certainly serve well in a survival situation.It's a very robust knife, just a hair under 1/4 inch thick, full tang*, weighs about a pound or so, holds an edge well, and it's not too hard to sharpen. It's made of 1095 steel, coated with a smooth black protective coating. I have the second version, which has the tang extended slightly beyond the handle into a pommel useful for pounding. This is a very solid knife which holds up well to: cutting, slicing, scraping, chopping, batoning, and even digging, prying, hammering, and cooking. It is heavy.The original handle scales are black "Grivory," which is fiberglass impregnated nylon plastic, I believe. It's very light and strong and should be impervious to weather, but the handle scales are where I have my main criticisms. First, they are a comfortable shape and fit my hands well, but they are quite smooth. This can be easily fixed with some skateboard tape or other wrapping, or by scoring or checking the handle scales with a file or Dremel tool. Second, as many others have noted, the handle scales can come loose a little too easily. The scales are fixed to the knife with three hex-head bolts and nuts. Apparently these are not well-torqued at the factory. This can also be easily fixed in several different ways. Simply using a hex key wrench to tighten the bolts; or wrapping with tape or cord as I mentioned above also works. My solution was to remove the bolts and coat their threads with LockTite, then properly torque them down again. They haven't loosened at all since I did this.The knife comes with a black Kydex sheath which holds the knife well and includes a nylon belt loop and retention snap strap, although the Kydex holds the knife very securely without the strap. The belt loop will fit belts up to five inches wide and is removable in case you want to attach the Kydex sheath to your gear with its grommets and slots. I believe the sheath would hold the knife securely without the retention strap even in a tip up position.Finally, I'd like to add that although I'm very please with this knife as it came from the factory, I have modified it a bit. I replaced the handle scales with the Micarta version that KaBar sells about $40. They are a little heavier and of course they add quite a bit to the overall cost of the knife, but they do improve the grip, since they're "rougher" than the original Grivory scales. They fit perfectly with the original nuts and bolts, but as I said above I used LockTite on the bolts when I installed the Micarta grips. So far I'm very pleased with the improved grip. They also seem to slightly improve the sheath's grip on the knife, which was already very good. Of course, I also think they improve the appearance of the knife, giving it a more "organic" look and feel. I also added a short 550 cord lanyard.*I said full tang above, and I believe it does meet this definition, but I did find, when I removed the scales, that the tang has two cutouts between the bolt holes. I suspect this was done to improve the balance of the knife. I don't believe this affects the structural strength of the knife at all.