Last Updated on October 10, 2024 by Alice Benny
This is about the Becker BK7 Knife. There are so many reviews on the Becker BK7 Knife. There is a reason for that. It’s a great knife.
Specs for Ka-Bar Becker BK7 Knife
It’s high carbon steel, 1095 Cro-Van, and Rockwell Hardness 56-58. Even better: It’s made in the USA. It’s a quality 7-inch blade with a saber or flat grind, not a full flat which I found does a great job splitting wood, that type of grind. Full flats are also good.
But I almost prefer saber grinds if I’m having to split a bunch of wood. The BK7 weighs 12 ounces and is 13 inches overall. It’s a beefy, hefty blade.
Ka-Bar Becker BK7 Knife Review Field Test
But as we found out in our field testing, for the price point, you really can’t beat it. One of the things you might have to do with this Becker BK7 Knife is do some chopping.
It may not be ideal for chopping as a hatchet or a larger RTAK II, SP50 by Ontario or the Ka-Bar Becker BK9 Knife might chop a little bit better. But if you had to, you can do some chopping. Read our review of the Ka-Bar Becker BK9
It definitely bites in there good, really nice and good and get really good angles in there. You can get a pretty good bite in there when you’re chopping. I mean not ideal, you never want to be really chopping and doing this with a knife.
But if you had to in your survival situation, the Ka-Bar Becker BK7 Knife, this can chop really well. It’s going to take me some time, but I can definitely if I have to.
Ka-Bar Becker Handle Design
The handle design works well. I can get my two fingers, my thumb around very secure grip. And I can really get that good swing motion, I really like that.
A lot of bigger knives don’t have this little cap on the base of the handle and the knife tends to slip out of your hand and it just takes more time. You’re constantly fumbling with it, trying to get a good handle on it, it’s not sliding out.
This is a good survival weight and size. This is something you can carry on you. I’m not going for a day hike with an Ontario Knife RTAK-II on. It’s just not going to happen.
Whereas a Becker BK7 Knife, I could definitely carry this in my pack around my leg. You may have the biggest, awesomeness, heaviest knife in the world but if you’re not hiking with it, you’re not going to have it when you need it. So the Becker BK7 Knife has the weight it needs to do the job but not too heavy.
Batoning with Becker BK Knife
The Becker BK7 Knife does a fine job batoning. It has a got a 7-inch blade with a 3/16th inch spine. It’s going to do a great job when it comes to splitting and chopping wood.
That 7- inch is going to give it a lot of room to be able to expand wood, without much effort and get some kindling for the fire.
Ka-Bar Becker BK7 Combat Utility Fixed Blade Knife (7-Inch): The only downside with this knife when it comes to batoning is the unsharpened wedge. It really chews up your stick. Smaller pieces of wood, they’re going to break really quick because it’s so thin and that’s where a drop point design is a little bit better but they are selling this to you as combat utility knife.
So their unsharpened swedge can kind of hurt you sometimes with batoning. But other than that, it’s a great splitter. It’s going to split all these wood amazingly well.
BK7 Knife Detail Work
What’s cool about this knife for the most part is that you can do detail work with it. With some big knives, it’s difficult to do detail work. But if I choke up on the handle and blade a little to do some feather sticks to get this fire going, we’re just doing some carving and whittling.
It does a good job. It’s going to bite in well. And you’re going to get some of that feathering stuff with a big knife which is nice because again like I said, some of those bigger knives, it’s just difficult to do.
It’s not very comfortable, all those different things. If you got a big blade, it just makes it hard to use for this kind of more detail work.
Becker BK7 Knife Negatives
There is one hang-up I have with the Becker BK7 Knife. It’s a great knife overall, and you can’t go wrong with it for the price point. It’s going to do everything you want to do, last a lifetime, and that’s what’s awesome about it.
The downside for me is the thumb ramp. There is big amount of movement on the thumb ramp when I’m doing my more detailed work.
It’s called a utility/combat Becker BK7 Knife so they are saying that you can use this in combat situation. I probably never would. I probably would have a smaller, lighter, faster knife.
The thumb ramp does not help me with this detail stuff and actually begins to cramp my thumb. My thumb is not comfortable and my joint gets sore relatively quickly. You can hold it without your thumb on the thumb ramp, and then that takes away that pain and you can do your detail work.
Ka-Bar Becker BK7 Knife Review
So while it’s not a deal breaker, I would prefer something much more along the design of the Becker BK14 Knife. It’s flat for the thumb ramp, so then I can get my thumb where I need to and it’s more comfortable whereas with the Becker BK7 Knife, you got that thumb ramp with the jimping.
I can only do very minimal amount of stuff like this and then it’s going to start to cramp my hand. I just don’t prefer cutting wood like this. For detail work though, the Becker BK7 Knife does a good job.
The Becker BK7 Knife overall is going to be a great 7-inch survival knife for you. You get a very good quality sheath. It’s going to last a very long time. You get the 7-inch blade, made in the USA with a good warranty, 1095 steel.
It’s going to baton well and you can do your detail work. You can do your chopping. You can do a lot of things with this Becker BK7 Knife.
Other Survival Knives to Compare to the Becker BK7
With that being said, there are some other knives on the market that I would prefer.
Ontario RAT-7 Knife
I would prefer just for size a Ontario RAT-7 Knife. It’s going to have almost the exact blade length. It will not have the same clip design so it will be a little bit better for the batoning. It’s a full flat grind and the same type of steel.
SC6
Another example would be an SC6. But that is a little shorter.
Buck Thug Knife
The Buck Thug Knife is an amazing one. That’s right around that 7-inch that’s going to do a great job for you. You can’t go wrong for a 7-inch blade. This will do a lot, lot of stuff for you.
Ka-Bar Becker BK7 Combat Utility Fixed Blade Knife (7-Inch)
So overall, a thumbs-up for the BK7. I hope this review has helped you out. Pick one of these up you won’t regret it.
If you are interested in learning more about other knives in addition to the Ka-Bar Becker BK7, check these out:
- How to Sharpen a Knife
- KA-BAR Knife Standard of Excellence
- Best EDC Everyday Carry Knifes Review
- Best Survival Knife