KA-BAR Becker BK21 Reinhardt Kukri Discussions | Drop

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KA-BAR Becker BK21 Reinhardt Kukri

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KA-BAR Becker BK21 Reinhardt Kukri

HollowState

198

Feb 4, 2018

This is an odd looking kukri. The original kukri I've seen have all had the angle further from the handle. The purpose of that angle is provide a "hacking" portion of the cutting edge that is positioned to work with a flick of the wrist. The further that angle point from the wrist, the more power that can be generated - kind of like swinging a golf club. It is unclear how this configuration is supposed to work. Of course one could simply slash with the full swing of the arm, but I'm not sure that would be any more efficient than swinging a machete. Anybody have an explanation?

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BlueTom

384

Feb 4, 2018

HollowStateI own this knife (pictured below), as well as a couple of Nepalese kuks and the older SK5-steel version of the Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri. The Becker BK21 out-chops the rest by far. It's also longer than the others, and though a little thinner than the Cold Steel, heavier than all of them too. "Snap-cuts," or wrist-flicks if you prefer, are not generally used in chopping. At least they're really never used by me. This knife is marketed as a chopper, which implies that its primary intended use would involve swings with the arms, as opposed to flicks with the wrist. Not that it would be useless for snap-cuts, just that I personally don't utilize that technique with any of my large knives and can't really think of an in-the-bush type of chore where it would be a better technique than swinging a heavy camp-knife intended for efficient wood processing. As with anything "bush" related, a huge knife such as this one is a compromise between heavy duty and light duty and/or smaller, more detailed types of chores. The "sweet spot" for chopping is right where you would expect with a kukri, right at or a little forward of the apex of the sweeping curve. This knife wouldn't be my first choice for feather-sticks, making small traps or the more detailed work of shelter-making, but it's also not useless for those chores either. As can be seen in the picture below, I do carry a much smaller knife with my BK21.
The BK21 might not be the exact shape of what some folks think of when they envision a kukri, but it performs essentially the same, with the possible exception of using a traditional kuk for snap-cutting, which you'll have to find how the BK21 works for that technique somewhere else, because I don't know. But if you've got heavy chopping or batoning chores to perform, this is at the top of my list of recommendations.
My BK21 in a The 710 Custom Sheaths sheath paired with a BK14 also in a 710 sheath. The 710 Custom Sheaths were available directly through Ka-Bar, but don't think they are now. Great sheaths though, and anyone can search on the name to find the website where you can order one if so-inclined. No SPAM here, just saying where I got mine from. I am not connected in any way other than being a satisfied customer with The 710, Ka-Bar or BK&T.

HollowState

198

Feb 5, 2018

BlueTomThanks so much for your reply. If I may, I'll offer a little history. Back in the Bronze Age, the Egyptians kept most of the Jews in the the Sinai adjacent to the northerly Gulf of Suez. At this time the Jewish tribes were considered the fiercest fighters of the region, which explains why Egypt used them as a buffer from enemies to the Northeast. The Jews had developed a sword with a bend in the blade, shaped like a kukri