I've been looking at knives all through the week-end (lousy weather). It appears to me that the Becker BK2 would fit my bill. The blade is an inch longer which is a plus for me.
Has anyone tried this knife or heard something about its quality?
I bought one a year+ ago, and there was a discussion about blade thickness on this forum. Here is what I posted then about it:
"I field tested a Becker BK-2 last winter back in the woods. It is a foot long knife with a very heavy 1/4" thick blade. Don't get me wrong, it's a great knife, and it worked well for lopping off small branches and light chopping. You would be able to chop through ice and pry up rocks from the frozen ground with it. I thought the blade thickness made batoning through 4 inch branches to split them for kindling more difficult. I had to hit the knife so hard with a log to move it, that eventually my arms got tired and I bashed my thumb. I think a thinner blade would have cut through more easily"
It is a well made knife in a form-fitting Kydex sheath (unlike the larger Beckers which have woven nylon). There is a lot of 'handle' on this foot long knife, and this makes the blade feel too short for it's weight and thickness. Because of this, I have not found that it is particularly useful for me to carry on my belt. It's more of a light chopping, digging, and prying tool than an EDC knife for me, so I just keep it in my truck. I would recommend either a longer blade or a thinner one than the Becker BK-2 has.