Man, I kind of hate writing this follow-up to the review I did on the KaBar BK-2 Becker Companion knife. I would suggest you read the first part of the review before reading this follow-up, everything will make more sense. That post appeared on 8/15, two days ago.

Well, let’s get the good news out there first. I was able to put a pretty decent edge on the knife. I was even able to get a decent point on it as well. It will never equal my CRKT Hissatsu. Then again, the BK-2 isn’t meant to be a high quality knife like the Hissatsu. The downside is…I had to use my new WorkSharp to get the edge on the BK-2. I can probably keep the edge on it now with just my stone but I am not sure.

Here’s the downside, remember I mentioned that the cheap plastic grips/handle on the BK-2 really, really suck? But, I was willing to keep the faith that I could turn this into a “keeper” knife with a little work and a little more money. So I ordered a pair of Micarta grips for the knife.

When they came in I loved the color, very sharp looking. But as I looked at them closely I started to be less and less impressed with their quality. But, I was going to keep an open mind.

I tested the new Micarta grips for fit and quickly realized they didn’t really fit all that well. The grips were a slightly under-sized allowing for the tine to be felt all around the edge of the grips. Now, if they had been slightly over-sized then I could have taken a very fine file and smoothed it all out to a precision fit. But that wasn’t possible, I wasn’t going to start grinding away on the tine to make it match the grips.

I was impressed with the “nut holes” on the grips, they fit the nuts perfectly and held the nuts securely in-place with no slop as I tightened the screws down.

Once I had the grips on there I felt encouraged that I was going to really like this knife. Sadly, that is just not the case. Here’s why:

1. I don’t like the grips being undersized. I don’t like feeling the tine in my hand when I should be feeling the grips.
2. The grips cover the glass pummel on the end of the tine. I imagine it will still work, but why cover-up a working piece of the knife.
3. The knife still doesn’t feel balanced in my hand. It feels awkward in my hand.
4. While the edge is sharp and the point is plenty good enough for piercing, I am not sure how long that will last.
5. The knife is still the Jack of No Trades, and Master of None. In other words –
   • It’s not a fighting knife at all.
   • It doesn’t feel like a combat knife either.
   • It simply isn’t a good hunting knife.

So, is it a good survival knife since it is none of the above? No. Plain and simple “no.”

To me a survival knife has to be a combination of a fighting knife, a combat knife, a hunting knife, as well as having solid bushcraft characteristics. The KaBar BK-2 Becker Companion is a good bushcraft knife. But, in my opinion, it lacks any of the qualities of the other three kinds of knives. So, no, it is not a good survival knife.

If you wanted a knife to replace the KaBar BK-2 Becker Companion with extreme quality and perfection of manufacturing it would be the ESEE 5 knife. The ESEE is a little more expensive. But then again, you get a knife that is at least three times as good as the BK-2…probably more when you really look at it.

Bottom line…”Do NOT buy” the KaBar BK-2 Becker Companion knife!

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