Spyderco Tenacious sheath

Official Specs (From Amazon)

• Becker knife design with high quality 3 1/4" blade made from 1095 Cro-Van steel
• Handle made from same high quality 1095 Cro-Van steel
• Heavy-duty hard plastic sheath
• Overall length of 7"
• Made in the USA

Unboxing - First Impressions

Ka-Bar offers a two pack of very nice Zytel scales which can be purchased separately. I ordered these with the BK14 and mounted the black scales to mine. Some folks will want to forgo the scales and do their own para-cord wrap, or leave the knife as-is to save on weight. Note that the scale set includes two sets of screws, so you could actually use the set for two knives.

Saving on weight makes sense, because this is a fairly heavy knife for its size. If you want a knife that doesn't skimp on good quality steel, weight is the price you will pay. The recipient of the first BK14 told me that it was too heavy for backpacking and that she wasn't going to use it much because it was so heavy. Of course, she declined to give it back, saying that it looked too well built to part with, which leads me to my second impression.

Build Quality

Made in USA knives generally come at a price premium, and usually (but not always) with good reason. They usually have a better built quality and a drastically better steel quality. So in the case of a knife like this, the build quality is hard to see, because it lies in the build quality of the steel and its heat treatment. The heat treatment on a knife is an intangible thing until the knife breaks, cracks or shatters. While the Chinese are getting better about heat treating their steel, even the good factories can be hit and miss. With the BK series there are no such worries. It's interesting that the BK series are budget knives, because they are so well built and have such a great reputation in the bush.

Blade