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Pros: Overall Quality, Blade Material, Materials, Blade Sharpness
Cons: Handle Material, Sheath/Scabbard
Great all-around use knife
This is a relatively inexpensive option for camp, bushcrafting, or self-defense; good (but not great) for all in my opinion. I bought the BK-2 companion a few years back and was overwhelmed by its size. I wanted a smaller knife just like it, but opted for the 17 rather than the 16 since I found it cheaper and it fits my overall purpose-driven knife criteria a bit better. I've removed the finish and put micarta scales with spacers on it and I've never felt a better feeling and handling knife after doing so. The sheath is decent quality but too long for the knife as it looks like it's made to fit the 15,16, or 17 (the 15 is the longest knife of the tweeners). I kept the sheath to go on my pack but was looking for a better belt carry option. I found from other users that the leather sheath for the buck ergohunter was a perfect fit (also for the 16) so I ordered one. It works great for the knife and feels great wearing it too. The blade is thick enough to take some pretty good abuse to dig, pry, baton, etc. if needed in a pinch, and also holds an edge better than any other 1095 steel knife I have. The grind markings are a bit obvious (but not unsightly) after removing the coating if you choose to do so (which I highly recommend). If I had to give it some cons, I would say that even though they give you two sets of handles for this knife, they're two sets of handles you're probably going to want to replace (or wrap something grippy around them). Also, I'm used to a larger choil on a knife this size for finer tasks but that's not a huge downer for me. The jimping is adequate but I would have preferred deeper grooves so I'm going to grind that out to the way I want it. I have yet to see the perfect do-all knife but this one's pretty close for the money.
