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This is the post I've been waiting for. It has been impossible to finish this and my Machax post for lets just call it copyright reasons. Thanks to the boss man himself, Ethan Becker, I can finally post all of this golden history. I'm constantly finding "new" old history to post so I'm hoping to add to this as time goes on.
I have enlarge these imaged as much as possible so the page might be formatted a bit off. Keep in mind you should be able to click on all of these to allow a better scroll view.
Last update 8/6/19********** NEW STUFF IS HERE!
This old BRK was part of an American Survival Guide magazine giveaway.
Old two page ad in ASG from the Cincinnati days. Note it says you can get the Camp-panion in 3/16" thickness?!?!? I have never seen one, nor have a seen any other Cincinnati ads say that they can come in 3/16".
UPDATE 1/8/22 I have found a Cincinnati blank in 3/16 so it is confirmed.
I included a lot of this Moran Warner bowie ads because its the blade that inspired the bk9
Here is a Cincin machax that was a prize in another one of ASG giveaways. It even made the cover! see below!
An original Blade Magazine review of the Cincinnati Machax from 1987.
For as long as I've been into Becker blades I've always heard the line "A bk2 could field dress a car" or some version of that. It looks like this article is where the phrase was coined.
This Machax ad ran from the American survival magazine in 1989.
Here is one Ethan showed me. I have no idea where this piece originally came from but there are photos of the larger two in the Cincinnati post.
An old article on the Tactul.
An old Blackjack ad from a Cutlery Shoppe catalog. I found it in the stuff Ethan showed me. Included it in this because of the Combat Kukri, what the bk21 is based off of, and the Warner-Moran Bowie, which is what inspired the bk9.
Becker ad from Cutlery Shoppe. This is one of favorites, all hard chromed.
A Blackjack ad from American Survival Guide.
Another old Blackjack ad. Wheres the Machax?!?
Photo thanks to fighting knives
The next few photos are from an original pamphlet in the very early days. Before Ethan was kind enough to share the Tactul/Divtul photos I have in the Cincinnati post, this was the only place I had even seen an original.
A review of the bk9HH.
bk9 review.
Camillus ad for the bk2SG and bk3SG with the NSN numbers. These were not available on the civilian market.
Some old Camillus lit.
This one is the crown jewel. Ethan would mail out these massive flyers back in the day. The photo is the actual size of the Machax. Ethan is a Marketing wiz.
Here we have three different ad pamphlets Camillus would throw in the box with the knife.
Old Brute ad.
Cool little side ad for the bk3 and bk7.
Old neck knife comparison article from Gun Magazine during the Camillus days.
This was was from 'a what knife to buy your mother' article, haha.
The original photos used for the Camillus pamphlets.
One of the original Machax drawings. Ethan has it pined up in his office. Note the title in the bottom photo. Becker Woods-Whacker.
Some new stuff I've recently acquired. 9/23/18
First up a dealer pricing catalog from 2006.
Next is this really off copy of a catalog. I've seen this exact one before online on the collectors of Camillus website. The physical copy I just got must be from an earlier year and they just copied the same cover and format. Let me post the original first and then show you why my copy is off.
Here is the two page ad from the original.
Some things to note. ALL of these beckers pictured (except the bk5) are Blackjack's painted in the Camillus black paint. The grind is higher on the brute and no sharpening choil. The bk2 has no sharpening choil. the bk3 is shorter like the divtul and has the old school serrations! The Machax is where this gets ever crazier. The handles are from a cincinati model and if you can zoom in far enough its literally stamp with the Cincinnati marks! However the blade itself and the super fat edge look like a legit Camillus photoshopped on to the handle of a Cincinnati? Was photoshop even a thing back then?
Photo thanks to Collectors of Camillus.
So here is my slightly different catalog.
Cover
Looks at that Machax! it's straight! Same Cincinnati handle, with what looks to be a photoshopped Camillus blade on it. They don't label them like they did in the one above, but the writing has no mention of the machax. Instead it has the bk6, bk7, bk9, and bk10. The bk6 is basically a straighten elongated version of the machax so perhaps the marketing guys didn't get the memo? I don't know what to think. My only running idea is someone told the photo guy the bk6 is the same as the bk4 with a straight handle.
If you look close you can seen the stamp from Cincinnati. sorry this is just a photo, I don't have access to a scanner right now.
NEW 9/23/18
Some stuff thanks to: www.blackjack.0catch.com
Here is one from an old catalog. Check out that marked bk2! I have never seen a marked bk2 from blackjack!
Dealer pricing from a few years.
This one calls the magnum camp the "magnum hunter"
NEW 9/23/18 Update with some dealer price lists from Camillus.
These scans are thanks to Collectors of Camillus.
Here is a Cincin machax that was a prize in another one of ASG giveaways. It even made the cover! see below!
This is from an issue of BLADE Magazine where the Tactul was named 1990's knife of the year.
This Machax ad ran from the American survival magazine in 1989.
Here is one Ethan showed me. I have no idea where this piece originally came from but there are photos of the larger two in the Cincinnati post.
Becker ad from Cutlery Shoppe. This is one of favorites, all hard chromed.
Here is a new one I had never seen before. Found it in a later Cutlery Shoppe catalog Ethan gave me to look through. $50 for the RBK! Only $50!
A Blackjack ad from American Survival Guide.
Another old Blackjack ad. Wheres the Machax?!?
Photo thanks to fighting knives
The next few photos are from an original pamphlet in the very early days. Before Ethan was kind enough to share the Tactul/Divtul photos I have in the Cincinnati post, this was the only place I had even seen an original.
Cool bk6 ad Ethan had. I've seen a lot of Camillus ads but never this one.
A review of the bk9HH.
bk9 review.
Camillus ad for the bk2SG and bk3SG with the NSN numbers. These were not available on the civilian market.
Some old Camillus lit.
Here we have three different ad pamphlets Camillus would throw in the box with the knife.
Old Brute ad.
Cool little side ad for the bk3 and bk7.
Old neck knife comparison article from Gun Magazine during the Camillus days.
This was was from 'a what knife to buy your mother' article, haha.
Here Ethan showed me the original photo sheets. You will recognize some of these from the pamphlets above.
Some new stuff I've recently acquired. 9/23/18
First up a dealer pricing catalog from 2006.
Next is this really off copy of a catalog. I've seen this exact one before online on the collectors of Camillus website. The physical copy I just got must be from an earlier year and they just copied the same cover and format. Let me post the original first and then show you why my copy is off.
Here is the two page ad from the original.
Some things to note. ALL of these beckers pictured (except the bk5) are Blackjack's painted in the Camillus black paint. The grind is higher on the brute and no sharpening choil. The bk2 has no sharpening choil. the bk3 is shorter like the divtul and has the old school serrations! The Machax is where this gets ever crazier. The handles are from a cincinati model and if you can zoom in far enough its literally stamp with the Cincinnati marks! However the blade itself and the super fat edge look like a legit Camillus photoshopped on to the handle of a Cincinnati? Was photoshop even a thing back then?
Photo thanks to Collectors of Camillus.
So here is my slightly different catalog.
Cover
Looks at that Machax! it's straight! Same Cincinnati handle, with what looks to be a photoshopped Camillus blade on it. They don't label them like they did in the one above, but the writing has no mention of the machax. Instead it has the bk6, bk7, bk9, and bk10. The bk6 is basically a straighten elongated version of the machax so perhaps the marketing guys didn't get the memo? I don't know what to think. My only running idea is someone told the photo guy the bk6 is the same as the bk4 with a straight handle.
If you look close you can seen the stamp from Cincinnati. sorry this is just a photo, I don't have access to a scanner right now.
NEW 9/23/18
Some stuff thanks to: www.blackjack.0catch.com
Here is one from an old catalog. Check out that marked bk2! I have never seen a marked bk2 from blackjack!
This one calls the magnum camp the "magnum hunter"
Here and in the one above you can see they were selling the divtul in the S.S (Stainless Steel) and N.R.(Non-reflective)
Mailed out flyer, once again advertizing the divtul in both reflective and non-reflected finish.
NEW 9/23/18 Update with some dealer price lists from Camillus.
These scans are thanks to Collectors of Camillus.
