The Blackjack "ONE OF A KIND" Crap

Have you ever found an old Blackjack blade with the "One of a Kind" mark on it?

Ever wonder why they put that there?

Well wonder no more. I have been researching this topic for hours and days and years and I've followed the rabbit down all the deep dark holes of the internet.

Call it true, call it false. It's just one man's opinion.

Anyway I have seen more than a few Becker's with this mark on it. It turns out that when you do some research: the mark was used wildly over the whole Blackjack line of knives.

These photos only took me about 30 minutes to find. I'm willing to bet I'd find more and more the longer I look.

The photos are all from Worthpoint.

So here is what I believe to be true about this "one of a kind" mark. I think this was Blackjack's way of selling factory seconds. You can do your own research and you will find a lot of mixed-matched opinions. The question is why is there not a unified answer to this mystery mark? Well I hate to say it, but the people who own (or want to sell) these marked blades have everything to gain by hyping them up to be something they simply aren't. Also, the guys who ran Blackjack certainly are not going to come forward and say they didn't meet the QC standards. Blackjack wanted a way to sell factory seconds at the regular price so they made it happen.

The proof is in the pudding, so where's the pudding? What leads me to say this? I'm not going to lie: some of it is speculation from people I trust. People who worked with Blackjack during that time (and since this blog is 99% about Becker knives, I'm sure you can guess who one of them is). Blackjack was known for some shady business back then and if you don't believe that, hit up Google.  Surely at this time some random reader is now super pissed at me for implying his Blackjack safe-queen is a second and worth less. Well yes and no. Yes I think they are worth less. People who try to sell these market them as "super ultra rare," "first production," or my favorite: "prototype." I'm not saying you don't have a truly one of a kind blade, every factory second is probably unique in their own small way. However, it still needs to be labeled as what it truly is, because I'm sure whatever uniqueness your "one of a kind" has: it's still a flaw.

So I do have one last piece of evidence to support my case. I own the "one of a kind" Magnum Camp in the very first photo at the top of this post. Let me tell you, it's a factory second. The grind is slightly thicker: which adds some more weight. However, the big "give away" is the fact that it's bent to the left...

Another problem is that the choil cut-out is literally at an angle and not flat, like it should be.

The angled choil is easy to feel, but hard to capture in photos... I tried.

You can see that this side is angled in the photo below.

I've owned four or five regular Magnum Camp knives and not one had any of the defects of the marked one. So keep in mind that I have nothing to gain by calling them seconds, by doing so I'm literately de-valuing one of my own.

Everything You Never Wanted To Know: The Becker Patrol Packs

OK guys I'll try to keep this short, but it's a lot.

If you didn't know, Ethan Becker designed a pack called The Becker Patrol Pack. Eagle originally made it (Eagle is the same people who made the nylon sheaths for Ethan back in the Cincinnati/Blackjack days) and later Blackhawk.

These packs are no longer made and have become quite rare and costly.

I have been lucky enough to have acquired four different models of this pack. Because these are all quite rare, I thought I would take some comparison photos and clear up some misinformation I've heard about them.

The first is the Blackhawk version of this pack.

Next is the Eagle version.

The MOLLE version.

The large Becker Patrol Pack. This exact one happens to be a "Ranger" /  RTO (Radio Telephone Operator) version. It's basically just the Large version of this pack but with special features to accommodate a radio. There was also a regular sized RTO version.

Now let's start with the Blackhawk version.

Everything I've heard or seen about this pack online says it's an exact copy of the Eagle version. That's not entirely true.

Side-bar for a minute.

There are all sorts of legality questions surrounding this pack, seeing how it's a copy. Some people won't buy it because they said it's stealing money from Ethan. Well it's my understanding that he has never made any money off of this pack design. I believe he traded any short of royalties he might have received from Eagle in order to make sure this pack design was made.

It is also my understanding that the parent company who owns Eagle also owns Blackhawk so it's probably "legal" somehow.

Now back to the Blackhawk pack. The difference between this and the Eagle version is the six buckle pouches on the outside. On the Blackhawk version they are smaller. You could fit a standard Nalgene bottle in only the side pouches and it's a tight fit. The Eagle version can fit an extra long bottle in the side pouches and a standard in the lower front two.

Side pouch on the Blackhawk.

Lower front pouch.

Here is the side pocket on the Eagle with an extra tall bottle.

And here is the lower front pouch with a standard bottle.

The next big difference is that the chest strap is vertically adjustable. On the Eagle versions it's not.

The Blackhawk version is lighter. It's definitely made out of a nylon with a less denier. I still think it is excellent quality, but Eagle really is top notch and would be hard to beat in terms of quality.

There are two different versions of the BPPs from Eagle. The original had a draw string close on the main bag and a pull open velcro map pocket on the lid flap (photos of the different map pockets further down).

The newer ones have a roll down and buckle seal and a zippered lid flap map pocket.

My RTO and Blackhawk have the pull string. My standard Eagle BPP and MOLLE versions have the fold over and buckle system. I have no clue when these were made but you can kind of date the pack by these features.

The Molle version of this pack is not of Ethan's doing. It's something that Eagle did on their own. It's the same bag, just without the six outside pouches.

Now the RTO is made for a radio so it has special straps in the inside main pocket to hold it in place as well as two antenna holes on the top. The six pouches on the outside are even larger than the standard. It does have an internal frame sheet with aluminum bars. This pack is really big: I don't even have it stuffed to capacity in these photos.

The shoulder straps are extra wide and have a lot more padding. I don't think these are the original straps. I think someone else added these nicer more cushy straps.

All the BPPs have open slots on the sides that are absolutely amazing for holding large knives, tent polls, axes, or hiking polls. The RTO pack has two slots (or at least my RTO does, maybe not on the standard size RTO).

I have no idea at all what the removable panel on the bottom it for. If you know please comment and tell. All I've head about it, is it's for "jump capabilities." It's been speculated that this was also a mod. That may be the case, but the nylon is the exact same. Which makes me think it was done at the Eagle factory.

Here is a group photo.

The newer Eagle versions also have slots behind every pouch not just the side ones.

If you have a sheath with MOLLE you can attach it to the ALICE webbing and tuck it into the side slot behind the slide pouch.

All the shoulder straps connect right to the pack except on the large models.

The large model has two adjustable nylon straps.

Here is the velcro map pocket vs the zipper map pocket.

There are so many little differences that I'm missing and I need to take better photos of a lot of things. I'll probably add more photos and info later.

If you guys have any questions about them or the differences let me know and I'll try to answer. If you want a photo of anything in particular let me know.



Here are some videos to watch on these packs:

This one has the man himself Ethan Becker talking about why he designed it, beans and bullets!

Here you can see a guy put his radio into his RTO pack.

Here is one on the MOLLE version.

Here are some reviews of the standard Eagle version.

If you want to see another bag Ethan designed check this out:

Becker Field & Travel Bag


Here are some other links you may find interesting:

Original Thread

Murph's Review.

Dex's Review