By Tim Stetzer
In the first issue of the Knife Wire I talked about attending the LTWK Pouting. It’s a gathering of fans of LTWK Knives and a great social event. Since then I got to go to another knife community event, but this time it was for fans of the Becker Knife and Tool line.
The Beckerhead Gathering
Whereas LTWK has an official fan group with their Pouthouse, the BK&T group is more of an unofficial thing made up of fans from the various online forums and a Facebook group. Collectively the fans have named themselves the “Beckerheads.”
There’s no cost to being a Beckerhead. You just need to join one of the forums or groups and jump on in. Well, there’s no direct cost. I will say that if you hang around the forums you’ll end up seeing some knives and accessories that you didn’t know you needed until then. So I’m not saying you won’t spend any money, it just won’t go to paying dues.
The Beckerhead Gathering is a lot like the Pouting. It's a camping event that consists of a bunch of likeminded folks getting together to hang out, show off some knives, and swap stories. Like other events of its kind there are contests and activities. Plus there’s food.
Becker Knife & Tool is founded and run by Ethan Becker. BK&T has been around since the early 1970’s. I’m guessing most knife folks know that. They may or may not know that Ethan is also the heir to The Joy of Cooking line of cookbooks. Ethan is quite the accomplished chef himself and he provided dinners during the weekend. The food is worth the price of admission alone. Did I mention there’s actually no price of admission other than your travel expenses?
Where is it?
Ethan started the Beckerhead gatherings when he was living in Tennessee. They’ve spawned offshoots on the west coast, in the northeast, and even in Europe. A few years back Ethan moved to Montana and the Gatherings have started up there as well.
The one I attended was located on a private ranch near Darby, Montana. That will be the primary site from here on out. Other Beckerhead events may take place, but the one at Darby is the one hosted by Ethan.
I’ve known Ethan for around 20 years now. We go back to the old Knifeforums days and I’d run into him at Blade and SHOT every year. We also used to camp together at the old Practice What You Preach (PWYP) campouts hosted by one of my mentors, Terrill Hoffman.
The 2025 Gathering
Ethan’s been asking me and some buddies to come for ages now and the stars finally aligned so that I could go this year. I flew into Missoula, Montana and met my cohorts at the airport. I went with Spen Stelzer from JRE Industries and David Andersen from Knife Center. Both names will be familiar if you read the CJRB Maximal review. The knife industry is a tight community and I’ve made a lot of close friends there over the years. We rented a car and it was another hour and a half drive to get to the ranch. Once you’re a little bit outside of Missoula you lose all cell reception, so make sure to make any last minute calls or text before you go.
L-R The author, Ethan Becker, David C. Andersen, Spen Stelzer
This was my first time in Montana and I have to say it's beautiful. Population is light, with only a bit over a million people in the whole state. Most of them are not around Darby either. The peaks were still snowcapped in late May and weather was a mixed bag. We had sun, we had rain, we had some sleet, and we even had a little snow the last morning. Temps ranged from the high 50’s down to the low 30’s.
Since my crew flew in we were limited in what camping gear we could bring on board. Ethan hooked us up with some loaner cots to get us off the ground and sleeping bags. We built a hooch with a couple of tarps and walled it in with plastic. It wasn’t the prettiest bushcrafting project but we stayed dry, even though it rained a good chunk of the weekend.
I did have a lightly customized Becker BK9 fixed blade and Becker BK40 folder with me though. Ethan hooked me up with the loan of a gorgeous Smith & Wesson 624 in .44 Special for the weekend as well. I had that, and there was a Remington 760 pump .30’06 in camp in case of critters. There are bear, mountain lions, coyotes and wolves in the area. We didn’t see any while we were there, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
The communal area had three pop-ups and tables set up, and a nice fire ring with some wood benches. The fire is always the center of activities on campouts like these. When the weather is cool like it was that makes it even more so.
I didn’t get a full count but there were around 20 people total at this event. Most were from the West Coast, but you did have our crew of East Coast and Mid Westerners representing as well. It was mostly guys but there were some kids, one mom, and a couple of dogs.
Activities
Like other events of this sort a lot of the time is just spent hanging out with folks who like the same things you do. My buddy Spen noted that even though we just met most of these folks, it was like we’d always known them.
We dropped right into place and were immediately welcomed. These are our people. It was even funny to note that you see some of the same personalities as other events. There are always the folks who bring a billion too many knives (is there such a thing?), the folks that have spares of every piece of gear that we forgot, the cooks, and a vast and diverse array of experience and talent. They’re good people.
Crafts and contests for the weekend included building, and then using a stone thrower. Think of it as sort of an atlatl for rocks.
The guys spent the first day or so making them and then used them on some pesky zombie targets to see who was most accurate with them. I’m going to give special mention to knifemaker Bill Siegle for bucking the trend and making a staff sling, which is another primitive stone thrower. I’m much more familiar with that and they’re fun to use. It was a neat project and gave folks a chance to use their axes and knives to cut and carve their stone throwers. I will say that the zombies weren't in a lot of danger though. I’ll stick to a gun when the zombie apocalypse comes.
One of the other contests involved having to make a fire with a ferro rod, and cook and eat an egg. You were given a paper bowl and an egg to start with. You had to gather tinder, which was a challenge with all of the rain we’d had. You could also use anything else that could be scrounged, but you could not use a pot or cook kit that you brought with you for instance.
The wording of the rules was loose enough that the winner made his fire and ate his egg raw in record time. Other participants kept more to the spirit of the contest and successfully cooked their eggs before eating them.
There was a mix of techniques used from putting the eggs straight in the fire, to using the paper bowl filled with water and cracking the egg to poach it. There was even the use of an old beer can cut open to make a pot for boiling. What is the prize for winning these contests? Just bragging rights. But it’s a fun chance to use your knives and practice your outdoor skills.
Like I did at the Pouting, I asked folks to bring out their Beckers so we could get a group photo. Even though there were half as many people at the Gathering as compared to the Pouting, the quantity of knives was impressive.
After we did just Becker’s everyone added a little bit of everything else to the pile. For under 20 people, with some of those being kids, it was quite the showing. We actually ran out of room on the blanket so it wasn’t even everything that folks had with them!
Friday night there was a giveaway around the fire. Giveaway items were sponsored by KA-BAR, who makes the BK&T knives for Ethan. There was a mix of BK&T knives and KA-BAR swag like their meal kits (which saw a lot of use through the weekend) and neat stuff like KA-BAR slingshots, bottle openers, and other stuff I missed. Also lots of KA-BAR and Becker stickers. I scored a Becker BK2, and a KA-BAR slingshot, and KA-BAR bottle opener.
Campsite and Meals
There’s a cookhouse on property with a full kitchen, and even a pair of attached bathrooms with toilets, showers and running water. Breakfast was handled by Vic, one of the group. Ethan handled the dinners. No surprise, they were all amazing. We had beef stew the first night. Then next night was pork roast and cheesy grits. The last night was steak and baked potatoes. The food was excellent and there was lots of it.
Suffice it to say, there was no shortage of food. We ended up sending stuff that wasn’t even used with folks at the end of the weekend.
The area itself is gorgeous. The campsite is in a wooded area nestled in a valley right next to a river tributary. Signs of wildlife abound. We watched a group of elk walking upstream past the camp only about 40 or 50 yards from us on one of the days. Between the setting and the lack of cell coverage it made for a peaceful weekend. Not having cell coverage is a lot different than not checking your phone.
Even if you’re tempted, there's nothing there so you’re forced to disconnect. This leads to folks actually talking to each other, and doing things together. Not just sitting around near each other and staring at their phones.
Well Worth The Trip
I was glad I finally made it to one of the Becker Gatherings. It’s always good to get out and spend a few days in the woods, and the setting is perfect. I got to see and spend time with old friends, and met a bunch of new ones. I spent more time documenting the contests than participating, but I did use my Beckers throughout the weekend. They saw use setting up our shelter, and for various utility work, as well as for some general whittling.
I had a chance to sit down and talk to Ethan about the history of BK&T too, and where it’s going from here. Some I knew, other stuff was new to me. Ethan always has some good stories though, so it was good hearing the whole saga together from start to finish. I was originally going to talk about all that here, but it’s a lot of information and worthy of an article all its own. So keep an eye out for that in the future.
I mentioned earlier that the knife community is a tight knit group. Attending an event like the Beckerhead gathering just reinforces that. I got to see old friends, and met a bunch of new ones. When you share a common passion with people you find you have other things in common as well. The days go by quickly and all too soon you’re back in the real world. But you have some new memories, some new skills, and probably some new swag to show for it. Those are the things that fortify you until the time you get a chance to go to the next Gathering!
To keep up with the Beckerheads and watch for the next Gathering, either in Montana or at one of the other events, sign up for the Becker group on Facebook or join the forum at Bladeforums.
