Kabar 7" blade

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AStone

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I own one of these: a full-size black KA-BAR, straight edge with 7" blade.

I bought it a few years ago thinking that it might make a good camp utility knife.

Yet, I found that it was too large for most camp chores (cutting meat and veges, cutting cord, ripping the legs off of trousers, etc) and too small for larger chores - cutting small wood, clearing a camp, etc.

I'm sure that for a dedicated fighter, it's a good choice. But I'm not one of those.
And if I was, I'd prefer an 11" blade (for an overall sword length of 18" - search "short sword" in this forum).

Yet, I still keep this knife.
It sits on my bedside table (which I guess says something about how I might use it, at least in fantasy).

And I confess: I like the way it feels. Nothing rational there, just a feeling.

But I'm curious. Do you own such a knife? If so, why? How do you use it? How often do you use it? Is it a fav?

I'll cut to the chase: Why would someone who is not a combat specialist own this knife?
______

My background with blades.

I have two other knives that I use with far greater frequency.

1) Spyderco Manix 2 is my EDC. Love that knife.
(Thanks for the recommendation J Shirley.)

2) SOG Seal Pup Elite is my camp knife. If I could have only one, this is it.
Keeps the sharp. Feels good. Small. Cuts meat, veges, small wood.
I could defend myself with it if the stick fails.
 
The knife wasn't designed to be a fighter. It was a Fighting/Utility knife based on the Marbles Ideal. It was simply the best design of the time that had fighting and utility characteristics. I own several knives and I own a couple of "KaBar"s for historical/sentimental reasons.

The handle is too round, the blade too thick, the balance off for a fighter. Plenty of people have used it in combat, but it isn't a fighter and it has been equaled or surpassed by plenty of other knives in both categories it was intended to serve. It has a great tradition and a huge emotional link to all the sacrifice made by the people in uniform who carried it, but don't let that cloud your eyes to knives that do more better. Take it to a modern cutting rodeo and it won't "make the cut".
 
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Ka-Bar calls it the Next Generation Fighting/Utility which is the original name of the USMC knife. That's not quite the same.

There are tons of knives that can be used as a fighter, but that also isn't the same as a knife that is designed for that purpose primarily. The Bagwell bowies that Ontario used to manufacture are pure fighters with all the characteristics of knife designed and made for that purpose. The USMC F/U that became the MKII that became known as the "Kabar" has been used across the globe and has a great history, but there are better fighters.
 
I'll cut to the chase: Why would someone who is not a combat specialist own this knife?
Click to expand...

1. It's relatively inexpensive. Thus a working man can afford it, and won't weep bitter tears if it gets lost, stolen or it breaks.

2. It set out to be a reasonable compromise in its role as a military knife. You can do a little bit of prying with it, opening crates and such; some light chopping: think brush/branches, not trees; you can hammer with it, using the pommel: think tent stakes, NOT nails; game/fish prep; and personal combat: blade long enough to reach vital organs, pommel can deal a stunning blow.

3. It is comparatively easy to sharpen.

4. While not stainless, it is reasonably rust-resistant if kept clean and dry.
 
Hello friends and neighbors // All that I can add is the cool factor wearing it when I take out the M1 Carbine.

I have better knives but a $15.00 piece of history that is still serviceable is a joy to carry. Mine gets used around the house and sometimes deer hunting (more for nostaliga then practical use)

I like the older ones like this U.S.M.C. but to each their own.
kbar.jpg kbar2.jpg

^Anyone venture a guess as to D.O.M.?^
 
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content,

Who is the manufacturer. Post a pic of the opposite side when you get the chance.
 
Great discussion, guys. Just what I'd hoped for.

Hso, thanks for clarifying the intent of this knife. Very useful.
I had fallen under the same semantic marketing spell that Owen did.

Piraticalbob, thoughtful and thought-provoking response.

I suspect we've only scratched the surface of stories and details about this knife.

Please, continue ...
 
At last count I have 5 of them in my knife collection from WWII through Viet Nam, made by Ka-Bar, Camillus, and Utica.
Also known as the U.S. Navy MK 2.

I still grab one every once and awhile for working in the yard.

As stated, it was not the best utility knife, or the best chopping knife, or the best fighting knife, or the best anything else.

But in a pinch, it could serve just about any need a combat solder had for a belt knife.

Plus, it was light to carry, cheap to make, used a minimum of scarce steel during the war years, and could be sharpened on a flat rock if thats all you had.

It has served the U.S. military continuously for around 70 years now, so it fits its intended role pretty darn well!

rc
 
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Similar

I have a couple or three knives in that class, one by Camillus, two by Ontario, and maybe another, but I'd have to look.

Mine are not a pattern match to the USMC "fighter" but they are similar enough (thick, poorly balanced, too round) to be in the same class.

I got mine when I was just beginning to research general-purpose knives for outdoor & camping use.

I have mentioned in earlier threads that "large knives don't work well" for me. It was through testing knives like this that I discovered that fact. They also don't take a fabulous edge.

I also have a few Bowie patterned knives, and I discovered the same thing about them. Too big for me to use effectively. Edge capability varies from one to the next, but none of mine are fabulous.

Now the Don Llewellyn fighter that I have, while it is still a bit big for me, is much lighter, a lot better balanced, and is sharp as the dickens. It's a knife you can actually use, as long as you're willing to pay attention to your fingers.

I don't rightly know what I'm going to do with all my "too big" knives. One of them has sentimental value, as it was re-handled by a friend of mine (the blade is still not great, but the handle is really nice).

I will tell you one thing for certain, though: I'm not keeping that Glock field knife. While it might serve as a trowel or a tent peg (heck, even a pry bar), it pretty much sux for any of the more common knife applications. It's ironic, really. Glock got his opportunity to compete for a new service pistol design based on the success of his field knife. Yeah, the knife came first. There must be a serious QA glitch. Either that, or my sharpening skills work for everything except a Glock.

So, for me, I'll be sticking with the six-inch and under blades.

 
Your observation of the Glock "knife" is quite correct.
It sucks as any sort of knife besides a bayonet, which some of them were.

I think they were wanting to buy a mine probe, and wrote the contract for a field knife by mistake.
Or perhaps a "field knife" designed by a committee??

Only explanation I can come up with.

The Glock sheath is very well thought out though.

rc
 
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I have been told by one who ventures afield, the KaBar is often used "off label" for a decent shave.
 
I have one that is a veteran of a lot of crap. When I got it, it was in a box of tools and knives and supplies my dad inherited from his uncle. The leather washer handle was rotten and falling apart, the pommel was gone, and the blade had rust pits.

It is a PAL. :( And the only one of those I have ever seen.

I rebuilt it into a decent field knife, but it is definitely not the same. It has a soldered, single-sided brass guard, a micarta handle, and reground (flat) bevels. I blued the blade, as well.

I think that anyone who wants a piece of US military history would do well to own one. I think lots of people out there have blades with less utility in their collections because they just like them.
 
I'm getting the impression that this is the SAK of 7" fixed blades.

Not the top of the list, but a step above that non-stainless blade
that you bought at the army surplus store in 1975 that's rusted now.

Capable of cutting small wood, veges, skinning/butchering, digging a hole,
could do a fight in a pinch (even though you'd rather have a gun or a stick).

Much better knives out there, but if this is all you got, it'll work.

Word?
 
People love big knives, they make great weapons. As a camp tool, if you want an axe, carry an axe. Big knives are inefficient in chopping things.

You can do a lot of things with a Swiss Army knife and a good hatchet.

The bottom one is a WW2 era Kabar

ModernKabarnexttoUSNMKIIbyKabar.gif
 
Interesting how the Kabar has evolved over time.

Here's what mine looks like. The Benchmade folder was replace by the Spyderco.

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I agree that it's not really a very useful size.

I have a modern knife of about the same configuration.
7" blade 1/4" thick
L_FALLKNIVEN_A1.jpg


I use it as a small chopper, a prybar, a spade, a hammer, a gouge, in fact I use it in all kinds of way but very rarely as a knife.

A normal camping/hunting knife shouldn't be longer than 4", actually 3" is just about perfect as you can lay it along your index finger and work inside an animal without exposing the tip and damaging the guts.

There's nothing you can't do with a 3" blade, the trend over here for the moment is that you absolutely need a 12" double-edged, preferably serrated, pig sticker while hunting wild boars so you will be able to put a wounded boar to death.

Experience shows that an ordinary 3" drop point knife does the job without any problems as long as you keep it sharp

I carry one of these and it's all you need
I wouldn't feel at a disadvantage if I had to fight with it either, It's all about placement, not about length and all the major arteries could be cut less than one inch deep.
tumblr_ldthc0KoZn1qzgbrdo1_500.jpg
 
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No, the MkI is a much better "SAK of fixed blades" or the Mora or the ...

kabar017.jpg

Image from Bladeforums
 
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Searching for it on the Kabar site.

Can't find it, but right now,
this one's got my attention. :scrutiny:

Looks to be the same blade (but serrated; yes, I confess, I like serrated)
with a different handle.
 
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