Is the KA-BAR an actually decent knife or is it just a larp meme?

250 Piece Survival Gear First Aid Kit

LifeStraw Water Filter for Hiking and Preparedness

250 Piece Survival Gear First Aid Kit

  1. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Meme.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      No u

      >too big to carry
      >too little utility to justify outdoor use

      moron its a perfect camp knife

      It's a solid, quality-made knife. Great for killing/skinning animals with.

      It's not the best for skinning but it'll do fine

      It's ok. It's not great but it'll do for a light chore/camp knife. It's not going to process wood and you're better off with a small folder with a gut hook for pulling deer apart and even then you won't really need the hook if you've a lot of experience processing game. The problems lie in a tip that's liable to break with any kind of heavy prying, much like many clip points tbh, and where the blade meets the tang is prone to bending or breaking depending on the QC. It's a generic marbles/camillus style clip point that I think got shittier as time goes by compared to older models. For what they charge, as others have said, there are far far better options around these days.

      It's not the best option for the price, but it is a decent enough knife all things considered.
      Just don't use it to pry shit, carve, or split wood.

      It was designed to be used by moronic teenagers for anything they could think up. If you break it, you'd break any knife and you need another tool.
      Open cans, dig holes, chop wood, pry open crates, hammer nails, stir the oatmeal, it's good for alladat.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >moron its a perfect camp knife
        the grind profile makes it a usable but not optimal one
        its in no way perfect or optimized as a camping knife

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          Take it easy, anon. The guy you're replying to doesn't really know what he's talking about. He's upset, and rightly so, but he can't really articulate why, Direct your ire to his parents and teachers instead.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          >in no way perfect or optimized as a camping knife
          au contraire, a perfect camp knife is not optimized for anything, it is as general purpose as possible, so it can do nothing perfectly, many things well, some poorly and none not at all

          Take it easy, anon. The guy you're replying to doesn't really know what he's talking about. He's upset, and rightly so, but he can't really articulate why, Direct your ire to his parents and teachers instead.

          your mother is Dutch

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            Kbars optimized for fighting making it a bad camp knife

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              If it's optimized for fighting why does it have a single-edged blade?

              • 3 months ago
                Anonymous

                dirks and daggers are illegal to carry in a lot of areas so they sell it single edged and if you feel spicy you can sharpen it yourself.

              • 3 months ago
                Anonymous

                Because a clip point has 99% the stabbing ability of a dagger but a dagger has 50% the cutting ability of a single edge blade.
                Lrn2blade geometry

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >Perfect camp knife
        that's a very low bar. a flip knife is better

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        It has a shit stick tang.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >If you break it, you'd break any knife and you need another tool.
        A Mora Robust will outlast it and costs 1/15th of a KA-BAR.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Not those anons and I'm personally a kbar enjoyer
        But the perfect camp knife has a 4" drop-point blade and a full-width full-length tang

        As a utility knife the kbar is honestly horrible but if I knew I was gonna need to kill a guy with a in knife in a trench it's not a bad choice

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Only the last point you make is actually true, but there's knives just as strong for like 1/10th of the price

        I don't have a KA-BAR, but a Glock 78 which is made from the same steel (1095 Carbon spring steel) and has about the same dimensions. It's to thick to be good at slashing plants and branches in the forest, or to cut meat. It will do it, but it's really nog good at doing so. The only thing I use it for is cutting through small bones of doves and stuff when cleaning them.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Due to its design and differential hardening, it breaks much easier than other knives in its size and materials.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        It's passable but not good.

        The "good" is overall <1 kg these days anyway, never let a knife's reputation limit your capability to do chores.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          I like the saw and knife, but those fiskars axes are fricking trash

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            Get a good hatchet then, they don't weight much more and (this is the thing that always comes up) you can make a new handle if it breaks. If.

            This setup is an example for people who go "nnnooooo, I have no strenght to carry an axe, a saw and a knife so I will bring a 700 gram mega-choppa camp knife to do everything!".

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Sucked for what G.I.s use knives for (every knife of size should be an effective chisel and pry bar). Mine was free from Supply along with another turd, the USAF "survival" knife which is only good as a light aircraft transparency breaker (a valid use when they were invented) to escape crashes.

        >It was designed to be used by moronic teenagers for anything they could think up.

        Intent and outcomes are different. You presume overmuch.

  2. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >too big to carry
    >too little utility to justify outdoor use

  3. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's still a decent knife, but there are way better options now for the same price. There's really no advantage to getting one unless you like the look or history of it.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      I don't like certain features. The leather handle, the unnecessary crossguard, the overly thicc spine, personally I'd rather carry a different knife for hunting and forest work.

      This.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >personally I'd rather carry a different knife for hunting and forest work
        Which makes perfect sense given that it wasn't intended for either.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          Right, though it was definitely inspired by the camping and hunting knives of the era.
          I'm more into modern caveman kind of camping knives.
          >centuries old construction pattern
          >handy handle that can be used with gloves, mittens or bare hands
          >blade profile optimised for wood
          >curly birch that doesn't get cold and doesn't soak up the moisture and salt

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >the unnecessary crossguard
        The only thing the knife is decent for is stabbing someone who rushes you and you want to make it worse at that task?

  4. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's a solid, quality-made knife. Great for killing/skinning animals with.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      people who say that about the kabar never used a knife to do any of those things.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        You've never killed an animal, so what the frick would you know?

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          Not that anon but I've killed tons of animals and this meme knife is way too large to be an efficient gutter or skinner.

          What to know what is the best from my experience of hundreds of whitetail deer? The humble and cheap Mora. Sharp as hell, perfect length and profile, cheap enough to basically be disposable so I honestly just buy a new one every season and use the old ones as bait/shop knives and such.

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            >my experience of hundreds of whitetail deer
            >hundreds
            Nope. Larper

            https://i.imgur.com/DswmhvQ.jpg

            post guns and kills, bucko

            Nice hog. Picrel skinned with a KaBar

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              >skinned with a KaBar
              Just like fapping with sandpaper

              • 3 months ago
                Anonymous

                >doesn't know how to properly sharpen a knife
                >has no idea what a real edge is
                Couldn't be me. Still waiting in you to pist guns and kills, kiddo

              • 3 months ago
                Anonymous

                I already did tho? and a victorinox filetting knife is better than any kabar at portioning and skinning animals.

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              [...]
              >hogs
              Florida rats don't count.

              >posts little b***h sized southern deer
              >claims hogs don't count
              I bet you take prep.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          post guns and kills, bucko

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            https://i.imgur.com/LzymzLC.jpg

            I already did tho? and a victorinox filetting knife is better than any kabar at portioning and skinning animals.

            >hogs
            Florida rats don't count.

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              That's clearly a cat.

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              >goalpost moving, and no pics of their own while gatekeeping
              Consistently the worst poster on any board, and due for sudoku commission.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        You're a massive poser

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Confirmed for never skinning or gutting an animal.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      A goddamn Bowie knife is better. You’re moronic.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Black Rifle Coffee drinker posted this

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >Black Rifle Coffee drinker posted this
        My sides

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      it is a sharpened piece of steel. It's shaped like a small Bowie. It's a generalist piece that's adequate for most survival applications but not very good at anything specific except stabbing dudes, which is what the Bowie was for.

      >Killing animals
      I guess it's a decent enough pig-sticker if you're hunting hogs with dogs (I don't know why the frick people do this, but they do), but everywhere I have hunted that is illegal as frick for every other animal. Most states have declared THD and don't care what you use.
      >skinning
      probably fine, it's a bit long and straight for a skinner. You usually want something shorter, broader and more curved that you have better control over when removing the (I'm guessing deer) cape in one piece. It's way the frick too big for fox/coon/beaver/etc

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        For every badass with a Tops or Alaskan knives pigsticker, there's about 10 dudes who got fricked up by hogs trying the same. I'm not going toe-to-toe with something that can uproot a tree if it wants to.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        You could do worse but you could also do a lot better.

        >not very good at anything specific except stabbing dudes
        It's not even very good at that. It's a crappy fighting knife.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      The KA-BAR is a fighting knife. It's too long and wide to be used for skinning and field dressing. It would probably make a good pig hunting knife.

  5. 3 months ago
    anon

    yes

  6. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's not the best option for the price, but it is a decent enough knife all things considered.
    Just don't use it to pry shit, carve, or split wood.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      I've used mine for all of those things. Mine is beat to shit but it keeps going. I've broken more knives than I can count but my KA-BAR is still going strong.

  7. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's ok. It's not great but it'll do for a light chore/camp knife. It's not going to process wood and you're better off with a small folder with a gut hook for pulling deer apart and even then you won't really need the hook if you've a lot of experience processing game. The problems lie in a tip that's liable to break with any kind of heavy prying, much like many clip points tbh, and where the blade meets the tang is prone to bending or breaking depending on the QC. It's a generic marbles/camillus style clip point that I think got shittier as time goes by compared to older models. For what they charge, as others have said, there are far far better options around these days.

  8. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Just get a heavy machete and be done with it.

  9. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Air Force Survival Knife is superior

  10. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    it's just archaic and mediocre. considering most people barely do anything with their knife, it's fine for most people. if you want a modern "tactical knife" for muh plate carrier LARP or enlisting in the Ukrainian foreign legion, get a Gerber Strongarm. if you want something for bushcraft, get something with a scandi grind.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Strongarm is a piece of shit. Stop shilling that thing. It's got no point to stab anyone with and that handle coating goes the way of any rubberized grip and ends up a gooey mess.

  11. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >can't batton
    Into the trash ot goes

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      battoning is gay buy a fricking axe moron

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        No.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        a generation raised on tiktoks and youtube, won't just use a hatchet

  12. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's a fricking knife.

  13. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's a great knife. I use mine while camping all the time.

  14. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Point doesn’t drop enough to do fine work, but the size is probably great for quartering and stabbing people in the neck. A bit too big and no useful features to be a great knife

  15. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    The primary purpose of Knife, Fighting Utility was to be an affordable utility knife first and a fighting knife second. You see this in the design of the blade: it is a big pocket knife that's strong enough to cut wire or pry open a can, and if you're skilled you can also win some fights with it.

  16. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Of Course you want a real Ka-Bar. Buy one. It looks and feels cool.

    Get a bunch of other knives from all sorts of cultures and nations. Get a real tanto, a real puukko, a real sgian dubh, get a nice collection of SAKs for edc.

    Civilised blades are nice to have.

  17. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    The right knife is a sharp piece of steel that cuts stuff.

  18. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    it's more of a "multi-tool" than a purpose made knife. It can cut, hack, pry, hammer, dig, fight, etc. all ok. it's supposed to be a "jack of all trades" kind of tool.
    I have found it to be utilitarian.

  19. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Tangentially related, I have one of these and a previous owner sharpened the false edge on the clip point. Suggestions for maintaining that concave edge?

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Careful use of a rat tail file would be one suggestion.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      I use those quick blade sharpeners like the blade medic, simple

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Those things are horrible for the edge.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Sharpmaker gang rise up

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >had a ka-bar
      >I sharpened the false edge on it
      >it got stolen from my car
      Post pics. I doubt it's the same one, but you never know.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        It's an Ontario in the 1219C2 pattern and I've had it for at least ten years.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          ... wait, is the clipped edge on the ontario 489 sharpened from the factory? The shop photos make it look like it is.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          You've had it for 10 years and you've never figured out how to sharpen it?

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            yeah.

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              Tangentially related, I have one of these and a previous owner sharpened the false edge on the clip point. Suggestions for maintaining that concave edge?

              Buy a scythe stone.

              Here's an affordable one.
              https://byxco.com/products/byxco-bull-thistle-american-scythe-stone-grade-b

  20. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I like it

  21. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    kabar short is kino

    its a v decent self defense knife, and passable for camp stuff. dont be a moron, use a hatchet for wood. or just use a rock or something.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      https://i.imgur.com/cNfjKFR.jpg

      kabar short you big dumb moron

      it's actually a carryable size

      The short is quite possibly the ideal EDC fixed blade.

  22. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    recommend an alternative you stupid fricks

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      kabar short you big dumb moron

      it's actually a carryable size

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        you're a carryable size

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          i love you anon

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      The cold steel leather neck is the same profile, cheaper, more robust, and better steel.
      Any of the kabar beckers, esee will be better and not that much more expensive, ontario RAT series etc.

  23. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Knife is fine

  24. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I use mine to shave my manly parts

  25. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's decent but nothing special. I ironically, get a Mora if you want a fixed blade on the cheap.

  26. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Suitable for cutting things as well as for thrusting. This knife looks ok to me

  27. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I want a knife I can gut Walleye with and prep it and also a knife that can clean up branches I find to make a fire. Is this possible with one knife or should I just accept I'll need two.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      a-anyone?

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        You *can* but I guarantee you'll be happier if you use any normal knife and go to Walmart and buy a cheap hatchet if you're not serious about the whole Rambo larp

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          I just want one do-all knife so I don't have to have a bunch of knives. I get a jack of all trades knife wont be the best for any particular use, just wanted to know what knife could fill those two roles.

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            Bk7 or esee 6

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              just buy anything and use it, as long as your mindset truly is i only want 1 knife youll figure out a way to make it work. might be a pain in the ass to use a razorblade for food prep but if its your only knife you figure out a way to make it work.

              https://i.imgur.com/MNYEr5n.jpg

              $8 filet knife and your choice of fixed blade field knife.
              Personally, go big or go home on the field knife.

              ty anons

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            just buy anything and use it, as long as your mindset truly is i only want 1 knife youll figure out a way to make it work. might be a pain in the ass to use a razorblade for food prep but if its your only knife you figure out a way to make it work.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        $8 filet knife and your choice of fixed blade field knife.
        Personally, go big or go home on the field knife.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Take a look at sami knives.

  28. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It's not particularly great for anything, but it works for whatever. I prefer a machete and a little kershaw folder.

  29. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    There is only two questions you need to ask
    Full Tang?
    Type of steel?
    Bonus question is what does the tang look like? Is it a nice and thicc or is it wimpy and built with a break point

  30. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It was basically a utility/hunting knife that was adopted as a combat knife. It's actually perfect for field use since GIs inevitably used them to pry open cans, cut ropes, pitch tents, etc. Britain issued the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife to their troops which was only supposed to be used as a dagger. The tips broke off when troops tried to use them for utility tasks like opening cans.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >Britain issued the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife to their troops which was only supposed to be used as a dagger. The tips broke off when troops tried to use them for utility tasks like opening cans.
      The ones issued to the Shanghai police force and the British SAS didn't have their tips snap off. The only Fairbairn-Sykes knives whose tips were breaking were the ones issued to US marines at the start of WW1 due to improper heat treating from some of the US companies making licensed copies.

      When our soldiers and marines started buying their own knives the military decided to replace the Fairbairn-Sykes for the Ka-Bar but those problems persisted with the new issued knives because the Ka-Bars were also getting inconsistent heat treatment.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Gah! Couldn't ever find a F-S or the tilted variant. Bought a Gerber MkII and III to cope. Still butthurt. Whenever I find them, I get outbid or they're just out of my price range (especially because I'd baby them and never use them).

  31. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Mostly larp, stick tang that's difetentially harden means ant hard use it first bends at the tang under the guard, then snaps when you bend it back

  32. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    What’s a combat knife that is superior and less expensive?

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Cold steel leather neck.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      A Mora companion.

      Use tools for what they're made for.

  33. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Anon. All blades are chunks of metal with an edge. Stop looking at it for what it looks like, and start seeing it for what it is made of. What it is.

    Does it fit your mission? Can you make it?

    this fricking modern world is coonsoomerism built on a cult of personality and legend worship.

    Ka-Bar is no better than any other chunk of metal with an edge that is within it's approximate form factor, ductility, and hardness.

    What do you want it for? Expressedly say, the things you want it for. Chances are you want it because "I like the way it looks, and I like the mythos around it." If that's the case? Grab it. You got one life to live, get through the catharsis of material ownership.

  34. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Are there any full tang knives with the same blade profile as a M9 bayonet?

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Cold Steel SRK or Green River Hunter.

  35. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    The ka bar fighting knofe looks sexy, but has a design flaw.
    They differentials heat treat the knife, leaving the blade hard, and the tang soft, as well as a large reduction in material from the blade to the stick tang, this transition point, where hard steel is transitioning to softer steel is very weak with the worst properties of both, soft enough to bend, but too brittle and will break when trying to bend it back.
    This issue is absent from any other knife in that price range I'm aware of.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >They differentials heat treat the knife, leaving the blade hard, and the tang soft
      [citation needed]
      >soft enough to bend, but too brittle
      Pick one.
      >and will break when trying to bend it back
      That's just fatigue.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Stop being a moron.
        The transition area is both soft and brittle.
        A fully soft steel can bend quite a bit without breaking, but the kabar is trash.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          >both soft and brittle
          The only moron here is you.

  36. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    It perfectly fits the bill as a fighting utility knife. Hammering a knife through wood is moronic anyway.

  37. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Primarily a fighting knife. That's why I would go with the bigger 1266 ninja version.

  38. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Not a knife guy but I have a tanto I took from my dad's workshop 15 years ago as a teen and think it's a solid blade. It's dull from all the cardboard I hacked up with it through the years but I remember how it sliced boxes up like butter initially.

  39. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Probably the best thread for it. Does anyone know what this style of knife is called specifically?
    I want to find a nice 60-70s camp/hunting knife like this but with stacked leather or stag grip. I have the japanese sharp kmart knife in the photo, but i want a nicer one.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      It's a copy of a Marble's Knives pattern, most likely the "Expert". Marble's Knives were extremely popular at the turn of the previous century, and once the copyright expired, copycats were everywhere.

  40. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Are tantos any good or just a meme
    Scissors 64

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      real tantos are the breasts.
      fake American tantos with the idiot point are shill garbage

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Ohhhhh, yeassss, grolious kneepan "steel", vewy shalp

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Correct

        Ohhhhh, yeassss, grolious kneepan "steel", vewy shalp

        I mean yeah, they are typically very sharp. The edge geometry and the lack of secondary bevel make japanese swords extremely sharp. You might want to consider speech therapy, i know a guy.

  41. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I work in a submarine shipyard and use my doghead kabar all the time almost daily, very useful for lashing and cutting kevlar and fire retartent cloth and fiberglass

  42. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Kabar is the best for gutting white prostitutes. Shalom.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >Not even 24609
      Didn't even try for the high score

  43. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    They were really good when they were $47-59, prices now are outrageous. The leather sheaths are bad and wear out, get the plastic one. The steel itself is fine, holds a decent edge. Mine is ground at a 25 degree angle. The tip is thicker than it needs to be but it's strong. The paint wears off quickly but the steel doesn't rust IMO. All in all a great knife to kill someone with and maybe do hard use chores with.

    Also condition the leather handle with beeswax conditioner, makes it last way longer.

  44. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I'm a kabar fanboy and my experience is this:
    They're fun and decent knives until they aren't.
    I had two that lasted over 5 years of moderate to heavy use, and two other's that just bit the shit and snapped off from the handle in under a year. (one while cutting rope lel)
    I only buy them on sale, and I love carrying them while doing innawoods stuff, but I'll be the first to say modernized camp/hunting knives in the same price range just work better all around.
    Still gonna keep packing one for funzies though.

  45. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Ha, another Nazi uncovered and cancelled.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      Elaborate like we all know wtf you're on about. Why did knife destroyer dude decide to end it all?

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        I hope whoever blackmailed him gets raped by baboons

        Judging by a few of the comments and some quick reading on Bladeforums, I'd hazard a guess that some fans of the bussy threw a tantrum that their indestructible knives weren't.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          it really is a damned shame that a crazy dude who destroys knifes for fun gets doxxed because MUH brand.

          Seriously hope he makes a comeback

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      I hope whoever blackmailed him gets raped by baboons

  46. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I use mine to chop a piece of my toothbrush and that's about it.

  47. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    i carry an m3 combat knife myself, with an m2 paratrooper knife for skinning. one day i couldnt get da mower to start and cut about a half acre with my m3. great knife, 10/10

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *