Anyone here use a KA-BAR?

[Minotaur]

Actually the KBAR was adopted because it was more of a utility knife than a fighting knife and as such was more"GI Proof."

I had heard this was one of those it is made in the US things.

The real fighting knives are of a dagger or stilletto design(prior to the KBARs adoption the Marine Corps issued mostly those designs including the 1917 Trench Knife, The Model 3 Trench Knife and the British Commando Dagger)

One quick question, have you got any evidence for the issuing of the British Commando Dagger to US Marines?

There are two schools of knife fighting use - Bowie, or Fairburn. It is a very old arguement that will go on until they perfect light sabers. A Ka bar is a bowie style blade so it is a fighting knife by default. The problem with these sort of arguements, is almost all utility blades can be used as weapons. I think it would be easier to list the ones that could not be used.

My understanding is that it has been banned from the UK. Look up KBAR.com for there full line of products, likewise for Ontario Knives.com.

Hennie has Ka Bars for sale so that would tend to say they legal in the UK. It might be worth a word over on British Blades, there is a thing about daggers so if Ka Bars have that Bowie edge sharpened this may become an academic conversation for a Brit.

 

[hog]

oooooooooh now that's not 1/2 bad, much sorter blade than my mate's KA-BAR, what is it? I like the hammer pommel, this would make a fair diving knife in SS

Thgis one was sent to me from the USA by a friend, they are very robust and the pommel is good for pounding, I rekon that a survival knife has got to be able to put up with a certain ammount of abuse, these certainly did during the was in SE Asia.

 

[santaman2000]

I had heard this was one of those it is made in the US things.

I have heard that line of thought about a lot of items but not yet about the KaBar. At least not in that context. I have heard "If it's good enough for the Marines, It's good enough for me!" But that is now, after 65 years of iconic use by the Marine Corps use not likely a factor when it was still just a prototype. Also if "made in the USA" were the overiding factor it's more likely they would have stuck with an exesting design such as the Mark 3 trench knife (which did indeed remain poular with many Army soldiers) or with the 1917 Trench Knife.



One quick question, have you got any evidence for the issuing of the British Commando Dagger to US Marines?

Most of my info on that subject comes from various articles on the knice itself. It's become somewhat of an icon here (as stated earlier) so there are a lot such articles as well as tv documentaries. Obviously these sources are as biased as their authors (much like out own posts) but the number sharing this opinion is the majority.

There are two schools of knife fighting use - Bowie, or Fairburn. It is a very old arguement that will go on until they perfect light sabers. A Ka bar is a bowie style blade so it is a fighting knife by default. The problem with these sort of arguements, is almost all utility blades can be used as weapons. I think it would be easier to list the ones that could not be used.

That's partially true. The modern Bowie is as many people have pointed out quite different from Jim Bowie's original design and is extremely similar to an English design from the Middle Ages that was a general purpose knife. That's true of many tools actually: Axes (especially tomahawks), hammers, etc. I can think of only one knife that cannot be used as a weapon. I don't know the name of it but we used to issue it to aircrew for bail-out use. It is a folding blade (a switchblade actually so he can open it one handed) used for cutting tangled paracute lines to correct a malfunction. the blade only has a small cutting edge on the inside of a hook on the end. I suppose it could be used as a weapon but not a cutting or stabbing weapon.



Hennie has Ka Bars for sale so that would tend to say they legal in the UK. It might be worth a word over on British Blades, there is a thing about daggers so if Ka Bars have that Bowie edge sharpened this may become an academic conversation for a Brit.

That's good to know. I had heard something a bout it on another forum and was curious; particularl how something like a KaBar would be illegal but a Khukuri legal. I suspect a lot of British laws are like a lot of American laws though; open to vague interpretation thus leaving us at the whim of an unsympathetic policeman.

 

[sandbender]

I don't have a horse in this race, I don't think I will ever own a Ka-Bar (although I did once own a Camillus Pilots knife) however I thought Ka-Bar owners or potential owners might appreciate these super chunky hand made leather sheaths for the Ka-Bar. They probably cost more than the knife.

Link here.

 

[John Fenna]

The nearst I have come to owning a Ka Bar is owning a Cold Steel SRK in Carbon V. A bit similar I think....
A Good knife I guess but for my Bushy needs...a little too macho.
So I cut it down (from the but-end), re shaped the clip into a drop point (crucifying myself in the process when the stone I was using slipped:yikes and reshaping the grind to a convexed finish.
Not a Ka-Bar, no longer long, no longer a bowie and with a custom edge, an cherry-wood handle (offset rebate) and a custom leather sheath that also holds a spark-stick (the original was also chery handled but that got lost in a wood near Bridgend - now it has an antler handled spark-stick).....but it makes a great bushy blade!
I realy like the steel!