classic kabar

S

spydercomil

Joined
Jul 9, 2010
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How do you guys feel about the classic kabar. I could get a bk7, but there is something so classic and beautiful about the classic marine knife. Do you guys think its worth it? Also what have been your experiences with this knife?
 
i happen to have my Grandpa's from WWII, guam etc, it holds an edge quite well still take it bushcrafting with me and i must say it is by far one of the best knives ive owned even for a a massed produced knife in a war time era
 
I broke one a day ago batoning it through a very small knot in a very small piece of wood. I am not all that impressed with the knives strength.

Otherwise, it's a nice blade, and fairly good for the price. Just not super tough.
 
They are both great. I've used my fighting knife for decades with no problems at all. That said - if you want it for batonning and general outdoors stuff, the Beckers are probably more well suited.

I like the Beckers better but only a little. They all rock but when I hunt, my fighting knife has been staying at home and my BK-2 has been going with me.
 
I had one (black handled serrated model - my first fixed blade) that tended to bend quite readily at the hilt if you did any kind of light/medium chopping with it. I tried a little batoning with it, too, and it didn't hold up well... Eventually I just took the blade in one hand, the handle in the other, and found that I could bend it with my bare hands. :rolleyes: It must have been defective, but still... if it left the factory like that, it doesn't speak well for the design.

That said, I've owned two more over the years because I think they're just so cool looking... :o

In short, I found it to be a nice knife - comfortable, good looking, and made with good steel and materials - but surprisingly delicate for a knife with its reputation and size.
 
I have a Kabar #1273, with a kraton handle & slightly different blade design than the regular USMC type. Overall, it performs well, but I don't baton my knives and I usually don't chop with them, except my Himalayan Imports kukris. It takes and holds an edge well, and is comfortable to use around the yard, due to the handle shape. When we're camping, the hammer butt comes in handy for tent stakes. The only modification is that I've drilled a hole in the top guard so I can hook the tent stakes and pull them out. It's opened cans & made fuzz sticks for starting fires.

There are probably better knives out there for rough work, but I wouldn't have any problem making this one or a regular issue Kabar my permanent outdoors knife.

~Chris
 
NothingCoherent said:
I broke one a day ago batoning it through a very small knot in a very small piece of wood. I am not all that impressed with the knives strength.

Otherwise, it's a nice blade, and fairly good for the price. Just not super tough.
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You must be one of those guys who leans all his weight on the handle when batoning.
 
I have all 3. (kabar, BK7, and esee 6). I like the esee 6 the best for an outdoor knife. the kabar and BK7 make good outdoor knives but were somewhat also designed primarily as a fighter. The BK7 is Ethan Beckers version of what the orig. kabar should be. its a good blade design for a fighter, while adding more width to the blade for outdoor work. You will be fine whichever way you go.
 
spydercomil said:
How do you guys feel about the classic kabar. I could get a bk7, but there is something so classic and beautiful about the classic marine knife. Do you guys think its worth it? Also what have been your experiences with this knife?
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Depends on how you want to use it.
The BK7 is pretty much indestructible. But it is a way big blade.
The Classic is a great general purpose camp knife that will perform common jobs very well.

If you get the Classic, you might give thought to cutting off the guard on the top side to allow your thumb access to the back of the blade to guide it in precision cutting.
 
id say it seems to me that the esee 6 knife is a little higher quality than the others, the ka bar has the old school cool factor but all three are like a combat/survuval knife so i dont know if any of them would be that great for batoning and stuff. If u look at the knives almost designed for batoning and really hard use they are a whole different design. I love the look of the bk7 so id probably go with that one.
 
I have the classic USMC KA-BAR and I love it. I traded my BK7 in fact. The sheath was awful and as big of a Becker fan I am, I just didn't need it. The KA-BAR is light, quick in the hand, holds a great edge and is plenty stout. It's not an overbuild ESEE in that it isn't designed for nimrods who want to beat the hell out of a knife just because they can. It does have limits. This was a knife that was designed to be mass produced for men involved in some pretty serious business. It is a combat knife first, but will serve very will in any other capacity.

If you are like me, aesthetics are important. You cannot beat the classic, pure American look and feel of a leather handled KA-BAR.

And yes, I would go with the leather handle. I find it to be much more comfortable and easy on the hand than kraton.

Also, I bought mine with the kydex sheath but since went back and got the leather sheath. I feel the leather has wonderful retention and a great feel to it.
 
sqoon said:
I have the classic USMC KA-BAR and I love it. I traded my BK7 in fact. The sheath was awful and as big of a Becker fan I am, I just didn't need it. The KA-BAR is light, quick in the hand, holds a great edge and is plenty stout. It's not an overbuild ESEE in that it isn't designed for nimrods who want to beat the hell out of a knife just because they can. It does have limits. This was a knife that was designed to be mass produced for men involved in some pretty serious business. It is a combat knife first, but will serve very will in any other capacity.

If you are like me, aesthetics are important. You cannot beat the classic, pure American look and feel of a leather handled KA-BAR.

And yes, I would go with the leather handle. I find it to be much more comfortable and easy on the hand than kraton.

Also, I bought mine with the kydex sheath but since went back and got the leather sheath. I feel the leather has wonderful retention and a great feel to it.
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If I did get the kabar it would HAVE to be leather handled, but I would get the army model. I recently got an esee 4 and would love an esee 6, but I am very allergic to the resin in the micarta, so much so that I have had to put the 4 away. The bk7 looks amazing, except I haven't heard anything good about the sheath, and the handle looks really slippery. Does anyone have any similar suggestions, preferably without resin micarta. Also, how would you generally rate the bk7 as an all around woods/fighter?
 
I love the full-size USMC KA-BAR, straight edge with a leather handle.

Not very strong for a large fixed blade, but everything just feels (and looks)right.

Rafael
 
knarfeng said:
If you get the Classic, you might give thought to cutting off the guard on the top side to allow your thumb access to the back of the blade to guide it in precision cutting.
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Or you can use a hammer & a stick of wood, and just bend it down. A member here posted a pic a while back, and he had bent the top guard down over the blade. It made for a nice thumb rest.

spydercomil said:
The bk7 looks amazing, except I haven't heard anything good about the sheath, and the handle looks really slippery. Does anyone have any similar suggestions, preferably without resin micarta. Also, how would you generally rate the bk7 as an all around woods/fighter?
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The old Camillus sheath is okay, but the knife rattles around in it. I ran bolts through the base, because the kydex sleeve kept coming out.

I used a thin file & a hacksaw to cut slots in the scales; when wet they were adequately grippy, but in snow they would allow my grip on the knife to shift if snow got between my glove and the handle.

Great all-around woods & camp knife, but as a fighter? I don't know. Kind of big, bulky & slow for that, I'd think.

Here's a pic of mine, with what goes in my B.O.B.:
BOBKnives.jpg

(I stripped the finish after I got it. I have a thing about coated blades.)

~Chris
 
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spydercomil said:
If I did get the kabar it would HAVE to be leather handled, but I would get the army model. I recently got an esee 4 and would love an esee 6, but I am very allergic to the resin in the micarta, so much so that I have had to put the 4 away. The bk7 looks amazing, except I haven't heard anything good about the sheath, and the handle looks really slippery. Does anyone have any similar suggestions, preferably without resin micarta. Also, how would you generally rate the bk7 as an all around woods/fighter?
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The handle is great. I like my BK-2 better than my son's BK-7 (same handle) but not by a wide margin. The texture prevents blisters and works well at that task. If you're worried about hanging on to it, a simple paracord lanyard like this one (with a hangman's knot) works wonders:

IMG00648-20100827-2315.jpg


That's my son's BK-7 on top.
 
The handle isnt slippery. Plus you can get micarta handles for them. The sheath isnt great but it works.
 
Jake Bauer said:
The handle isnt slippery. Plus you can get micarta handles for them. The sheath isnt great but it works.
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If by "works" you mean that it is a receptacle in which the knife fits in, then you are right. If you mean "works" in that if holds the knife securely, does not rattle, will not easily fall out if the snap is not engaged and had multiple attach points, then I have no idea what sheath you are describing, cause it ain't the BK7 sheath.
 
The USMC is one of my favorites. Here's a photo of some of mine(Top to bottom: Ontario SpecPlus, KaBar w/ black rubber handle, Kabar w/ leather handle, newer leather handle KaBar.)
377187_orig.jpg


I've had the first leather handled one for years and I've done just about everything with that knife that you should never do with a knife and it comes out great every time. This long list includes: prying, chopping, batonning, slicing, dropping it tip down into a log, opening cans, chopping through an ice block, leaving it out in the rain and snow, I think I even threw it at my achery target once or twice, etc. The only problem it had was after I dropped a 100lb log on it last year the guard came a bit loose, it was a simple matter to bend it tight again though. I'm not sure where these exploding and flexible knives are coming from but of the 6 or 7 KaBar versions that I've seen (3 of my own, plus a few I bought as gifts), I've never seen one flex like a $5.00 machete, and the only one I've ever seen self destruct was a $5-10 chinese version I got somewhere.

The BK-7 is also a good choice.
 
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