He tried to chop some small thin branches from a dead tree. It was a soft wood (spruce) and inside the branches it wasn't anything metallic - nail or something like that, he checked it multiple times. Not even a knag.
knag? knot?
because my standard saying is "fir trees are soft woods *as a rule*, dried ones are not, fir tree knots are typically silicated (rocks)"...
usually when a harder steel hits a silicated knot, or a proper round bit of steel (rebar), we see some cool fractal like shockwaves - chonchoidal fractures like in flint
knife chop there, who likes to post on "other forums", and is known to have an extensive collection of shattered blades has a few pictures of this phenomenon. it's kinda cool, but to me, indicates: the steel might have been a weeeeee hard. the object hit was VERY VERY VERY HARD (rock, knots, etc). a frozen Christmas tree is the worst thing ever. you can throw sparks from those things, esp when dry. when moist and fresh? good time.
IMHO, this knife looks like a classic issue of "a bit soft".
if it were ME, i'd photograph and document, and tell the maker. who, honestly, should be given 2-3 business days to ponder. not a reaming on a Sunday evening their time. they're closed. they'll open Monday, and i'm pretty sure, they will see this VERY quickly.
now, if i were them, i'll want to see this blade, so, ideally, don't do anything to the blade, or attempt to fix it; it should get shipped to them. probably without handles, flat, packed bullet proof, and zoom. this seems like a good warranty issue.
otherwise, i've had knives do this. in the apocalypse, i'd use a hammer and some good surface, like an anvil, and i'd gently work that out, and then i would sharpen the too soft edge out, and see what happens. it would take a few go around to determine goodness.
i'll try to call Mr Becker *right now*, just so he is aware, plus please note that KaBar handles the warranties as rule, but he will be involved.
can't ask for much more than that 10PM on a Sunday East Coast USA Stateside
