Hey mate. Whilst I'm no authority on Kabar knives, I do love them. So I'd like to help a brother out.
Both the MK1s and MK2s are made from 1095 cro-van steel. Kabar steel is generally heat treated to about 58rc. Holds a great edge whilst being quite easy to sharpen.
These particular shapes of knives have been used for decades and decades in numerous wars and other facets of life by millions of people. Ergo, they are a great design. Typically though they're not the first blade that people usually suggest to use as a bush craft type knife however IMO I believe they would make a fantastic bush knife.
They have a full tang construction, the tang however being hidden inside the handle. Don't be misled by the concept that they are a stick tang however. The tang is certainly not stick thin but they are not a exposed full tang like you find on the Becker range. There are pictures available of a sectioned blue print that gives you an indication of how wide the tang is. Whilst the original design had stress risers where the tang meets the handle I believe the next generation of F/Us have been modified with radiused inner corners (someone correct me if I'm wrong here).
I have a D2 Extreme F/U that has the same shape as the MK2 and am looking at getting myself one of the 1317s Dog Head F/Us. They look super cool. If you wanna see this knife in use as a bush knife check out Lost Vikings thread. Brilliantly written with some great pics of it in action. Anyway, hope that helped Nathan..
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1300572-Dog-s-Head-Utility-The-First-Thirty-Days
