General questions about KA-BAR and the sheaths

A

alexwrig

Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
8
Hi,

I am going to buy a new fixed-blade knife and I think that a classic KA-BAR might be just the knife I am looking for. But I have some question I would like to ask—

1. Which of the classic KA-BARs variations is the one which came first? The 1217? There are several others and all look quite the some but seem to have different features. I don't understand the differences.

2. I appreciate this classic leather sheath but this black nylon sheath also seems to be quite interesting. Can anybody tell me if there are any disadvantages when using the black one? Does the black coat of the blade wear faster when being inserted or when the blade moves? Or does the knife have a loose fit inside and make rattling noises when moving. I once had a knife with a plastic sheath and you could hear the knife moving inside when running.

Maybe the leather sheath will even help keeping the knife dry by taking moisture away from the blade. The plastic one will obviously not..

Thank you very much,

Stefan
 
Yes, the 1217 is the "classic" style Kabar. But it's not an exact replica of the original as the originals had a parkerized finish not powder-coated.

The powder-coating is reasonably tough but not permanent by any means. It will wear off over time depending on what it rubs against.

The leather sheath would not cause significant wear on the finish. However, if any dirt gets trapped in the sheath then that dirt will scratch and wear the blades finish. This is one benefit of plastc sheaths, you can rinse them out. But a plastic sheath will definitely wear the finish off a Kabar over time. In fact, after about a dozen in-and-outs you would likely start to notice wear beggining.

One issue with leather is that acids in the leather from the tanning process can cause bare metal to rust (the edge of the blade and any areas where the finish wears off), but I'm not sure if Kabar uses that type of tanning process for their sheaths. Also, leather will not protect the blade from moisture in any way, quite the opposite. Leather can absorb moisture like a sponge and then your blade is sitting in a wet sheath.
 
killgar said:
One issue with leather is that acids in the leather from the tanning process can cause bare metal to rust (the edge of the blade and any areas where the finish wears off), but I'm not sure if Kabar uses that type of tanning process for their sheaths. Also, leather will not protect the blade from moisture in any way, quite the opposite. Leather can absorb moisture like a sponge and then your blade is sitting in a wet sheath.
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True but Leather can be waterproofed, there are many products to achieve various levels of moisture resistance, i wouldnt say completely water proof but definitely better than a sponge:) as far as the tanning, not sure. But any quality leather sheath should be veg tanned leather, so no leeching of corrosives onto the knife. Whether kabar uses veg tanned or not i dont know i sure would hope so.
gene
 
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