Personally, I'm a big fan of the next generation knife. It's 440A steel, epoxy coated so it's virtually maintenance free as far as corrosion goes - this makes it better than the carbon-steel of the BK7, at least for me (good durable epoxy coating too). I like the ergonomics of the Kabar grip much better than any of the other tactical knives out there - much better than the SOG - but that's just personal preference as much as anything.
It's true the Kabar isn't as hefty or strong as the SOG SEAL the blade on the Ka-Bar os 0.168" vs. 0.25" for the SEAL. Depends on what you want to do with it. The thinner edge of the Ka-Bar is much better for slicing and cutting - and the 440A is "soft" enough that you don't have to worry about it chipping, etc. when you chop even though it is a thin edge.
The Ka-Bar has fixed the problem of the pommel coming off, btw. They are now using a much stronger, thicker Titanium pin. They used the pommel to pound 10 2" nails into a 2x4 in development tests, and the pommel didn't loosen even a little - did dent a bit though.
The Ka-Bar isn't balanced for chopping as much as the SEAL or BK7 are, but it CAN handle light chopping jobs, splitting wood, etc. - and it does better on the more delicate cutting jobs than the hefty blades.
As far as prying, digging, etc. goes, the Ka-Bar can do some of this as well, you just need to respect its limitations because the stick tang isn't as strong as the tang on the other blades.
All-in-all, it depends on what you want to do with. For multi-purpose and general use, I'd say the Ka-Bar is the best. If you want something to do more chopping, prying, etc. with, then go with the SEAL or BK7.
Dan
