K-BAR 14 1/4 bowie

N

noss4

Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
1,009
I just received my K-bar 14 1/4" bowie knife in today. I took it out to the shop and cut through a 2x4 in about 5 minutes using light swings. The blade stayed very sharp after this test. I cut through some cardboard with ease. There was no chipping on the edge or edge roll. It has a great handle nice and large fills my hand nicely. It has a hard rubber surface. In fact the handle is a hell of a lot better than my Busse battle mistress. I only paid 50 bucks for it. So far I think it was a steal. I’m going up into the wilderness this weekend and give it a good workout.

Has any one else used this knife? What was your overall conclusion?
 
I pretty sure I would have bought an 18v 6.5 inch power saw for cutting up 2 x 4's. All lot more efficient and safer. That just happens to be my preferance.
 
JGarth said:
I pretty sure I would have bought an 18v 6.5 inch power saw for cutting up 2 x 4's. All lot more efficient and safer. That just happens to be my preferance.
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This isn't the Black and Decker forum, it's a knife forum. He's pre-testing his knife on a 2x4 to be sure it can handle what he will need it to do in the field.
 
I have the shorter version and it is a good chopper as well. Nice beefy handle.

Cheers,
--Dave
 
I was considering getting one of those.

Please give us a feedback after this weekend.
 
Your not going to believe this but the last time I cut up a large branch, I found uncut 2x4's in the middle. I know, I was amazed too.
 
Goes to show....ya never can tell.....
guess I gotta get one of those Ka-Bars...
 
Whats the problem?! Its not like the guy was chopping a cinderblock to make sure his knife cuts wood well....He wasnt saying thats how hes going to cut all his 2x4', just that thats how he tested it. A 2x4 is a piece of wood, which comes from trees in case you didnt allready know, so Im not sure where you're coming from. As for the power tools, I agree with WadeF...it isnt a power tool forum and so it seems a bit out of place to mention them.

Anyways, I have one and its a great knife. The handle is great; they hold up, and make using the thing for prolonged cutting easy on the hands. The blade holds its edge well, and after you do get it dull it sharpens up really easily. Mine cuts very well and hasnt been damaged at all from use other than some wear on the black epoxy coating.
 
JGarth said:
Goes to show....ya never can tell.....
guess I gotta get one of those Ka-Bars...
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Nah, it would be more fun to see you in the wilderness with a 18v 6.5 inch power saw trying to survive. Hope that battery holds a charge for a really long time.
 
I'll post some testing results after this weekend for those considering buying this knife.

Thanks for the feedback so far.
 
I took apart a set of stairs with my Scrapyard 6.....so I have no qualms with wackin a few 2X4's. Its fun, the knife will take it and you just see what it can do. Its actually a very common practice and its something thats done in almost all cutting comps.
 
I almost bought one of these a few weeks ago - the price looked great, but the sheath looked a bit thin and made be leary of the quality of the knife. It's good to hear that everyone likes the knife.

Anybody have a better, simple (low cost), alternative sheath idea that doesn't cost more than the knife - thanks.
 
I like this knife quite a bit--more than I thought I would. The handle is quite comfortable, despite its somewhat-odd shape; I had no trouble chopping a good deal of wood one day, some of it pretty hard, while making a shelter. The sheath does not strike me as particularly weak. It's a pretty big knife, and the fat handle makes it more obtrusive than some. But the steel seems just fine, and the cost is comparable to, or less than, many other good knives of similar dimensions. The blade is also much less clunky and unwieldy than I'd expected.

One thing I'll be interested to see is if anybody starts converting these things into combat bowies. I imagine that it would be easy to make a pretty-awesome knife that way. The unsharpened clip extends just about half-way back from the tip of the blade, and would make a really great sharpened clip, in my humble opinion. You'd just need to get rid of the chubby kraton handle, add a guard, and replace the kraton with something a little slimmer, maybe along the lines of a traditional coffin-shaped handle, like one sees on CS' Laredo Bowie or some of Bagwell's bowies. I bet you could have a truly-respectable carbon-steel Bowie for a price so low that you could genuinely afford to test it hard before the need for using it arose.
 
About the sheath: it is simple but seems well-made with fairly heavy construction.The knife fits nice and snug. It consists of a cordura front and the remainder made of leather, riveted and sewn together. It should serve the knife
and user well.
 
noss4 said:
I'll post some testing results after this weekend for those considering buying this knife.

Thanks for the feedback so far.
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I'm seriously considering getting this knife. I look forward to hear what you say after this weekend
 
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