Ka-Bar Kukri machete review!

Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
386
Well i couldn't find many reviews of it online so i thought i would write my own! so here goes!

First Imprisons: out of the box it came extremely sharp, it would shave with ease, the handle felt good, it had a much much thinner edge then i thought it would. the sheath is ok, its not kydex but it gets the job done and should hold up for a while. overall i felt it was a good buy at 44$.

thoughts after use: for berry vines and such the thin edge is amazing and hacks past them with ease. it is a much better chopper then one would think it bites deep into the wood and takes big chunks out! even on very dry redwood it did great! chopping a 7 inch long in half in about 8 mins, it hacks tree limbs off very well, the handle absorbs alot of shock and does great. for being 1085 at a HRC of 53-54 it holds an edge amazingly well it was still sharp enough to shave after chopping that log in 2 with no stropping or edge damage of any kind.


the down sides i can see is the edge is almost too thin, if you apply torque it would snap big pieces off and the tip is very thin thanks to the top swedge if you try to pry with it it will snap for sure, due to the thin swedge at the top i wouldn't baton with it in fear of torquing it too much or damaging the swedge and possibly snapping the edge but if you are careful you could use the lower spine near the handle to baton as it is left at full thickness.

pics:
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over all i would like to see a version with no swedge and a full flat grind or saber grind which would lead to a stronger edge, spine and tip, as well as a better sheath.

for 44$ you cant go wrong though and heck if it breaks and Ka-Bar doesn't cover it just buy a new one :D
 
I'm tempted despite all the blades I already have. Just how many choppy blades do I need?

Oh yeah. All of them...
 
Pretty impressive given its price. I believe the KA-BAR Kukri fills a a certain Niche seeing as it offers a slight upgrade in quality and construction from the more inexpensive Cold Steel Kukri Machete. Also it's less expensive than most all of Himalayan Imports offerings.
 
I have one as well. I have batoned numerous times with it with no issues. I have gotten it stuck in a knot but just used another blade to help get it out. GREAT chopper for the price.
 
I have one of these and they are great. I choose between it and the cold steel (at the time) and the handle on the kabar was much more comfortable.

I have thrown it chopped, batoned etc.

Great bush tool. I highly recommend it (though I am not a kukri expert by any means)
 
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