Ka-Bar new short heavy bowie field test. (pics)

M

MountainLyon

Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
25
Hello, this is my first review here. I ordered a Ka-Bar short heavy bowie from http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/kbar/index.html because it looked like a lot of knife for $37 for rough use/abuse as a makeshift hatchet, shovel, pry bar, ect. It’s my first Ka-bar and first big high carbon utility/fighting knife, so I don’t have much to compare it to other than an antique stag handle bowie and 440c and S30v Bucks, I’m obviously not going to subject them to rough use like this one.
kabarinstump2.jpg


I figured I’d break in the evil black military looking bowie by doing some volunteer tree huggin hippie woodland maintenance and weed pulling. :^) The hills I hike in are being taken over by scotch broom, any guesses where it’s from and what it was used for? ;^) They’re a fire hazard when the dead ones pile up under the trees like kindling, they also crowd wildlife habitat. Here’s a spot I’ve been working on so I can see the sunset when sitting on the rocks.
scotchbroomsunsetspot.jpg


The broom stalks too big to pull usually cut with a couple chops, or break and that’s okay because the root dries out a dies quicker.
kabarscotchbroom1.jpg
kabarscotchbroom2.jpg


Big ones took a few more chops, when not much room to swing and the blade was ready to be sharpened after digging in the rocks with it.
kabarbigscotchbroon.jpg
kabarbigscotchbroomcut.jpg


The road I walk has a worse weed, puncture vine AKA goat heads, which pop bike tires and get stuck in dog’s feet. Seed clusters are visible, 5 thorned seeds per cluster. I’ve been cutting/popping them out of the ground and packing them to the nearest garbage can.
kabardiggingpunturevine.jpg
kabarpunctuevine3.jpg
kabarpuncturevine2.jpg


The big blade sharpens up pretty good on my sharpmaker with some work, and holds an edge pretty well considering rough use. I’m happy with it, good beater/camp knife. If I could change anything on it I’d make the handle a little smaller and the blade tip a little thicker, but I haven’t broke the tip prying with it yet, and the handle fits the size of the knife, which BTW is 13” overall, not 12 5/8” like the ad says, and the blade is 7 9/16” long.
kabarbladecloseup.jpg
 
Nice review. Thanks. I have always liked Kabars. I slap some yellow paint on mine so if I forget where I left it it is easier to find. This is one of the few I have seen that doesn't have the blood-groove.
 
MountainLyon said:
If I could change anything on it I’d make the handle a little smaller and the blade tip a little thicker ...
Click to expand...
I like the general size of the handle (from the shots anyway), but the end hook looks a little sharp, I like them to run the other way. Nice blade profile, I like fairly stout tips on heavy wood working knives as well. You want to strike a decent balance between ability to sink into the wood easily and still have the ability to lever pieces out.

-Cliff
 
Scotch Broom was brought to this country by immigrants.....they hoped to pursue broom making as they had done in their native land. The plant flourished here and became a noxious growth.

I just read about it in the book Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon.


Thomas Zinn
 
DGG, good idea about yellow paint, and I'd guess it doesn't have a blood groove/fuller because the grind is the full width of the blade.

Cliff Stamp, very minor criticisms really, I just had to find something to nitpick about, how I would want it if it was custom made for me. Also good point about the end hook, I didn't like it at first but I found it comfortable to grip far back while chopping.

Zinn1348, I was sort of joking asking about the scotch broom, since the name is self explanatory, cool to learn a little more though. :^)

Powerball, it takes some work to sharpen, I cut a bit of steel off it this evening with a coarse oil stone to get the dings out from daily hikes ruthlessly digging goatheads out of the rocks with it.

As I was putting the bowie away after sharpening it I saw a big ugly rat looking at me from the back yard, I was tempted to see how well I could throw the big knife, but the screen door was closed. :^(
 
Great-looking blade! Like Cliff, I love the blade profile. I probably would like the finer tip. One thing I've heard about kabars blades like these is that they have hit-and-miss heat treat. However, yours seems to be doing OK :D
 
MountainLyon said:
I didn't like it at first but I found it comfortable to grip far back while chopping.
Click to expand...

A lot of this is method, I tend to drive a lot, using wrist action, while chopping and end hooks like that will pound the pinky readily in such use. I also like the end hook to flare out to reduce the impact pressures, I have a custom which is extreme in that respect :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/parrell_parang_side.jpg

For a larger version of that bowie, with a similar blade profile, you might want to check out the Ontario RTAK, the handle is a bit squarish, but the blade profile is pretty solid for a mini-machete style knife.

-Cliff
 
When I hold it far back for chopping, I meant waaay far back, with two fingers above and below, seems strange but it feels solid. I think I agree with you in general about end hooks though. My Cold Steel 24" Latin machete has a more laid back end hook, I use it to prune palms and cut tall weeds around the yard, way too big for hiking. I like the look of the handle on that Ontario RTAK, but it's expensive enough to not want to thrash on it. Very cool custom knife you got there, that one's definitely not for digging in the rocks with!

By the way, that rat I mentioned seeing when I had the knife in hand, I shot it this evening with one of the air rifles in my "airsenal." I even took a couple hunting "trophy" pics...
 
MountainLyon said:
...with two fingers above and below...
Click to expand...

Can you do that for an extended period of time. I do that on occasion, but it chews up the side of my index finger quickly, I doubt I could chop heavily for more than an hour or so.

Very cool custom knife you got there, that one's definitely not for digging in the rocks with!.
Click to expand...

That is actually one of my main brush knives, it can seen more than a few rock contacts when brush whacking.

-Cliff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top