KA-BAR Tech Talk

My Desert Mule folder has finally started to fail after many years of very hard use. I can break the lockup with my hands very easily, when it used to be rock solid. That is understandable, as I have really put this knife through its paces.

How do I tell if the culprit is the lock bar or the notch in the blade? They seem to engage fine to my untrained eye, but clearly something is off. Once I figure it out, who do I contact for replacement parts? I don't pretend even for a second that the knife would still be under warranty, but I would like to be able to fix it up and use it again.
 
Bladite said:
it's not clear where he gets it. moose blood? clown blood? godzilla blood? could be industrial. 50 gallon drums.
Click to expand...

If you mix Toooj's blood and Moose's blood and dip a Ka-Bar product in it, it will go out and harvest clown and godzilla blood for you.
 
Toooj himself. It is the combination with Moose's blood that makes it suseptable the moonshine. Otherwise it is mouthwash.
 
Stu,
Check the back corner of the rocker bar hook and the back corner of the blade notch. Those two places are usually the culprit when a lock back fails to hold. One or both could be worn...or the lock notch can be filled with smegma. Give your knife a good WD -40 bath and then see if that helps. If all fails send it in to me.

Blah,blah,blah, Nyah, Nyah,Nyah...
I'm not listening too you SSBob; Proto thief.

Toooj
 
I'm really interested in the genesis of some of the 2013 KA-BAR products that you guys have announced. I get the rerelease of the BK10 and a JAB 'tweener'.. but a large-sized Dozier SLIPJOINT???!? A new line of KA-BAR traditional knives with COPPER???!? A ICE SCRAPER??!??! A CLEAVER???!? These all seem really out of the box, unusual, and out of left field.

Are there any plans for KA-BAR's marketing to include how these really interesting concepts came to become actual production tools?

Also, did anyone take a picture of Mr Dozier's face when it was suggested to him that some of his knives be incorporated into the "Zombie" line?
 
There is no in the box. It's just how you look at the box. Isn't that what I have heard you say Toooj?
 
I recently bought a Kabar #1225 Navy C/U knife from A.G. Russell, and they were nice enough to do a visual inspection for me to make sure it was what I was looking for. I bought this one as kind of a late Christmas present to myself, and to have the sheath engraved to commemorate one of my achievements in the Navy.

I have a #1217 USMC knife and it's one of my favorites. However, there are some differences between the two knives dimensionally that I have questions about. The base of the handle on the #1225 Navy knife is smaller in diameter that the older #1217 USMC knife; looking down at the top of each handle, the bottom of the leather grip area on the #1225 Navy is much narrower. The overall diameter of the handle seems much smaller in the middle of the handle, very noticeable when you hold one knife then the other. On the Navy knife, the spacer the the bottom of the leather where it transitions to the butt cap is a different shape as well. The guard on the #1225 model seems to be a slightly heavier gauge of steel as well.

I just assumed that other than the tang stamps, the #1217 USMC & #1225 USN knives would be identical. Have dimensions changed over time? Are there differences in dimensions between different production runs?

The only difference in the sheath (other than finish) is that the Navy knife sheath has a rivet at the back of the sheath; this rivet is going to tear up the waistband of whatever pants or shorts I'm wearing at the time.

~Chris
 
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Toooj said:
Shunsui,

You know, we talk about that from time to time in our PD meetings. So far there isn't enough customer feedback driving a change.


Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
Click to expand...

*Customer feedback on Next Gen. Pommel design question from Page 1 of thread*

Hope it helps, I don't own one, but I like the look and Idea of longer pommel on the Next Gen. with lanyard hole, it's one of the details that gives me incentive to buy one for myself.

Something I would like to see is a stacked leather handle version if the SLH's are stronger handels than the Kraton G models (resist bending from pounding) OR is that not a factor with the D2 steel?

Thanks for being here and responding Tooj, it just makes me appreciate KaBar even more and ups my loyalty to the brand.
 
Orca,

A couple of years ago we switched our leather handle turning over to CNC machinery. There were a few profile changes when we did that. The old models were turned on a hand lathe and then hand sanded. The new CNC way is faster and more consistant. You probably have and are comparing a pre CNC model and a post CNC model (which I suspect) or maybe two pre CNC models from different sanding operators.

stvpourciau,

Thanks for your input.
You are correct. The stacked leather handles are stronger than the Kraton handles when it comes to the tangs bending. However, the D2 blade is completely hardened so the tang bending is not an issue on the D2 knives. So far most customers like the Kraton for the 1281 and the leather for the 1217, et al.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
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BRL,

Inspite of SSBob's enigmatic character, he is correct. While not disregarding our traditional customer base, we are really trying to think out of the box on some of our new offerings.
I'm on my soap box here:

The knife industry is not the huge industry it once was. Almost the entire present day sporting knife industry (Both custom and factory) now fits into a large conference room at the Blade Show. That's not very big.
Very few of us really need a knife for our daily work, knife laws are becoming increasingly restrictive and the old traditional base is slowly going away. Let's face it we are not in a booming business. So here are some questions.
Where does the next generation of knife buyer come from? Can we think differently from the old way of knife thinking? Can we push out the boundaries of the box? Can we make a new box to play in? Does our box look like a Rembrandt or a Picasso?
And I'm not just talking about the next fancy blade lock mechanism or blade shape.
We at KA-BAR have chosen the Path Less Traveled, hopefully it will make all the difference.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
Toooj said:
Orca,

A couple of years ago we switched our leather handle turning over to CNC machinery. There were a few profile changes when we did that. The old models were turned on a hand lathe and then hand sanded. The new CNC way is faster and more consistant. You probably have and are comparing a pre CNC model and a post CNC model (which I suspect) or maybe two pre CNC models from different sanding operators.

* * *

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
Click to expand...

Toooj - Thanks for the info. The overall quality of the Navy knife I have is right up there with the best quality of Kabar, so no complaints there. I was just surprised at the difference in handle dimensions. I'll just assume the my Navy knife is post-CNC and my USMC is pre-CNC, as you said. My Navy knife definitely has a more perfectly proportioned [machined] look and feel, compared to my USMC. Now that you mentioned CNC (which I have experience with in the cabinetry industry) it all makes sense.

My only complaint is that the Navy's handle is small enough that it gets swallowed up when I use it with gloves - it feels skinny; the USMC is fuller. I'll try the O-ring trick with the Navy and see if that helps.

I would like to lodge a complaint on the sheath, though: both the regular sheath that came with my #1225 Navy knife sheath and the #1211 sheath (which I bought for my KBD1 - it fits the knife really well) have a rivet in the back of the sheath, and my pre-CNC USMC sheath doesn't have the rivet. The rivet has sharp edges, and to put it in not-so-delicate terms, it sucks. It's tearing up the waistband of my work pants. I can duct-tape over it, but you guys might talk to your sheath maker so they can make a lower-profile connection there. Actually, I'm not sure why the rivet is there in the first place? :confused:

Anyway, thanks for all your input and help here.

~Chris
 
Tooj, thanks again for the great information in this thread! And quoting Robert Frost is an added plus! Your mentioning the changes in the knife interesting is really interesting and spot on from what I've seen and read. The "traditional" market has started to emphasize collectors and other pocket knife manufacturers seem to cater to a pseudo-tactical group (I know, gross generalizations). The fixed-blade market is even more complex no doubt. I'm sure it's difficult to find a niche these days. Thanks for providing the services and products that you do; I think you're doing a good job of honoring the heritage of Ka-bar and offering innovative products as well.
 
Orca,

See if you can reset the back prongs of the rivet with a rivet set or even a pair of pliers. Or you can try to stone down the high, rough edges of the rivet. If that doesn't work, send it to me and I'll replace with a better sheath.

bemo,

Thanks. We are trying out best to get some exciting product to everyone.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
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