Kabar bowie breaking question

P

pietje

Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
289
My Kabar large heavy bowie broke while I was chopping and splitting a peace of wood with it. I did used a stick to go trough the wood but this wasn’t what I expected of a blade like this. It broke in half with two parts of the edge got loose. I like to send it to the Kabar for guarantee but does this cover there warranty!? does this means ''knife fails to perform due to manufacturer’s defect''

plz check the link for pics



 
You can try sending it in for replacement, and see what happens.

I know on the survival forums they do alot of chopping with knives, but a knife is not a chopping tool, it's tempered too hard. Contrary to popular belief, knives do tend to break when used as hatchets.
 
That shouldn't have broke like that. I would definitely contact Ka-Bar for a replacement.
 
GBs are tempered to 57, I think this is just a defect, big knives are supposed to chop, it's why they're big. If Kabar won't replace it, ask them why they made something called a "Large Heavy" bowie.
 
I say send it in. Not much to lose at this point.

I'll disagree with jackknife here. A knife of that size, and bulk is darn near useless for anything other than chopping/batoning/hard use. However, it certainly looks as if this particular one was tempered too hard.
 
I would also send it in. It definatly should not have broken while batoning that large blade with just wood.:eek:
 
From looking at the photos it looks like you hit a tough knot in the wood. I have broke knives batoning them through knots but i have never tried to seek warranty replacements that does not mean that you shouldn't try to get it replaced though if you feel it broke too easily. After breaking a blade or two you will learn a different technique such as when to back the blade back out.
 
If the blade is in the wood and the batoning is at an angle rather than in line with the blade -you put a twist in the blade which can break it. I think that's why the two small pieces broke out. Then the rest of the blade broke in two.
 
sdt11670 said:
After breaking a blade or two you will learn a different technique such as when to back the blade back out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the "different technique" would be BUY A DIFFERENT KNIFE ! You know, one that won't break !!

:D :D :D

.
 
David E said:
Yeah, the "different technique" would be BUY A DIFFERENT KNIFE ! You know, one that won't break !!

:D :D :D

.
Click to expand...

Yea after seeing Noss's video and now this I believe these knives are being tempered to hard. I believe I will hold off on buying one until they get the tempering right! Try an Ontario Spec Plus Survival Bowie SP95! I have one of these that I've used for years on a many of camping trip with no problems!,,,VWB.
 
It was defective. The ka-bar heavy bowie is one hell of a tough knife. I destroyed one of these not to long ago and did things ten times as abusive as chopping wood with it. I chopped hard, rock filled concrete for at least a half hour. the blade was a recurve when
I was done, but still together. I put both sides of the knife on chunks of concrete and jumped on it repeatedly without blade failure. I then cut off the handle and repeated the test. No blade failure. I then tried the same thing with a five pound barbell weight dropped from 6 feet. The weight bounced up about 4 feet up and almost smashed my foot. I repeated this four times. Then I tried the same test with a 15 lbs weight. the damn thing finally broke.

I did a hell of a lot more things to it than that, But I don't feel like typing it all right now.

Here is a pic of the poor thing:






003.jpg
 
Good god men, is that a knife anymore?

It looks like a defect. And no, don't buy an Ontario- support RAT.
 
jackknife said:
You can try sending it in for replacement, and see what happens.

I know on the survival forums they do alot of chopping with knives, but a knife is not a chopping tool, it's tempered too hard. Contrary to popular belief, knives do tend to break when used as hatchets.
Click to expand...

:confused: Have you seen a Battle Mistress? an RTAK? a Chopweiler? to name a few...specifically MADE to chop. Knives are made for all kinds of purposes from small delicate slicing to chopping. I have had knives that outperform and the edges stay smoother than a hatchets in heavy chopping. Some of my HI Khukri's were made to chop and handle heavy cutting. That Kabar...if he was using a baton through the wood was in a sense no longer chopping, pressure was applied to the spine to force the edge through. I have done this on much smaller knifes including mora's without fail or issue. The Kabar should be sent back, and they should replace it.

I guess now they are going to have to get rid of the "chopping competition" at knife events since they werent made for it....darn ABS doesnt know what they are doing I guess.
 
slipfirep40 said:
It was defective.
Click to expand...

I don't believe the knife was defective. It's 55-57 rc which is still fairly brittle for an impact tool. I have broken a knife of the same steel in the same way and the knife was not defective as i put it in a vise and flexed it several times and it returned true and i don't think there were any flaws in the steels grain structure at the breaking point (not sure as i am not a metallurgist) but the point is that a knife is not made for use as a splitting wedge (even if some are marketed as such) and the above knife was broken when used with a baton not just chopping.
 
vwb563 said:
Yea after seeing Noss's video and now this I believe these knives are being tempered to hard. I believe I will hold off on buying one until they get the tempering right! Try an Ontario Spec Plus Survival Bowie SP95! I have one of these that I've used for years on a many of camping trip with no problems!,,,VWB.
Click to expand...

What you don't understand is that if you are chopping or even hammering a blade through concrete the concrete is chipping away or shattering but if you are trying to force the blade through a very tough knot in wood the knot does not chip or shatter instead it grabs and holds the blades edge allowing the blade itself to bend at an angle and when you smack the blade while the edge is being held it will break! You cannot compare an intentional d test to actual knife failure in the field because the circumstances are very different and a tough knot holding the hardened edge of a knife edge is many times tougher than concrete.
 
sounds pretty clear that this sint suppost to have happend

i´ll contact Kabar and send it in.
 
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