KaBar USMC Disapoints

E

ErikD

Joined
Dec 5, 2000
Messages
1,875
A year or two ago I picked up a standard KaBar USMC fighting/utility knife at a mall knife store. The store didn't really carry much I was interested in, but it had a decent enough assortment of low to mid end production knives, so I liked to support them when I could. So I was walking thorough the mall one night and got an itch, bought the knife.

Basically I just had it sitting around since then, I did thin out the edge a bit more and get it sharpened properly. Today I just felt like testing it out a bit, and seeing how well it would hold an edge with some use. I go down to the basement and stick a scrap 2x3 into the vice. I start to chop away, wanting to see how the edge will hold up to cutting through one. I am just about through and the pommel falls off. I continue through the wood, sans pommel, and the actual edge has held up just fine. I am still able to slice paper cleanly but not shave with it. Then again I wasn't able to shave when I first sharpened it anyway.

I decide to go for the bending test, and just clamp the knife into the vice. I am able to bend the knife a good bit, and it springs back almost to normal. No damage that I can see.

So basically I am just fine with the blade itself, as it seems to be heat treated well, but not the handle construction. Besides the self destruct of the handle the only indication that the knife suffered this abuse is the scratching to the black epoxy coating.
 
It just fell out!

I think when I have a chance I will make a new handle out of some Micarta or something else of that nature.
 
It just fell out!
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:eek: :eek: :eek:

Yikes! That is NOT good news for a KNIFE found in nearly every combat zone on the face of the freakin' planet!

I think a Micarta would make for one fine handle on the Ka-Bar. If you decide on G-10 please insure you take the proper safety precautions. Fiberglass dust in the lungs can be a very ugly thing. :(

Heres hoping your project goes well! ;)
 
The Kabar is a hell of a knife with a proven track record. It shouldn't have come apart.

I wouldn't use a micarta handle on that knife. The stacked leather is perfect the way it is!

Send you knife back to Kabar and they will repair or replace it.

Collecter
 
I agree with collecter! Send it back and let their warranty dept. take a look at it. They may have a production problem that they don't know about yet. If you send it in and allow them to make it right with you; they may determine that they have a problem and correct it.
 
collecter wrote:
I wouldn't use a micarta handle on that knife. The stacked leather is perfect the way it is!
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Please elaborate as to why you believe a stacked leather handle is superior to a Micarta handle. I'm looking at this from as many angles as I can think of and am coming up with squat. :eek: :D

You and Easyrider do have the right idea about sending the knife back to KA-BAR's warranty dept for repair and evaluation. This should not be happening to it. There are too many American military lives that trust that model to do it's job without fail. God bless them all!
 
I'll say the same- Leather beats Micarta on a K. Why? Leather, at least in my experience, is a good bit grippier than Micarta. That's a good thing.
 
I'll say the same- Leather beats Micarta on a K. Why? Leather, at least in my experience, is a good bit grippier than Micarta.
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Granted. Especially with the grooves they use on the stacked leather handle.
However, Micarta, if left fairly rough, has very good gripping qualities in my experience. And, Micarta doesn't have the durability issues that leather does.

Now, I like stacked leather handles, especially on a classic like the USMC KA-BAR.
It's just that, when I compare leather to Micarta, the Micarta comes out the winner due to the fact it's a more durable handle material than leather.
If given a choice between the two, my common sense tells me to take the Micarta, especially on a knife like the USMC, thats likely to see some of the worst weather and climate conditions this planet has to offer. Notwithstanding the fact that the leather stacked handle has seen and been thru all the nastiness this world has to offer, it's just that I see the Micarta is better suited for nasty climates than leather.
 
I liked the micarta better from a purely user oriented point of view. In just the short period that I was using the knife I got a nice blister and some hot spots on my hand. This was due to the highly grippy nature of the leather plus the ringed cutouts didn't help much. I think that a nice micarta grip that is more ergonomic would work better.

There is also the whole point of micarta being a much more sturdy material. I have no doubt that if the two were compared in the field under even average conditions the leather would fail first. I really think that the only possible reason that the leather could be better is tradition. The KaBar is a classic knife, and the stacked leather washers are a part of the look that has been going on forever.

I also really agree that I don't really like the fact that the knife came apart so easily. I am hoping that it really is just that one bad knife that slipped through the cracks. Chopping a 2x3 isn't really all that hard work, especially for an otherwise new knife. I am not sure yet if I will send it back to be replaced, or just stick some micarta on there. Either way I think that I will send off some word to KaBar to make sure our fighting men are as safe as possible.
 
I sent KaBar an email last night to inform them of the failed knife. I wasn't really interested in getting it replaced, and didn't even mention it. I very plainly said that I was just letting them know in hopes that if a problem did exist it could be fixed. They replied this morning saying the would replcae the knife if I send it back in to them. I am not yet real sure if I will send it in for replacement or just make some micarta grips for it.
 
I dropped a kabar from waist height to the floor ( a few feet) and the same thing happened. The pin popped out then the pommel fell off. I found the pin and set it with a punch. Been fine since, but I haven't tried dropping it.
 
and throw in a little cash to make up the difference. I've seen people testing their production and custom knives in a vice, can this be done with just the average face shield?
 
I wouldn't worry about trading into a KaBar, from everything else I have read it is a great knife. Also as I posted they were very happy to send me a new knife in return for the one that broke. They didn't ask for any proof of purchase, warranty registration or anything else like that. So in the rare case that anything did happen I am sure they would have you covered.

As for testing in a vise I wouldn't recommend it unless you are willing to lose the knife. There is a real possibility that the thing will get wrecked. I did my test without any kind of protection for my face, probably not the smartest thing I have ever done. Anyway just clamping it in a vice and pulling will work, as long as you go slow it should give some warning when it has had enough.
 
Aloha ALL!

Hmmmmmm, this was a strange one indeed. I put my KaBar through the ringer just for the hell of it. I did this in the forest of my backyard when I first bought my house. I chopped, pryed, pounded, and even threw my KaBar...pin in place, tip intact. I have one of the black on black versions, but i don't think they use a diff pin for the pommel.

Maybe just a bad batch slipped through QC? At any rate, my KaBar has since been replaced by my RTAK for my vehicle knife..."just in case".

Hope it works out for ya, and God bless!
 
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=multiple
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=100_0377
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=flip
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=kaf

i dont think any one on here abuses kabars as much as i do lol. i practice several house a day throwing and generally working with them. the short black kabar in the first video is my main work knife, i use it for every thing from a hammer to a pry bar. the pin did work out enough that you could hang a fingernail on but after a tap with a small hammer its never done it sence.

my only complaint is that the guard is to weak, easy to bend.
 
I love my Ka-Bar, and have had no problems with it, even using it fairly extensively as a working utility knife. Just as you did, the first thing I did was to reshape the edge to a scary sharp, shaving edge.

Since then I've done everything from chopping small trees to drunkenly slicing a glass ashtray in half (yes, it was a clean cut, no shattering at all). The latter incident did put a nice little knick in the blade that took some time and patience to sharpen out.

Overall I've been very happy with it.

Ben
 
My old ka-bar has gone through hell and never let me down. I"ve done everything with it, cut, chop, split, pry, dig, stab, throw and heavy nail pounding with the end pommel. No damage, except the bake-on coating flaking off. Leather stacked handle is sweet.
 
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