Kabar USMC hand guard shave. Anyone done this

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Mar 13, 2006
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I have my Kabar which is my current camp knife. I doubt I'd use it as a real survival knife right now due to the top portion of the hand guard. It keeps you from being able to place your thumb on the rear of the spine for carving/shaving wood or whatever. I was thinking about just cutting that part off and was wondering if anyone had done that and if they liked it or not. I'll prolly do it anyway, it's not like it's a high$$ knife.
 
I ground off the top guard on the U.S.A.F Pilots survival knife I put in my B.O.B. and it works and feels great. I did two more as gifts for friends and they liked them too. I suppose the same would work on the K,bar. Like you said,its not like its an expensive knife. I got the pilots knives for 18$ apiece.
 
I ground off the top guard on the U.S.A.F Pilots survival knife I put in my B.O.B. and it works and feels great. I did two more as gifts for friends and they liked them too. I suppose the same would work on the K,bar. Like you said,its not like its an expensive knife. I got the pilots knives for 18$ apiece.

nice. I think I'll do this tonight.
 
I did it to a spec plus combat knife. It was easy considering it's only rubber. Good luck with yours, should work out nicely.
 
I did it to a Spec Plus as well. Doing that and grinding these knives flat to the main bevel makes them somewhat usable. Imagine that. ;)
 
Its a pretty common modification. I haven't tried it myself, but I've read quite a few comments from people who have and they all love it.
 
Hey Jack..

Yaa I've had many customers do this to their Bars...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Yep, shaved the top guard off of my Camillus 5684MK shortly after I got it. Removing the top guard really makes a huge difference in how the knife feels and handles. I'm happy I made the modifications.

Sorry, this is the only picture I have of the knife:
XDandPals06.jpg
 
Yep, shaved the top guard off of my Camillus 5684MK shortly after I got it. Removing the top guard really makes a huge difference in how the knife feels and handles. I'm happy I made the modifications.

Sorry, this is the only picture I have of the knife:
[MG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/_hikeeba_/Edged%20Tool%20stuff/XDandPals06.jpg[/IMG]
nah good pic. Gives me a real idea what it'll look like. thanks.
 
Yep, shaved the top guard off of my Camillus 5684MK shortly after I got it. Removing the top guard really makes a huge difference in how the knife feels and handles. I'm happy I made the modifications.

Sorry, this is the only picture I have of the knife:
XDandPals06.jpg

wow, Springfeild XD and TRU...some one is a lucky man :thumbup:
 
Yep, shaved the top guard off of my Camillus 5684MK shortly after I got it. Removing the top guard really makes a huge difference in how the knife feels and handles. I'm happy I made the modifications.

Sorry, this is the only picture I have of the knife:
XDandPals06.jpg

That's a good pic; I might have to do this too. Among the other advantages already listed this makes it easier to baton the handle (if you do such things) without impaling the wood baton.

OT: Hikeeba, what are your thoughts on those newstlye TruSpec BDUs? Better/worse than the old style and why?
 
IIRC Chuck Karwan (sp?) did a K-Bar mods article for TK a few years ago.
One of the mods was removing the upper guard.
Goforit :D
 
I shaved off the top guard so I could use a larger variety of grips when using the knife. For example, when caving, I can 'choke up' on the blade a little bit, carefully and mindfully placing my index finger in front of the lower guard and resting my thumb on the spine of the blade. Also, the 5684MK has a Pilot's Survival Knive saw on the spine, and removing the top guard makes using that feature easier. Not that I use the saw on that knife much at all for anything...

OT re: the new style BDUs: I like the new style much better that the old style. I can't recall who was talking about the new style here - it may have been Normark and a few others - but they peaked my interest. BQM had a sale going online during Arms Forces Day, so I thought I'd give teh new style pants a whirl. I really like them a lot, and plan on ordering another pair or two during the course of this year. The drawstring waist is a feature that I like, as are the larger thigh cargo pockets with the smaller inner pocket. The big thigh pockets also have an elastic drawcord closure, which is cool, too. The drawstrings at the hem are a vast imrovment over the silky-crappy ribbon junk that had been used on BDUs in the past. And overall, the Tru-Spec pants appear to be built very well. I am not much of a clothes horse, and to me the Tru-Spec pants are a touch on the expensive side. But I'd say they are a worthwhile clothing investment.
 
IIRC Chuck Karwan (sp?) did a K-Bar mods article for TK a few years ago.
One of the mods was removing the upper guard.
Goforit :D

Yep, the so-called "Kar-Bar".

Along with removing it:

- Sanded and shaped the handles into a more barrel-shaped design

- Drilled a lanyard/thong hole thru the butt cap

- Re-painted the handles
 
You have the exact Camillus I do (PS, sawback). But I took all the black stuff off the handle and blade. Now it looks more like an old hunting knife than a fighting knife. Camillus finished the steel under the black coat much better than Ontario.

Frank
 
what is the benifit in that?

Makes them easier to sharpen and they cut much, much better. Try it. Just sharpen it on the flatground V shaped part and remove the bevel at the edge, then go whittle a tent peg. Makes a world of difference and it's still very thick behind the edge, plus it's 1095, so shouldn't be any durability concerns. I'll go take a picture of mine and post it here in a sec.

Excuse the dirt, ever since I found out what puukkos and mora's were this became my digging tool / loaner when friends go camping with me. You can see I didn't get the end, just worked the straight section flat to the stone. Might finish it someday. But it makes a big difference.

5x4xulh.jpg
 
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