On why my Ka-Bar 1271 is my favorite large fixed blade.

[Boats]

First of all, it is not because it is the only over 4.25" fixed blade I own. Nor is it because I cannot afford "better." I am currently in talks to commission a custom knife with Mr. Nielson of Mountain Hollow.

I have tried many full tang knives trying to replace my "weak" stick tanged Ka-Bars with its plasticky or obsolete leather grip and its full guard of which the top annoys many. What each of those thicker, and fuller, supposedly "better" knives were was dead in my hand

I like how light the Ka-Bars are for their size. So it is not a sharpened pry bar, or a quasi machete, or a thick, unbendable tool that can be made into a improvised climbing piton, but as a knife, it is hard to beat in my book, especially for its easy on the wallet price. I have six of them in various flavors now just stashed in various places. If I do manage to break one, it won't be the end of the world and I will use my folder to make an improvised handle if I must or simply throw the blade into the recycling bin.

I have pounded the living hell out of the pommel of one of mine just to see if it would break. I have pounded stakes, batoned a machete with it, and various other stupid human tricks with it, and it is still going strong. I suspect it always will as long as I strike squarely with it, and that huge flat pommel makes a much better striking surface than the nub that stuck out of my old Fallkniven. I touched the pommel up with the same black automotive touch up paint I use on my Jeep. As long as I remember the limitations of its design, and don't throw them or pry too hard, the "cheap" Ka-Bars never betray me.

I have tried to displace the ol' black Ka-Bar that has become my favorite with a used Camp Tramp, a Campanion, a Fallkniven A1, a CS Trailmaster, a Glock field knife for even more beater potential, even another Ka-Bar, the Warthog, and I keep coming back to the 1271.

I could see trying to move up the ladder even more trying to out do this $60.00 knife, but I fail to see what the tangible return on the investment in real world terms is. I can buy a machete to supplements a Ka-Bar that chops better than a jack of all trades 10-12" tactical. I can buy many knives that would make better crowbars, but I could also fashion a pretty good digging stick with a knife too.

My proposed custom might one day yet be a user, but I'd never just beat something with it like I do with Ka-Bars. I guess I simply do not live an exciting enough life to need one "do-it-all" package like many high-end outdoor knives purport to be.

Is it uncool to love the old warhorse and its progeny?

 

[averageguy]

Not at all. You may be one of the few sane persons on these forums.

 

[Psychopomp]

I feel the same as you do. About both the Ka-Bar and my little Camillus pilot survival knife. A lot of people will say there are better knives out there, but neither of these knives have ever given me a problem. Both are razor sharp and both still have their supposedly flimsly, weakly thin tips.

I've pounded tent stakes with the butt-caps of both and never had a problem. Both compliment my RTAK well in the great outdoors, though the pilot's knife sees a little more use (because the Ka-Bar is fairly big; too big for somethings the pilot's knife can handle better, and too small for things that the RTAK is really needed for).

 

[fishface5]

I like the Kabar a lot, however right now I'm very big on the Spydie Perrin / GB Mini combo. Hard to imagine what I would need to do that these two can't. The only advantage I see to one of the big blades is that they make a good draw-knife for carpentering-up a small log cabin. But hey, individual satisfation is so subjective . . .