What do you think about using a Ka Bar full edge fighting knife as a chef's knife?

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Peak_Oil

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Nov 6, 2005
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It's painted black which I think is kind of problematic. I don't want paint flakes in my food. Other than that, it looks like a good chef's knife. There's enough of a belly, a great grip, small enough for good control, long enough to provide some leverage, easy sharpening carbon steel... it might fill a role in the kitchen knife block.

I don't have a French style chef's knife and think this could do the job in a pinch. There's an open slot in my block that used to hold a cleaver.

The guards could pose a little bit of a problem but I could easily grind them off.

Any thoughts?
 
Have you considered a fujiwara gyuto? They can be had for less than $100, come in carbon steel (and stainless). They are great knives! I love mine. The knife IS thin, so you can't pound the crap out of it ala american/german style cooking. If you respect it, it won't chip out.
 
Used one for a long time and they work great. Also used the gerber big rock camp knife in the kitchen extensivley, just keep it sharp. I would reccomend a good chefs knife tho, old hickory by ontario makes some grea tones at a cheap price.
 
Most knives work as kitchen knives in a pinch. Some work better than kitchen knives if you don't own decent kitchen knives.
 
I've never personally seen the point in using folders or outdoors knives as kitchen knives. Generally (not always) the depth of the blade is not great enough, and the belly shape isn't quite right to get a good rocking motion going. Most of the fixed blades for outdoor use are too thick to get good cuts. (Obviously, if you look, there will be some exceptions) I find it hard to get a good pinch grip (you do pinch grip right?) non kitchen knives. Maybe i'm a kitchen knife snob. I figure if you're going to spend 60-100 bucks on a knife for use in the kitchen, get one designed for use in the kitchen. Just my opinion. Get whatever knife you want to use, the best knife in the kitchen is the one you use.
 
I already have a Ka Bar, but I don't have a French chef's knife. I could sell the Ka Bar and use the proceeds for a chef's knife, or just slide my Ka Bar into the block and call it a day. I have a Japanese style 10" and a clip 5", nothing in between.
 
Peak_Oil said:
I already have a Ka Bar, but I don't have a French chef's knife. I could sell the Ka Bar and use the proceeds for a chef's knife, or just slide my Ka Bar into the block and call it a day. I have a Japanese style 10" and a clip 5", nothing in between.
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You really don't need anything else! LoL. You can use that 10" for 99% of your cutting tasks. I pair and peel with a 10 incher!
 
timbit said:
I've never personally seen the point in using folders or outdoors knives as kitchen knives. Generally (not always) the depth of the blade is not great enough, and the belly shape isn't quite right to get a good rocking motion going. Most of the fixed blades for outdoor use are too thick to get good cuts. (Obviously, if you look, there will be some exceptions) I find it hard to get a good pinch grip (you do pinch grip right?) non kitchen knives. Maybe i'm a kitchen knife snob. I figure if you're going to spend 60-100 bucks on a knife for use in the kitchen, get one designed for use in the kitchen. Just my opinion. Get whatever knife you want to use, the best knife in the kitchen is the one you use.
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^My thoughts as well, and I'm no kitchen knife snob. I use a Vic/Forschner Fibrox chef's knife in the kitchen. Those are cheap. And will knock the socks off of a short thick KA-BAR any day of the week. The KA-BAR is a nice knife, but it's not a good choice for culinary work. Heck--once you thin out the edge on it a $4 Wal*Mart chef's knife will do laps around a Mark 2.
 
In a pinch, any knife will work for kitchen chores. For extended use, I wouldn't use anything other than a proper chef's knife in a kitchen.

However, a chef's knife is a very specific thing. It's not just any old knife you pick up and happen to use in the kitchen, so you can't technically use a fighting knife as a chef's knife. If you really meant chef's knife specifically, I would take no substitute for its ergonomics considering its intended uses. If you just want to use a knife in the kitchen, it'll depend on what you want to do with it. I could see someone using that fighting knife crudely processing large things or deboning, but I wouldn't mince pounds of onions with it.
 
Personally, I don't think a Ka Bar fighter is good for anything but combat. For general outdoors use? The tip is too weak (lots of examples of broken tips), the rat-tail tang is too weak (lots of examples of broken blades at the handle), the coating is bad (scuffs on material), the spine-side guard is bad (makes for awkward use during bushcraft chores), the stacked leather handle can rot away, etc. For kitchen use? The guard and slim blade make for a bad chopper and bad cutter, the thick blade makes for a bad slicer (you will damage food material without slicing cleanly), the leather handle can soak up food juices, the geometry (long, straight blade with a severe curve at the end) makes for an awkward kitchen cutter, etc.

The Ka Bar is a good fighting knife because that is what it was designed for. The tip is for stabbing. The guard is for protecting the hand in combat. The blacked out blade is to suppress light flash and add some corrosion resistance. Fighting knife. Not a woods knife. Not a kitchen knife.

Can you use it for bushcraft and kitchen work? Of course you can. But with so many better options, should you? That is the real question.
 
I think the black coating would be the least of your problem. A knife like that is too thick to ever compete with a Chef's knife in the kitchen. Keep the Kabar, but buy a Chef's knife :).
 
uyotg said:
In a pinch, any knife will work for kitchen chores. For extended use, I wouldn't use anything other than a proper chef's knife in a kitchen.

However, a chef's knife is a very specific thing. It's not just any old knife you pick up and happen to use in the kitchen, so you can't technically use a fighting knife as a chef's knife. If you really meant chef's knife specifically, I would take no substitute for its ergonomics considering its intended uses. If you just want to use a knife in the kitchen, it'll depend on what you want to do with it. I could see someone using that fighting knife crudely processing large things or deboning, but I wouldn't mince pounds of onions with it.
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I wouldn't even debone with it. The spine is too thick to navigate like a boning knife. If I were asked which knife I would LEAST like to use in the kitchen, the KA-BAR Mark 2 would be pretty close to the top of my list. :o
 
As someone who cooks for a living I can safely say there is nothing better in a kitchen than a kitchen knife. Even a cheap, dull-ish kitchen knife will often cut better than a razor sharp camp knife or utility folder simply because kitchen knives (especially Japanese kitchen knives) are made from MUCH thinner blade stock. Kitchen knives basically have only one purpose, and that is to slice through food as easily as possible. There is very little thought put into how a kitchen knife will withstand sideways pressure or twisting, this is not the case with a general utility knife. Take a mora for example, it's a great camp knife and will cut wood with the best of them, but just try to slice cheese or an apple with a mora and you're in for some major frustration.
 
I'd use my Chef's knife as a fighting knife in a heartbeat.

I wouldn't use a Kabar fighting knife as a chefs knife unless it was the only knife I had.

In addition to what everybody else said, the Kabar has no "knuckle clearance." And does it have the stacked leather handle? That's probably less than sanitary.

And if you want carbon, get an Old Hickory.
 
who am i to criticize? i use my BK2 and 17 in the kitchen all the time. LOL
 
I tried it last night cutting some celery. That was no fun at all. My 10" chef's knife is a way better option.

Guess I'm going to have to figure out what to do with the Ka Bar.
 
Peak_Oil said:
I tried it last night cutting some celery. That was no fun at all. My 10" chef's knife is a way better option.

Guess I'm going to have to figure out what to do with the Ka Bar.
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Try an apple or onion or carrot. You might as well use a 2x4. Same thing with Moras.

Right tool for the right job.
 
Well, you got your answer through first hand experience. However, you don't need to break the bank to get a quality knife. There are lots of good cheap options: Forschner/Victorinox, F. Dick, Messermeister, Dexter-Russell all make flat ground chefs knives that can be had for $30 or less if you do some searching. All of the aforementioned are commonly used in commercial kitchens and meat houses, cutting all day long.
 
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