What knife do you pair with your KA-BAR?

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stvpourciau

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Dec 20, 2012
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Went on a fishing trip yesterday and started to notice a pattern in what I carry for outdoors activities, as it's the same type of gear (just different blades) that I took the last time and the time before that.

I have small fixes blades that in theory would be great to pair up with my larger chopping knife for whatever I encounter in the great outdoors

But in practice I've found the most found the most convient thing, for me at least, to be a medium-heavy type knife (Kabar original warthog) on the hip and a small traditional slipjoint folder in the pocket for pretty much all of my cutting needs.

If we were going camping, I'd have tossed a heavy blade (kabar large heavy Bowie) in the pack and been done with it.

I only drew my Kabar from the hip twice, once to cut a pole for fishing and once when I tossed it to my girlfriend for cutting the head off a fish and getting at the gills for bait (something I'd normally use the folder for) while I walked off to take care of whatever other task I was up to at the moment.

3 times if you count showing Emm how you can baton little slivers of wood off a standing dead tree for killing and chop smallish deadfall branches for firewood for a quick fix without putting the knife through anything.

That's not to say diminish the Kabars value as a primary survival tool, in fact I always have a "kit" attached to the sheath including a firetool, sharpener, and on this day, a fishing rig so that I could make a pole when I got out there without carrying anything more than my knife and what I had in my pockets.

But that's a subject for another thread.

The question here is what, other than a multitool, SAK or hobo knife, do you carry as your primary cutting tool. If those are you main blade, then it's acceptable to post.

Or do you feel the need to cut everything with your belt knife?
 
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Carry my BK14 for the "everything" tasks, and a BK2 for the "everything else my 14 won't handle" tasks.

The combo works out great....for me at least.
 
^ Thank you for your response.

That's why I posted it here and not the general discussion or the likes.

I wanted to see how the Kabar qlique responded (as I'm a die hard fan as well) and to be honest, I expect to see a lot of becker neck knives type responses and I'd like to say that my small fixed blade is the knife of my choice as well (that's why I bought it lol) but the reality is that, for me, it's just not.

Maybe it's just the sheathing type that holds me back, I don't own any neck knives
so for me the front watch pocket is just more convienent. Don't know if that would change or not but i think I just have a soft spot for traditonal folders.

Looking forward to more responses, light it for me you guys! :D
 
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I've paired both my dozier folding hunter as well as my kabar 1026 slipjoint with either my BK14/24 or 16. Works good. Right now I have a Vic Farmer in the pouch on the front of the sheath on my 16 though. That's just a great combination imo. About the 14 as a neck knife... You don't hàve to carry it that way, you know. I just carry mine with the sheath in my right front pocket. Works like a charm.
 
I carry my Ka-bar USMC knife as my main belt knife, I pair it with a Great Eastern Cutlery/Tidioute Huckleberry boys knife (a two bladed jack knife if you're not familiar with it), a Victorinox paring knife, and a Wetterlings large hunters axe if I feel the need (and a leatherman rebar but I don't really use the blades on that).
The axe is pretty self explanatory.
The GEC boys knife I use for carving wood and that's about it, making traps and things like that or just whittling around the fire.
The paring knife is the dedicated food prep knife (and fish and game if it comes up), I could just use my other knives for that but the paring knife is stainless and easy to clean so it's less hassle and since it doesn't really weigh anything I figure I might as well.
The ka-bar is my sort of "heavy duty" knife I guess, although I know it's not the strongest out there. I use it for light chopping when I can't be bothered to bring an axe, it also does a bit of batoning here and there but nothing major. I pretty much just use it as a general utility knife.
 
Usually a MK2 (sometimes a MK1) with a 1226 Little Finn. Then I'll have a Ontario machete, a Plumb hatchet, and a couple of other 4-5 inch fixed blades (1232 finger-grip hunter or a 125x shorty kraton handled) back at the truck behind the seat. Oh, yeah. A Buck 110 and/or 462 in my pocket.
 
I can see the value in a Becker neck knife, I have a thing for the BK11 myself and after this thread will be picking up one.

But the wide blade doesn't seem to fit the bill for what I want in a "cut everything" knife. I still prefer a slip joint pen knife for things like offing a small bream and gutting/getting at the gill tissue for bait and happily cutting line or tape.

I wouldn't carry it in my pocket, I have enough in my pockets. On this day I had two floaters and a roll of electrical tape in my right front pocket. The one time I accidently placed my slipjoint in my pocket it was too difficult to remove for my taste but a watch pocket is just perfect,

the value that I see in the Bk11 is that I would be picking up a TDI clip with it. It seems like it could easily replace my belt knife and Im always looking for smaller and lighter.

I'm certian that I couldve chopped my fishing pole with it right? The width of the blade looks like it adds to the fact that it's only 3" long.

The handle looks beefy enough that it could probably handle the very light batoning that I mentioned earlier would it not? The challenge might be chopping through branches to actually get that baton.

Looking forward to feedback from owners on this,

new supposed setup:
bk11 as belt knife, slipjoint as pocket knife, LHB remains a pack knife.

I'm interested in picking up a laplander folding saw anyway but know where I'd carry it..
Suppose bk could be clipped to boot but this is all hypothetical which never works out ad planned,

looking forward to more responses from people who carry more than s Mk2 and are willing to share.

Ps (@some responses) swapping from a mk2 to a mk1 might be a nice change of pace and a buck 110 while reliable is a bit too heavy to pocket carry for my taste.
 
When outdoors I carry Becker BK2 paired with Mora Bushcraft Black. For me ,just right combo for variety of tasks.
 
stvpourciau said:
Ps (@some responses) swapping from a mk2 to a mk1 might be a nice change of pace and a buck 110 while reliable is a bit too heavy to pocket carry for my taste.
Click to expand...

The Buck 110 thing is just another one of those "traditional" things I do. Got my first 110 while in college mid-70s and it was my edc for over 10 years while on active duty and then with the reserves.

A while back, when the BuckLites came along, I switched to them for edc use - a lighter USA-made Buck, but the 110 is still my primary outdoors go-with folder. Try the BuckLite Large (486). It's nearly the same blade length as the 110, but half the weight and half the price. The small and mediums are nice too - the 484 (Small) and 482 (Medium)
 
The best combo is a KA-BAR... paired with another KA-BAR... :D

Just so I do no sound like a smart A...

I love pairing my large KA-BAR's with their smaller brethren... or with a MT.

With my Beckers I always seem to be pairing them with Multitools in their pouches... IE... if my bk15 isnt on my hip, it has a SAK Farmer in the pocket (with a torch and fire). My BK9 with a Leatherman Wave (torch and fire again.) This way the knife is always ready to go as a full system. (if you are curious about torch and fire, typically a streamlight stylis variant, with a bic lighter variant.)
The saws and other tools on the MT's are invaluable! and the saws on the farmer and wave can not be beat. I've used them from wood to PVC to drywall etc etc etc.

But as far as complimenting blades go,

I like my 1211 with a mora, or a MT/SAK again..
BK9 with a mora bk11/14/15 or a MT/SAK
BK15, with a bk14, or an MT/SAK
BK2, with a bk13, or an MT/SAK..
BK14 with a MT/SAK etc

So on and so on...

I have found the "main blade" coupled with an MT really can not be beat.
 
Say Heah Guy's, When I found out that the CarbonV was the same as the 1095 CroVan and same as the 0170-6 I bought almost the whole Becker's Series by the way this is where I got my info from, I also downloaded the free App at Google Play it's called Knife Steel Composition a very handy tool for a "Steel Snub" or you can download it from this website which is a excellent website of imformation. Anyhow this is what I did, I paired the BK-10 with the BK-9 I call it my Big Boy Set, I paired the BK-15 with the BK-5 this I named my Lite Set, I also added the BK-4 to this set for obvious reasons. I paired my BK-2 with my BK-21 that I'm waiting for but I also can add my BK-16 to this set. I don't know what to call this set, But I think it will be a great wood processing set. I also paired my BK-17 with my BK-7 and also added the Ka-Bar Swabbie to this set for obvious reason, I also can say my BK-5 and my BK-7 preform almost the same and the BK-5 slices a little better and I love tge choil. Infact almost all my Fav's large knives have choil's and I had a beautiful custom made by George K before he passed, he made me a sort of Woodlore shape and 3/16th's" thick blended down to a zero edge, made from a saw blade when that steel was sought after back then, Yeah its a 4" blade with a choil and I love it. I never ran out of blade because of the choil.I love it no matter what anyone says. Oh, I also have two BK-14's because when I bought the scales for, I got two a Orange and Black set if scales so I had to get another BK-14 so I wouldn't waist the extra scales right ? heh heh heh, no regrets, I can add the BK-14 to any of my mentioned sets. The scales do add another demension to the knife. Infact last weekend I took my Fallkniven A-1 to see how well the 3" Cold Steel Mini Pendleton would work with the A-1 and another set was born just like my Ka-Bar Johnson Adventure Potbelly and my Top's Mini Scandi 2.5 another marriage made in heaven. I also got the Parangatang to pair with my Potbelly but I find its not that necessary because the Potbelly is a pretty good one tool option especially with the M.S. K. I use the Parangatang as a Summer Long Knife when giving my Rodent Rucki a rest. Anyhow, last weekend I took my A-1 and Mini Pendleton and even though I sort of knew it would work great together I took them out, But I also took my Ka-Bar U.S.M.C with my MK-1, I couldn't get the leather sheath on my Military Belt made out of canvas, Yeah Its a old one but in very good condition, so I used my O.K.C. Pilot Knife sheath with the sharpening stone in the pouch and I really like it. The reason I like a sharpening stone, The Ka-Bar U.S.M.C. has to be very sharp, I sharpened it on a Work Sharp and now I just strop it, same with the MK-1, I made some notches, strip bark off a walking stick and even made kinding by lite batoning with the larger knife, The MK-1 preformed well as a bush craft knife. I wonder why sometimes not too many guys don't use the MK-1 as a bush craft knife, mines a thin blade with the lather handles on both and I think it's a great knife for the money and now you can get both with the Kraton-G handles, I was pleasantly surprised on how well they did. I haven't used them for a while now and their really not my favorite, but I was impressed how the did and almost forgot how good they are. Since I brought my Tactical Knives my friend brought his Glock 78 the one without the saw back and I think the Ka-Bar won. This weekend was a pleasant experience using some old knives but in great working condition, Yeah I've had these two for a while now and they'll probably will out last me, Serious their good knives in a budget for the bush.
 
I've always paired my Kabar USMC with a Swiss Army Knife huntsman for the last 30 years. This combo has covered ALL of my outdoors needs.
 
I pair everything pretty much with a BK11/14/24. I don't leave home without at least one of them. In my case, the question should be which large Ka-Bar do I pair with a necker lol.

Answer: all of'em!
 
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