What's the word on the new Ka-Bars?

There is a review on page 34 of March 2006 Tactical Knives magazine by John Larsen. Basically they are large blades made with carbon steel without any bell and whistles.

N.
 
Nakano 2 said:
Basically they are large blades made with carbon steel without any bell and whistles.
Click to expand...
Well, ya, but that can still be a nice piece when done right, as the BK7/9 shows.

Maybe I should have rephrased this question: How do the Ka-Bars compare to the Beckers, and other large, inexpensive, no-frills HC blades?

Must have missed that review. I was thumbing through that issue of TK just Saturday.
 
I seem to remember the consensus being that they're solid, and a good value for the money. From a steel perspective, I'd expect the Beckers to hold an edge better in slicing/push cutting due to higher hardness and greater abrasion resistance, but I'd give the edge to the Kabar for toughness and ease of sharpening. The handle seems to be either you like it or you don't--not much middle ground that I remember. It is more blade-heavy than the Beckers, so will be more ideal for chopping/limbing than a Becker of the same length.

I think it's a dependable knife, and a good choice if you like it and the handle feels good to you.
 
The handle on the Kabar looks grippier than the slick Becker handles, but I would prefer it had a guard. Still, I would pick it over the slippery handled Beckers.
 
I went into a Sportsman's Warehouse a couple weeks ago when they were running a sale. I was particularly interested in one of these K-Bars. I liked the size, shape, and the 1085 alloy. This should be a tough combination and that alloy should be easy to heat treat in bulk. The first surprise was how light it feels. I guess that the tang isn't really substantial. It also looks kind of odd where the blade fits into the handle. It seems to have a very sharp transition with square corners. I was still thinking that I would get one when I tried gripping the handle hard and swinging the blade a little. The handle just wasn't comfortable for me. In my grip it had high pressure spots that I didn't like.

They also had a Becker BK-7 in the display case. This has a solid tang and feels much more solid. The grip just worked for me. I have always thought that the Becker grips looked too bulky, but in the hand it was an excellent fit. The Becker has a harder blade which makes me nervous for a heavy duty knife. When they heat treat commercial blades it is in large batches. That can increase the variability of the finished blades. If you are trying to hit 58 RC you might see something well over 59 in some of the blades. These blades could be a little brittle. In the end I bought the Becker. I'll file test the edge and if it seems too hard I may draw the spine with a torch or bake the blade a bit to soften it slightly.
 
The beckers are good if you have large hands like me =)
Some people complain about em, its true the grip isn't right for everyone but steel against steel, its hard to beat Becker unless you go Busse.

Kbars are great value =)
 
I recently purchased one of these. Outstanding blade for the price. No problems at all. Period. I use it daily around the house (Rural environment), am impressed enough to get another -considering the price-for the Jeep and the trucks as a all around utility blade. You can get one for around 20- cheaper than the Becker (Which I happen to like quite a bit BTW).I could easily use this blade for all manner of my dailys from clearing to skinning. I modified the rear bird's head pommel with my rasp and it throws VERY well at woods rats.couldn't go wrong with a KaBar.
 
Thanks everybody for the info.

Thanks for the suggestion, Jeff. Can you explain how you draw the spine with a torch. Sounds like an excellent thing to do for pretty much all large blades that aren't differentially tempered. Had never occured to me though. Any guidelines one can follow?
 
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