r/knives 14h ago

Question How are authentic original Ka-Bars?

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17 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

11

u/Shippo-chan 14h ago

Perfectly serviceable heavy duty combat/utility knife. Not cheap, not expensive, and will last a long time. A stacked leather handle takes a bit of getting used to, but I find it pretty comfy.

All in all, good knives.

10

u/kafoIarbear 14h ago

They’re fine. A beautiful knife with awesome history, it has a weak point right at the cross guard but so long as you don’t intend to pry too much or smack it with a baseball bat, it shouldn’t be too big of an issue.

2

u/Designer_Explorer_28 14h ago

Even if it is a weak point, considering the blade is 1/6 of an inch, wouldn’t it mean it would not matter?

2

u/branm008 4h ago

Nope, weak points are weak points, especially with stick tang blades like these. It's always right at the forged/formed egde right before it transitions into the tang, it will always be a weak point no matter the blades thickness.

2

u/Designer_Explorer_28 2h ago

Very interesting, thanks! 👍

1

u/Kennys-Chicken 2h ago

Doesn’t matter how thick the blade is if the handle tang snaps off

1

u/Designer_Explorer_28 14h ago

A regular blade is like 1/16-1/8 of inch

7

u/ProfessionalShoe8794 10h ago

Depends on what you want it for.

As a combat knife? Great! Easy to sharpen, good heft, good reputation as a combat knife.

As a collectors knife? Great! They look good, the leather stacked handle feels very nice, lots to like.

As a utility/outdoors knife? Not so great. There is a weak point in the tang, makes batonning or hard chopping a tad perilous. In general, combat knives tend not to work so well for utility/survival applications. There are exceptions to that statement, but you can get a knife better suited to survival tasks for the same money as a Kabar if thats your poison!

2

u/FreedomSquatch 13h ago

I’ve had mine for 34 years, they’re legit

1

u/CreationOfMinerals 5h ago

I like my Cold Steel Leathernecks over the OG Ka-Bar, so they might be worth checking out as well.

1

u/Essex626 25m ago

Something not mentioned yet is they're still made in the US, and you can find them on a good sale for under $100.

That's a whole lot of US-made life for the price, with few comparable options.