- Joined
- Dec 20, 2012
- Messages
- 2,733
A few months ago, I purchased a Kabar Full Sized Tanto Fighting knife from Amazon with the serrated option, Kraton G handles, and "kydex" nylon "glass filled" tactical sheath. I've heard it said that it's not really kydex and assuming that the "glass filled" is some sort of reference to a fiber glass reinforcing of some type as it just looks like black plastic to me.
I chose this one over the U.S.M.C. model on three points:
1. Thick tanto tip, I hate broken tips
2. Serrated portion, very useful in my opinion.
3. Rubberized grip should last forever; I didn't want it to rot out or shrivel away like portions of the handle on MarkII Navy Kabar from my grandfather via surplus store and a dresser drawer that I used to run around with as a kid.
Also It seems to have a thicker, less easily bendable guard than the U.S.M.C.
When I say the tip is thick, I mean that is well supported. Though the initial blade thickness at the tip is no more so than other knives, rapidly rising angles shoot up to meet a strip of whole blade thickness that runs down the pretty much the entire middle of the blade. This gives it about the thickness of the point on a nail. And it is very sturdy, I wouldn't expect it to break if I hit bone with it..
The point of balance is right behind the hilt. Lending to it's great use as a tactical knife.
I did perform all angles of cut on a tree. With a close arm, tucked in elbow, this knife can deliver a lightning quick flurry of devastatingly deep slashes and effective stabs.
The top guard even comes in handy for this function as it allows you to quickly change grips into a position where more stabbing power can come from the hips without worry of having to hold on to the blade much, I found the top guard did most of the catching of my hand from this position.
After a quick session, I have no doubts about it's ability as a killing tool.
Upon receiving it, It didn't feel shaving sharp but after using it to scratch an itch on my leg, I quickly realized that it left a bald patch behind. Guess I was wrong.
I put it through a small taste of light and heavy work off in the woods behind my house (live in the sticks, it goes on forever back there) to evaluate its effectiveness and get a taste of what it can do. It has it has held up quite nicely.
Usage since receiving has included:
Building of shelter; This knife made quick work of 1-2"diameter softwood branches and palmetto leaves (serrated is useful here), all you'd ever need to pop up a shelter in South Louisiana.
Lot's of people show blade's cutting cordage, I use dental floss because It's incredibly strong, can be gotten super tight without effort and a great compact way to carry 100's of feet of cordage along with you..
It's narrow blade design was also incredibly useful for digging straight in to make "post holes" for the sticks of the main structure without without highly disturbing the ground around them and then using the pommel to pack the dirt in tightly against them.
No pics of the shelter, I don't carry my phone around with me when going out to do that kind of stuff.. BUT, as it was December when I was through with it, I packed it up to my front yard for use a manger ( though it turned out to be too big.) Here are some picks of it revamped for the Holy Family:
*P.S.* this is not exactly what it looked like as a shelter, for that purpose 3/4th of the front was also closed in, leaving only a crawlspace.
Also, I've used the knife to open many a can and the angled tip at the end is excellent for this. Due to its' design, it's almost like having a can opener with a knife attached. It serves this purpose well and the only damage left behind is scratches in the epoxy coating (I've since removed this anyway, the coating is really uneeded [the Cro-Van steel does pretty well at resisting rust on it's own] and the coating causes a lot of drag compared to bare metal).
To touch on the rust resistance; I live in South Louisiana, It's a constantly humid environment here AND I regulary get this knife dirty, wash with soap&water, drip dry instead of wipe [takes about a minute] and very rarely apply a coat of mineral oil. No rust to speak of as of yet. Yes, I purposely let it sit wet to test it's resistance and so far so good. The Kraton sheds water like a coat of oil and the few beads left on the metal evaporate quickly causing no damage.
To test it's ability at batoning, I chose (for the sake of the review) some of the nastiest, hardest wood that I've ever seen in my life. It's branch sections of seasoned oak hardwood that sits in front of my fireplace.
Several neighbors and I took a whack at spliiting some of this wood with a sledgehammer and a wedge and yet made no progress. This is fire wood from hell. As you see, It did break BUT I don't put any strikes against the knife for breaking. I'm not considering this one a "fail", this is the kind of wood that you KNOW you shouldn't even be trying with. Also, it carved up a good few peices of it before it gave up the ghost:
Yes, I know that some will say this is abuse, and that's exactly what it was. I wanted to give it an honest test of just how much it can take before posting this review and while I wasn't planning on having it break, it did. Yes, I AM sad but I'll try not to cry too much over it lol.
Anyhow, If you intend to be doing lot's of batoning then perhaps go with a different model ( I have a Kabar 1277 Large Heavy Bowie for such task) OR maybe just don't baton seasoned nasty/knotty branch section hardwood with the Kraton F/U Models.
Then again maybe it's just my knife in particular, I could always feel the guard on mine move around and I don't think that they're supposed to do that. I Don't Know. But I do not doubt that in an outdoors environment, it WILL perform if need be. Just be wise about your choices..
I chose this one over the U.S.M.C. model on three points:
1. Thick tanto tip, I hate broken tips
2. Serrated portion, very useful in my opinion.
3. Rubberized grip should last forever; I didn't want it to rot out or shrivel away like portions of the handle on MarkII Navy Kabar from my grandfather via surplus store and a dresser drawer that I used to run around with as a kid.
Also It seems to have a thicker, less easily bendable guard than the U.S.M.C.
When I say the tip is thick, I mean that is well supported. Though the initial blade thickness at the tip is no more so than other knives, rapidly rising angles shoot up to meet a strip of whole blade thickness that runs down the pretty much the entire middle of the blade. This gives it about the thickness of the point on a nail. And it is very sturdy, I wouldn't expect it to break if I hit bone with it..
The point of balance is right behind the hilt. Lending to it's great use as a tactical knife.
I did perform all angles of cut on a tree. With a close arm, tucked in elbow, this knife can deliver a lightning quick flurry of devastatingly deep slashes and effective stabs.
The top guard even comes in handy for this function as it allows you to quickly change grips into a position where more stabbing power can come from the hips without worry of having to hold on to the blade much, I found the top guard did most of the catching of my hand from this position.
After a quick session, I have no doubts about it's ability as a killing tool.
Upon receiving it, It didn't feel shaving sharp but after using it to scratch an itch on my leg, I quickly realized that it left a bald patch behind. Guess I was wrong.
I put it through a small taste of light and heavy work off in the woods behind my house (live in the sticks, it goes on forever back there) to evaluate its effectiveness and get a taste of what it can do. It has it has held up quite nicely.
Usage since receiving has included:
Building of shelter; This knife made quick work of 1-2"diameter softwood branches and palmetto leaves (serrated is useful here), all you'd ever need to pop up a shelter in South Louisiana.
Lot's of people show blade's cutting cordage, I use dental floss because It's incredibly strong, can be gotten super tight without effort and a great compact way to carry 100's of feet of cordage along with you..
It's narrow blade design was also incredibly useful for digging straight in to make "post holes" for the sticks of the main structure without without highly disturbing the ground around them and then using the pommel to pack the dirt in tightly against them.
No pics of the shelter, I don't carry my phone around with me when going out to do that kind of stuff.. BUT, as it was December when I was through with it, I packed it up to my front yard for use a manger ( though it turned out to be too big.) Here are some picks of it revamped for the Holy Family:
*P.S.* this is not exactly what it looked like as a shelter, for that purpose 3/4th of the front was also closed in, leaving only a crawlspace.
Also, I've used the knife to open many a can and the angled tip at the end is excellent for this. Due to its' design, it's almost like having a can opener with a knife attached. It serves this purpose well and the only damage left behind is scratches in the epoxy coating (I've since removed this anyway, the coating is really uneeded [the Cro-Van steel does pretty well at resisting rust on it's own] and the coating causes a lot of drag compared to bare metal).
To touch on the rust resistance; I live in South Louisiana, It's a constantly humid environment here AND I regulary get this knife dirty, wash with soap&water, drip dry instead of wipe [takes about a minute] and very rarely apply a coat of mineral oil. No rust to speak of as of yet. Yes, I purposely let it sit wet to test it's resistance and so far so good. The Kraton sheds water like a coat of oil and the few beads left on the metal evaporate quickly causing no damage.
To test it's ability at batoning, I chose (for the sake of the review) some of the nastiest, hardest wood that I've ever seen in my life. It's branch sections of seasoned oak hardwood that sits in front of my fireplace.
Several neighbors and I took a whack at spliiting some of this wood with a sledgehammer and a wedge and yet made no progress. This is fire wood from hell. As you see, It did break BUT I don't put any strikes against the knife for breaking. I'm not considering this one a "fail", this is the kind of wood that you KNOW you shouldn't even be trying with. Also, it carved up a good few peices of it before it gave up the ghost:
Yes, I know that some will say this is abuse, and that's exactly what it was. I wanted to give it an honest test of just how much it can take before posting this review and while I wasn't planning on having it break, it did. Yes, I AM sad but I'll try not to cry too much over it lol.
Anyhow, If you intend to be doing lot's of batoning then perhaps go with a different model ( I have a Kabar 1277 Large Heavy Bowie for such task) OR maybe just don't baton seasoned nasty/knotty branch section hardwood with the Kraton F/U Models.
Then again maybe it's just my knife in particular, I could always feel the guard on mine move around and I don't think that they're supposed to do that. I Don't Know. But I do not doubt that in an outdoors environment, it WILL perform if need be. Just be wise about your choices..
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