Does the KA-BAR USMC have a strong tang?

A

Adaam

Joined
Jul 10, 2011
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Just curious, I know it's been proven as a good knife etc, but just wondering about the tang. How much of a beating can it take before it breaks/ bends, or what kind of force do you have to apply to it to bend or break the tang? Is it going to bend if I have to use it and put alot of force on it, or is it pretty much unbreakable by hand or any force you'd apply to it?

BTW, this is off topic, but can you get the traditional KA-BAR with the stacked leather washer handles, with USA indented into the side of the blade rather than USMC? Just because I'm Australian, so I don't really want a knife with USMC on the side, it just wouldn't be right. I wouldnt mind if it had USA, because that's where it's made, but I'm not American, so USMC just wouldn't be right.
 
A KA-BAR WITHOUT USMC wouldn't be right! Just kidding. I'm a former Marine so I'm just a bit biased.

I'm not sure how much abuse the tang could withstand, but it's plenty strong. The one I had saw it's fair share of abuse and never even flinched, it belongs to my brother now.

Just curious, what are you planning on using one for?
 
Yes, you can get it with just USA stamped in the side. Kabars are very good knives and their fighting/utility knive are no exception. Here is a video of a destruction test on a USMC Kabar.

Video

Swing by the Becker Knife and Tool Subforum. It's the closest thing to a KaBar Forum on here and we discuss all kinds of Kabar knives, but mostly Beckers. We even have an Aussie!
 
The tang on the Ka-bar is very nice and will probably stand up to any "normal" abuse you put it through. Although the Ka-Bar uses a rat tail tang instead of a full tang that I prefer on other fixed blades. The steel they use is quite strong being 1095 though.
 
The Ka-bar is a great knife and very tough, it really just depends what you want to use it for.

If you want full tang and you want it for general utility/camp work you should look at the BK2.
 
I had a knife display at a gun show this weekend and the only blade to sell out was the USMC Ka-Bar. Lots of old vets stopped by and would have story after story about their Ka-Bar and how much they loved it. Most still have (and use) the one they carried in every conflict from Desert Storm to Vietnam and beyond.

I don't think there is an issue with the tangs breaking under normal or even abusive use that might happen in combat. Will the Ka-Bar tang hold up to some of the abuse videos you see on youtube, maybe not. Especially when compared to some of the bomb-proof full tang monsters out there but you have to remember that the Ka-Bar was designed to carry in combat and like most other pieces of military gear, if it breaks you get a new one. Overall, it is a very good knife at a very good price.
 
I have only seen reports of the Next-Gen one breaking in the tang, but that one is made of 440A stainless which is quite stiff in comparison to the flexible and tough 1095 of the traditional Ka-Bar. By the way the Ka-Bar is not a rat tail tang. Rat tail tangs are small roods soldered to the blade to form a tang, the KaBar is what would be considered a Tang-Through design that uses the same blade for the tang but is of less width than the handle and rectangular shape.

I would love to get a ful tang version of the traditional USMC knive in the same blade with and thickness, but all the full tang knives I see are made like sharpened prybars, thick wide and heavy.
 
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It's a knife, used as such it's plenty strong. If you're going to abuse it, it might break, but maybe it would be better to get a prybar or something else more suitable.
 
Just another example of using a knife for what it was designed for. The Ka-Bar was designed as a fighting knife and meant to be carried on your belt without a lot of excess weight. there is no way your going to hurt it unless you intenionaly misuse it, such as using it as a prybar.
 
During my time the Corps I saw hundreds of dozens of ammo crates pried open with Ka-Bar's. While it is not my favorite design today it is one very tough capable knife.

The through tang is plenty strong for most knife work etc. If your gonna go choppin through concrete blocks and beatin the tar out of it with a sledge then you need your head examined anyway
 
I don't believe it's properly designed honestly and wouldn't trust it. The junction of the tang to the blade is square and I've seen some that were broken in that area. I've also seen them with broken tips. If you're going to use it as a weapon the Kabar is awesome, as a woods knife you can find better.
 
Its a decent knife the tang can be broken like any other tool if you misuse it. Will it hold up as well as a full tang knife? No. Is it the best design for a wood and hunting knife? No. Do you want it? Then buy it, its not an expensive knife. Your way over thinking this.

take it easy
cricket
 
wildmike said:
During my time the Corps I saw hundreds of dozens of ammo crates pried open with Ka-Bar's. While it is not my favorite design today it is one very tough capable knife.

The through tang is plenty strong for most knife work etc. If your gonna go choppin through concrete blocks and beatin the tar out of it with a sledge then you need your head examined anyway
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+1 On the USMC Ka-Bar, Semper Fi
 
It's not going to explode on you or anything. Is it ideal for camping?...no. Is it the strongest tang available?...no. Can it be broken?....yes. If it were the last knife I was going to buy ever would I buy it?....no. It this the last knife you are ever going to buy?....I doubt it.

People like them...they seem to work. You clearly want it....buy it.
 
My son learned to baton using a Kabar. The edge was beat to death but the knife held up very well. I recently put a new edge on with my Edge Pro and it is back into camping/utility use without a hicup.
 
marcinek said:
It's not going to explode on you or anything. Is it ideal for camping?...no. Is it the strongest tang available?...no. Can it be broken?....yes. If it were the last knife I was going to buy ever would I buy it?....no. It this the last knife you are ever going to buy?....I doubt it.

People like them...they seem to work. You clearly want it....buy it.
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cricketdave said:
Its a decent knife the tang can be broken like any other tool if you misuse it. Will it hold up as well as a full tang knife? No. Is it the best design for a wood and hunting knife? No. Do you want it? Then buy it, its not an expensive knife. Your way over thinking this.

take it easy
cricket
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Great minds must think alike....but you said it better than I did.
 
I had one as a teenager and I couldn`t break it ,I say couldn`t because I did things that should have broken it and it didn`t. I liked the knife even when I gave it to a knifeless friend, he still hasn`t broken it yet. Get one if it breaks you know better for next time and move on to a BK2 or ESEE5 or Busse&kin .Also I think you can get them marked for all the branches of the US military and some marked for special editions.
 
well i have the smaller version, and i did somewhat of a destruction test, i used it as a chisel to carve a tiki man out of an old log, (i know, stupid) but it held up, i beat it with a hammer, threw it against a wall, and the tang remained in tact. the only thing that happened was that the butt cap came off, but that was an easy fix, so its pretty durable. and the tiki man was worth it :)
 
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