- Joined
- May 25, 2011
- Messages
- 854
I had the good fortune of winning a contest held by Moose: this is a review of the knife won in that contest.
KA-BAR heavy Bowie
14.25 inches OAL
9 inch clip point blade
.236 inch, 1085 steel
Black kraton handle with lanyard hole
Leather and cordura sheath was included
I must begin this review by confessing to two issues that will, undoubtedly, alter my opinion [of the knife] from the opinions of those who are most likely to purchase this particular knife.
Ive never been a fan of really big knives and this is a really big knife (in my opinion). I prefer blades around the 4 inch mark; with smaller being preferable to bigger. It isnt that I hate the bigger knives; I just find, for my particular needs, that a smaller blade works best.
Due primarily to ongoing health issues, I do not spend much (if any) time camping, hiking, or roughing it in the wild. Because of this, my needs will likely be far different from those needs of the target audience (for this particular knife).
First Impressions:
WOW! As in wow, thats a big knife. I knew the knife was far larger than any of the knives Ive ever owned, but seeing it in person really drove that point home.
I have owned one KA-BAR knife prior to this I lost it many years ago so I was expecting a high quality tool. This knife didnt disappoint: the fit and finish is excellent. The knife came paper-shredding sharp and didnt require any sharpening work on my part.
The sheath appears to be very functional, though Im not a big fan of that type of sheath. Again, this is due to my particular needs and shouldnt be taken as a slight against the sheath. Im certain that those who need this type of knife would find the sheath to be exactly what is needed out in the more wild areas.
Performance:
In a prior posting, I had thanked Moose for his wonderful prize and promised to post a review once I had the opportunity to use the knife. Among the replies were requests for an evaluation of the knifes performance when it came to batoning wood something that I had never done previously.
I chose a section of wood that was roughly 6 inches in width, with an obvious knot as my test piece. Unfortunately the wood was soaked from the multiple days of rain weve been having assumingly making the task more difficult.
Ive split a lot of wood in my life, but never with a knife. (Ive always used an axe or a splitting wedge) Even that lack of experience [on my part] didnt seem to infringe upon the knifes ability to split a relatively difficult piece of wood. I did use a wooden wedge to help keep the top gap open while I batoned the knife through the latter half of the selected log, but I dont think that was cheating since I had used the knife to size the wedge prior to attempting the split.
Although I would prefer an axe (along with dry wood) when splitting logs, I was surprised at how well batoning [with the KA-BAR] actually works.
I also used the knife to cut a [roughly] 3 inch branch into lengths (another first for me). I found batoning the knife through the branch to be very efficient; only slightly less so than using an axe or hatchet. I do suspect that this method is probably safer than using an axe or a hatchet, simply because of the overall control.
Chopping the branch was considerably more difficult, but still a relatively easy task. The hook on the end of the handle makes it very easy to maintain control while chopping. (I really like that feature)
The knife performed very well when drilling holes in an old board I had lying around. Im sure it would perform far better if I had any real experience with this task.
The knife excels at shaving curls on a stick of wood: I found it easy to control the knife and easy to control the curling of the wood.
I do tend to carve wood fairly frequently and while this knife could be used to carve wood, it wouldnt be my first choice (simply due to the size of the knife). I think it would be an excellent choice for sharpening the tip of a make-shift spear, or even carving notches if a delicate touch isnt really mandatory.
I tend to think of this knife as a smaller machete, so I used it as such. I trimmed back the excessive growth on my rose bushes and found that the knife works fairly well for this task. It easily sliced through all but the thickest branches [of the rose bushes] and made short work of that unpleasant job.
I forgot to take pictures of the Rose Bushes, so I took a picture of a sapling cut down with the Heavy Bowie. I'd guess that the sapling was around 3/4 of an inch wide and the Heavy Bowie felled it with one swipe.
Conclusion:
I like this knife a lot and would certainly buy one if I didnt already own it. To me this knife is a general purpose tool: capable of doing almost any knife task well and exceeding at some tasks. Were I someone who regularly roughed it in the wild, I would certainly consider this knife a valuable member of my must-have tools. As it is, the knife will get plenty of use doing ordinary albeit mundane chores around my property.
The handle wins high praise in my opinion: its extremely comfortable and seems made with chopping in mind.
Despite some fairly heavy use, the blade held up extremely well. It wasnt quite as sharp [after use] as it was new out of the box, but a few minutes of stropping took care of that. I was a bit hesitant to baton the knife - fearing Id chip or roll the edge - but the blade had absolutely no damage after batoning it through several pieces of wood.
I also think the knife is built very well. It seems as though it is almost indestructible barring purposeful intent to destroy it and will almost certainly outlast me.
Not counting my lack of experience using a big knife, I could find no faults with the KA-BAR Heavy Bowie and highly recommend it to those who are looking at bigger knives. Heck, Id recommend it to those who arent looking for a bigger knife.
I would also like to extend my thanks to Moose and KA-BAR - This knife is a truly wonderful prize.
KA-BAR heavy Bowie
14.25 inches OAL
9 inch clip point blade
.236 inch, 1085 steel
Black kraton handle with lanyard hole
Leather and cordura sheath was included
I must begin this review by confessing to two issues that will, undoubtedly, alter my opinion [of the knife] from the opinions of those who are most likely to purchase this particular knife.
Ive never been a fan of really big knives and this is a really big knife (in my opinion). I prefer blades around the 4 inch mark; with smaller being preferable to bigger. It isnt that I hate the bigger knives; I just find, for my particular needs, that a smaller blade works best.
Due primarily to ongoing health issues, I do not spend much (if any) time camping, hiking, or roughing it in the wild. Because of this, my needs will likely be far different from those needs of the target audience (for this particular knife).
First Impressions:
WOW! As in wow, thats a big knife. I knew the knife was far larger than any of the knives Ive ever owned, but seeing it in person really drove that point home.
I have owned one KA-BAR knife prior to this I lost it many years ago so I was expecting a high quality tool. This knife didnt disappoint: the fit and finish is excellent. The knife came paper-shredding sharp and didnt require any sharpening work on my part.
The sheath appears to be very functional, though Im not a big fan of that type of sheath. Again, this is due to my particular needs and shouldnt be taken as a slight against the sheath. Im certain that those who need this type of knife would find the sheath to be exactly what is needed out in the more wild areas.
Performance:
In a prior posting, I had thanked Moose for his wonderful prize and promised to post a review once I had the opportunity to use the knife. Among the replies were requests for an evaluation of the knifes performance when it came to batoning wood something that I had never done previously.
I chose a section of wood that was roughly 6 inches in width, with an obvious knot as my test piece. Unfortunately the wood was soaked from the multiple days of rain weve been having assumingly making the task more difficult.
Ive split a lot of wood in my life, but never with a knife. (Ive always used an axe or a splitting wedge) Even that lack of experience [on my part] didnt seem to infringe upon the knifes ability to split a relatively difficult piece of wood. I did use a wooden wedge to help keep the top gap open while I batoned the knife through the latter half of the selected log, but I dont think that was cheating since I had used the knife to size the wedge prior to attempting the split.
Although I would prefer an axe (along with dry wood) when splitting logs, I was surprised at how well batoning [with the KA-BAR] actually works.
I also used the knife to cut a [roughly] 3 inch branch into lengths (another first for me). I found batoning the knife through the branch to be very efficient; only slightly less so than using an axe or hatchet. I do suspect that this method is probably safer than using an axe or a hatchet, simply because of the overall control.
Chopping the branch was considerably more difficult, but still a relatively easy task. The hook on the end of the handle makes it very easy to maintain control while chopping. (I really like that feature)
The knife performed very well when drilling holes in an old board I had lying around. Im sure it would perform far better if I had any real experience with this task.
The knife excels at shaving curls on a stick of wood: I found it easy to control the knife and easy to control the curling of the wood.
I do tend to carve wood fairly frequently and while this knife could be used to carve wood, it wouldnt be my first choice (simply due to the size of the knife). I think it would be an excellent choice for sharpening the tip of a make-shift spear, or even carving notches if a delicate touch isnt really mandatory.
I tend to think of this knife as a smaller machete, so I used it as such. I trimmed back the excessive growth on my rose bushes and found that the knife works fairly well for this task. It easily sliced through all but the thickest branches [of the rose bushes] and made short work of that unpleasant job.
I forgot to take pictures of the Rose Bushes, so I took a picture of a sapling cut down with the Heavy Bowie. I'd guess that the sapling was around 3/4 of an inch wide and the Heavy Bowie felled it with one swipe.
Conclusion:
I like this knife a lot and would certainly buy one if I didnt already own it. To me this knife is a general purpose tool: capable of doing almost any knife task well and exceeding at some tasks. Were I someone who regularly roughed it in the wild, I would certainly consider this knife a valuable member of my must-have tools. As it is, the knife will get plenty of use doing ordinary albeit mundane chores around my property.
The handle wins high praise in my opinion: its extremely comfortable and seems made with chopping in mind.
Despite some fairly heavy use, the blade held up extremely well. It wasnt quite as sharp [after use] as it was new out of the box, but a few minutes of stropping took care of that. I was a bit hesitant to baton the knife - fearing Id chip or roll the edge - but the blade had absolutely no damage after batoning it through several pieces of wood.
I also think the knife is built very well. It seems as though it is almost indestructible barring purposeful intent to destroy it and will almost certainly outlast me.
Not counting my lack of experience using a big knife, I could find no faults with the KA-BAR Heavy Bowie and highly recommend it to those who are looking at bigger knives. Heck, Id recommend it to those who arent looking for a bigger knife.
I would also like to extend my thanks to Moose and KA-BAR - This knife is a truly wonderful prize.
.
