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there will be plenty of time to practice there
The Fiddleback Duke Vs The KA-BAR
- Thread starter LostViking
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there will be plenty of time to practice there
What exactly is Trackrock???
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Track Rock is a Camp ground in North Ga that host an event called the Hammer-IN. It was put on by Crex for a billion years until the last one where he handed over the reigns.
During this weekend event approx. 8 or 10 experienced forgers set up and allow the public to have access to their forges. Kids, men or women are encouraged to particpate. It's all free of charge minus the campground fees and donation for the Saturday catered BBQ lunch (Donations as you see fit)
link to the thread from the last one
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/trackrock-spring-2018.1555078/
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https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/fall-trackrock-hammer-in-33.1514743/
An all around awesome time.
Looks like Phillip beat me to it.
An all around awesome time.
Looks like Phillip beat me to it.
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Trackrock is the best knife event in Georgia in my opinion. I like it better than Blade Show.
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An outdoor, hands on, camp type event has a lot more appeal to me than an indoor look and see sales event. There is a need for both. I just gravitate towards the outdoor setting.
Thanks everyone for filling in the blanks!
LV,
Thanks everyone for filling in the blanks!
LV,
Comprehensivist
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This is a cool subject
LostViking
. Your excellent photos and stories show what a capable knife the classic Ka-Bar is.
While I have no Ka-Bar experience to share, I have owned several Dukes over the years that I can comment on. I can say from a fair amount of use that there is much to recommend about the Duke’s versatility as an all-around camp & field knife.
The last one I owned was a Custom Shop S35VN production knife with some handsome desert ironwood over black liners & lime pinstripes. It was my primary camp knife for a good period of time.
Some of the features that I most appreciated about the Duke are:
An open and comfortable handle shape that feels good in-hand whether choking up for close carving or sliding back for light chopping.
Fabulous neutral balance that makes the knife handle like a dream.
A close-to-centered blade tip position relative to the handle. Drilling was easy because of this.
The S35VN held its sharp edge for a long time and the low maintenance was great.
Splitting some fuel for the fire is no problemo...
Even though I let this one go, I have many fond memories of our experiences together.
I continue to recommend the Duke to anyone looking for a great all-around use 5” fixed blade.
Phil
LostViking
. Your excellent photos and stories show what a capable knife the classic Ka-Bar is. While I have no Ka-Bar experience to share, I have owned several Dukes over the years that I can comment on. I can say from a fair amount of use that there is much to recommend about the Duke’s versatility as an all-around camp & field knife.
The last one I owned was a Custom Shop S35VN production knife with some handsome desert ironwood over black liners & lime pinstripes. It was my primary camp knife for a good period of time.
Some of the features that I most appreciated about the Duke are:
An open and comfortable handle shape that feels good in-hand whether choking up for close carving or sliding back for light chopping.
Fabulous neutral balance that makes the knife handle like a dream.
A close-to-centered blade tip position relative to the handle. Drilling was easy because of this.
The S35VN held its sharp edge for a long time and the low maintenance was great.
Splitting some fuel for the fire is no problemo...
Even though I let this one go, I have many fond memories of our experiences together.
I continue to recommend the Duke to anyone looking for a great all-around use 5” fixed blade.
Phil
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As always Phil your study of a design is very enlightning.
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Yeah, Blade is run by a bunch of fun suckers, won't even allow drinking in the main hall. Whatev'
Thanks again for letting it go.....
Comprehensivist
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I was very glad that it went to someone who will continue to put it to good use. That knife is a workhorse that would die of claustrophobia in a safe...
I wish you many years of great adventures with it.
Phil
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OK,
Just to bring this up to date.
The Duke arrived safe and sound. We pretty much all knew it. But it is a very cool knife.
I spent a little time getting used to it. So as to even the playing field against a knife I have had for a while. Nothing special just normal woods stuff.
As my wife knows all to well. I'm not much fun in July and August. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a hot weather guy. We have had an extremely warm summer. I say warm, not hot, because many, if not most, of you have had it way worse.
Although since we don't have Air Conditioning, the humidity this summer was a force to be reckoned with. It was 93 Degrees F, 20 miles from here today. We were around 88F.
88F here in early September is borderline absurd. Not precedent setting, but not fun either way. Some years we never see 90 even in July and August. We saw it this year, too many times.
I'm a bit like a bee. When it gets hot, I get cranky. I make no bones about it. I was short, I was irritable, and I was thirsty. Hopefully, all that is behind us.
Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 73. Yay!
So with all that being said. The knife is here. The temps are cooling, my internet renewed on the second of the month. I have nothing left to do, but go play. So expect some work to start trickling in.
LV,
Just to bring this up to date.
The Duke arrived safe and sound. We pretty much all knew it. But it is a very cool knife.
I spent a little time getting used to it. So as to even the playing field against a knife I have had for a while. Nothing special just normal woods stuff.
As my wife knows all to well. I'm not much fun in July and August. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a hot weather guy. We have had an extremely warm summer. I say warm, not hot, because many, if not most, of you have had it way worse.
Although since we don't have Air Conditioning, the humidity this summer was a force to be reckoned with. It was 93 Degrees F, 20 miles from here today. We were around 88F.
88F here in early September is borderline absurd. Not precedent setting, but not fun either way. Some years we never see 90 even in July and August. We saw it this year, too many times.
I'm a bit like a bee. When it gets hot, I get cranky. I make no bones about it. I was short, I was irritable, and I was thirsty. Hopefully, all that is behind us.
Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 73. Yay!
So with all that being said. The knife is here. The temps are cooling, my internet renewed on the second of the month. I have nothing left to do, but go play. So expect some work to start trickling in.
LV,
Last edited:
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At first when I read Andy's discussion about him making the Duke as a direct Replacement for his KA-BAR. I wasn't sure I quite got the concept.
The specs are different as night and day. Full tang versus Rat Tail, micarta slabs vs stacked leather washers. Super steel vs plain old iron. 5.5" vs 7".
If you just viewed these two knives on paper. You would never think to compare them.
But I think he went after the concept, not the Specs.
The KA-BAR was designed for War. The Marines were the first to adopt it.
They gave it a Flashy name too. "Knife, Fighting Utility"
It has another name as well. "Mark 2 Fighting Knife"
For those interested, here is a brief synopsis of the KA-BAR FU.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka-Bar
I think what sets the KA-BAR apart from other fighting knives is the utility part. It does a lot of other things very well, as a young Andy found out. Bayonets and daggers are not great utility blades.
It's almost like comfort food that can cut things. A metal woobie if you will. Just its mere presence has a calming effect. Make no mistake, the Duke is trying to fill a big set of shoes.
As I move forward with this. I will try to be as objective as I can be. It's not a contest, and I'm not being paid. By Andy or KA-BAR.
I don't see it as adversarial. More like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird shooting a round of HORSE.
Everybody should have some fun. One may shine more some place than the other. But this will be a Low Key Shootout.
One more from the get acquainted fire,
The specs are different as night and day. Full tang versus Rat Tail, micarta slabs vs stacked leather washers. Super steel vs plain old iron. 5.5" vs 7".
If you just viewed these two knives on paper. You would never think to compare them.
But I think he went after the concept, not the Specs.
The KA-BAR was designed for War. The Marines were the first to adopt it.
They gave it a Flashy name too. "Knife, Fighting Utility"
It has another name as well. "Mark 2 Fighting Knife"
For those interested, here is a brief synopsis of the KA-BAR FU.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka-Bar
I think what sets the KA-BAR apart from other fighting knives is the utility part. It does a lot of other things very well, as a young Andy found out. Bayonets and daggers are not great utility blades.
It's almost like comfort food that can cut things. A metal woobie if you will. Just its mere presence has a calming effect. Make no mistake, the Duke is trying to fill a big set of shoes.
As I move forward with this. I will try to be as objective as I can be. It's not a contest, and I'm not being paid. By Andy or KA-BAR.
I don't see it as adversarial. More like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird shooting a round of HORSE.
Everybody should have some fun. One may shine more some place than the other. But this will be a Low Key Shootout.
One more from the get acquainted fire,
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Very excited to see the rest of this.
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Alright let's get this underway.
Here ia a shot of both knives together. What do we notice? Well a lot actually.
That one shot shows us the difference between a full tang and a rat tail tang. It shows us stacked leather washers vs crenelated micarta. Oval barrel shaped handle vs 3D ergos. It shows us the guards, and it shows us that cool lanyard hole neatly tucked into the back of the Duke.
It also shows I'm a poor photographer or the blades would have been in focus. Sometimes depth of field is hard to pull off with a point and shoot.
The Ka-bar pommel is drilled and there is a small pin that runs through the pommel, through the tang and into to opposing side of the pommel. If I think about it down the road, I'll try to get a shot of the actual pin placement.
So basically, you have this big rugged fighting/survival knife all held together, guard, handle washers, and pommel, by this cheesy little pin.
Several things to note about this.
First,
It was a government contract for a mass produced knife. They needed to be cost effective.
Second,
There doesn't seem to many failures with this design. I don't know if I have ever actually heard of a Ka-bar being taken off line from a pin failure. But I'm sure some knot head on Youtube has done it.
Third,
Some extremely high end Japanese Katanas are actually held together by a similar design. Except that instead of a metal pin, they use Bamboo. Go figure?
Andy's Duke has a more straight forward and simple design. The slabs are bolted to the tang.
This makes disassembly and reassembly easier. If you should find the need to do that most won't.
Unless you're fishing with Big Deal on the Bonefish Flats.
In this shot we see that the Ka-bar is way bigger than the Duke. Well no kidding Viking, the Ka-Bar is a 7" knife, the Duke is only 5.5"
One of the things I didn't get about Andy's build. Was the size differential.
But there is irony here. I have been asking Ka-bar for years to make me and everyone else a 5.5" Version of this knife. Not the scalled down 3/4 Ka-bar. But this exact knife with a 5.5" blade.
There is more to this story that I'll get into later, maybe even tomorrow.
Here ia a shot of both knives together. What do we notice? Well a lot actually.
That one shot shows us the difference between a full tang and a rat tail tang. It shows us stacked leather washers vs crenelated micarta. Oval barrel shaped handle vs 3D ergos. It shows us the guards, and it shows us that cool lanyard hole neatly tucked into the back of the Duke.
It also shows I'm a poor photographer or the blades would have been in focus. Sometimes depth of field is hard to pull off with a point and shoot.
The Ka-bar pommel is drilled and there is a small pin that runs through the pommel, through the tang and into to opposing side of the pommel. If I think about it down the road, I'll try to get a shot of the actual pin placement.
So basically, you have this big rugged fighting/survival knife all held together, guard, handle washers, and pommel, by this cheesy little pin.
Several things to note about this.
First,
It was a government contract for a mass produced knife. They needed to be cost effective.
Second,
There doesn't seem to many failures with this design. I don't know if I have ever actually heard of a Ka-bar being taken off line from a pin failure. But I'm sure some knot head on Youtube has done it.
Third,
Some extremely high end Japanese Katanas are actually held together by a similar design. Except that instead of a metal pin, they use Bamboo. Go figure?
Andy's Duke has a more straight forward and simple design. The slabs are bolted to the tang.
This makes disassembly and reassembly easier. If you should find the need to do that most won't.
Unless you're fishing with Big Deal on the Bonefish Flats.
In this shot we see that the Ka-bar is way bigger than the Duke. Well no kidding Viking, the Ka-Bar is a 7" knife, the Duke is only 5.5"
One of the things I didn't get about Andy's build. Was the size differential.
But there is irony here. I have been asking Ka-bar for years to make me and everyone else a 5.5" Version of this knife. Not the scalled down 3/4 Ka-bar. But this exact knife with a 5.5" blade.
There is more to this story that I'll get into later, maybe even tomorrow.
Last edited:
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OK, enough School Work for today.
It's cooling off, and I'll be headed to the woods more. So I thought a good get-to-know-you would be tarp/tent pegs.
Some batoning to get sticks down to size,
Note, I batoned onto a log, not the rock in the picture
Deep breaths Vance, deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth, calm.
I did two with the Duke and two with the Ka-bar switching back and forth.
I chamfered the tops and gave the a quick wrap with twine from the top donw to help keep them from splitting. Just wrapped it over itself on top and finished with a Clove hitch on the bottom.
I have taken to just cutting a wedge instead of a point. Faster and the points just dull when they hit rocks anyway. If the ground is easy, you don't need much of a point. And if it's real rocky the wooden points don't hold up well.
Outdoor tip of the day. If you fire harden your tips in the coals a bit they will hold up much better than green wood.
A shot of the points,
I tuned that reall obtuse looking one up a bit after this shot.
It's cooling off, and I'll be headed to the woods more. So I thought a good get-to-know-you would be tarp/tent pegs.
Some batoning to get sticks down to size,
Note, I batoned onto a log, not the rock in the picture
Deep breaths Vance, deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth, calm.
I did two with the Duke and two with the Ka-bar switching back and forth.
I chamfered the tops and gave the a quick wrap with twine from the top donw to help keep them from splitting. Just wrapped it over itself on top and finished with a Clove hitch on the bottom.
I have taken to just cutting a wedge instead of a point. Faster and the points just dull when they hit rocks anyway. If the ground is easy, you don't need much of a point. And if it's real rocky the wooden points don't hold up well.
Outdoor tip of the day. If you fire harden your tips in the coals a bit they will hold up much better than green wood.
A shot of the points,
I tuned that reall obtuse looking one up a bit after this shot.
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