Is a Ka-Bar knife a good weapon?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “kbar knifes“
About Reagan
Written by: Reagan
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Is a Ka-Bar knife a good weapon?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “kbar knifes“
About Reagan
If you mean THIS “Kabar”…??
It was purposely designed as the USMC Mark 2 combat knife or Knife, Fighting Utility by the US Marine Corps in 1942 and has been a proven man-killer ever since.
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> Is a Ka-Bar knife a good weapon?
Yes, if you mean the traditional Kabar designed for WWII marines, it’s a good weapon and an excellent tool as long as you can reasonably carry it.
The Kabar company makes 100 or more different styles and types of knives so it will vary but this answer is about the original.
I habitually carried one in the military but it’s not really suitable for civilian carry due to really needing a sheath and it’s too long for legal carry in many states including Texas (5 1/2″ blade limit.)
(To be fair, I know of people who carry really much larger Bowie knives and similar concealed but it’s just not worth my trouble.)
From what I can see these (Kabar company) knives are currently overpriced and I would never have afforded them when I was an active duty soldier.
For me the best price/performance in knives is generally ColdSteel.
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Any knife is an okay weapon.
Being a good or best weapon is contextual, situational, conditional, etc. As the benefits of any given knife is a balancing act between various pros and cons.
This is especially true when you are discussing an entire company that focuses on knives. Including pocket knives, concealable tactical knives, bayonets, so called fighting knives, small machete, etc. So I’m going to assume that you are talking about the USMC Kabar that has made the company very popular. As that is the typical kabar people tend to thing about.
The USMC style kabar is roughly 30.2cm in total length with a 7.8cm blade, roughly 320g in weight for for knife, the sheath is 110g, has a small handguard, and a more rounded grip design.
Legally carrying around a knife of this style is questionable. As many nations, countries, cities, counties, provinces, districts, state, and area laws may restrict this sort of knives. Either restricting their use as concealed weapons, not allowing their carry in public spaces, or their use as a defensive implement maybe called int o question.
In such areas a smaller knife, folding knife, pocket knife, pen knife, etc. May be a better weapon for use in self defense.
If you are hiking and are worried about weight and utility there are many survival knives and mulitools that are much lighter options. Of which these can fulfill a similar self defense role as the kabar. Of course it needs to be understood that these knives while having better utility, may likely be worse as weapons by a small degree.
If you are willing to carry something with just 100–300g more you could get a machete, hatchet, hammer, daggers, or similar tools. These would generally be better weapons than just a knife. Looking around I did find a few examples of machete and hammers that are roughly double the length of the kabar.
If you can legally own a firearm the USMC kabar weights about as much as some snubnose revolvers, pocket pistols, and some extremely specialized .22lr pack rifles. All of which would probably be better weapons than just a knife.
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From a purely American fighting knife perspective, it’s decent but short. As a utility blade that can be used in fighting, it does quite well.
In my opinion, knives can specialize in a particular task (filet, bushcraft, fighting, etc) and can be purpose built to do this specialized task. The kabar does some of these tasks, but lacks the thinness for fileting, the strength and length for bushcraft, and the size for fighting.
I believe a true fighting blade should be sized somewhere between 9-12 inches, weigh approximately 16-20 ounces, and balance near the guard. The kabar is short for a true purpose built fighter. However, it beats nothing and many other knives.
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If by Ka-bar you mean the USMC 1219C2 combat knife, yes, it is a good weapon, but it wouldn’t be my first choice in a gunfight. Ka-bar is now a brand of knives, and while I’ve used a couple of them and they seem to be of good quality, they aren’t all intended for the same purpose as the original Ka-bar. These are all, to varying degrees, of lesser value as a weapon.
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For a combat knife, the Ka Bar is an excellent weapon and tool. Once you start comparing it to other common weapons and dedicated tools it’s mid at best. If you want a good knife the USMC combat knife is a pretty good fixed blade option.
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Which one? I haven’t heard any problems with any of the models but personally I carry a Ka-Bar EK 44. There is a video on YouTube made by a fool. He tried chopping with one, which they aren’t made for, and when the handle scales came loose he sent it to the factory. There are 3 large screws and nuts on the handle, and I love that for several reasons. One if they come loose it’s a easy fix and since the knife is high carbon steel it’s needs maintenance and you can completely disassemble it oil the whole knife. Another thing is if you are artistic, which I’m not, you could fashion custom scales from anything you wanted. One downside is the factory sheath breaks easy. But they sell a good one Amazon.
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