# kabar knife



## crow67 (Jul 11, 2008)

I don't have a good knowledge of knives...but i've found a kabar on line from an individual, they're asking $55 for it, what would be a good counter offer... any advice would be welcomed...thanks....


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

They make more than one model, so without more details, I would say offer $5.


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## crow67 (Jul 11, 2008)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_98_vXqNN2Nw/THVMyNV3VCI/AAAAAAAAABA/X3WCNB9tJR0/s1600/KABAR_comp.jpg 

it's similar to this one....


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## Huntinfamily (Aug 14, 2010)

Best knife I ever had. Still have the one I was issued in the Marines. I carried it for ten years on my combat gear and still carry it when camping or hunting. I got a new one for my Son this pased Christmas and paid around sixty bucks for it. Just to let you know how durable they are I used mine to split kindling a few times and have driven nails with the stel head on the end of the grip. I can't brag enough about them


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## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

Wouldn't go over 20-25. You can get them here at the Army-Navy store for around the same price. 

Check out craigslist, I've gotten many a military item there, right down to my command tent, now if only i can find someone with the aluminum pole kit.....


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## PATRICE IN IL (Mar 25, 2003)

Check out Possum Creek Knifeworks by our own HT member Ernie. Here's a link to his site http://www.etsy.com/shop/possumcreekknifework. He makes some really nice knives at reasonable prices for custom pieces.


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## crow67 (Jul 11, 2008)

i've seen some of Ernie's knife's and would love to have one...but this is someone just down the road from me and i've bought a couple of things from him already....it's on on line yard sale group on facebook...


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

crow67 said:


> http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_98_vXqNN2Nw/THVMyNV3VCI/AAAAAAAAABA/X3WCNB9tJR0/s1600/KABAR_comp.jpg
> 
> it's similar to this one....


It is a great knife. I paid around $16 for mine in 1974. It is actually shaving sharp and easy to resharpen. I carry it on the strap of my chest waders when trapping beaver. It will lop off willows or shave bait sticks. The spine of mine is slightly mushroomed from hammering it thru many deer pelvis bones and backbones to split the carcasses. It has never let me down.


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## foxfiredidit (Apr 15, 2003)

It's a great garden tool, or like Ed says about using it to hammer through deer bones or in a pinch for doing the same to some kindling wood, it will dig a hole if you are motivated, and it is easy to sharpen to a pretty fine edge, it is durable to say the least. Just depends on what you need/want a knife for. I would say it fills the bill on most any use. I found it not so great for skinning, it would do it but not what I liked in a skinning knife, depends on how much you skin though. It's okay for that every now and then. I love knives and keep a good one. I have had some really good English steel as well as American, and a German knife. All of them serve a purpose for me. If I'm going camping, I'll probably pack the K-Bar. When it's other matters at hand though, I prefer a knife designed for it and the K-Bar is a little bulky and the feel of it in the hand is not quite right.


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## Lythrum (Dec 19, 2005)

You can get a brand-new ka-bar at Grunt.com for the same mid-50's price (plus shipping of course). So I'd suggest more like $25-30 as some others have suggested also, especially if it has some wear like the one in the picture you linked. Unless it is one of the special memorial editions or something that would make it worth more of course.


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

Now is it a real KA-BAR, or a knock off KA-BAR??

I am on dial-up, but the photo link you posted showed a composite handle, instead of the traditional leather handle.










As other's have posted, you can buy a new in the box KA-BAR with either a drop point or tanto point blade for $50 to $60 dollars, so the used price you have posted is way too much. The USMC KA-BAR sheathed knife in my pic with the well worn leather handle, I have owned since 1977 - and it is still sharp as a razor. I have worn out one leather sheath for it so far, and found a replacement thru my USMC sources.

Plus KA-BAR does make smaller fixed blade non USMC style knives, also!!


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## Murray in ME (May 10, 2002)

I agree with the others. It is over priced. You can get a brand new one from Amazon.com for $50. With free shipping. http://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-Marine-Fighting-Knife-Straight/dp/B001H53Q6M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314262074&sr=8-1


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## shawnlee (Apr 13, 2010)

PATRICE IN IL said:


> Check out Possum Creek Knifeworks by our own HT member Ernie. Here's a link to his site http://www.etsy.com/shop/possumcreekknifework. He makes some really nice knives at reasonable prices for custom pieces.


OK, Ernie just went on the list...........




















I will be getting a knife from him...........when I purchase my next knife.

I just need to decide what kind of knife and see if he is willing to make it.....his prices seem reasonable enuff.....sure like that big survival knife.


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## homesteadingman (Mar 17, 2011)

First of all from the pic, that is a 5" Ka-bar not a 7". Go buy a brand new one anywhere from 55 to 65 dollars. The one in the pic was their mini version and had what looked like mold on the sheath. You will usually pay the same amount for either size.


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## homesteadingman (Mar 17, 2011)

I have a black 7" serrated and straight edge Ka-Bar. I also have a Ka-Bar Heavy Bowie that is 14 1/4 inch long and will take a tremendous beating. Well worth the $80 at Army Barracks.


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## crow67 (Jul 11, 2008)

thanks for all the comments...think i might just save the money and get one from Ernie in the future...


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Heh. Thanks for the advertising.  If you see something you like or would like to mix and match handle styles with different types of blades then contact me. I don't charge a lot for custom orders since the money is already in hand and I know I won't be keeping the knife around for months at a time (like with Etsy).

I like the kabar knives well enough. They're really durable and made for long use and wear. For the handle they use small leather washers around a full tang. 

The problems with surplus military equipment:

1. They are often made to a design by that year's lowest bidder. So they are mass produced over decades and the quality can vary widely. If you get a 1952 kabar then you've really got something awesome, but a 1978 kabar might absolutely suck.

2. A lot of sellers assume they have "extra" value because of their military appeal. A knife is a hunk of steel of varying qualities with a handle attached. That's all it is. Some people like rubber handles, some people like leather handles, some people like wood. And then when you get into the wooden handles, people like all different types of wood and styles.

If you just love the kabar for what is is then I'd expect to pay between $20-50 if you're willing to wait for the right gun show price or store sale. 

Here are some of the considerations when buying a knife of any type:

1. Is the handle firmly fixed? No gaps between the handle material and the tang that would accumulate dirt, water, blood, etc? (Gaps make cleaning difficult and that leads to rust on your favorite blade.)

2. Is the steel suitable to the task required? 440a stainless steel is common because it's super hard and durable, but super hard also means "hard to sharpen by hand". You're not going to chop wood or pry open doors with a small skinning knife, so softer steel that is easier to hand sharpen might be preferable. 

3. Is the style appropriate to your usage? If you expect to get in knife fights with Comanche then a bowie is top of the line. If you need an all-around survival knife then I really like the kukri. If you just need to skin a rabbit now and then a much smaller blade is desirable. It's hard to ever think that a person might just own ONE knife and have to make do. I think most people need about 3 knives to accomplish all of the different tasks they might want to accomplish.

For all around purposes, I carry around a knife that I've had for decades. Ironic that as a knifemaker I don't even carry one of my own blades. This one is a mass produced Winchester blade that just feels perfect in my hand. It has the right balance and is the right style to accomplish about 80% of what I do with it. I'm not Natty Bumppo so if I need a knife for a different task then I can just reach into my backpack or go into the house and fetch one more appropriate.

I could talk knives all day but I've got to get today's bunker index finished up!


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Here's the knife my wife wanted and she carries about with her. Rarely does she do more than cut the stem on squash or okra. Occasionally she'll cut the twine off a bale of hay. So she wanted something easy and small to carry. The handle is a Texas red cedar (the rot-resistant wood most commonly used for tree posts). It's cut across the grain to make the beauty of that red wood really stand out. Reminds her of our Texas home and how we hope to return some day. Normally I would avoid a soft wood like cedar on the handle but with gentle care you're not going to damage it much over the ages. My expectation is that any knife I make will be used by the owner's grandchildren someday.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

I still have the scar....throbs occasionally, from when I bought my first Kabar one fine day during my high school incarceration. My friend wanted to see it, on the bus ride home that evening, and while handing it back to me, handle tip grasped between his thumb and forefinger, blade pointed straight down, he dropped it, and it had no problem slicing through my Levis and deeply piercing the skin and a couple ligaments at my inner knee joint. :indif:
Still have the knife, too. Sits on a shelf above my bed, about half retired from hard years of accompanying me on camping trips and skinning everything under the sun, including innumerable home beef, chicken, rabbit, squirrel, pork and venison processings.


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## crow67 (Jul 11, 2008)

i would love to have one like your wifes' Ernie....

this is the one that i carry with me in my purse at all times...

http://images.gerbertools.com/Lg/1174_1/22-08444_Gerber_Paraframe_I_Stainless_Fine_Edge.jpg

hub didnt know i had it until he need something opened....he looked at me kinda funny...

also have a smaller size gerber that stays in the vehicle...
also had a 8" fillet knife that i kept in my truck until I turned it over to my youngest dd to have for now...


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Gerber makes a really nice blade but I don't care for folders and those open handles. They are a pain in the butt to clean debris and foreign matter out of. I'm so lazy when it comes to maintenance that I don't really need any extra hassle to make me want to skip it for later. 

I picked up some kitchen blades made out of great high carbon steel so I'm about to start selling matching kitchen sets. I think those ought to move pretty well and keep me in peanut butter cups. That's what it's all about, ya know ... keeping me in peanut butter cups.


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