Knife reviews

I've carried a Ka-Bar, or more precisely the mini Ka-Bar for personal protection since I was 16. I will be 28 this July and it's about time I retired her. I get a lot of different knives in every few weeks so I'm going to start these reviews as an exercise to help me determine a suitable replacement.

The first knife I am going to review is the Gerber Mark II

Blade Length: 6.6 inches
Blade material: 420HC
Handle material: powder coated aluminum
Overall Length: 11.5 inches
Weight: 12.5 oz

The first thing that draws my eye on the Mark II is the serration. About an inch and a half up from the hand guard and for roughly 2 inches on either side of the blade there are serrations. The serrations are superficial and impractical and for those of you who know the history of this particular knife you know why they are there.

The Mark II is a dagger designed for thrusting, as a slashing weapon it performs very poorly. Obviously double edged the blade is fairly slim at a little over 3/4 of a inch wide. At it's widest the handle is 1 1/4 inches wide and the hand guard is 2 1/8 inch wide.

The pommel is a practical striking surface with a very small surface area, meaning the force of a strike is going to deal serious damage. One major drawback to the Mark II is the powder coated aluminum handle. The powder coating gives the handle SOME texture, but it's easy for your hand to slip on, especially when your hand is a little sweaty.

The sheath the Mark II comes with is a slimline hard plastic sheath with a ballistic nylon case. it has two snaps to secure the dagger, an "over the shoulder" snap and a snap that goes around the handle that takes some work to get snapped the first few times. Another unique feature is that the sheath is MOLLE compatable.

Overall the Mark II is good at what it was designed for, but is pretty weak at everything else. As a collectors piece its good, I've seen them used in combat, and I like the size, but it's too specific, and with a small handle with a barely textured grip I wouldn't carry one daily.

Why are you dropping your Ka-Bar? Like you, I've carried one for years and years and it's held up well to all the abuse I've heaped on it. It's been my camp knife, my personal defense knife (tho a Ka-Bar is not exactly easily concealable), my chores-around-the-house knife . . . it's almost as useful as my machete.

This thread makes me stabby.

it's the mini Ka-Bar, the handle is a bit too short for my hand, I have my issue Ka-Bar, it's in my bolt bag, and like I said, it's my birthday next month and I want to buy myself something new

Have you checked out Microtech's Troodon?

Automatics are illegal here. Besides, I hate spring knives, they are a potential point of failure, especially in dust covered New Mexico.

Picture Sexy Time



The Mark II in it's sheath, also, my Khukri



The Mark II



MOLLE Compatable



The Mark II with my Mini Ka-Bar for size comparison

I carried a Benchmade Auto both in Iraq and Afghanistan and never had a problem. Semi regular cleaning with CLP and Q-Tips worked fine.

I'm glad you found one that works well, Personally I love my 42.

Yeah, the MK II was based on the Fairbairn, the original MK II's even had the 5 degree cant, but everyone sent them back complaining the blades were set wrong.

I'm a big fan of Spyderco. I carry this all day every day. The combination edge is my preferred choice and take it from me, it makes very short work of seat belts. The only complaint I ever had was that the tip on the older models would snap off. I don't mean much, maybe 1/64th of an inch. Just enough to lose the sharp point. They'd always replace it at no cost to me, but the newer ones (made in the last two years or so) have addressed this and it hasn't been an issue since.

You folks ever own a CKRT model? I used a M16-10KZ Tanto for years at work and everyday use, but lost it some time ago...thinking about a replacement, but can't decide which.

That mini K-bar looks a lot like my Air Force knife by Ontario. I should post some knife pictures for the hell of it.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, I think everyone here who's ever been in a surplus store or thumbed through a surplus/survival magazine or catalog has probably seen it.

It's this one, right?

I have a beat up (and reworked) assisted Benchmade that I carry everyday. I'll have to get around and posting a pic of it.

But this is my outdoors knife:

That's a nice one, my outdoors knife is a Cold Steel Outdoorsman Lite, It's going to my my first review after i've picked my replacement.

I like this thread. Pics to follow.

The Marso stabby collection, Part I: the practical (real) stuff:





From the top and then right to left:

1. Paul Chen practical katana. (Used in shinkendo and test cutting). Full tang, double pin, and very sharp. That's a real blade, although not a very expensive one. You could go full contact with it.

2. Cold Steel Recon Tanto

3. Cold Steel Kobun

4. Navy issue aviator's survival knife. (Piece of crap- I used to carry the Recon Tanto in my survival vest)

5-7. Steel throwing knives

8. Gunsite II tactical folder. I don't think these are made anymore, but this is my every-day, 'don't leave home without it' knife. Extremely practical, well made, durable, etc. I've had it over a decade and if my son doesn't swipe it when I kark it my wife can just cremate it along with me. Apparently it has the ability to totally spoof the TSA as well, which it has done a couple times (purely on accident).

Also, somewhere in a box in the garage I have a WWII issue Nayy ka-bar issued to my grandfather so he could use it to smash vital equipment in the radio room aboard USS Nevada in the event the ship was going down. He was always supremely smug about the fact that nobody ever asked him to turn it in when he mustered out.

I think he might have appreciated the $900 flight helmet the Navy urged me to keep when I elected to remain in the IRR.

The Marso stabby collection, Part II: the ceremonial stuff:



From top to bottom:

1. Duncan MacLeod Dragon head. There Can Be Only One.

2. Viking era replica

3. My Navy officer's sword

4. Scottish Skean Dubh. (Weapon of last resort.) This is arguably a practical weapon, at least from the stabbing viewpoint, but it doesn't have an edge.

I carry the M16-14.... a bit bigger, with machined scales.

Outdoor/Camping Knives? Meh. I've been using an ancient Camillus KA-BAR since I was a Cub Scout. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Back in the early 90's, Cold Steel was selling what they call "factory seconds" at a deep discount. I picked me up an "SRK" (survival rescue knife, I think) with the edge grind slightly off-center and the number 2 stamped in the end. I've never even bothered correcting it because it was still damn sharp and I don't use it enough to dull it.

Cold Steel sells some good shit. I have a short sword from them, and it came sharp as a freakin' razor.

Oh Cold Steel is top notch all the way, even their "economical" models are insanely high quality.

After a bit of testing the next knife I was considering is

The United Cutlery Honshu Series Kerambit

Blade Length: 4in
Blade Material: 7CR13
Handle Material: Molded Rubber-ish Material
Overall Length: 8 3/4in
Weight:9oz-ish

Since the previous knife I reviewed was a pure thrusting weapon, I figured I'd review a pure slashing weapon next. I love Kerambits. The curved blades are very single purpose, but also very devastating. This Indonesian blade was originally a hand sickle, but was picked up as a weapon rather quickly.

The Honshu Kerambit has a very pronounced, inward curving blade on one end and a knuckle loop with a striking point on the other. The molded rubber handle fits very comfortably in my hand and gives a very firm grip holding it blade up and blade down.

The sheath on this version is a slimline black leather piece with a "boot clip". Marketed as a boot knife, this blade just covers too much surface area to fit well in a boot, so instead I have been carrying it inside my waistband. The snap is a little akward to get to while carrying it IWB, and I'm sure it would be doubly so if I could fit it in my boot, so I carried it unsnapped. It conceals well with no problems moving around and no discomfort sitting down or running.

As I said before, this weapon's one weakness is that it is a purely a slashing weapon and is ill-suited for a primary carry blade. That said, this knife did so well I plan on implementing it as a secondary/back up personal defense weapon.

Cool, I have two that you can go full contact with.

Sorry for the delay for the pictures.



The kerambit with box and "Boot sheath."



The kerambit.



The kerambit in its "Boot sheath."



The clip and snap for the "Boot sheath."

Funky, but I don't know how practical that would be for me. I can't very well argue that I carry that around as a utility knife, now can I?

Aer you kidding me, it's a great utility knife. The concave edge is great for stripping wires, opening boxes, and cutting off limbs.