Nothing is "Dingus Proof " guys . An M 1 Abrams tank will fail when mistreated. Always tried to take care of my gear in the woods and it's taken care of me.

If you're skinning game and you lose the tip of your blade you're doing something wrong.

*If I'm in an area with large predators (North America), yes... I want a knife that can penetrate THAT for a kill if it's me or a predator! SEMPER FIDELIS!*

The value of the KABAR is in that you get the most knife for the least weight. It's a great second (backup)knife or primary in a non intensive blade environment.

Great explanation of a survival knife and demonstration of tasks and capabilities required. I like the look of the Kabar USN Mark 2 Thanks mate.

Love the KA-BAR but personally if I'm taking a mid size (6-8" in my book) combat/survival knife into the woods I'm taking either my Cold Steel SRK or my KA-BAR Becker BK-7. That being said, I do also keep a tomahawk handy in the woods so my knife doesn't have to take a huge amount of stress because a hawk with a small head and wood handle doesn't weigh a lot

This is easily the most useful knife video I (a survival knife noob) have seen in while. It put a few things in perspective for me. Much appreciated

My dad had my uncles k bar, that he carried in the Vietnam war when I was old enough he gave it to me and I can tell you that I cut down plenty of trees outside with it to make club houses and stuff out in the woods behind my mom and dad's house and I didn't need a baton to chop through it the knife did fine by itself. I've also got it and filled dress plenty of deer with it. Later when my son's found it they were playing with it without my permission and lost it for me

But what if I get into a survival situation where I'm wearing a shirt?

Great video! You covered all the bases that I would put my knife through. I think that a major take away from your video, and for any knife, is to know your knife’s limitations. I love my Ka-bars and know their limitations. Keep up the great work!

Honest and Thorough..No fluff....Kudos !

A very fair and historically sensitive review of what was once a ground breaking design at it's inception that we all hugely respect, but now simply due to the passage of time has been superseded.

the traditional KA-Bar is a good proven knife within reasonable limitations as a knife. It is likely going to be prone to breaking when pushed into extreme scenarios. I have several knives for survival/tactical /heavy use in my kits, but I just bought a Ka-bar because I think it is still a cool knife with a long history.

Man you've got a nice area there. Love this review. I love my kabar and would trust it in a survival situation. But i use it primarily as a bushcraft knife that can cross over to the more hard core tasks. While still taking it easy on it as it does have limitations. I will say that my kabar is one of the best blades ive ever had as a field knife and it holds its edge longer then most

Love My K-Bar!, thanks for the review, knew about the tang issue!

Sharpening in the field is one of the reasons I like to carry some kind of file (even on a Leatherman) or small diamond sharpening stone. Doesn't have to add a lot of weight but adds a lot of potential uses. For multitools with replaceable/removable blades, sometimes the file can be used to sharpen other parts of the same multitool, which is a huge plus.

I was an infantry Marine with 3/6 in lejeune. I have had plenty of time with the Kabar and own several models including the 2000, dogs head, cold steel leather neck and classic kabar models. Needless to say I love my kabars but I couldn’t agree with you more. If I was stuck in some crazy end of the world apocalypse with my kabar I know it would be ok but you are right their are better options out there for the same or just a little more money. I would be extremely interested in seeing side by side tests of the aforementioned models, especially since there isn’t many of those on KZfaq

love my Kabar DogsHead, use it for cooking, wood use, camp use, and its nice to know it has that defensive capacity as well.

Great video. Good information. Good luck on your channel.

Hey thanks guys I absolutely appreciate these videos you put out, as you know I'm always busy but on the weekend I get to binge watch your videos and for what I need a survival knife to be I think of first durability and that's including it's resilience to rust and corrosion, then next I think of how does this feel in my hand, how does it move if I'm in a combat situation will this be perfect for me, how I move and what I'm trained to do, then after checking those boxes I look at composition, style, materials for the blade and handle, once you go through these factors then I believe you can pinpoint the absolute best tool for what suits you best as a survival companion knife. For instance I bought a pair of mossy oak Bowie knives for my wife and daughter 20 busks from Amazon and comes as a set of two a smaller one and a larger one now when I hold my wife's blade it just feels right in the hand I ended up doing all my battoning shaving and showing my daughter some simple Bushcraft skills with that knife handled everything like a champion leather stacked handle and pretty much a clone of the buck 0119, but anyway the point is, is that the way this knife feels in the hand and going out and using it on outing or camping trips this is how you find the knife that works best for you. How does it feel battoning, skinning and how does it do using it for finer tasks all this adds to the overall selection. This is where your videos and reviews for me are freaking priceless and the way you put things is as if I was out there doing the run myself, it's fantastic just freaking fantastic, can't really express my gratitude enough for this and the way leather stacked handles work with me I think I have to check this knife out and now I know it can stand up to alot and for me I'm thinking this could be a near perfect companion / survival knife. So anyway sorry for the long comment just wanted to get go over those points and let you that I'm greatful for what you guys do.

Thank you for this info and honest review.

Thanks for the review.Always wondered what bushcraft and survival was.💞

Well done review and understanding of a good survival knife.

Excellent test of your K Bar Blade as your review appeared aggressive and the K Bar Blade may have dulled but still Serviceable.

You guys wore me out very well-made several generation time-tested excellent knife

great vid. I already have a ka-bar in my survival pack but after watching this video I now have s good excuse to get an esee :)

I went camping in the high desert and redwood forest. There were not any large rocks to hit in the stakes with so I used my ESEE 6 to hammer them in. Should have brought a stake mallet so lesson learned there. Glad I did have my ESEE though.

What’s with buttoning! I’m 67 and have needing camping, hiking, bush crafting and just plain woods walking since I was in Boy Scout. I have never battoned with a knife. I always (if I’m awake) have a knife in my pocket and when out in the woods I carry a 4-5 inch fixed blade. When camping I also have a hatchet (Gerber) in my pack as it weighs almost nothing. I do love the M2 knife, I have 3, including a WW2 USNavy M2. For years I kept one in my big out gear but now I fear I’m too old to bug out.

Great video, had my Kabar a long time, but only ever used it for light duties as I never trusted that thin tang through the handle (rat tail), surprised it lasted as long as it did with what you put it through. Do like the 1095, I know some will not class it as a rat tail. I have much better knives now, but I will always love my Kabar

Thanks, guys was wondering about that tang.

Good job.... Excellent info!

Great review

Nice common sense in your survival knife definition. I have a hatchet in my bug out bag, but you're right, I don't carry a hatchet everywhere I go. You really put that knife through it's paces. That failure is only to be expected from a rat tail design. The Kabar did well until that final test. Thanks for posting.

I am in Louisville, Ky. What part of Ky. do you live? The Kabar USMC is a tough knife, but the rat tail tang let's it down a bit. It got a lot of GI's through WW2 and beyond. There are not many knives that would stand up to the beating your's took. Thanks for showing it's limits. I would have no problem with a Kabar being my "survival" knife in a bad situation. Being able to field sharpen with natural materials is a big plus.

Dude thanks for the sick patch. Looks great. Now i just gotta figure out which pack to put it on LOL

I'd love to see your opinion on the Ames E-tool for survival situations, including whatever crazy stress tests you can think of! I've seen some impressive things done with them, from using them as grappling hooks, picks for breaking stone, and even sharpening either edge to produce axes, saws, and almost machete like knives.

Boys........this is probably the single best trial for a SURVIVAL knife. Survival isn't about whittling matchsticks or feathering balsa wood. It's about doing cruel, heavy abusive things to a tool. These boys are simply applying cruel, abusive and heavy things to a well known tool. These guys are not trying to destroy the legacy of the Ka-bar, rather they are applying it to a genuine survival situation. In my opinion, these guys are showing us realistically whether or not this knife can work in a survival situation. This video may save some lives in the future. Well done guys on a unbiased, genuine, realistic objective review. Don't criticise these fellas for any damage done to the knife. Criticise the design. Perfectly presented, good communication, good video technique. Excellent work 👍

It's a great knife with great steel and can do a lot in spite of the tang. If they made a true full tang version and tougher HT that would be awesome.

I really enjoyed this video. very honest and measured !

Thank you for this. I m a fan of KaBar but curious regarding its resistence or utility for bushcraft / survival. Personally, I have it almost as supersticious sort ofnthing 'cause it saved my butt a few times. Great video and test. Subscribing! Thanks

I would like to see you test a buck 119 special like this, I've read stories of it surviving the Vietnam as a combat / utility knife.

1st..?? Typically knives are only as good as the people using them, bushcraft knives can become fighting knives and fighting knives become bushcraft knives. Knowing your limits and the limits of your equipment...very important

I love my ka bar 1211 just as much as my fire arms

Wow, epic review! You guys did great and with wonderful and thorough explanations, too. BTW, love my ESEE 6 but don't carry it on every short hike for the reasons you all said...and every time I feel a little guilty about not taking it and carrying a smaller, lighter knife. Hope I don't regret it...LOL. BTW, that BR JX6 Companion I won on your channel goes with me as often as any knives I own.

I like the design of the Esse 6, I just wish they would make a few changes such as... 1) Use a ceramic or titanium knife coating. 2) Sharpen the spine 90 degrees 3) add a firesteel loop to the kydex sheath that will fit a "Lite my Fire" Firesteel perfectly. Number 3 is of course optional because I can do that but 1 and 2 would be really nice to have.

We are all knife guys at heart

Very useful, informative vid on The K Bar. I have my dads, from WW2, but keepmit bedside with other gear for self defence. Just a quick question... were you in the Amazon Jungle shhotting this ?

Very well done video. I think you pointed out the weak point and that is the 90 degree transition from blade to tang, it is asking for stress fracture. You only need to tread what happened to the worlds first jet liner, the DeHavilland Comet, to understand this engineering principle. I agree they are a quality knife and it took a lot of abuse, but today there are better designs.

this video gave me a lot to think about. plus i have been put in a survival situation. i was doing some hiking and got turned around and actually end up getting lost on my friends 400+ acre property. i was out there for 2 weeks my knife is my grand fathers 1942 ka-bar mark 2 he was issued. an batoning feather wood making traps skinning small game i was able to trap. the old knife held up very good from what i learned from him and what ive learned on youtube probably saved my life. i'll never go hiking with out a gps again

Could you do same test with the big kbar warthog?

I was 11Bravo, 7th ID in the 70s, and the Kabar USMC knife I bought at the PX when I got in served me well. In 1990, when my son-in-law was assigned to the 1st ID, I gave him a brand new Kabar just like my old one. when he came back from Desert Storm, he showed me what was left of that knife, and told me that it was the toughest knife he had ever owned. He drove a Hemmet through the desert following the tanks and Bradleys in order to refuel them when needed. At night, he would make his shelter some distance from the Hemmet, digging his foxhole with his issue folding shovel. Well, as these things go, his shovel broke one night, and he had to use his Kabar to dig his foxhole. He only had to do this three times, as the conflict only lasted a short time, but looking at that knife he brought back. I could see it had been through "knife hell." I've still got my Kabar, and he still (surprisingly) has his.

Hello from Kentucky land between the lakes. KA BAR use to be my favorite survival knife because it just looked cool. Then I upgraded and went with the cold steel leatherneck because it looks like the ka bar on steroids lol. But now I upgraded again to the Gerber prodigy. Its an Awsome survival knife and it's built tuff and holds a good edge and sharpens up good. I try to stay around the $100 range. But anyway thanks for sharing Awsome review of the KA BAR. God bless 🇺🇸

Speaking of Kabar quality, I was genuinely surprised the tip didn't break off. I bought two Kabar USMC knives back in the early 1990s, and the tips on both broke off so ridiculously easily. Nice to see that Kabar stopped producing junk-quality kabar knives.

I love the Ka-bar .. Although it's not made for batoning at all .. I recommend a British M.O.D jungle knife for that ..

Great video,made me buy one,no one abuses knives like you guys,it's a modern classic,the more you scratch it the more it looks authentic and you compared it to a esee 6 which is about 100 dollars dearer aus,I bet the esse 6 would snap rather than bend and doesn't look as sexy lol as the Ka bar.If I was serious a about survival why not have both.

I'm 99.9% sure that my WCSK would not break under the testing you gave that K-bar. I am really suprised by the strength of that K-bar. Great video Thanks! ATB Sam Adler

It seems the 5"er has the same tang as the 7. Mine was wrapped in paracord and put through hell, appears to have sinue used to secure it so I'm not 100% but it feels well over half the blade width and very similar thickness. I'm a smaller dude, much more than 5" looks a bit ridiculous on my hip so I'm happy with it. Seems to be better fit for your tests. Another point is that (with a clear chamber, snapped) I am about a 3 second draw. So I want my knife to have combat in mind, my trench shovel is my axe/machete/harpoon for bushcraft uses. My knife is for defense in a surprise scenario, and happens to be a useful tool as well.

I’m all for using the right tool/weapon for the right task. I bought the 1213 for keeping at home and home defense because I believe that’s it’s best use case.

Great video

Very good and thorough testing. Where, if I may ask did you get your training? The first two minutes of your video, told me you are well trained. Affiliation with Grunt Style, drove the nail home.

Loved this vid

I thought I did. Like I said I don't have a stake in the game but thats cool. Thank you for the vid. You guys rock no doubt. I did subscribe.

I took mine for five days camping in the Sierra Nevada's and id say its a good knife especially for the price and quality of the steel but...… I wouldn't however recommend the leather handle version for the end all be all grip. The more modern KA-BAR with its black kraton is much more sturdy and practical. Which I will actually be purchasing this week. I also experienced wear not only on the leather handle grip but as well wear on the small handguard of the blade. Just on five days of wear.

is this mk11 1095 crovan, or d-2 steel, or just 1095

Thanks for the video. It held up a lot better than I thought. I'd love to see you do an extreme test on the esee 4. It's the knife esee puts in their advanced kit and even Jeff Randall told me that would be the knife he would use in a survival situation.

I have lived/camped/traveled off the grid with the KaBar. Ive never broken one but the tang is seriously compromised by it's slimmed-down shape where it enters the handle. After using a small raft of knives I eventually came across a Trailmaster and that pretty much does what I need it to do, hands down. The problem I had with the KaBar is the weight of the grip.. very strong but too heavy by today's grip materials, which made it poorly balanced- in my hands anyway. Ive repaired older KaBars because the leather grips were rotting away or shrinking... Before first use, I soak them in water-proofing and let them dry thoroughly, just for that extra margin of protection in aquatic environments. Cool cave.. "Cave canem"?

I think 1095 cro-van is better than plain 1095. Seems to be more impact resistant from my time with 1095 and cro-van blades.

I’d love to see you guys do this with a Cold Steel Drop Forged Survivalist. I love mine, tis a thicc boi. The only downside is the handle part. There’s virtual no grip if you have wet bare hands. Even with the newer version with the textured scales. I may modify it at some point or add a coat with flex seal with sand mixed in it or something XD In all serious though, I wanna get back into the woods and break all my new knives in to see what works. I’d love to bring my Ka Bar Big Brother, but I know full well that it would only limit me in situation like this considering that it’s specifically a fighting knife for the most part. I may be wrong, but I feel like the top serrations would destroy any baton I try using lol

Nice video bro!

It'll pass the survival test for real if useing it for normal survival uses. Nice to know it's limits. Thanks for sharing and God bless 🇺🇸

Kabar take notes! Our fighting men deserve a tang redesign!! Get it done!!!! Our fighting men and women's lives may depend on it..excellent job men!!!!!!!!(sent here by cedrick & ada!!!!!)

It is a very good survival knife, but rat tail tang is not a cro-bar because it will bend and eventually break if you keep bending it

I'd love to see this same test with the Cold Steel Leatherneck.

i do own a 1211 and love it but my edc is a rat 7 or a bk7 never leave home without

Can smash a clam on the riverbed.

Thanks for the video. I own a model 1211 and this puts things in perspective for me. Not the best survival knife but it would be better than nothing.

Never heard of breaking a tip when skinning game. I have skinned up many hogs and their hides/bones are obnoxiously tough. Ironically I have always skinned pigs with a carpet knife and an el cheapo chinese SOG field pup, and never had any problems. I believe that if there were to be any problems w/ skinning it would be with hogs, b/c they are so obnoxiously rigid/tough. In fact to further prove my point, one morning a friend of mine shot a smaller boar hog at about 100 yds or so with a 110 gr 300 aac (we were looking for deer and the pig walked out) pig dropped but was thrashing about wildly. We walk up to ole hog boy to load him up into the truck and he was still moving, so I handed my buddy my 380 pistol in my back pocket so he could put a round into the pigs head to put him out of his misery. Buddy shot the hog behind the ear and the bullet did not even penetrate through the skull...... freaking ridiculous, I will never forget that and how it happened.

People think that the weakness of the handle come from the rat tail tang but it is actually not entirely true, it is also Because the handle is made of leather and it can not support pressure when you hammer the handle for example or if you baton the knife, a harder material would prevent the handle from bending. if the handle is made of a harder and tougher material like a thick piece of g10 or Frn it would be ideal. That is why the kabar company came out with d2 extrem And the kydex kabar…

Great video, I'm tired of reviewers who don't test their products. Also I was thinking of buying a Lt Wright genesis could you test the knife and do a video, that would be awesome.

Silkies Survival testing. Nice review.

I recently purchased a Ka-Bar Dogs Head, primarily because 1) it's a Ka-Bar, 2) the design - the top cross guard is 90% gone which makes the knife ideal for the Sabre Grip (preferred grip for proper knife fighting "Colonel Rex Applegate, USA OSS") as was taught to me by my late father, a student of his. 3) Ease of maintenance/sharpening. 4) Best field/fighting knife I can afford (disabled veteran). You certainly put the knife thru it's paces, and I like that you often mentioned that it's whether YOU come back, as opposed to bringing the knife home as well. Are there better "survival" knives ? Of course. I'd love to have been able to afford a TOPS, Fox, German Puma... but you do what you can. And I'm not a bushcraft instructor so I'm not going to be batonning a host of things on a regular basis. As for pounding with the butt, I don't foresee any problem pounding tent stakes.

When you started pounding it into the tree, I was like, hmm, that ain't coming back out unless they have some special tools I don't know about...lol

The reason this knife bent, is because it is not fully hardened. They only harden the parts that need to be sharp. This makes it so the knife can bend, rather than break...you can also straighten it right back. This is a more expensive way to heat treat a blade, and I am not sure that they still do this. But mine (from 1997) is certainly heat treated just like this.

Where do you live that there are so many trees to practice bushcraft skills and baby deer that you can just walk up on and pet?

NOTE for the 16:00 mark concerning using a rock vs the pommel of the knife. Down here in deep south Louisiana we have NO ROCKS at all. NONE. Just a thought for why using the knife's pommel might be your only option. ;-)

Had no idea you was a Kentucky Boy my friend. I live in the Frankfort area myself.

If Kabar used the same coating that Ontario uses on their 498 Combat knife handle, then it would be THE perfect knife for me because the handle on my Kabar looks pretty rough and darkened, and I don't even have sweaty hands!!

My go out knife is a butterfly or a karambit if I'm in the woods I got a pocket knife but in survival situations I'd probably just Kraft a few knives out of Flint stones

after what I saw I have no problem with a kbar

I recently did a video on "what makes a good survival knife" and I featured the Ka-Bar alongside some other examples, and uhhh boy did I start a strom xD Now people keep linking me this video. Thanks for all the great information you featured here Jacob!

Have you tested a Hinderer Ranch yet?

Meh, I still prefer the ka-bar for most wilderness related tasks over smaller sturdier knives, mainly because the ka-bar works a lot better as a makeshift machete than most purpose survival knives. As for the tang, honestly it might be a weak point, but the ka-bar is made of way better steel and has a much thicker tang than most "rat tail"knives, so it's kind of an unfair comparison, and really it's only likely to be a problem if do something stupid with it, it will hold up to batoning (which BTW is something that's really overemphasized by survival enthusiasts, it's not something you need to do that often in the vast majority of situations) just fine.

My favorite knife in the kitchen cost me $2.59. Yeah, I sharpen it fairly often, but it's a great little knife.

1.) Entrek 18 Bravo S.E.R.E. Dedicated Fixed Blade Knife (5.875" Gray) 2.) EnTrek Close Combat MKII Knife D/E Tactical Fixed Blade (7" Black Plain) 3.) EnTrek 11 Bravo Fixed Blade Knife (4.75" Bead Blast Plain) 4.) EnTrek Forester Knife Fixed Blade w/ Micarta Handle (3.5" Plain) 5.) EnTrek Destroyer Large Fixed Blade Knife (8.75" Bead Blast Plain)

ive had 3 of these. mine broke at the tip. at the handle near the blade. and at the handle near the hammer end. the abuse i put it through was unreasonable.

How about Ontario sp10 raider Bowie knife

Would this be a good EDC knife for self defense

3/2 marine najaf iraq 03 04 used my kbar often as well as first bayonet use since ww2 been there done that!

The context of this video is very well put in the test does add a lot of light to the limits of this blade but to be fair you would never realistically abuse your only tool in this manner and I certainly Wouldn’t be going into the woods with only one tool I would at least have a folding saw Like a silky pocket boy or a Baco laplander and a fero rod if nothing else along side my primary Blade And that could easily fit in a cargo pocket

I carried a Ka-Bar for awhile in the Army. Honestly, I never found much use for it. If I were going to stab someone, I’d much prefer a bayonet that I could affix to my rifle for extra reach. A bayonet or M3 Fighting Knife or Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting knife is designed for fighting. A Ka-Bar is a 1930s hunting knife the military decided to issue for World War II, not a fighting knife. Anyway, back in my Army days, I didn’t have a lot of bushcraft skills, so I found myself using my Ka-Bar for things I could use a folding pocket knife to do like opening MREs and cutting clear plastic sheets for map overlays in the TOC. I carried it on my LCE and eventually the tip poked through the leather sheath and it would stab me in the ass when I put my LCE on. So I stopped carrying it. I guess my point is, as much as we all love the Ka-Bar, it’s not very useful. If a knife can’t hold up to batoning, you might as well just carry a folding knife. The Navy tried using it as a dive knife but the leather handle quickly deteriorated due to salt water, and 1095 rusts easily. That said, I have a whole collection of Ka-Bars now, including the new Space Bar that commemorates the US Space Force. As far as modern replacement I suggest the Gerber Strongarm, or Cold Steel’s SRK, Leatherneck, Recon Tanto, or GI Tanto. They’re about the same price as a Ka-Bar or less.