Reddit reviews KA1214-BRK USA Fighting Knife

Given the job and the terrain I'm imagining this is more of a general-abuse knife (ie, "sharpened pry-bar") than a dedicated cutter. Accordingly, I'd try not to spend a fortune on it.

Though they're not serrated I'd be inclined to get a couple of these (~$26 on Amazon) which are designed to be cheap abusable knives for this situation. If there's lots of prying to be done an interesting option would be to get a Breacher Bar, plus a sheath for it (such as this one but currently out of stock), wrap the handle with paracord and pair it with a decent folding knife (such as the RAT 1) for actual cutting.

Other usual suspects:

http://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-Fighting-Utility-Serrated-Sheath/dp/B000BSZDP8

http://www.amazon.com/Ka-Bar-Short-Tanto-Point-Serrated/dp/B001EIALK6

http://www.amazon.com/Ka-Bar-Short-Fixed-Blade-Knife/dp/B000JMEWBC/ref=sr_1_5?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1334972468&sr=1-5

(NB: with the Ka-bars make sure you get 1095 carbon steel not 440A stainless.)

http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Steel-Kraton-Handle-Concealex/dp/B000BSY9AS

Or, for something rather smaller maybe an ESEE 3.

Edit: Just remembered the Glock 78 - again it's on the sharpened-pry-bar side of things and sheath and retention are probably better than most of the options above. (It's a proper Glock product and not just some random company that's licensed the name (I'm looking at you, Smith and Wesson) and IIRC is issued in the Austrian forces.) Available in black, olive green, and sand colours. There's also a saw-back version (the Glock 81 IIRC) but I'd recommend against that.

A lot of this would depend on the situation, but assuming that this bucket would be all that I'd have to live on for 72 hours...

• Line the bottom with 1 liter bottles of water. I'd want minimum 6, preferably 9. Ideally I'd also like a Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System. That's a chunk of the budget right there, but it allows for refilling of water bottles from a lot of sources which could be valuable depending on the situation.
  
  
• 3 Mainstay 2400 Bars. Walmart sells them for less than $5.00 each. I'd add in a couple of gallon sized ziploc baggies to boot because they aren't individually sealed. Probably wouldn't be super pleasant to eat only these for 3 days, but there's zero prep involved and they get the job done. Maybe get an extra one to try out ahead of time to make sure they don't do anything funny to your stomach.
  
  
• Probably some mylar sleeping bags and several blankets. Then add in 100' of paracord. The blankets and paracord would allow you to provide shade or insulation as needed.
  
  
• Two lighters (one for backup) and a standard pill bottle filled with cotton balls smothered in vaseline (tinder for fire, cheap and efficient).
  
  
• Hand sanitizer (also works as a fire starter), sun glasses, chapstick, and a neck cooler (also sold for <$5.00 at walmart). Add in a handkerchief that you can soak and cover your head with. You can probably find more clothes to put on if it's cold, but it's hard to deal with heat, so that's important to take into account. Add in a small roll of duct tape as well.
  
  
• A mini-med kit. To keep it within budget I'd mostly use what I have at home. Add bandaids, gauze, lots of ibuprofen, lots of multivitamins, sinus meds, pepto tablets, sunscreen, and allergy meds. Splurge and pick up a decent sized tube of antibiotic cream. It's not comprehensive, but this is a 72 hour kit. Hopefully that would mean more being concerned with comfort than full on survival.
  
  
• A locking folding knife of some sort. Make sure it's sharp as a razor before putting it into the bucket. Doesn't have to be top notch or expensive here, but does need to be sharp. If room permits and you have one already, also toss something Ka-Bar like in. Something that has a little weight to take a branch off, but also is sturdy enough to assist in minor digging.
  
  
• If you have them, toss a pair of wool socks in. No matter the weather those are always good to have. Otherwise, just get an extra pair in there. If the weather is cold you can double up. If it's hot you can change them out to keep your feet fresh. That's important.
  
  
• A spare phone charger. Chances are there will be electricity somewhere, and phones are absolutely important. Worst case, get a $10 cheapy, test it, then toss it in.
  
  That's the necessary stuff for a 72 hour kit imo. It covers shelter, food, water, warmth (and cooling), and as much security as you can get within budget. It should keep you comfortable for a few days if you have to grab it and move toward a place where you cannot be assured of any necessary resources being present. You can fill gaps with things like gum, hard candy, a good book you don't mind re-reading, as well as anything else you might need to keep yourself occupied.

I would love this as my entry for gift one. I certainly don't need it, but it would be so cool to have.

For the second one, I do actually need this case. C'mon...gimme.

I have this knife and I actually regret buying it. Not because it's a bad knife but because it was one of my first knives and I didn't really have a firm grasp on how I would use it. I almost never use it now except to lend to friends when we go camping. I'll break down the different elements to the knife now and what I think about each of them after using it for some time.

• Handle/feel in the hand: The KA-BAR Kraton G handle is one of my favorite knife handles. It feels great in the hand and very secure even when dirty or wet. It feels really sturdy and that probably has something to do with it weighing 0.8 lbs., which is pretty heavy for a knife imo.
  
  
• Steel: The 1095 Cro-Van steel is pretty good. It holds a decent edge and sharpens fairly well. It's got the powdered black coating which is still intact but I haven't used the knife much for real heavy duty stuff and my KA-BAR kukri (which has the same powder coating) started to lose the coating after repeatedly batoning with it.
  
  
• Blade: The serrations are cool to look at and great if you'd rather not have to keep your knife sharp all the time, but I find that I almost never use them and they just make the knife more difficult to sharpen and a waste of space. The drop point is my favorite look for a knife but be aware that the knife tapers out from the middle and is thinner(less thick).
  
  
• Sheath: The cordura/leather sheath leaves something to be desired as well. KA-BAR makes some kydex sheaths for their standard combat knives but since the blade is slightly wider those won't work.
  
  If you're stuck on getting this knife, I'd advise going for the standard model. The blade is a bit thinner but it's lighter and like $10 cheaper and you get a better sheath (they also sell that knife without the serrations FYI). I actually bought mine off Amazon so I can vouch for buying it from them if you still decide it's what you want. Unless perhaps you want it shipped somewhere outside of the U.S.A., there's nothing special about buying it from them. It's just like buying anything else from them.
  
  Anywhoodle, hope this helps with your purchase. Let me know if there's anything else I can tell you about the knife.

Ka-Bar Fixed Blade $59.29

Marine Corps Fighting Knife that has proven itself in the theater of war. The knife will easily outlast you and can be used as a hammer, axe, knife..well just about anything. If I could have only one knife under $100 for the rest of my life I would chose the Ka-Bar.

http://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-Fighting-Utility-Serrated-Sheath/dp/B000BSZDP8/ref=sr_1_2?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1451214160&sr=1-2&keywords=Kabar

I was looking into KA-BAR but Ive heard mixed reviews.

what about this one, Its pretty affordable and it seems to be good for all purpose

http://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-Fighting-Utility-Serrated-Sheath/dp/B000BSZDP8/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1421551679&sr=1-2&keywords=kabar&pebp=1421551689216&peasin=B000BSZDP8http://

The SOG Seal Team Elite is partially serrated so here ya go. Hard to go wrong with a Ka-Bar

KA-Bar

this

You'll never go wrong investing in quality. If you like the ESEE, then save hard and get the ESEE. They make some of the best blades on the market right now and their warranty is as good as it gets.


Also, serration is not all that important if you know how to sharpen your knife properly. But if you had to have it, and you can't afford the ESEE, then a more traditional Ka-Bar Fighting/Utility may be the way to go. Even if you use it for a while and decide on something else later, every man should have a Ka-Bar fighting knife in his collection.


Also, please don't get anything with a tanto point. Unless you are a mall ninja.

The answer is always KA-bar there is a reason why marines have been carrying them since WWII. Get one with serrates they make it easier to cut rope and common things and the front of the knife for everything else.

What is your budget and what type of blade are you looking for?

My favorite knife is the CRKT M16-13SF With the Auto Lawks feature, it becomes a veritable tank and performs like a full tang fixed blade.

I really like my Spyderco Tenacious as an EDC, does everything you're looking for.

The Kershaw 6034 Emerson Designed CQC-6K and the Kershaw 6044TBLK Emerson Designed CQC-8K are supposed to be really good, I haven't gotten around to buying but I am going to real soon.

If money is not an issue, then I suggest going for the Benchmade or Emerson route.

Fixed blades? Without getting too deep into it an ESEEor a Ka-Bar will last you forever.

Or you could just go with you know... An icepick