KA-BAR Knives

What KA-BAR makes for hunters and campers

On this site, KA-BAR covers two product types: fixed-blade knives and machetes. No KA-BAR folding knife is among the listings here, so this page is all sheaths, no pocket clips.

Inside those two types, the grid sorts into six families:

• USMC-pattern knives: the fighting knife, its straight-edge and short versions, and close cousins
• Becker knives: heavy outdoor fixed blades with BK model numbers
• Ek Commando knives: spear-point and clip-point fighters
• TDI knives: small fixed blades with angled handles
• Utility oddballs: the wrench knives, the Slabby, the Warthog
• Kukri and cutlass machetes: brush tools with long, heavy blades

The grid filters by type and changes as listings come and go. So I'll write about the families and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week. Nearly every value in the grid comes from an Amazon listing, and the grid marks those. Where a listing doesn't say, the grid shows a dash. A dash is honest. I'd rather have a dash than a guess.

Lineup notes: the classic Ka-Bar knife

The USMC fighting knife and its relatives

This is the knife most people picture when they say "Ka-Bar," brand or not. RECOIL's history of the company says the Marine Corps adopted a reworked KA-BAR as its standard fighting and utility knife in 1942.

What the listings in the grid describe:

• USMC Fighting Knife: 7-inch clip point in 1095 Cro-Van, partially serrated, stacked leather handle, leather sheath
• Full Size USMC Straight Edge: the plain-edge version, about 11.875 inches overall, leather sheath
• 1220 US Army: 7-inch plain edge, full tang, stacked leather, leather sheath
• 1213 Black Straight Edge: plain edge, full tang, sheath included
• KB1256 Short and 1258 Short Clip Point: the same idea cut down, around 5.25 inches of blade on the KB1256
• Big Brother: stacked leather handle, sheath included
• D2 Extreme: the USMC shape in D2 tool steel with a Kraton handle and a plastic sheath
• Fighter, Mark I and Tanto: 1095 Cro-Van blades with Kraton handles, the Fighter at 8 inches and the Mark I at about 5

The big difference inside this family is the handle. Stacked leather is the traditional build. Kraton is a rubber-like synthetic. Leather looks the part and wants to stay dry; Kraton doesn't mind a wet morning.

The full-size knives in this family run 7 inches of blade. That's long for field dressing a deer, which is careful work in tight quarters. A 7-inch blade is a camp tool first. Shorter blades are on the hunting knife page.

Becker knives: the BK numbers

The Becker line is KA-BAR's family of heavy outdoor knives, and the BK number in the name is how you tell them apart. Per the listings:

• BK2 Companion: 5.25-inch drop point in 1095 Cro-Van, Ultramid handle
• BK82 Companion: the same blade length in CPM MagnaCut, a powder steel, with a quarter-inch-thick blade and 10.5 inches overall
• BK3 Tac Tool: 7-inch blade, flat grind, Grivory handle, nylon sheath
• BK9 Combat Bowie and BK9T Bowie: 9.25-inch clip points with a saber grind, nylon sheaths
• BK18 Harpoon: about 4.5-inch drop point
• BK19 Nessmuk: about 4.3-inch drop point with a Kydex-type sheath
• Becker Combat Utility: 7-inch clip point in 1095 Cro-Van, Kraton G handle

A quarter inch of steel on the BK82 is thick. In shop class I'd have called that bar stock. A blade that thick is built for splitting kindling and hard camp work, not for slicing. Shop teacher's rule: the thicker the stock, the more it wants to chop and the less it wants to slice. The bushcraft knife page and the bowie knife page cover those jobs across brands.

The grinds matter here. A flat grind tapers from the spine all the way to the edge, which slices better. A saber grind keeps the blade full thickness partway down, which leaves more steel behind the edge for chopping.

Ek Commando knives

RECOIL's history says KA-BAR acquired the Ek Commando Knife Company in 2014 and 2015 and began making KA-BAR/Ek branded knives. In the grid:

• EK44 Model 4 Commando: 6.625-inch spear point in 1095 Cro-Van, full tang, 12.625 inches overall
• EK Commando: 5-inch clip point, flat grind, Ultramid handle

A spear point is symmetrical, with the tip on the centerline. It's a fighting shape more than a skinning one.

TDI knives

The TDI knives are the small ones. The listings describe:

• TDI Law Enforcement and 1477CB: about 2.3-inch drop points in AUS-8, a stainless steel, with Zytel handles
• TDI Investigator and Pocket Strike: about 2.7 and 3.2-inch AUS-8 blades
• TDI Hinderer Hell Fire: about 3.6-inch tanto in 1095 Cro-Van
• Last Ditch: a 1.6-inch blade in 9Cr18 stainless

The TDI names point at law enforcement carry. For a hunter, they're small backup knives at most. A deer wants a longer belly.

Wrench knives, the Slabby and the Warthog

The leftovers drawer. The Wrench Fixed Blade and the Blackout Forged Wrench Knife are 3-inch knives, the Blackout in 425 stainless. The listings don't name a 7/16 opening, so this page doesn't either. The Slabby lists a 6.86-inch clip point in 1095 Cro-Van with a GRN handle and a full tang. The Heavy Duty Warthog lists a 6.75-inch drop point in SK-5 carbon steel.

Lineup notes: the KA-BAR machete

The KA-BAR machetes in the grid are short, heavy patterns:

• BAR Kukri Machete: 11.5-inch kukri in 1085 carbon steel, Kraton handle, sheath included
• Kukri Machete Knife and 2-1249-9 Kukri: kukri blades, sheaths included
• BAR Cutlass Machete: 11-inch cutlass in 1085 carbon steel, Kraton handle
• BAR Combat Kukri: 8.5 inches in 1095 Cro-Van, sheath included

A kukri bends forward, so the weight sits out near the tip and the blade bites like a small axe. A cutlass is straighter, with a wider tip for sweeping cuts through green brush. Both are short for machetes, which suits a woodlot more than a sugarcane field. Patterns and lengths across brands are on the machete page.

How to choose within the KA-BAR lineup

Pick the job first

My one opinion on this page: a big fighter or a kukri is not your field-dressing knife. AKTI's safety guidance says to use the right tool for the job, and the KA-BAR lineup makes that easy because the families sort by job:

• Field dressing and camp food: the shorter drop points, like the BK18 or BK19
• Camp chores and kindling: the BK2, BK82 or a USMC-pattern knife
• Clearing brush and shooting lanes: the kukris and the cutlass

One big knife and one small one isn't overpacking. That's a toolbox. (Danny overpacks. This is different. I've explained the difference to him twice.)

Then the blade length

Blade lengths in the grid run from the tiny Last Ditch to the 9.25-inch Becker bowies, with the machetes past that. Long blades chop and reach; short blades control. Hold your hand flat and look at it. Most of the careful work you'd do on a deer happens inside that span.

Then the steel

Most of the lineup lists 1095 Cro-Van, a carbon steel. Morakniv's steel guide says carbon steel is easier to resharpen than stainless but rusts more readily in damp conditions and needs careful drying and oiling after use. The exceptions in the grid:

• D2: a tool steel, on the D2 Extreme
• AUS-8, 9Cr18 and 425: stainless steels, on the TDI knives, the Last Ditch and the Blackout wrench knife
• CPM MagnaCut: a powder steel, on the BK82
• 1085 and SK-5: carbon steels, on the machetes and the Warthog

If you hunt where it rains for a week straight, a stainless TDI or the D2 Extreme asks less of you. If you'll actually wipe the blade every night, carbon is no trouble.

Then the sheath and the handle

The sheath decides where the knife lives on you. The listings describe leather on the USMC-pattern knives and the 1220, nylon on the BK3 and the BK9 bowies, plastic on the D2 Extreme and the TDI knives, and a Kydex-type sheath on the BK19. Several listings don't name a sheath material, so check the listing.

Try the sheath on the belt you hunt in, over the coat you wear in November. A 9.25-inch bowie on the hip of a man sitting in a tree stand is a conversation between the knife and the seat. The fixed blade knife page covers carry across brands.

Care that applies to the whole lineup

Carbon steel and leather both want the same thing: dry. After a wet day or a cleaning job:

• Wipe the blade dry, the same day
• A light oil on a soft cotton cloth before it goes back in storage
• A toothpick for grit around the handle and guard
• A cool, dry place for storage, not a damp garage

That list follows AKTI's maintenance guidance, which also warns that damp basements and garages cause pitting and rust. Morakniv adds that carbon steel develops a natural patina over time that helps protect it against corrosion. The color change on an older 1095 blade isn't a defect. It's a record of use.

Cut away from your body. Don't use a knife as a pry bar, a screwdriver or a hammer; AKTI notes that twisting can make a blade slip or snap. A dull blade is more dangerous than a sharp one, because it takes more force.

Knife carry rules vary by state, and some knives may not ship to every address; Amazon shows that at checkout. Check your state's rules before you carry one.

KA-BAR facts

Here's what I could pin down from publications:

• Roots: RECOIL says the Tidioute Cutlery Company, formed by 38 men in Pennsylvania in 1897, is widely considered the start of KA-BAR
• Olean: Union Cutlery was registered in Olean, New York, in 1911, per the same history
• The Marine Corps knife: adopted as the standard fighting and utility knife in 1942
• Name: renamed KA-BAR Cutlery, Inc. in 1952
• Owner: the product line and assets were sold to Alcas Corporation of Olean in 1996
• Ek: KA-BAR acquired the Ek Commando Knife Company in 2014 and 2015

Soldier Systems Daily reported in 2019 that KA-BAR, based in Olean, formed a joint venture called Pineland Cutlery with Spartan Blades of Southern Pines, North Carolina.

Wipe it, oil it, and hang the sheath where it dries overnight. A carbon blade forgives a lot, but it doesn't forget a wet sheath.