KA-BAR#1213 Black Straight Edge Knife / Hard Sheath

Excellent craftsmanship and lives up to the name. Highly recommended.

Great knife with a nice kydex sheath.

It is not exactly for survivalist, there are cheaper and better options.. but damn the blade does everything else well for cutting rope, fabric, and your steak dinner if needed.. and it looks fantastic... for survivalist blade I would not recomnd this one.. there are way better 3 inch blade do it all for 20$. that will not twist or break.

Excellent blade. Very study and has a good weight to it. Not too big for me(I'm over 6' tall & wear XL gloves). After much deliberation and research, I chose against the leather handle - supposedly longer life and I do not regret it. It's a great feel. I got it for camping and anything else - so I haven't beat it up, yet. However, based on experience, the quality and feel, I'm confident this blade will do it's job when needed.I bought a leather sheath as well and don't regret it - I feel that compared to the hard sheath, it's better for quick access. I also feel that aesthetically, the leather sheath looks better for casual carry. One thing you may need to do with either sheath, if you plan on wearing this on your belt - especially the leather sheath - is attach some 550 cord to secure the tip of the sheath(there's a hole built-in) to your leg to stabilize it when pulling it out. Link for Leather sheath: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GREUD0/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_15In case you're wondering why I chose the hard sheath if I like the leather so much is to compare the two. And I got the hard sheath just in case I need to lash it to the outside of my camping gear or if I'm going through rough terrain. The Hard sheath also has a bit of a "lock" to it. So you may need to practice wearing it and pulling it out a few times to develop muscle memory and speed.In terms of maintenance, I use mineral oil on the blade and store it in the cardboard sleeve it came in(as recommended by manufacturer). Haven't had to sharpen it yet b/c as I mentioned, I haven't really beat it up yet and mine came very sharp. But I did take sharpening into consideration when I selected the straight-edge against the serrated. From my research, it seems that the serrated it a bit more difficult to sharpen. And from what I read, the straight-edge is the one preferred overall. I also took into consideration that if SHTF, straight edge would be the one that would be easier to maintain in a pinch. If serrated is what you're looking for, I'd recommend carrying a folder or another smaller one and saving the Ka-bar for the heavy-duty lifting.Feel free to message me with any questions or comments. Thanks

I am very particular about my tacticle equipment. I place life and death applications to everything I buy and put high levels stress on items to be assured failure is avoided when I really need it. In particular I've read many reviews on this knife. The picture doesnt serve justice to the quality of this knife. The knife I received is an authentic.First the knife. It has a sturdy handle with excellent grip. I dont like the ribbed grips because they dont always fit every hand size. The grooved out handle provides solid hold in all my tasks thus far. I have split small pieces of wood and it never failed to cut anything I would expect any knife to do. It has a sharp edge but only because I sharpen al my knives daily it didnt bother me sharpen it the day after I received it. I feel this a multi use knife that includes cutting cord and removing a hide from a deer. It has an awesome contour from the base of the knife to the tip. This knife would with no doubt be used as a self defense weapon if you were an avid knife handler.Now the shealth. Although mine had a couple small scratches on the backside, that is not a concern of mine since its a knife I use daily. If someone wants a scratch free sheath buy the knife as a collector piece and keep it under a glass protected case to only look at. This sheath is wicked. I try to test my equipment to just under the point of breakage before I need it to be reliable in a high stress situation. The sheath has holes placed in it along the side. I managed to tie 25ft of paracord on the sheath and pulled it tight as f*^$! If this was a cheap quality I would have undoubtedly cracked it.I ran 5 miles with the knife secured with the snap and would find it very difficult to loose the knife. And finally the strap can be secured to Molle packs.I dont usually take this much time to write a review but I did because of the quality and time it took to make such a fine product. ThanksAnd the knife came before they said it would from amazon

I’ve put this thing through everything. I’ve processed wood, finished off a pig, and used it for chopping in camp and it holds its edge well and does have any bending of the blade from the tang. Super impressed!