KA-BAR2-1249-9 Kukri,Black

I will keep this short simply because of all the other reviews written even though I usually write huge long reviews for blades! Goes to say that I don't need to repeat anything- exactly as expected as said from other reviewers! To start, I'm a teenager male survivalist. Ever since I got my first knife when I was 9 years old, I have been fascinated in studying knives and their Rc, Heat treatment, Handle materials, knife making( yep this is a fun but patient-requiring thing to do!- although I don't know how to forge a kukri yet) , and much more. However, my biggest teacher was the one of trial and error. I have learned which knives are good- full tangs, locks, etc. I used to get a knife and get upset after a few days simply because I didn't think it was ' good enough'. A lot of knives broke. A lot of money was wasted on junk knives that had hypocritical good looks about them at the flea market. But ALL THOSE HARD SHIPS WERE WORTH IT!! - even for just this one knife!What I am trying to say is that all that was worth it just for this knife. This is the best knife I have ever owned. Ok, yeah I have 100$ knives in my drawer too but those are large lock blades and bushcraft knives. Even though I am still in my high school years, I try to make money off ebay by selling things. With the money I got recently, I wanted to get 'the best "chopper" I could get'for the money. Hopefully a kukri. Then I found this one. I usually don't like kraton handled knives, simply because of the bad experience I had with Cold Steel. They make my favorite folding knives, but when I tried out one of their kraton handled knives, after a few months of use the rubber started to separate from the tang, making it a very loose handled knife. Turns out I am not the only one who had this problem- look it up online. However, I think this is a thing with Cold Steel because I have a Sog field pup and it has gone through tons of abuse; the kraton handle is just as firm as day one. Any way, back to the Ka-Bar kukri. I didn't notice it at first, but when I was using it I noticed that there were two notches in the front and back of the handle, where the blade meets the handle- assume the knife is edge down. There is a notch right between the handle, exposing the tang a little. This is on the front too. ( see pictures by product picture) Then it hit me- this is to allow flexibility of the blade when swinging. Cold Steel doesn't do this, so when their kukri's hit a branch or log, it stretches the rubber a little. Ka-Bar on the other hand has these life saving notches, which will protect the rubber handle from any threat of dislodging. BRILLIANT!!!! I would give the genius who thought this up a beer if I only knew who :) The sheath is great- what's all this hype about a bad sheath?? It is a good sheath. Besides, consider it a bonus. The knife beats its price range by a long shot; I would take this kukri over the CS kukri(even though it is like 190$) any day.Onto the performance. This knife does not come literally 'razor sharp' as some said. The term 'razor sharp' has come to mean that it is extremely sharp nowadays, but it isn't. It came VERY sharp, almost razor sharp. Any way I went out and chopped down a tree about 4" in width. Then I chopped it into sections, maybe 5 logs. WOW!! It bites really deep and is comfortable when chopping. Ontop of it all, it was almost just as sharp as when I got it through ALL that!! But here's the best part- It took just about a few swipes on a kitchen rod and strop and it was razor sharp (yes literally)!!! I am amazed how long it holds its edge, and its sharpen ability. I was also able to chop a coconut in 1 blow!! This is where the ridge on the back of the blade comes in handy- great for smashing. Amazing blade. The steel is 1085, which is about the equivalent of sk-5(what CS uses). Love it. The coating on the blade is fairly tough too. It had a few blotches when held up to the light (there when it came or me?) but that doesn't matter. GREAT KUKRI!!!! You won't be disappointed. I am a survivalist too- and believe me, if ever you need one blade to take with you, this is the one, even though I always take 3 ;)*UPDATE* Well, it had to happen...the coating started to look ugly from use. I decided to strip the coating out, and make a nice satin finish. Turned out pretty well! Not a perfect strip, but it looks way better than the ugly coating that I had messed up. What I did was start from 50 grit all the way up to 220 grit, which gives it a good look. You can still see some small scratches in the picture, and that is simply because I don't want to go any higher(the shinier the blade the more likely it is to get dirty faster..)but it still shines like a mirror and looks like a CS gurkha sk-5 model! See pics and video-I hope this may have helped!! Check out my other reviews too,Joe

I have always been a fan of Ka-Bar products. I already had a black military style knife made by Ka-Bar. I needed a good machete for doing work in the woods around my house, and all I had to work with was the Wal-Mart machete my mom had given to me. I decided to take matters into my own hands, since I was always going into the woods with that flimsy piece of crap. I wanted something sturdier and sharper, and when I saw this machete and read the reviews, I knew this was the one I wanted. I also liked it for the unusual aesthetics. I was not disappointed.Like the other reviewers said, you can easily chop down some small trees with this blade. It comes sharp to the touch out of the box. I live in a somewhat wooded area with plenty blackberry bushes and small trees. My house runs on a wood stove, so we often have to go out into the woods to collect firewood, and those bushes and trees are always a problem. Not for this machete. It cut through branches a couple of inches thick in just a couple of swings. the smaller ones took even less effort, especially when I used the weight of the head of the machete to do most of the work for me. It was similar to using a splitting maul to split firewood in that respect.The blade does not bend and wobble like cheap machetes. It is 1085 carbon steel. It's thick and strong, like any other Ka-Bar blade.The grip is also very good. It's the same rubber grip found on their knives, and it helps a lot. It even has a hole at the bottom if you want to attach some string or cord to keep it on your wrist.The sheath is good as well. It has two straps to keep the blade in, and it has a loop at the bottom if you want to tie the bottom to your leg while the main loop at the top is meant to rest on your belt.The blade also holds its edge very well. You won't have to sharpen it up after a few hours of use. I wasn't paying attention once, and I almost cut the top blade strap off the sheath when I went to put it away. It will be a good long while before the blade fails you.The final aspect of the product is something of a pain. The machete looks very cool and unusual, but its blade is only 11 inches long. While it can at times be somewhat annoying, the simple solution is to wear gloves if you're worried about getting your hands cut by blackberry bushes and such. That is the only thing one could knock this machete for, and that is EXTREMELY PICKY. After a minute or two of use you will forget about the shortness of the blade.If you're looking for the AK47 of machetes, this is the one to buy.