Hi all,

I'm getting the KA-BAR 7" knife as a general utility knife for use around basecamp: everything from dressing meat & cutting onions for dinner to making tent stakes to cleaning fish. (I already have a cane knife and multi-tool.)

My question is, would the blade that's partially serrated be more or less useful than the standard model? I can see the serrations coming in handy if I needed to hack through some sheet metal or seriously tough rope, but I'd like your opinions.

Thanks!

I have that exact knife with the serrations. I rely on the serrations quite a bit when I'm using it for some general tasks when I'm at the cabin in Northern Wisconsin, but can't comment on its use for backpacking. It's just too much knife. Not to mention it almost weighs a pound in its sheath.

While you may get some other comments here, you might have better luck asking about this on other knife forums since the emphasis here is on LIGHTWEIGHT gear. Some people don't carry any knife, some just a razor blade, most here on BPL carry a small folder, and a few carry larger knives.

Good luck, and welcome to BPL.

Good point. Actually, if I'm just backpacking I don't take anything more than my multitool.

Also, thanks for relating your personal experience with the KBAR

Edited by elcoyotelocoatx on 07/08/2010 16:34:49 MDT.

I used to get EVERYTHING with serrations... then I noticed with higher quality knives you don't need them as much and they're kind of a pain to keep tip top in the field. If I were to do it over again I would get my larger knives such as this one with and smaller knives without.

Also, check out the one they have in D2 steel. It's got more of a "coolness factor" although the tip may be more prone to breaking since its a harder steel.

Edited by Vertigo on 07/08/2010 18:10:16 MDT.

I agree with Alex that serrations are a pain to keep sharp- especially if you do something like hack through sheet metal with them (why do this with a knife?). Also, unless you are cutting a large amount of rope/webbing, I have never had an issue using a (sharp) plain edge for these tasks...

I'd recommend against the Kabar simply because it does not cut very well. These combat/utility knives have terrible edge geometry and emphasize toughness over cutting ability.

Some people like knives that do many things poorly (chop and split wood, dig holes, pry stuff, prepare food, fight drunks...) while others like multiple tools that do few things very well (a shovel for digging, a knife for cutting, an axe for chopping wood). The Kabar is in the former category.

Rambo like serrations and blood grooves.

lol, I knew someone would bring up Rambo sooner or later.

FYI, I've also been posing this question on other forums and I've since changed my mind about the KB. Apparently this particular model has gone down in quality significantly in the last few years, it's *not* the same knife our granddads used in WWII.

I've also decided against getting any knife that has serrations on the blade side. There's a couple of knives by Ontario that I'm looking at with shallow serrations on the spine. Both are under $100, which is the most I can afford for a fixed-blade knife atm.

Thanks again, everyone. :)

The Rambo picture is apropos as it represens the notion that a military knife is somehow a good choice for "everything from dressing meat & cutting onions for dinner to making tent stakes to cleaning fish". The blade on your multi-tool is likely better at these tasks than the sharpened pry bars intended for military use.

You seem to have your heart set on a comabt knife, but you really can save a good deal of money and experience overall better performance from something like this (just an example):
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=FINNM571