KA-BAR John Ek Commando Knife Co - EK44 a 6 625 inch 1095 Cro-Van Steel Blade sets in

As an enthusiast in the knife world I know good steel, bad steel and okay steel. KaBar uses a more than decent steel for their knives that will hold up to tough use if used properly. The steel will take an edge and retains it fairly well but is easy to re-sharpen. Could the material quality be better? Certainly. But do they make a solid product for the price point? Absolutely. From my personal perspective, what we have here is supremely better than KaBar's general 'USMC-style' knife offering for one specific reason: this knife has an actual full tang, not the typical 'rat tail' tang KaBar is known for. This knife has a confident weight to it, and the handle design fits amazingly in the hand--it's a very ergonomically designed knife. The tang even extends beyond the handle for a 'skull crusher' pommel design or could be used as a so-so prying instrument. The blade is surprisingly thick, has a great grind to it and is shaped in a way where I'm confident in its design to be a sturdy knife. The double-edge of this knife more or less is designed for killing, as opposed to being a 'work knife' but it would work well as a camping knife all the same if the user exercises a little extra caution to account for accidents that could present themselves that a single edged knife would not present. That said, the sheath is fine--it's of the same quality as any other KaBar sheath BUT my knife seems to catch a little on inserting due to the angle. Still no big deal, it's a solid sheath. If I could suggest anything it would be making the handles a bit more rigid for gripping texture but even without it you still get a good grip purchase on this thing, the handle is massive anyway. Either way, this was a good purchase, I would buy again and may even buy a 2nd one just so I'll always have one if the first one breaks. Read more

This is a really great knife. It's job is for protection from just about anything that walks or crawls. The point is very sharp as is the rest of the blade and best of all.. it ain't gonna' break!!. Read more

Love the Ek. My favorite knife. Not a fan the sheath/scabbard. But, most from the factory sheaths/scabbards aren't great. I need to get better with Kydex. Read more

After reading a lot of reviews here, a few things I'd like to add to the input on this knife. I wish I could rate the knife & the sheath separately. I would give the knife a 5 star rating and the sheath a 3 star...thus I gave the set a 4 star. The knife is a self-defense type design, aka the Dagger. It is most like the Fairbairn Sykes fighting knife the Brits had in WWII. It is also very similar to the recent Applegate designed by a contemporary of Fairbairn and Sykes. John Ek took a classic 500-1000 year old design (dagger) and modernized it in a way very close to what the brits did for their "Commando" knife. Double edged, guard, heavy duty pommel ended.... it is designed for use as a fighter for the soldier, LE, self-defense minded person, etc. Why the large handle is the most bizarre question I've read here on the reviews. The answer is that a fighting knife is designed to be held in many configurations; the French grip (fencers grip or saber grip), Ice pick (reverse) and modified reverse grip. This knife is designed to thrust forward as a fencer, or reverse in defensive grip or for sentry removal which is nasty but true. Kabar's version is amazing! I love the single bar stock, the grind, the pommel, the guard, the handle .... everything!!!! I almost despise the sheath. I like the light weight and the holes for lashing to gear, but I hate the lame thumb break and the ramps to secure the knife. I immediately ground these off with my dremel. Once that is done it flies into the hand once the snap is released. You do risk losing the knife easier if you are jump qualified so I would lash with some ranger bands or electrical tape (if you grind off the ramps). Note: if you don't have a dremel you can whittle the ramps off with a small pen knife, file, or even sand it off with a sander. I might make a leather kydex sheath for this as this scabbard is pretty horrible. Hopefully someone will make an after market one? Anyway, it will work for now. It does protect the blade quite nicely. It sucks I had to modify it. Many people on amazon complain the knife is too big or the handle is to big..... you bought a fighting knife!! A real one not a little cute spyderco. If you have been taught knife defense, knife fighting, etc you will immediately appreciate this splendid knife. Is it legal to carry? NOPE, probably not anywhere in the USA unless you are a soldier, LE, or hiking camping and even then its a dagger not a survival knife. Would it work as a survival knife? Yes but the single edged version with false edge would be much better. For a lot of people this will become a safe queen in their collection. It is indeed nice enough for that! I have a small collection of Cold Steel, Blackjack, etc that this would go in but its going right in the survival kit. I have the Kabar soldiers knife for camping which BTW is also really nice with a partially serrated edge and false edge. This Ek will go right next to my other kabar. Read more