Tuesday, April 26, 2011

We Get Letters

"I don't think you're (sic) quibbling over my review of the K-Bar was all too much pruductive (sic)...all someone wants to mainley (sic) know about a knive (sic) is how sharp it comes and the cost and perhaps what sheath materiil (sic).

I quibbled because you failed to give a genuine review, and instead offered a sales pitch.

No one enjoyed his KaBar more than I but this incessant deification of what is nothing more than an average blade for the price is getting ridiculous.

Before I go any further, including the following is what constitutes a halfway decent knife review: The blade of the KaBar in question is made of 1095 steel, something you forgot to mention. The Rockwell on that particular configuration is approximately 57 which you also forgot to mention. All old time KaBars are rat-tailed, something you forgot to mention, and I've snapped more than my share of rat-tail designs at the scale line because that is the point where the steel begins to thin out. The edge grind is sometimes 40 degrees exclusive, sometimes more, sometimes less. Something you forgot to mention.

The knife weighs in at 12 ounces and is decidedly front heavy due to the rat tail design. Which you forgot to mention. There was a time, lets say at the turn of the 19th to 20th Centuries, where a man bought what was available because he didn't have a choice in the matter. During those times it was all but impossible to search for the exact specifications one considered desirable in a knife. Crappy...yeah, crappy because I'm getting pissed as I write this...half assed sales pitches were all there was but this ain't the turn of the 19th-20th Century anymore.

You can look it up. Just as you can look up the specs on 99% of the things you'd like to "review".

Disclosure: I sent the above to a gentleman disagreeing with my position that the KaBar is not the definitive combat knife in the known universe. Yes, that does include Stargate.

Shoveling scat against the tide but sometimes I've had it up to here with reviewers regurgitating the same old stuff as they preach to a captive audience; in this instance a survivalist/military site where the venerable KaBar is very much loved. And that's fine. Buy whatcha wanna but don't recommend something you know shit from shinola about. Oh yeah and I did ask his majesty if I could include a link to the site and our back & forth but he nearly had a coronary so fuck him.

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