KA-BAR: The Next Generation Of The Ultimate Fighting Knife [Paperback]

Greg Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

The KA-BAR Fighting/Utility Knife is the most widely recognized and popular combat knife ever to be produced in the United States. Since its introduction on 23 November 1942, the KA-BAR has performed brilliantly on the battlefields of Europe, the South Pacific, Korea, Southeast Asia, Central America and the Middle East, earning its moniker as the "ultimate fighting knife." Early in 1995 the KA-BAR company decided to update the venerable combat veteran to ensure its combat readiness for the next century and immediately began assembling a team of the top military combat men in the country. On this team was the author, Greg Walker. In this book Walker gives readers an inside view of the exacting design criteria, cutting-edge materials, extensive factory tests and exhaustive real-life field tests that went into the historic redesign of the blade, handguard, handle, pommel and sheath of the ultimate fighting knife of the future. The new fighting knife excelled at these rigorous tests, earning the right to be called a KA-BAR.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581601204
• ISBN-13: 978-1581601206
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,390,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A fair amount of padding; it could have been better, June 26, 2004

By 

JJ Schwartz (Arlington, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: KA-BAR: The Next Generation Of The Ultimate Fighting Knife (Paperback)

Frankly, I read this fairly quickly; it isn't difficult reading. It also reads quickly if you skim over the fairly large chunks of biography, the promotion of past publications, the guys in special ops that Mr. Walker knows and the whose who in knife and sheath making. (I have to wonder about how the taxpayer's money is spent when seemingly at government expense Mr. Walker, while TDY as a reservist to Panama, carries out some of his knife testing in Limon Bay to encounter Gruber fish "with only spear guns." But, hey, if Uncle Sam can spend gazillions of bucks on roads that go to nowhere...)
Anyhow, lots of big pics of Ka-Bars courtesy of Ka-Bar. It would have been nice having fewer of those (they get a tad repetitive) and more of the testing of the Ka-Bar, which is what the book is supposed to be about. Lots of letters from Ka-Bar and the Ka-Bar project consultant which, I guess, is ok but adds up to a certain amount of additional padding. The appendix is the "original brochure" which is nice (more padding). I suppose that the original brochure didn't feature complete detail drawings but that would have been nice. Included ad drawings with numbered parts cry out for more detail, cross sections, miscellaneous dimensions.
But I'm being overly picky. The bottom line is that the Next Generation Ka-Bar is a knife with a lot of thought given to the materials and design and I'm sure it's every bit as good and probably better than the original. Mr. Walker's book; well, it costs more from Paladin. Glad I got it through Amazon...

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, October 25, 2010

By 

CSM "Pete" (NC state) - See all my reviews

This review is from: KA-BAR: The Next Generation Of The Ultimate Fighting Knife (Paperback)

This book is poor representation for a good knife. The author wasted a substantial amount of time about his exploits as Army Reservist going on fishing field trips in South America and saying thanks to all the people who helped him write this book. I wanted to read about a knife, not all the people you think you know. Unfortunately the author was amateur at best

4.0 out of 5 stars A good basic guide to the combat Ka-Bar knife., August 24, 2009

By 

Joseph J. Truncale "warriorwriter" (Vernon Hills, Il) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: KA-BAR: The Next Generation Of The Ultimate Fighting Knife (Paperback)

If you are a collector of military combat knives, specifically the famous Ka-Bar knife, you may want to read this book. To those too young or unaware of the history of this knife, this text offers a clear and concise chapter on the original Ka-bar knife. This knife was first introduced to the military November 23rd, 1942. This fighting/utility knife quickly became the most popular and recognized combat knife ever made in the U.S. It proved itself in World War 11 and every other combat conflict we have had since that time. Many knife experts regard the Ka-Bar as the "ultimate fighting knife." This fully illustrated 81/2 by 12 80 page book is the result of gathering numerous experts on combat knives. The goal was to produce a new generation of Ka-Bar knives. This book will appeal to anyone who is interested in the process of making a quality knife.

Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Knife Handling & Knife Defense for Police Officers official manual).