Customer Reviews

KA-BAR: The Next Generation Of The Ultimate Fighting Knife

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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...

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

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).

This is an interesting book about how the KA-BAR: Next Gen came about. I would have liked some real life stories from the Marines, Navy, etc. used the original during WWII or other conflicts. There is a letter from KABAR with the testing statics on the new knife that didn't mean anything to me. Overall, an easy, quick read about knife development.
Three stars because it could have had more about the original Ka-bar.

Overall a pretty good modern view of the Kabar fighting knife. I was hoping for some post history on the Type 2 Kabar for collecting.

Once more Walker spends an entire book trying to promote himself even when the facts don't support it. In this case the original design was created by well known knife writer Chuck Karwan.

The KA-BAR Fighting/Utility Knife is the most widely recognized and popular combat knife to ever be produced in the United States. Introduced on November 24, 1942, the KA-BAR has performed with an unsurpassed lethal effectiveness on the battlefields of Europe, the South Pacific, Korea, Southeast Asia, Central America, and the Middle East. In 1995, the KA-BAR company decided to update this venerable combat weapon. KA-BAR: The Next Generation Of The Ultimate Fighting Knife is the detailed story of that project and provides the military buff with an insider view of the historic redesign process as it chronicles the exacting design criteria, cutting-edge materials, extensive factory tests, and exhaustive real-life field tests. KA-BAR is the definitive treatise on the world's most effective combat knife and its transformation to meet and excel in the battlefield conditions of the 21st century.