Ka Bar Warthog II folder review
Aug 26, 2010 14:30:15 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2010 14:30:15 GMT
Ka Bar Warthog II Plain Edge Blade Folding Knife Review
by
Sébastien B., Montréal, Québec
by
Sébastien B., Montréal, Québec
Here goes another little knife review, this time about the Ka Bar Warthog II folder, a small, low-price pocket knife. Is it a good value knife ? Does it have a good bang-per-buck ratio ? Let's find out !
Introduction
I bough this knife, along with many others, at www.knifecenter.com. Quick shipping (2-3 days), affordable, A1 service. If you buy more than 80 $ in stuff, they give you free stuff if you are part of their newsletter. Cool !
Here are some numbers about this knife (numbers taken from knifecenter.com, measurements are nearly identical to those of my knife) ...
Overall Length (inches): 7.50
Blade Length (inches): 3.06
Blade Material: 1.4116 Steel (AUS8 ...?)
Blade Detail: Plain
Handle Material: G-10
Lock Style: Side Lock
Carry System: Pocket Clip
China Made
This knife cost 13 US$. It can easily be found anywhere for less than 15 $. It came in a small Ka Bar box (which was prompty tossed into my recycling bin). It is a small, yet very solid feeling knife, with a brutish look and feel to it. Sexy little blade. Handle/grip looks and feels like a brick. Let's look into the details ...
Fittings
The blade is made of Teflon coated 1.4116 stainless steel (or AUS8, depending on where you read the ad from where I bough it...). It has nice curve and is very sharp. It comes with a thumbstud, for right-hand use only. It has a small thumb-ramp with gimping, although gimping is a bit too rounded for my taste (but it still increase traction for the wielder's hand).
The grip is made of black G-10. It is thickly built and has a coarse finish, which increase traction and gives the handle a gritty look (and a slightly uncomfortable texture, I may add). The pocket clip is fixed in one place and can't be moved. Ergonomics are rather weak ; I couldn't find a really satisfying way to wield this knife. All grips felt uncomfortable ; standard grip felt weird and unpleasant, reverse/ice-pick grip felt completely wrong... Like I said earlier, looks and feels like a brick.
The knife feels a bit heavy. I don't have its weight, but it feels heavy for its size. It seems to be at least as heavy as my Spyderco Tenacious (which weights around 4 oz.). I wouldn't use this knife for EDC, its shape is too bulky, uncomfortable.
Deployment speed is medicore. The thumbstud is tricky (but not impossible) to reach with one hand and the spring feels very stiff ; it takes effort and focus to deploy this knife one-handed. Once properly held and pushed, the thumbstud snaps the blade open quickly, but I can't imagine myself openning this knife one-handed in an urgent, stressful situation. Even with practice, one-hand deployment requires too much effort IMHO.
Handling
The blade feels like it could do some very good slicing, however the grip feels like it will hinder anything you'd try to do with this knife. The knife feels heavy for its size when in my pocket. ''G10 handles give this knife a tactical look and a sure grip'' .. Yeah, looks tactical, but I think I gave enough flak to that grip already ...
Conclusion
Pros
-Low cost
-Cool, sharp blade
Cons
-Uncomfortable, ugly grip
-Frustrating one-hand opening
-Bulky, heavy for its size
Overall, I am quite disappointed with this knife. If I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have bought it, even at its very low price. In the same order, I received a Byrd folder, which had the same price, and yet was vastly superior to the Warthog folder in all aspects.
In the end, I got little bangs for my bucks and I have no clue what this knife is made for ; it is too small and hard to deploy for tactical/self-defense use, its too small and too heavy to be a practical survival folder and it's too uncomfortable for EDC... In other words, spend your hard-earned cash elsewhere...