KA-BAR 2-1249-9 Kukri,Black

Received today, as expected.Upon inspection, found it to be a solid, no-nonsense, extremely sharp tool, which I probably would enjoy using for a long time.Unfortunately, I also found a small rust spot which extends to both sides of the blade.I called Amazon for a replacement, which I was assured would arrive in two days.I'll update.UPDATE 10/13/2013:Replacement arrived in two days, as promised by the great folks at Amazon. Way to go, Amazon!I've upgraded the item's star rating to a five from a four.The kukri is great overall - just be aware that it is high carbon steel, and the same qualities that make it easy to sharpen and to keep it's edge, happen to make it susceptible to rust. SO - between uses, keep it oiled, after use, wipe it down and oil it (out in the field I've used oil from my truck's dipstick - I now carry a can of 3 in 1 oil in the truck). After I get the kukri home, I put some kerosene on a ScotchBrite pad and scrub the kukri, removing all vegetative and zombie crud. Then, if needed, I'll give it a "touch up" with a fine file, oil it, and put it back in it's sheath.The knife (machete) has good balance in the hand, the metal is heavy and strong enough to handle it's intended task,and the Kraton handle is superb.About the sheath - the sheath could be better quality, there's no doubt. What I found was that the leather is very stiff, and dry. The two little closure straps with snaps have been formed with a sharp (deep) U-shape, and when you want to put the kukri into the sheath, you have to have one hand hold both straps while your other hand places the kukri in the sheath - a pain in the butt. So, I decided to nourish not only those straps but all of the leather, with a generous amount of "Bick 4 Leather Conditioner", and I worked the straps back and forth while massaqging them with the Bick'a, to make them more supple and easier to deal with.BTW - I also have a KA-BAR brand USMC knife, the one with the plain (unserrated) blade and the compressed leather, and I have no intention of actually using it, just because it's so darn purdy and I don't want to mess it up. I keep it just for display - a piece of American history. The KA-BAR folks know how to make great knives (and I have no problem whatsoever with the kurki made in the democratic republic of Taiwan - please don't confuse Chinese crap with Taiwanese-made merchandise, they're worlds apart).

I will keep this short simply because of all the other reviews written even though I usually write huge long reviews for blades! Goes to say that I don't need to repeat anything- exactly as expected as said from other reviewers! To start, I'm a teenager male survivalist. Ever since I got my first knife when I was 9 years old, I have been fascinated in studying knives and their Rc, Heat treatment, Handle materials, knife making( yep this is a fun but patient-requiring thing to do!- although I don't know how to forge a kukri yet) , and much more. However, my biggest teacher was the one of trial and error. I have learned which knives are good- full tangs, locks, etc. I used to get a knife and get upset after a few days simply because I didn't think it was ' good enough'. A lot of knives broke. A lot of money was wasted on junk knives that had hypocritical good looks about them at the flea market. But ALL THOSE HARD SHIPS WERE WORTH IT!! - even for just this one knife!What I am trying to say is that all that was worth it just for this knife. This is the best knife I have ever owned. Ok, yeah I have 100$ knives in my drawer too but those are large lock blades and bushcraft knives. Even though I am still in my high school years, I try to make money off ebay by selling things. With the money I got recently, I wanted to get 'the best "chopper" I could get'for the money. Hopefully a kukri. Then I found this one. I usually don't like kraton handled knives, simply because of the bad experience I had with Cold Steel. They make my favorite folding knives, but when I tried out one of their kraton handled knives, after a few months of use the rubber started to separate from the tang, making it a very loose handled knife. Turns out I am not the only one who had this problem- look it up online. However, I think this is a thing with Cold Steel because I have a Sog field pup and it has gone through tons of abuse; the kraton handle is just as firm as day one. Any way, back to the Ka-Bar kukri. I didn't notice it at first, but when I was using it I noticed that there were two notches in the front and back of the handle, where the blade meets the handle- assume the knife is edge down. There is a notch right between the handle, exposing the tang a little. This is on the front too. ( see pictures by product picture) Then it hit me- this is to allow flexibility of the blade when swinging. Cold Steel doesn't do this, so when their kukri's hit a branch or log, it stretches the rubber a little. Ka-Bar on the other hand has these life saving notches, which will protect the rubber handle from any threat of dislodging. BRILLIANT!!!! I would give the genius who thought this up a beer if I only knew who :) The sheath is great- what's all this hype about a bad sheath?? It is a good sheath. Besides, consider it a bonus. The knife beats its price range by a long shot; I would take this kukri over the CS kukri(even though it is like 190$) any day.Onto the performance. This knife does not come literally 'razor sharp' as some said. The term 'razor sharp' has come to mean that it is extremely sharp nowadays, but it isn't. It came VERY sharp, almost razor sharp. Any way I went out and chopped down a tree about 4" in width. Then I chopped it into sections, maybe 5 logs. WOW!! It bites really deep and is comfortable when chopping. Ontop of it all, it was almost just as sharp as when I got it through ALL that!! But here's the best part- It took just about a few swipes on a kitchen rod and strop and it was razor sharp (yes literally)!!! I am amazed how long it holds its edge, and its sharpen ability. I was also able to chop a coconut in 1 blow!! This is where the ridge on the back of the blade comes in handy- great for smashing. Amazing blade. The steel is 1085, which is about the equivalent of sk-5(what CS uses). Love it. The coating on the blade is fairly tough too. It had a few blotches when held up to the light (there when it came or me?) but that doesn't matter. GREAT KUKRI!!!! You won't be disappointed. I am a survivalist too- and believe me, if ever you need one blade to take with you, this is the one, even though I always take 3 ;)*UPDATE* Well, it had to happen...the coating started to look ugly from use. I decided to strip the coating out, and make a nice satin finish. Turned out pretty well! Not a perfect strip, but it looks way better than the ugly coating that I had messed up. What I did was start from 50 grit all the way up to 220 grit, which gives it a good look. You can still see some small scratches in the picture, and that is simply because I don't want to go any higher(the shinier the blade the more likely it is to get dirty faster..)but it still shines like a mirror and looks like a CS gurkha sk-5 model! See pics and video-I hope this may have helped!! Check out my other reviews too,Joe