Recently I put out on article on Not buying Shit. Usually shit is cheaper than the quality gear you want so you compromise. But does it ever work out the something can be cheap and good? Yes! Today I’m going to show you one such piece of gear that I got for dirt cheap and could not be happier with it.
At a gun show a few years ago I came across what i thought was a Kabar. I looked at it under the glass for a few minutes. When a clerk came over and I got to play with it. It was sharp. Very sharp. I didn’t care for the tanto blade shape but it was the right length. So I figured I would ask how much it was. The guy told me it was $25. Well i was shoving money in his hand before he even finished talking. And off I was with my brand new Kabar…or so i thought.
Later on when actually inspecting my purchase I noticed tiny letters on the back of the blade. Made in China. Made in fucking China!!! WTF! I was way beyond furious. I had bought a knock off. I was mad and thought about just tossing the knife to avoid having it fail on me later. Then I remembered that I did check out the knife. It was sharp and seemed well built. I could only guess about the ambiguous nature of the metal used. So I decided that instead of throwing it away or adding it to my pile of junk I would use it. By use it I mean try my best to beat the crap out of it try to break it.
So I took it out every chance I got and thumped on it hard. Batoned through log after log. Chopped through trees. Carve and whittle. After a year of beating it to hell and back the thing was still as sharp as the day I bought it. Not a single chip or ding. The handle looks rough. Maybe because I used it to “hammer” in tent pegs.
I ran it through the worksharp to see if it would take a better edge. I got it shaving sharp really easy. Though I’ve gotten bigger better blades since I would still trust this cheap Chinese made mystery blade in any survival situation.
In closing always make sure you buy the best quality gear you can afford. Research your purchases thoroughly before dropping your hard earned reserve notes. But remember that sometimes you can get lucky and get the best of both worlds something Cheap and Good. Have you ever bought something cheap and it turned out to be amazing? Let me know in the comments.
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