New Ek

I was excited to hear the new Ek Knife was available from KaBar, Olean, NY. That was good news indeed. I saw a photo of the knife on a forum and immediately put in my order. The website is a little funky but I finally figured out how to place my order and the price was very reasonable. Since I only live a few hours drive from Olean it did not take long for my new knife to arrive. Unfortunately they did not use (or maybe did not have rights to) the old style box and logos like my last Ek Knives came in. Robert Buerlein, owner of the previous Ek Knife co, was a stickler for tradition and did things with a certain grace. But what the heck it’s just a box. I really like the knife. The handle is textured such that it should offer a good grip under any condition. While I have not compared it to my other Eks it feels longer and is nicely sculpted with the hollows Ek knives are famous for. The handle slabs are affixed with typical bolts like have been used for the last 30 plus years. The knife is of course of full tang construction and of a thickness more commensurate with WW-II knives than the Vietnam era and later knives. One of my favorite parts is the return to a more traditional WW-II style and thickness guard. The guard is nicely “S” shaped and very correct looking. I do not like the new logo at all! It is too small and indistinct. I should like to see something bolder. As much as I like the knife I hate the sheath! I own over 400 fighting knives of all styles and it boggles my mind that someone in the cutlery industry could not find a good combat sheath to copy that would be better than the contraption that came with this knife. At the very least they could have riveted and sewn together a traditional leather sheath with retention strap and forgone this lunatic setup. My knife did not ship fitted in the sheath but in a cardboard slip. I wonder if they ever tried fitting the knives in this unfriendly piece of plastic masquerading as a sheath? I already wrote them and suggested they at least offer the buyer a choice of a more traditional (insert “useable” here) sheath. I received a return email from a friendly lady in Customer Service but I doubt it will go any further than that. Another suggestion I offered was for KaBar to offer a reproduction of the original Ek Manual. That is the sort of class thing that Robert Buerlein and the folks back in Richmond, VA did. I highly recommend the knife with the caveat you better prepare to make, or have made, a replacement sheath. Seriously guys, I know KaBar can do better.