Ka-Bar 1259 Short Fixed Blade?

[Lebkuecher]

I like to camp in remote areas and one of my favorite places to go is Big Bend National Park in south Texas. The terrain is rough and includes both mountains and deserts so there is a variety of wide life and not all friendly. Late last year I was camping in the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend and attended a ranger program and the ranger made it crystal clear that there were mountain lions in the area and to be careful and watch your children. A few months later a lion attacked a young boy walking with his father close to where I normally camp and fortunately for the child the father was able to fight the mountain lion off with a knife. The child was seriously hurt but he will survive. I plan on going back to Big Bend soon and partly due to the attack I've decided to buy a knife for protection. I want a quality knife but don't want to spend an arm and leg and would like something useful for other things as well. After doing some research on the web I settled on a Ka-Bar 1259 and was curious what you guys think of the choice. If you had to fight a lion or a bear what would be your choice knife? I didn't want something too big because I would be less likely to carry it and with the knife laws differing from state to state I didn't want to buy something that might lead to trouble with the law. I paid a little over $50.00 from Amazon shipped and should have it in a couple of days. Anyone have stories of fending of wild life with a knife?

Texas boy, 6, attacked by mountain lion at Big Bend National Park

 

[ZNickey]

While a knife would be my absolute last choice for fending off an animal attack (mace, sound, light, and .454 Casull preferred above it), my favorite outdoor knives are the Ontario RAT5 and RAT7 and numerous R ESEE products as I find them to have great ergos for the weight, to have the strength to stand up to heavier usage that will snap many knives at the base of the blade where it meets the handle, and to be at a very, very reasonable price relative to the quality. Especially when splitting wood, batoning, prying, having shock generated by metal-on-metal contact (ex: hitting the spine to baton it with a ballpeen- hammer) or using the knife as if it were a chisel pounding it with a hammer, they can easily withstand the serious use/abuse from such tasks. With that said, a RAT5/RAT7 and most ESEE models are really more of survival/deep woods knives than they are weapons, and they are built to a more robust (and slightly heavier & less nimble) spec for specific a purpose.

I also like the ZT0100 as it is in CPM-3V, which is a stupidly tough steel and a fantastic knife...but the price I do not like as much given a RAT5 can be had for $70 and it's a hell of a capable fixed blade. As great as CPM-3V is, good 1095c or 52100 are still fantastic steels and are more widely available and affordable.

While something like a RAT5 is more of a utility tool than weapon, I think it would work about as good as one can expect a knife to work in that situation (which is probably not very well in most cases.)

I've seen Bear Mace work first hand and between its effectiveness and how far it can spray to help avoid closer contact, I'm a big believer in it. It works well on dogs as well...not sure about felines but I would assume it most likely would. While I've not personally shot it in this situation, I've been told that a warning shot into soft ground/deep water from a .454 Casull and .460 SW will scare damned near anything off. And given how loud .454 is when I shoot it at a range, I believe it!

 

[Lebkuecher]

Thanks for your comments ZNickey and I can see how bear spry would have some advantages. I have had bear encounters backpacking but all the bear really wanted was for me to drop my pack, I never felt like I was in danger except for one time when I was bluff charged. The attacks I've read about from mountain lions were more of an ambush and most people do not see the attack coming in till they are engaged so I'm not sure how well spry would work in that situation.


I received the knife on Friday and the knife is everything I hoped for. The knife is sharp but I believe with a little work I can get better edge. The knife feels good in the hand and is the right size for me anyway. What surprised me a little is the quality of the sheath; it has a real feel of quality. I also like how the knife locks into the sheath, you have to push the top of the sheath back a little so the knife will release. I guess time will tell how the knife will hold up but generally I'm not very demanding on knifes when I go camping so I believe this knife will last.

 

[ZNickey]

Thanks for your comments ZNickey and I can see how bear spry would have some advantages. I have had bear encounters backpacking but all the bear really wanted was for me to drop my pack, I never felt like I was in danger except for one time when I was bluff charged. The attacks I've read about from mountain lions were more of an ambush and most people do not see the attack coming in till they are engaged so I'm not sure how well spry would work in that situation.


I received the knife on Friday and the knife is everything I hoped for. The knife is sharp but I believe with a little work I can get better edge. The knife feels good in the hand and is the right size for me anyway. What surprised me a little is the quality of the sheath; it has a real feel of quality. I also like how the knife locks into the sheath, you have to push the top of the sheath back a little so the knife will release. I guess time will tell how the knife will hold up but generally I'm not very demanding on knifes when I go camping so I believe this knife will last.

It looks good! They are made of 1095c steel IIRC, which is an excellent steel and very easy to sharpen. One thing I really do like about the design is it is extremely light...a downside of many fixed blades. Ever consider something like a Spyderco Double Stuff stone? It's a small pocket stone with a fine ceramic on one side, and the medium on the other...I always take one with me for outdoors stuff as it's compact yet super effective in sharpening anything metallic in the field (I sometimes have used a belt or jeans to strop.) I really like the sheath as it has the holes to allow you to add a paracord pouch...I've generally carried the stone and a magnesium firestarter there. It looks like a great design!

The spray is really most useful for when an animal is charging to maintain distance...it works with most all animals that tend to attack. This stuff is exceptional and will stop even the most pissed off of animals...and the claim of spraying 30 feet is legit...I've seen it first-hand.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002E6VAHK/?tag=cpf0b6-20

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Think big when out there. A small child is what a Lion might go after, and would probably not attack a full grown adult person. The use of a heavy caliber hand gun does sound good to me. A fellow in Napa County, CA up by the Pacific Union College hunted Lions using a 10mm Glock, and dogs. He lost some dogs over time, and has had to face off several times with some Lions. He prevailed, using the Glock.

Bill