Reviews and Ratings for KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife Fixed Blade 5.25" 1095 Black Plain Clip Point Blade, Black Kraton G Handle, Black Leather Sheath
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife Fixed Blade 5.25" 1095 Black Plain Clip Point Blade, Black Kraton G Handle, Black Leather Sheathrated 4.556 stars out of 5 (9 reviews)
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KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife Fixed Blade 5.25 inch 1095 Black Plain Clip Point Blade, Black Kraton G Handle, Black Leather Sheath

 

Price: $86.95

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Customer Reviews

KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 5 stars out of 5
Phil
Houston, Tx
Jul 26, 2011
Pros: Weight, Overall Quality, Blade Material, Materials, Blade Sharpness
Cons: Handle Material, Sheath/Scabbard, Finish

solid for the money.

nice and solid, well made, all usa parts and steels, however the kraton G ruberized handle is not comfortable when humid, and when sharpening the swedge some of the paint chipped off, but overall, great knife.
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 5 stars out of 5
Voytek
 texas
Aug 24, 2009
Pros: Weight, Materials, Sheath/Scabbard, Overall Quality, Finish, Blade Sharpness, Blade Material, Handle Material
Cons: None

Not too big and not too small, just perfect size

Perfect as a camping companion
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 5 stars out of 5
Ebw
 USA
Jan 01, 2023
Pros: None
Cons: None

Fantastic!

I bought this short Ka-Bar to be my new daily-carry utility knife. I wanted something more compact and discreet than my main outdoors knife (Buck 124 Frontiersman) and more capable than my typical carry knife, which only provides a three-finger grip and a 2.5” blade (Condor Compact Kephart). This short Ka-Bar is exactly what I wanted. The grip is perfectly sized to be compact while still providing a full-size grip that fits my entire hand. The Kraton G material provides exceptional traction, even when my hand is wet or greasy from rain, river water, or animal fat / blood. The double guard is large enough to guarantee I’ll never slip onto the edge, while being small enough to never hinder what I’m doing. It is ideal, for my tastes. The blade is superb. Sized to be extremely versatile, it is suited for any task I might have on an average day. From yard work to kitchen work to camp tasks to whittling, it gets the job done well. I am very pleased with this knife. Stays on me 24/7!
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 5 stars out of 5
Cory Vanderhyde
 Nevada
Sep 25, 2008
Pros: Blade Material, Weight, Materials, Handle Material, Finish, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness, Sheath/Scabbard
Cons: None

Little Brother

This is the little brother of the full size Ka-Bar combat knife. I like it better than the full size one because I prefer smaller blades so their lighter and easier to do detail cutting.
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 5 stars out of 5
Rohbyn
 Oakland, Me
Jun 29, 2011
Pros: Weight, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Blade Material
Cons: Sheath/Scabbard
I will be using this knife in my primitive skills/survival training, and have already taken it hiking and camping. It preformed well opening cans, digging, cutting nets, wire, plastic buckets and trimming some light brush. As a woman who works as a wildlife researcher, working weeks at a time in remote locations, sometimes with alone with strange men it is a little bit comforting to know I have this little fang by my pillow. I purchased the replacement kydex sheath for water resistance, considering how much time I spend in the rain or in waters sampling fish streams and it works well. Over all this is a well sized knife for me and she get's the job done.
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 4 stars out of 5
Young Jo
 San Diego
Oct 24, 2021
Pros: Overall Quality
Cons: Finish

Decent one

Overall decent knife, bit I would like to suggest to pay more attention on the last inspection since mine has unparallel fuller
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 4 stars out of 5
Peter
 Akron, Oh
Jan 07, 2014
Pros: None
Cons: None

Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y

Although I have lately got uncompromising bushcraft knives but wanted a smaller kabar due to Kabar's outstanding reputation. The weight was not posed in Knifecenter's review but it is lighter than the uncompromising bushcraft knives I got, which has pro's and con's. I do not want to repeat what has been said countless times. It is a classic design for a reason - it has proven itself in the test of time. Everyone ought to have one.
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 4 stars out of 5
Mårten S
 Kalix, Other
Dec 10, 2015
Pros: Weight, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Blade Material, Sheath/Scabbard, Materials, Finish
Cons: Blade Sharpness

Little poky

It is a ka-bar. What more do you want? Actually, i want a better edge from factory, the one i got was.... miserable, might be because of the thick geometry, easily fixed due to it being basic good old knife steel instead of some crazy hard carbide cement like D2 The top guard is even more annoying on the small version unfortunately, so i whacked it down.
KA-BAR 1256 Short Fighting Knife 5-1/4" Plain Blade, Kraton G Handle, Leather Sheath
rated 4 stars out of 5
Brent
 Kearns, Ut
May 27, 2021
Pros: Overall Quality, Materials
Cons: Finish, Blade Sharpness

Stout knife

One thing that should be noted about this knife is that it has the same blade thickness as the full sized version. This means that the primary grind is wider making it a less efficient cutter than its big brother. As a result I use this more as a beater than anything else. I think the Ka-Bar USN Mark 1 might be a better choice if you want a shorter utility knife due to its full flat grind.