Ka-Bar MSM Tanto Review
In April, 2017 an American Department of Defence Contractor going by the name of “DJ Monkeyboy” from San Jose California, teamed up with famous American knife maker Ka-Bar of Olean New York to produce an unusual and functional blade called the “MilSpec Monkey Tanto”.
The blade is a fairly small production run and as of 2020 was no longer being produced. It may be available through private collection, or on auction websites such as eBay.
Sadly, as a cost saving measure the blade was not produced in the Olean, NY factory but out sourced to China by Ka-Bar.
On the MSM Website, the blade is described in very colloquial terms as: “A big ass tanto with an enhanced thumb ramp and thick enough for plenty of abuse”. It’s made from SK-5 steel. This is a hard steel made up of approximately 0.80% carbon and up to 0.90% manganese. On the HRC scale, it ranks at approximately 65. SK-5 is a Japanese low/mid-range Carbon steel. It’s used in a wide range of tools such as Razor blades, utility knives, scalpel blades, long edged tools, and other cutting tools. Due to its workability, hardenability, price it is ideal steel for most knives.
As knives go, the blade is fairly small and stout having a 8.8cm (3.5 inches) Blade, and being about 20cm (8.5 inches) overall. It’s about 5cm (2 inches) at its widest point.
With full tang construction, and a paracord wrapped handle, the blade is fairly comfortable to hold, and with the curved hilt and two ridged contact points on the back of the blade, is designed for doing fine carving. It’s small size does not make it a great tool for batoning wood.
Like most products produced by Ka-Bar the blade comes in a very nice box, which has the MilSpec Monkey logo on it, as well as a drawing of the blade. Most Ka-bar knives are packaged in a similar fashion.
As mentioned earlier, the blade has a paracord wrapped handle. Paracord is a short form for “Parachute Cord”. This was a specialised rope made of nylon and polyester, developed for the United States Military as a way to attach parachutes to both soldiers and equipment. Although the precise grade of paracord is not mentioned in any of the manufacturer pamphlets, the usual grade of paracord is 249kg (550lbs), meaning it has a breaking strength of 249kg under optimum conditions. The paracord on the knife handle is braided on, and easily removable. The theory behind using paracord as a handle wrap is that it can be used for survival purposes such as tying shelter, or creating snares. The knife is also still fully functional without the paracord wrap. Paracord, mostly made from nylon also offers a firm grip when wet. Unlike wood, or other materials it will not become slippery in adverse conditions. If one was so inclined, the paracord could be removed and replaced with a different colour. Ideally blaze-orange would be ideal so the blade is not lost in the wilderness environment.
The knife comes with a polymer sheath similar to kydex which makes it ideal for all weather use. Unlike leather sheaths the plastic kydex-like sheath will not rot, retain moisture, or risk being cut by mishandling the knife and inserting it incorrectly. Plastic sheaths also require zero maintenance. Plastic sheaths are ideal for high humidity or marine environments, particularly salt water environments, which would destroy leather. Plastic sheaths do not operate well under extreme cold conditions found in places like Antarctica, and Canada. The extreme cold can make the plastic too rigid to flex and may crack when removing and replacing the knife. Some people, also feel that mishandling the knife when putting it into the sheath may cause the blade to dull over time.
In demonstrating forward thinking, the sheath comes with several different mounting options and is listed as “Malice compatible” meaning that the sheath can be mounted on modern PALS / MOLLE platforms as well as older style Alice platforms which are popular with backpackers, day hikers, and in the bushcraft community.
Like all knives, the blade is designed to help the user manipulate their environment. Feeling fairly comfortable in the hand, the knife is capable of most camp tasks including creating shavings, cutting rope, skinning and gutting, as well as batoning small wood.
For people who have larger hands, the small stature of the blade may provide a challenge to use some of it’s various features such as the dual thumb placement ridges, and the curved hilt near the knife edge, built in as a safety device.
The video below demonstrates the capabilities of the blade including making shavings, cutting, and batoning wood.
Overall this is a great blade for smaller tasks, a great every-day-carry blade, and a great line-up of the Ka-Bar tanto series. The Tanto blade style is not a very popular edge geometry, although fans who love it, are often passionate about it. Out of the dozens of blade styles Ka-Bar offers, the tanto edge is a fairly small portion of the line-up.
REFERENCES:
Retrieved November 3, 2020
Barefoot Bushcraft YouTube channel: Ka-Bar MSM Tanto Knife Review: https://youtu.be/YS6Rb0QwgoM
MilSpec Monkey Website and listing for the MSM Knife 001: https://milspecmonkey.com/store/blades/377-ka-bar-msm-knife-001.html
Amazon.ca listing for the MSM Knife 001: https://www.amazon.ca/KA-BAR-MSM-Knife-Milspec-Polymer/dp/B06XGK1H2W
Knifeuser.com article on SK5 Steel: https://knifeuser.com/sk5-steel-review/