I’m not a big knife collector kind of guy. I have a couple of Buck 110s (one dating back to my elementary school days when we all carried one from about 3rd grade on), some EDC carry knives and a bunch of leatherman style tools as I seem to buy one every time I ferry an aircraft somewhere.
But, I did start acquiring Kephart style knives after I moved to NC. Some of it’s my preference for bushcraft style knives that are practical and some of it’s the “local boy by choice makes good” appeal.
Ethan Becker and Ka-Bar recently started making a semi reproduction of a 5” Kephart knife (no lead rivets in the handle but otherwise pretty close), and I purchased one.
Even though it’s a 5” knife and Kephart himself preferred the 4” version it handles very nicely. Between the tapered tang and the weight forward belly of the barrel it has superb balance and offers lots of leverage when cutting.
Many of the hard core bush craft folks complain it doesn’t have a 90 degree due on the tang for use with a fero rod, but that’s a bit of a red herring as pretty much any woods type person has a fero rod and another knife or a chunk of hack saw blade to strike it.
I also have heard a few negative comments about batonning with it, but again Kephart carried a 12” hatchet so it wasn’t a design priority.
It has a flat grind and a 1095 Cro van steel blade. Technically it’s not a true flat grind as it has a slight secondary bevel on it.
It’s at the top and it’s the basis for comparison with the rest.
Brisa Kephart
Just below it is Brisa’s version of the Kephart knife, in a 4” format, made from 80CrV2 steel with a flat grind and secondary bevel.
The blade does have a slight belly to it, although it’s more along the lines of what you get when you sharpen a knife on a pair of sharpening sticks with too much of it occurring near the handle.
The tang is straight and in fact is thicker than the blade itself (0.125” compared to .096”) so it misses in terms of the weight forward balance and is the opposite of the Becker/Ka-Bar Kephart knife. The back of the blade is also a sharp 90 degrees which will keep the fero rod folks happy, but it’s not as comfortable when pushing on the back of the blade.
The handles are stabilized walnut with red liners and are much thicker than the butcher knife’esque handles on the Becker /Ka-Bar reproduction, which improves the feel but again takes away from the balance.
But with a very good steel for field use with both toughness and edge retention and a well crafted handle it’s an excellent knife for about $25 less than the Ka-bar.
Condor’s Kephart knife
Third from the top is the Condor version of the Kephart, again in a 4” format but with 1075 steel. It’s less expansive steel than the others, but proper
Y heat treated it’s still decent, durable steel suited to a working knife and it’s easy to resharpen. It’s also well suited to manufacture via stock removal, which is what it is with a flat grind.
The blade and tang are 0.110” thick and the blade is again a flat grind with a secondary bevel. There’s a little more belly in the blade than the Brisa and the blade and tang are the same thickness.
The handles are stabilized walnut and the rivets are brass. It tapers toward the front and is less round than the Brisa Kephart. Between the blade and the handle it has a nice balance.
At $60 it was also the least expensive at half the cost of the Brisa Kephart.
The major drawback for me was the sheath, as it’s just too loose.
Bark River Kephart
The knife on the bottom is a Bark River Kephart again in a more or les 4” format. Mine has stabilized coco bolo wood handles that are tapered forward like the Condor Kephart. The Mosaic rivets are quiet pretty.
Bark River uses CPM 3V steel in the knife that is comparable to 80 CrV2 steel in the Brisa, but with slightly better edge retention (and it’s also slightly harder to sharpen). The blade and tang are constant width and a bit thinner than the others at .090”.
Where Bark River missed the Kephart boat IMHO is in using a concave grind. They did it really well and it will probably baton better than the others, but who is realistically going to baton with a $340 knife with a 4 1/4” .090” thick blade?
It’s light weight, feels good in the hand, and is made from very good steel, but the Condor balances slightly better.
——
There are also a couple knives that wear a Kephart model name or are often compared to a Kephart style knife, but aren’t.
The Becker /Ka-Bar Kephart is again at the top:
Pathfinder Knife Shop Kephart XL
It’s a 5” knife with a 1095 steel blade, a natural forge finish and a scandi grind. I bought it partly because it looked good on line with the curly maple handles but mine look kinda “meh”. The bright steel on the grind and the back of the blade and tang also looked out of place. I fixed that by wiping it down real well but not degreasing the blade, and then rubbing it with some cold blue paste. It gives the ground portion of the blade, top of the blade and exposed portions of the tang a darker and slightly uneven color pattern that better matches the rest of the blade.
The blade is a full .125” thick. There is no belly in the blade at all and in fact it tapers slightly.
The handle is thick and fairly round. It does balance a bit weight forward but that’s an artifact of the handle being short compared to the blade. It shorter than the Brisa, longer than the Condor and about the same length as the Bark river, despite having a 5.3” blade.
With the thick blade and short scandi grind it’s thick edged and doesn’t cut or process game like a Kephart at all.
It’s not cheap at about $160 street price, but the steel is nothing special, and it’s not a Kephart by any stretch of the imagination. It’s the one I wish I hadn’t bought as it’s the one I have the least use for.
ESEE-PR4
It’s not a traditional looking with those handles, they are flat like a Kephart, but very long compared to the blade.
The 1095 steel blade has a scandi grind, but it’s a much more tapered grind and is much closer to a flat grind. There is no belly on the knife and it’s fairly thick at 0.120”.
Still, it has a nice balance to it and a good feel over all. It’s high on my list for possible use in my airplane as a survival knife.
Last on my list is a 1095 steel knife I picked up a few years ago along with a folding wood buck saw, both made by someone local to the region. It’s not a Kephart but rather more of a general spearpointed scandi ground bush craft knife.
——-
I have nothing against the KA-Bar Kephart as it has superb balance and cuts really well, especially for a 5” knife, despite the plan looks.
But…the 4” knives strike me as being more practical as a general game processing and camp knife.
Of those, the Condor wins on price and bang for the buck.
The Brisa however wins on overall quality and a good blend of looks, quality steel, and utility of design.
But, I did start acquiring Kephart style knives after I moved to NC. Some of it’s my preference for bushcraft style knives that are practical and some of it’s the “local boy by choice makes good” appeal.
Ethan Becker and Ka-Bar recently started making a semi reproduction of a 5” Kephart knife (no lead rivets in the handle but otherwise pretty close), and I purchased one.
Even though it’s a 5” knife and Kephart himself preferred the 4” version it handles very nicely. Between the tapered tang and the weight forward belly of the barrel it has superb balance and offers lots of leverage when cutting.
Many of the hard core bush craft folks complain it doesn’t have a 90 degree due on the tang for use with a fero rod, but that’s a bit of a red herring as pretty much any woods type person has a fero rod and another knife or a chunk of hack saw blade to strike it.
I also have heard a few negative comments about batonning with it, but again Kephart carried a 12” hatchet so it wasn’t a design priority.
It has a flat grind and a 1095 Cro van steel blade. Technically it’s not a true flat grind as it has a slight secondary bevel on it.
It’s at the top and it’s the basis for comparison with the rest.
Brisa Kephart
Just below it is Brisa’s version of the Kephart knife, in a 4” format, made from 80CrV2 steel with a flat grind and secondary bevel.
The blade does have a slight belly to it, although it’s more along the lines of what you get when you sharpen a knife on a pair of sharpening sticks with too much of it occurring near the handle.
The tang is straight and in fact is thicker than the blade itself (0.125” compared to .096”) so it misses in terms of the weight forward balance and is the opposite of the Becker/Ka-Bar Kephart knife. The back of the blade is also a sharp 90 degrees which will keep the fero rod folks happy, but it’s not as comfortable when pushing on the back of the blade.
The handles are stabilized walnut with red liners and are much thicker than the butcher knife’esque handles on the Becker /Ka-Bar reproduction, which improves the feel but again takes away from the balance.
But with a very good steel for field use with both toughness and edge retention and a well crafted handle it’s an excellent knife for about $25 less than the Ka-bar.
Condor’s Kephart knife
Third from the top is the Condor version of the Kephart, again in a 4” format but with 1075 steel. It’s less expansive steel than the others, but proper
Y heat treated it’s still decent, durable steel suited to a working knife and it’s easy to resharpen. It’s also well suited to manufacture via stock removal, which is what it is with a flat grind.
The blade and tang are 0.110” thick and the blade is again a flat grind with a secondary bevel. There’s a little more belly in the blade than the Brisa and the blade and tang are the same thickness.
The handles are stabilized walnut and the rivets are brass. It tapers toward the front and is less round than the Brisa Kephart. Between the blade and the handle it has a nice balance.
At $60 it was also the least expensive at half the cost of the Brisa Kephart.
The major drawback for me was the sheath, as it’s just too loose.
Bark River Kephart
The knife on the bottom is a Bark River Kephart again in a more or les 4” format. Mine has stabilized coco bolo wood handles that are tapered forward like the Condor Kephart. The Mosaic rivets are quiet pretty.
Bark River uses CPM 3V steel in the knife that is comparable to 80 CrV2 steel in the Brisa, but with slightly better edge retention (and it’s also slightly harder to sharpen). The blade and tang are constant width and a bit thinner than the others at .090”.
Where Bark River missed the Kephart boat IMHO is in using a concave grind. They did it really well and it will probably baton better than the others, but who is realistically going to baton with a $340 knife with a 4 1/4” .090” thick blade?
It’s light weight, feels good in the hand, and is made from very good steel, but the Condor balances slightly better.
——
There are also a couple knives that wear a Kephart model name or are often compared to a Kephart style knife, but aren’t.
The Becker /Ka-Bar Kephart is again at the top:
Pathfinder Knife Shop Kephart XL
It’s a 5” knife with a 1095 steel blade, a natural forge finish and a scandi grind. I bought it partly because it looked good on line with the curly maple handles but mine look kinda “meh”. The bright steel on the grind and the back of the blade and tang also looked out of place. I fixed that by wiping it down real well but not degreasing the blade, and then rubbing it with some cold blue paste. It gives the ground portion of the blade, top of the blade and exposed portions of the tang a darker and slightly uneven color pattern that better matches the rest of the blade.
The blade is a full .125” thick. There is no belly in the blade at all and in fact it tapers slightly.
The handle is thick and fairly round. It does balance a bit weight forward but that’s an artifact of the handle being short compared to the blade. It shorter than the Brisa, longer than the Condor and about the same length as the Bark river, despite having a 5.3” blade.
With the thick blade and short scandi grind it’s thick edged and doesn’t cut or process game like a Kephart at all.
It’s not cheap at about $160 street price, but the steel is nothing special, and it’s not a Kephart by any stretch of the imagination. It’s the one I wish I hadn’t bought as it’s the one I have the least use for.
ESEE-PR4
It’s not a traditional looking with those handles, they are flat like a Kephart, but very long compared to the blade.
The 1095 steel blade has a scandi grind, but it’s a much more tapered grind and is much closer to a flat grind. There is no belly on the knife and it’s fairly thick at 0.120”.
Still, it has a nice balance to it and a good feel over all. It’s high on my list for possible use in my airplane as a survival knife.
Last on my list is a 1095 steel knife I picked up a few years ago along with a folding wood buck saw, both made by someone local to the region. It’s not a Kephart but rather more of a general spearpointed scandi ground bush craft knife.
——-
I have nothing against the KA-Bar Kephart as it has superb balance and cuts really well, especially for a 5” knife, despite the plan looks.
But…the 4” knives strike me as being more practical as a general game processing and camp knife.
Of those, the Condor wins on price and bang for the buck.
The Brisa however wins on overall quality and a good blend of looks, quality steel, and utility of design.
