The Kabar is not a bad knife at all. The argument should be there are better knives. Kabars are a direct descendant of pre war field knives in vogue at the time. It was lengthened to 7" to become a premier fighting knife. Points in favour; cost @ $50, decent metallurgy and it isn't a sharpened crowbar with a superb cutting edge after a little elbow grease. Points in negative; the upper guard impedes precision work. The pommel is a lousy hammer- if you feel a precision tool should be a hammer, the leather stacked handle and sheath are prone to rot and less than ideal for secure grip and carry,7" is to big for small tasks and to small for big ones. Rebuttal to all of the above; lots of marines somehow managed not to lose their knives since WW2. You can amputate the upper guard and actually use the duct tape in your Ritter survival pouch to secure the sheath before it goes bad. Field solution to all of the above: convince your friend to buy the smaller version. He's happy, the Mall Ninja is happy, your happy.