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Interesting Ka-Bar
Thank you all for the welcome.
So I have this Ka-Bar that I got in a trade awhile back from a buddy of mine. We both have been trying to locate some info on the knife but have had no luck. The knife has Ka-Bar Oleans N.Y. On one side of the blade and that is it. There is no USMC stamp and no USN stamp. The pommel is wooden with a metal spacer at the end. The pommel is what is throwing us off. At a quick glance you would think it’s a PAL 35. My buddy and I both think this was some kind of a prototype of a Mark 1. So I guess my question is if anybody in the knife world knows about this knife? How old is it? What’s it worth?
sorry about the lighting in the pictures, I’m still working on that part.
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Permalink Reply by Will Gunter on
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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on
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My father had one...he was in the army...served state side ..WWII
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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on
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Hummmmm......
After the end of World War II, Utica Cutlery Co., Conetta Cutlery Co., Camillus Cutlery Co., and (beginning around 1980) the Ontario Knife Co. all produced the Ka-Bar under contract for the U.S. military.[2] From approximately 1945-1952, Weske Cutlery Co. of Sandusky, Ohio purchased leftover and overrun parts from wartime Ka-Bar knife contractors and assembled them into knives for commercial sale, polishing out the original manufacturer and military markings, and fitting them with ungrooved leather handles.[28] Though W.R. Casemade two prototype Ka-Bar knives as part of a contract submission in 1942-43, no contract was ever awarded to Case for the production of military Ka-Bar Combat/Fighting Utility knives, either during or after World War II. In 1992, Case would release a modern commemorative of these prototypes, the Case XX USMC Fighting Utility Knife. The Case XX USMC Fighting Utility knife is actually manufactured for Case by Ontario Knife Co[citation needed].
"KA-BAR" was a trademark of one of the four wartime manufacturers, Union Cutlery Co. and had been used on several of their previous knives since 1923.[5][6] They stamped this trademark on the ricasso of all the Mark 2 knives they produced - and were second only to Camillus in terms of production, producing about 1 million knives during the wartime contract.[2] Marines as early as 1944 began universally referring to their new combat knife as the "KA-BAR", regardless of manufacturer.[23][29] The popular designation of the knife may also have resulted from contact with Marine Corps close combat instructors in San Diego, who appear to have used the term Ka-Bar when training recruits in the skill of knife fighting
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I found it
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glad you found it...................i guessed it was late 40's early 50's
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My buddy and I have been searching for about two years. About a week ago he bought a military knife book on eBay for 20 bucks. Last night my phone starts ringing so I answered it and all he said was “guess what I found?”. Between the two of us we have searched probably 20 books and countless hours on the internet with no luck. Funny how it works, he bought the book for a different knife
White River Knives
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