USMC Kabar Olean NY

[greatwhite]

Cheers guys, the USMC is marked on the other side again bold and deep, i will ask for more pictures.
PS HE WANTS $40 for it , so it is cheap.

[greatwhite]

A couple more, whatever its age its been hammered check the hole in the grip.

[rbminis]

A couple more, whatever its age its been hammered check the hole in the grip.

It actually doesn't look that bad, a little use has caused the guard to bend but the rest of the handle looks okay. (not including that hole)
It really depends on what you want it for.
Ralph.
As I said, I will take some photos later today and post them here.

[Larboard]

Sorry Ralph, that's how it was posted on the site. Nine times out of ten, someone says KABAR when they just mean a fighting knife... The post above has some nice pics of a real KA-BAR. Over the years I've found actual KA-BAR knives to be a lot scarcer than the others, Camillus is usually what I ran into, just in second hand shops, etc. Not on the internet.

Interesting story on the KA-BAR name I remember reading from years ago, interesting anecdote.

The owner of the KA-BAR trademark, the Union Cutlery Co. of Olean, New York, began using the name on its knives and in its advertising in 1923 after receiving a testimonial letter from a fur trapper, who used the knife to kill a wounded bear that attacked him after his rifle jammed. According to company records, the letter was only partially legible, with "ka bar" readable as fragments of the phrase "kill a bear". In 1923, the company adopted the name KA-BAR from the "bear story" as their trademark. Beginning in 1923, the KA-BAR trademark was used as a ricasso stamp by Union Cutlery Co. on its line of automatic switchblade pocket knives, including the KA-BAR Grizzly, KA-BAR Baby Grizzly, and KA-BAR Model 6110 Lever Release knives.

Anyone interested in combat knives should read the whole Wiki page, great stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka-Bar

[Larboard]

To the OP, I'm guessing it's maybe more of a Vietnam era blade? I think the stamping is much too bold for a WWII era blade, but just a slightly educated guess on my part.

[rbminis]

To the OP, I'm guessing it's maybe more of a Vietnam era blade? I think the stamping is much too bold for a WWII era blade, but just a slightly educated guess on my part.

I would agree with this.
Ralph.

[rbminis]

Cheers guys, the USMC is marked on the other side again bold and deep, i will ask for more pictures.
PS HE WANTS $40 for it , so it is cheap.

It is a good dependable knife if you want it for using. It is worth what he is asking, IMO. Too bad there is no sheath.
Ralph.

[rbminis]

Here are the photos as promised.
I have another one or two around, just don't know where they are right now.
The top two are war time production. The top one being made by Camillus, the second one down made by Ka-Bar. The one in the middle is a seventies version of a Ka-Bar with a parkerized blade, the next one down is approximately 2000 production by Ka-Bar with a powder coated blade. The bottom one is a recent version by Camillus with a parkerized blade.



These three are made by Ka-Bar. Top one war time, second one 70's and the bottom one is the 2000's with powder coated blade.



Right, war time. Center, 70's and the right one is 2000's. Notice the lighter strike to the maker's mark on the war time example.




The war time one has a thinner pommel with sharper corners than the other two.

[AZPhil]

One way to tell would be to see if the pin on the pommels goes all the way through. Modern repro only go 3/4 of the way through the pommel and will only show on one side. On original the pin goes all the way through and can be seen on both sides of the pommel.

Semper Fi
Phil

[rbminis]

One way to tell would be to see if the pin on the pommels goes all the way through. Modern repro only go 3/4 of the way through the pommel and will only show on one side. On original the pin goes all the way through and can be seen on both sides of the pommel.

Semper Fi
Phil

Actually Phil, that is not correct according to the examples I have. All of the Ka-Bars that I have, have a pin that goes partially through while both of my Camillus examples have a pin that goes all the way through as can be seen on these photos of the Camillus examples.
Ralph.